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Sebha

 
     
 
     

 

 
     
 
 

City and Oasis in central Libya. Capital of the Fezzan region. It lies in 27.67.27.1 latitude in the north and 14.29.14 in the east in the desert, 600 KM away from the sea shore. It is 470 KM higher than the sea level. Sebha is the largest and most important settlement in Libyan Sahara. It is located in the middle of Sahara desert. Sebha is      a fascinating place where sand dunes and palm trees surround the town. Its wide streets and white houses offer an example of desert towns in Libya. The lakes around the northern side of the town are wonderful where you can have a great time. It is hot and dry in summer, severely cold in winter. There are the sand dunes and fresh water springs. Its sun is warm, its sky is clear, its nights are moony, and its sand is golden. It is rich in palm trees. The economic base of the city is administrative activities, trade, transportation and some tourism. Sebha is an important transportation hub in the Sahara. While all is done by road or air, many old patterns still applies. The Italian Fort Elena rests on nearby hill.                                                     - 800 km north: Tripoli.

 
 

 
     
 

Sahara lakes

 
     
 

 
     
 

One of the wonders of the south-western Fezzan is the sahara lakes It is marked by wonderful lakes surrounded by sand dunes and palm trees. There are about 13 lakes in Obari. The most important lakes are: Gaber-oun, Mandra, Om-Almaa, maffo, and        Bas'Bahr-ald Doud. These lakes are known for their high salinity, reaching 3 times that of the sea. Gaber-oun is the largest lake in the area. It is surrounded by trees and lines of high sand dunes. The lake and the ancient village of Gaber-oun are situated at an altitude of 400m. The Gaber-oun lake originally was known as 'Bahr-ald Doud' (sea of worms) and is situated in the north of the village of Bendbeiya at approx 41km within the Erg. The lakes lie only 30 kilometres north of Germa but the journey involves some difficult passages in the Ubari sand dunes – a good 4 WD vehicle is essential.

 
   
     
 

 Waw Al-namus

 
     
 

 
     
 

Location: 24.9N, 17.7E                                                                            Elevation: 3936 ft (1200 m)                                                                           Waw-Alnamus is an exotic volcano deep in the desert of Libya. A low caldera about    4 km in diameter is surrounded by a 5 - 10 km wide dark black deposit of ash that stands out starkly against the yellowish desert. The few people who have visited have been struck by its beauty. The mountain of Waw-Alnamus is an extinct volcano, in the center of the Sahara desert. It has a splendid view that sticks in mind for thousands of years. It gives you a Feeling as if you were on the moon. Waw-Alnamus lives up to this reputation when you are driving to it. However is also referred to as the eight wonder of the world. The ancient volcano has several superbly set lakes in its crater and a full day can be spent here. It is really a place that no one can forget.

 
 

 
     
 

Germa

 
     
 

 
 

 

 
 

This ancient city is located in southern Libya, 160 KMS southwest of Sabha. According to historians, the Germantes are the first inhabitants of the region .They were a warrior nation, dealing with agriculture and breeding stocks. The ancient city of the Germantes, built around the 1st century AD. It is one of the most important archaeological sites in all of Libya. The city flourished between 900 BC to 500 AD was the dominate culture of the region and Ancient Germa was the capital. The importance of the area as a trade link between Central Africa and the Mediterranean was similarly recorded, as were beautifully executed war chariots and horse carts. The ruins In Germa consist of numerous tombs, water tunnels, forts, cemeteries, ancient houses, temples and baths carry the distinguished designs of the different civilizations that existed in this land: ancient Egyptian, Carthaginian, Greek and Roman. Other ruins in Germa suggest civilizations in the area dating back to 10000 B.C., such as that of Akakus, as evidenced by the colored drawings in the nearby mountains.             Germa city is situated on a hill, and it has three gates:

  • The eastern gate, known by: The great gate.

  • The southern gate, know by: The good gate.

  • The western gate, known by: Tl-kouja gate. 

Germa in an oval city in shape, it's diameter from east to west it 5K.M. and from north to south 3.5K.M. The hill is surrounded by a trench of water, bordered by moorland at the north side, and thick forests of palm-tree at south and west sides.                 The remained ruins of Germa are:                                                                        

  • Remains of the old wall.

  • Halls.

  • Some traditional houses.

  • Cemeteries.

  • Three traditional mosques.

  • A circular fort with, and high towers.

  • Wall with three gates.

The Germantes, with the help of their neighboring tribes, resisted the Roman influence. Their armies reached the fringes of Leptis-Magna, hundreds of kilometers to the North. Peaceful relations were not realized until the end of the 2nd century A.D., at the time of Libyan born Emperor Septimius Severus (193 - 211 A.D.). Another potential source of information is the abundant rock paintings, even if many of these depict lifestyles prior to the rise of the empire itself. There is a good museum, burial sites in the hills of Zinchecra. The museum in Tripoli (Matthaf Al-jamahiria) exhibits the various masterpieces and collections discovered in the area, where the earliest finds date back to the first millennium B.C. The new town is however prospering and growing amongst the well-irrigated green palms, fruit trees and fields of alfalfa and wheat.

 
 

 
     
 

Wadi Matkhandush

 
 

 

 
 

 
     
 

Wadi-Makthandush this deep rocky valley (Wadi-Makthandush) that seems as if it has been carved with a giant hoe. It winds gently amongst cliffs of sandstone out of which have been carved numerous fine animals, some carvings as old as 12,000yrs. And depicting elephant, hippopotamus, crocodile, giraffe and ostrich all suggesting a much more hospitable climate existed in the past with water was abundant.        Wadi-Makthandush is about 12km long and contrasts sharply to the barren stone desert surrounding it. Makthandush is lies just 30km north of the Murzuq-dunes; it's the frontier between the barren plateaus of the Messak Settafet and the stretch of land towards the sand dunes of Edhan-Murzuk. The route to Wadi-Makthandush lies south of Germa, about four hours by 4WD. At first you drive at up to 100kph or more over a flat plateau of gravelly sand which brings you to Wadi-berjuj, an extremely wide sandy valley alive with vegetation and herds of grazing camels. Once you pass the control point in the middle of nowhere which checks your Akakus Desert permit, you climb up on to a gravel ridge for more high-speed driving, before dropping down halfway along Wadi-Makthandush, over several kilometers of large, uneven black stones that slow you to a crawl. On one side of the Wadi-Makthandush runs a bluff of desert-varnished sandstone, and the whole 12km stretch is home to Petroglyphs (rock carvings), some of which have been dated to 12,000BC, with many between six and eight thousand years old. Wild animals such as elephant, giraffe, hippo and crocodile are depicted, as well as domestic cattle and some formless human bodies dating to a later period. You will see no camel carvings here which may seem strange until you discover that the camel was only introduced to the Sahara around 200BC.

 
   
     
 

 Idhan Murzug

 
     
 

 
     
 

Idehan Murzuq is about 250km south-west of Sebha and perhaps 1,000km south of Tripoli. It can be reached only with a reliable 4WD vehicle. It is the flower of the dessert. It is breezy and nice in the morning, hot and sunny at noon. The climate is dry hot in summer and cold and dry in winter. It scarcely rains. The winds are western desert in winter and the southern winds blow in summer. There are the western winds in winter and the southern winds in summer. It lies in a plain area related to Gufra depression from the west. It is surrounded by the desert everywhere.                     It lies 450 KM higher than the sea level north Murzuq sand sea. Historically speaking,  it is the fenced city that was built by Sultan Mohamed Al Fassy in the 14th century. Later it became the commercial and departmental capital of Fezzan province.         The Murzuq consists of wave upon wave of extravagantly shaped dunes, some as high as 200-300 meters. With the sun low in the sky the twilight bathes each angled dune face with its own soft, subtle hue, playing tricks of distance and perspective on your eyes. If you see nothing else of interest during a visit to Libya, these few moments would make the whole trip worthwhile. The erg is very vast and so the ideal place for camping.

 
 

 
     
 

Tadrat-Akakus

 
     
 

 
     
 
 

Tadrat-Akakus is a mountainous region in the southwest of Libya. It is situated near the country's southwest border, east of the city of Ghat. The Akakus is a vast Museum situated in the mountainous region east of Ghat. It is ploughed with a great number of wadis (dried beds of the prehistoric waterways).                     The valleys, whose border rocks are formed by ancient dunes, are divided into various plateaus of several heights covered with grey-black breccias. On the east and southeast side, the Tadrat is a steep slope formed of scattered rocks, headlands, pathways and turrets which barely stand out from the rubble and debris. The biggest wadi on the exit of the Tadrat is named Takhisset, a mass of sand dunes forces its path north between the Erg and the Akakus where it consequently takes its names of wen Eillel, wen Kassa and Taita; their tracks leave themselves between the dunes in front of the Ubari Erg. It is a very wonderful region and known for its sand stone rocks that reflects the development of human societies and the fauna such as elephant and giraffe which used to roam in the Sahara. Wadi-Tashwint is one of the major Wadis of the Akakus. It is about 60 kilometers long with innumerable side Wadis leading off. It is popular not only for its scenery but for its concentration of caves with some of the better examples of Akakus caves carvings and cave paintings. It is likely that you will encounter another group in this Wadi. Akakus is a natural museum that offers gorgeous desert scenery of cave paintings and drawings up to 12,000 years old. The scenes depict hunting, festivities, wild and domesticated animals and love making. They suggest there were a higher rainfall and more temperate climate here in the past. Cave paintings and carvings of various styles are scattered throughout almost all the valleys, representing the various cultural groups that lived there during those long periods of prehistory, the engravings on the rocks representing animal life around 12,000 B.C. Various European experts have studied these paintings and carvings, but it was Professor Fabrizio Mori who succeeded in clearly distinguishing the different periods represented:  

  • Carvings on the rock face depicting the outline of large animals from the African savannah (around 12,000 B.C.).

  • African savannah (around 12,000 B.C.).

  • stylized paintings using yellow, green and red pigments of asexual figures with rounded heads, shown by using carbon-14 to have been produced some 8000 years B.C.

  • Polychromatic representations of bovine animals and Mediterranean-type human figures (around 4000 B.C.).

  • representations of horses and carts dated at 1500 B.C., believed to refer to the Garamantes tribes mentioned by Herodotus.

  • Monochromic paintings corresponding to the introduction of camels into North Africa at the beginning of the Christian era.

 
 
     
 
 

 

 

 
 
   
     
 

The Great Sand Sea

 
     
 
 

Nature has nothing to show but beauty, when the blue sky and the yellow ground merge together to form a fascinating view of sand sea that stretches to thousands of square miles. It's the Libyan desert. One of the greatest places in the world.   It has features of real beauty Mountains, oases surrounded by palm trees are found in this breathtaking place. Temperatures range between 30-50c.Creatures such as snakes, scorpions, lizards and rodents are observed. Animals like gazelles, hyenas and camels are also present. It's an unforgettable moment when you ride a camel and take a short journey between the infinite sand sea. Morzug desert is one of the most beautiful deserts, not only in Libya but in whole Africa. It's located in the south west of Libya and made up of Idehan Morzug (sandy desert) and Hammadat Morzug (rocky desert). Idehan Morzeg is marked by sand dunes and covers an area of 36,000 square miles. The rocky desert of Hammadat Morzeq lies west and northwest of the sandy desert. The Sahara desert of Libya is a real evidence of the stunning nature. Mountains such as Tibesti, Awinat

 
 

and Tadrart Acacus cover a huge area of the Sahara. Engravings and cave paintings are found in these mountains. It's a worthwhile journey, when you look at the infinite landscape and find yourself surrounded by sand dunes that ran in straight lines for hundreds of miles. It's a real adventure and time to discover the hidden secrets of nature.

 
 

 
     
 

Al-Awinat

 
     
 

 

At one time it was told that Al Awinat was an ancient qasr left to ruin, and the French explorer Duveyrier attributed its construction to the Garamentes. A lost oasis with a great tree in the middle, where a spring of considerable volume rises from the surprisingly fertile, somewhat salty ground. The smaller water canals flowed to irrigate the crops of cereals grown at that time, and this is probably the reason why the Arabs called this place Al Awinat (the springs).

 
 

 
     
 

Ghat

 
     
 
 

 

 

 
 
     
 

It is a little higher than the other bottoms of Kokemn mount. It lies between 25 latitude northward and 10 longitudes eastward. It is 697 KM higher than the sea level. The word Ghat was soght to be derived from the word Rabsa, the greatest desert city. It was mentioned by the Roman historian Plinus who lived from 22-79 BC. The Turkish book by Abdel Kader Gamy mentions that the remains of the city in the northern plateau prove that it belongs to the Roman monuments. Plinus said that the campaign led by Palbus in the year 19 BC, against the Germants reached Ghat. It was also mentioned by Ibn Batoutta, the famous Arabian Explorer in his famous trip in the middle of the 14th century AD. It was mentioned in the book of, Tasily portraits, that the area was very important as represented in the engravings dating back to 5000 years BC. Some say that the remains date back to the old Germants civilization. Aghram and Sharoun are deemed the oldest parts of the city. There are Roman remains of the ancient houses beside the engravings dating back to more than 5000 years BC. Others say that those monuments are attributed to the Germants civilization. Agram and Shern are deemed the oldest oarts. It is thought to be built over the debris of the old Ghat. There is the ancient mosque and Ishly aqure the town center surrounded with a fence with four gates. It has been the tie between  the center of Africa to the north. It became a station for caravans through different paths.

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   
 

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