Garamantian foggaras
Foggaras de los garamantes
- Date
- c. century I · confidence low
- Place
- Garama (Germa), Fezzan, Libya
- Credited to
- Garamantes
- Field
- Life & health
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Underground galleries that tapped fossil groundwater and carried it to Saharan oases, built with thousands of maintenance shafts. They allowed the Garamantes to sustain towns, farm and trade for over a millennium in the middle of the desert.
Mattingly and colleagues argue for a Garamantian origin, before or during Roman times, but other authors attribute foggaras to medieval Arab-Islamic introduction (or Persian influence); broad absolute dating is lacking. The location is approximate.
What it led to
- the capital Garama and a Saharan kingdom trading by caravan with Rome
- spread of foggaras to Touat, Gourara and Tidikelt in Algeria
- use of fossil water with depletion consequences that help explain Garamantian decline