The Garamantes of Southern Libya
Charles DanielsWho were the Garamantes: Short passages in Herodotus, Pliny the
Elder, Strabo, Tacitus, Ptolemy and Pomponius Mela comprise almost
the whole of ancient literary references to these people. Was their
capital Garama, the now deserted town of Germa, or is it to be sought
elsewhere? What was the extent of their territory: How did they live,
without access to the coast held by their enemies the Romans:
During the last twelve years Charles Daniels and his team of British
archaeologists have been uncovering much more about them. Here for
the first time is an authoritative study of the literary and archaeological
evidence on the tribe.
Charles Daniels was born and educated in Newcastle upon Tyne, and gained an honours degree in Modern History at the University of Durham, and an M.A. from the same University. He was appointed
Research Fellow in King’s College, Newcastle, from 1959 to 1961, after
which he joined the University Museum as Assistant Keeper, with some teaching responsibilities.
As a professional archaeologist, Mr Daniels has excavated widely in
Britain, and also in Libya, Italy and France, and has travelled much in Europe and Africa. His interests include photography, architecture, book- collecting and travelling, and his research (apart from the Garamantes) has covered Roman architecture and religion. He first visited Libya in 1958, travelling down to Fezzan in the company of Lady Brogan and
Dr Smith to study Garamantian remains, for comparison with those at Ghirza. In 1959 he spent several weeks in July and August studying the
remains of the Wadi el Agial, and first saw Gasr Mara. During the
Christmas vacation of 1962-1963 he and Sir Ian Richmond carried out excavations in the vicinity of Germa at the invitation of the Libyan Directorate of Antiquities.
In 1965 Mr Daniels led a three-month expedition to Fezzan, carrying out field work in the Wadi el Agial and excavations at Zinchecra (where he effectively discovered the Garamantian settlement), Germa, Saniat Gebril and one or
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