Garamantians

No, I hadn't heard of them, either.  But Pliny the Elder wrote about them, as did Herodotus, for the Garamantians made Germa the capital of their empire in the 1st century AD and being a somewhat civilised bunch, they left their mark. 

We fetched up here at the cemetery first, to view the curious square topped pyramid tombs.

I'm still not quite sure if they were originally this shape or whether the original grave is underneath a modern pyramid shaped construction and being the historical heathen that I am, I find it difficult to tell reconstruction from original anyway.  Perhaps I'll read more about the Garamantian civilisation in the next few weeks?

There were plenty of these tombs, anyway.

Having always thought that a visit to a museum after seeing the "real thing" was a bit of a waste of time, in this particular instance, it would have helped greatly if the museum had been open.  But, it's Monday, and as we know, the world's museums close on Mondays, including that of Germa.

Next stop, in a stony part of the desert, was a mysterious stone structure, with unquestionable Garamantian heritage but unknown purpose.

Finally, to the ancient site of Garama, a collection of remains of former adobe-style buildings, including a castle/fortress.  I left the historical details to the experts in the family, much preferring to observe the construction techniques

the dates

and the beautifully woven palm fences which we've seen everywhere in the area.

Some more photographs of Germa and the Garamantian remains below.

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