The Garamantes of Fezzan

Excavations on Zinchecra 1965–7

Bibliographic Data

ID8883464
AuthorsCharles Daniels (corresponding author)
Year1970
Volume50
Issue1
Pages37-66
Publication date1970-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Antiquaries Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0003-5815 • E-ISSN: 1758-5309
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0003581500063447
OpenAlexW2103707590
LanguageEN
Citations received10

The Garamantes inhabited Fezzan, now the Saharan province of the Libyan Arab Republic, their capital, Garama, lying c. 105 miles west of Sebha in the wadi el Agial. After an unruly early history they appear to have become pacified and open to Roman influence. Before Garama was founded the tribe inhabited the promontory fortress of Zinchecra c. 21⁄2 miles to the south-west, where excavation has revealed three main periods of occupation. The earliest consists of rock-scooped hearths, the second of rough dry-stone and frond shelters with stone-lined hearths. The third is more complex with buildings ranging from rough shelters to well-built mud-brick ‘houses’, the latest of which date to the first century B.C. and employed dressed stone in their basal courses. At the start of this period a complex of enclosure banks and walls was thrown around the base of the spur. Finally the site was abandoned to cemeteries

Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Excavation · Fortress (chess · Geography · Hearth · Period (music · Promontory · Tower · African Studies and Geopolitics · Archaeological and Historical Studies · History · Language, Linguistics, Cultural Analysis

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub