Gir (Africa)
Gir ( Greek Γείρ Geir , also Ger and Girin ) is the ancient name of a river in Africa . The Roman praetor Gaius Suetonius Paulinus , who was the first Roman to cross the Atlas from Mauretania while suppressing a revolt in AD 42 , penetrated a little into the areas beyond to the river Gir . The exact location of the Gir is unclear. Localization is difficult
- on the one hand because the mountain Atlas is not an exact localization in ancient geography,
- on the other hand, because the Libyan root g (h) er or g (h) ir denotes any type of flowing water, so it is not certain whether several rivers in the interior of Africa have been given names.
Since the Gir is described as an important river of considerable extent, for example by Ptolemy and in the Peutinger table , attempts have been made to identify the Gir with the Niger or one of its tributaries. But that remains speculation.
Ptolemy writes that the Geir River connects the Usargala Mountains (Djebel Amur) with the Garamantic Gorge (Wadi el-Agial). This Geir is identified with the Oued Djed. The river Ger reached by Suetonius Paulinus should, however, correspond to the river Nigeir subsequently named (4.6.14) by Ptolemy , which is identified with the Oued Guir .
swell
- Pliny the Elder naturalis historia 5.15 (Ger)
- Ptolemy Geographia 4.6.13f; 4.6.16; 4.6.31 ( Γείρ )
- Geographus Ravennas 2.69; 3.14; 36.28; 37.11 (Ger)
- Claudius Claudianus carminum maiorum series 21.252 (Gir)
- Geographiae Expositio Compendiaria 31 ( Geographi Graeci Minores II 502; Γίρ )
- Tabula Peutingeriana VI (Girin)
literature
- Hermann Dessau : Gir . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume VII, 1, Stuttgart 1910, column 1366.
- Werner Huss : Gir. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 4, Metzler, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-476-01474-6 , Sp. 1075.