Ghadames
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غدامس Ghadames |
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| Coordinates | 30 ° 8 ′ N , 9 ° 30 ′ E | ||
| Basic data | |||
| Country | Libya | ||
| Nalut | |||
| ISO 3166-2 | LY-NL | ||
| height | 330 m | ||
| Residents | 12,709 (2012) | ||
 Ghadames Mosque at night
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Ghadames ( Arabic غدامس Ghadāmis , DMG Ġadāmis , Zentralatlas-Tamazight ⵖⴷⴰⵎⵙ Ɣdames or ⵄⴷⵉⵎⵙ Ɛdimes ) is an oasis city in western Libya in the municipality of Nalut . The city consists of two parts - a historic old town and a new town.
location
Ghadames is located about 600 km southwest of Tripoli in the Libyan-Algerian-Tunisian triangle at an altitude of about 350 meters above sea level. d. M. Ghadames Airport is 20 km east of the city. The closest city (apart from another settlement about 20 km southeast) is Daraj about 100 km east on the way to Nalut .
population
The population consists mainly of seven Berber clans , which can be assigned to two extended families, and in 2010 numbered about 12,500 people (according to other counts only about 7,500). The Imanan clan traditionally resides here , who were considered the kings of the northern Tuareg and descendants of the Prophet Mohammed . Each clan lives in its own district.
economy
For millennia, the oasis economy with the date palm as the key plant was at the center of economic life, which was essentially geared towards the self-sufficiency of the population. The only export items were the long-life sweet date fruits, which could be transported by camel caravans to the markets in the south (Black Africa) and north (Mediterranean coast).
traffic
The city forms an important transport hub in the extremely sparsely populated region in the Algeria-Libya-Tunisia triangle. In 1973 the city received a modern road connection to Nalut , located in the north . To the north of the city is the southernmost point of Tunisia . A 7 km short gravel road leads to the border crossing and there to a poorly maintained road to the north of Tunisia. Another gravel road leads north of the Algerian border crossing to the Algerian desert town of El Borma . The well-developed road west of the Algerian border crossing initially leads south and either turns via Hassi Messaoud into northern Algeria, turns further south to the east via Djanet to Ghat (Libya) , or leads to Tamanrasset on the Algiers-Lagos Highway .
history
It is believed that the oasis has been around since 3000 BC. It was settled centuries later and a wall was built to protect it from nomads. However, first reports about Ghadames are only available from Roman times. A first and at the same time one of the most important battles for supremacy in Tripolitania most likely took place in 18 BC. Under Lucius Cornelius Balbus Minor . As a general, he defeated the Garamanten and Phazanii. His victories also included the conquest of Cidamus , the capital of the Phazanii. These fights and Cidamus are already mentioned by Pliny the Elder in his Naturalis historia , which was created in the 1970s of the 1st century AD . In the 2nd century the city is called Τιδαμήνσιοι (Tidamensi) by the geographer Claudius Ptolemy . The late antique historian Prokopios of Caesarea reported in the 6th century AD that the inhabitants of the city had been allies of Rome from ancient times and renewed their treaties during the reign of Emperor Justinian I (527-565). Probably during the reign of Emperor Septimius Severus (193-211), a very likely small military outpost was built in Cidamus, which was supposed to monitor trade and the flow of goods even before the borders of Rome. The Cidamus fort can still only be traced in writing to this day. Obviously after a relatively short time the garrison was dissolved again and the Phazanii returned to their old hegemonic alliance with Rome. The centuries-old, close and fruitful economic relations with Rome can be archaeologically documented not only in large quantities of imported Roman fine ceramics but also in the two kilometer long ancient necropolis.
As Prokop reports, the inhabitants of Cidamus were converted to the Christian faith at the instigation of Emperor Justinian I. One of the Tripolitan bishoprics was built in the oasis city . With that, the old religious beliefs, to which the Asnam ( idols ) belonged, disappeared . With the conquest of Ghadames by the Umayyad ʿUqba ibn Nāfiʿ in the 7th century, antiquity came to an end. In the course of the Islamic expansion and cultural transformation by the Muslim Arabs , Islam became the sole religion.
Until the 20th century, Ghadames was of considerable importance as a trading center for the Trans-Saharan trade . In particular, the camel caravans with the rock salt from the deposits in the Sahara have maintained this tradition for a long time.
In a ten-minute air raid by five American B-17 bombers and ten Free French Forces fighters on Italian troops on January 11, 1943, parts of the city - including the two medieval mosques - were destroyed. 44 people were killed; however, the enemy soldiers and their military equipment were not hit.
Between 1943 and 1955 Ghadames was under the administration of France, which was responsible for the Fessan as an occupying power .
In 1973 the city received a modern road connection to Nalut , located in the north .
Old town
| Old town of Ghadamès | |
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UNESCO world heritage 
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| Alley in the old town of Ghadames |
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| National territory: |
 Libya
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| Type: | Culture |
| Criteria : | v |
| Reference No .: | 362 |
| UNESCO region : | Arabic states |
| History of enrollment | |
| Enrollment: | 1986 (session 10) |
The walled old town center of the oasis city - with its alleys that are partially built over or covered by a mesh - has been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1986 . It is particularly noteworthy that each of the seven clans living in Ghadames had their own district with a festival and meeting place. In the 1970s, the government built new residential buildings outside the old town. Nevertheless, many residents return to the old town in summer, as it offers better protection from the heat due to the architecture. The roof terraces of the houses were connected to one another by many overbuilding - in this way there was a second network of paths for the women, which of course also offered many advantages in the event of a defense.
Houses
The traditional, mostly two-storey houses, some of which have been lovingly maintained, are usually made of mud bricks; Palm trunks and reeds were also used for the blankets, as well as mats woven from palm fronds.
A central reception room on the ground floor - sometimes painted with colors and decorative motifs - was usually windowless; The door was lit and ventilated, but it was mostly closed because of the heat of the day. The residents stayed there mainly in the summer months. There were water jugs in the larger wall niches, and there were oil lamps in the smaller recesses. The surrounding bedrooms had no windows either.
During the day, the roof terrace was mostly reserved for women who did various household chores (preparing meals, weaving, drying fruits and laundry, etc.). In summer, mats and blankets were spread out on the roof terrace in the evenings, on which to lie down to sleep during the cool night.
museum
Stone Age and Roman finds are shown in the local museum. However, the greater part of the exhibition area is reserved for (art) handicraft products (wickerwork, textile, leather and woodwork) of the Berber culture. All of these things were made for personal or family needs.
Others
The Africa researcher Gerhard Rohlfs has dedicated a chapter in his travel report Across Africa to the city of Rhadames and its residents, in which he describes his experiences on his second visit in 1865.
Ghadamsi is the language spoken here.
Climate table
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Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Ghadames
Source: wetterkontor.de
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literature
- Joachim Willeitner: Libya. Tripolitania, Syrtebogen, Fezzan and the Cyrenaica. DuMont-Verlag, Ostfildern 2011, ISBN 978-3-7701-4876-9 , pp. 140 ff.
- Erica de Bary: Ghadames Ghadames . Ehrenwirth Verlag, Munich 1961.
Web links
- Entry on the UNESCO World Heritage Center website ( English and French ).
- Ghadames - Photos + Text (English)
- Ghadames - Photos + Text (English)
- Ghadames Photos
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b World Gazetteer ( Memento of the original from December 29, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ David J. Mattingly: Tripolitania. Batsford, London 1995. ISBN 0-7134-5742-2 , p. 114.
- ↑ Pliny: Naturalis historia, V 35–36 and XXXI, 22
- ^ Ptolemaeus: Geographia , IV, 3, 6
- ^ Procopius: De Aedificis, VI, 3.
- ^ A b David J. Mattingly: Tripolitania. Batsford, London 1995. ISBN 0-7134-5742-2 , p. 122.
- ^ David J. Mattingly: Farmers and frontiers. Exploiting and defending the countryside of Roman Tripolitania. In: David J. Mattingly, John A. Lloyd (Eds.): Libyan Studies. Vol. 20 (1989). Annual Report of the Society for Libyan Studies. P. 139.
- ↑ CIL 08, 10990 .
- ↑ Naji Abbas Ahmad: The rural ways of life and agricultural development in Tripolitania. (= Heidelberg geographical works. No. 25). Geographical Institute of the University, Heidelberg 1969. p. 147.
- ↑ The city of Rhadames and its inhabitants. gerhard-rohlfs.de; Retrieved September 23, 2011.
Heritage: Archaeological Site of Leptis Magna (1982, R ) | Archaeological site of Sabrata (1982, R ) | Archaeological site of Cyrene (1982, R ) | Tadrart Acacus rock art sites (1985, R ) | Old Town of Ghadames (1986, R )