Germa

Germa, known in ancient times as Garama, is an archaeological site in Libya and was the capital city of the Garamantes.

The Garamantes were a Berber people living in the Fezzan in the northeastern Sahara Desert, originating from the Sahara's Tibesti region. Garamantian power climaxed during the 2nd and the 3rd centuries AD, often in conflict with the Roman Empire to the north. Garama had a population of some four thousand and another six thousand living in villages within a 5 km radius.

The Garamantes often conducted raids across Rome's African frontier, the Limes Tripolitanus, and retreat back to the safety of the desert. In 203 the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus launched a campaign deep into the Sahara, capturing Garama, but he abandoned it soon after.

The city was conquered by Uqba ibn Nafi in 49 A.H. (c. 669).

Archaeological work at Germa has most recently been conducted by Prof. David Mattingly's Fazzan Project, which has continued the work of Charles Daniels and Mohammed Ayoub. The Fazzan Project is about to publish the 2nd of 4 planned volumes based on its work.