Germa

Germa was Garama, capital of the Garamantes, a people who ran a state in the Fezzan from around the first millennium BC by cutting foggaras, underground channels tapping the water table and running it for kilometres to the fields, on a scale that supported a substantial population in the middle of the Sahara. The mud-brick city survives with its streets and buildings, and tombs are spread across the plain around it.

History

Germa and the Garamantes are named after their mythical founder, Garamas. Garamantian power peaked in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, when Garama had some four thousand people, with another six thousand in villages within 5 km (Wikipedia, Germa).

What you'll find

• The mud-brick city - the streets and buildings of the Garamantian capital.
• The foggara system - the underground channels that made the state possible.
• The tombs - the burials spread across the plain around the site.
• The Wadi al-Ajal setting - the valley the Garamantian settlements ran along.

When to go

November to March is the workable season. Summer in the Fezzan is extremely hot. Sand and wind affect visibility in spring.

Things to know

Mud brick erodes fast and the site has deteriorated. There is little interpretation. Travel in Libya requires arrangements through a licensed operator, and the Fezzan is remote.

Nearby

Wadi Mathendous is south, and Ubari is west.