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The first towns in the central Sahara

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

D. J. Mattingly and
M. Sterry
D. J. Mattingly
Affiliation:
*School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
M. Sterry
Affiliation:
*School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
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Abstract

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At first sight Saharan oases appear unlikely locations for the development of early urban communities. Recent survey work has, however, discovered evidence for complex settlements of the late first millennium BC and early first millennium AD, surrounded and supported by intensive agricultural zones. These settlements, despite their relatively modest size, satisfy the criteria to be considered as towns. The argument presented here not only presents the evidence for their urban status but also argues that it was not agriculture but trade that conjured them into existence. Without the development of trans-Saharan trade, these complex oasis communities would have been unsustainable, and their subsequent economic fortunes were directly linked to the fluctuating scale and direction of that trade.

Keywords

LibyaFazzanOld JarmaGaramantesurbanismtownstrans-Saharan tradeirrigation

Information

Type
Research article
Information
Antiquity , Volume 87 , Issue 336 , 1 June 2013, pp. 503 - 518
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd. 2013

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