Survival of the Garamantes?

Image from the World History Encyclopedia

We have been perusing the Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West Africa History and the reports and studies by archaeologists and wonder if the Garamantian state, in some form, persisted well into the Islamic era. We know from John of Biclar's chronicle that the Garamantes sent an envoy to the Byzantines in 568, which is after the Vandal Wars and after Justinian, according to Procopius, had built churches and promoted Christianity at Ghadames and among the Berbers in Tropolitania. Even though there is no evidence of conversion to Christianity in the 6th century Fazzan, we know the Byzantines at least reached some of their neighbors. This seems to imply survival of a Garamantian polity to the end of the 500s.

Then we have a period where we know little about the Fazzan until the 660s, when Uqba b. Nafi arrived and imposed tribute on the Fazzan and Kawar. Just using Arabic sources from the medieval period, one finds references to Qaramantiyyun, Qazan, and Fazzani people as "Sudan" ("blacks") who were described as non-Muslims. Reading al-Tabari on the Zanj Revolt in 9th century Iraq, one finds references to people from the Fazzan among the Zanj (black) slaves. Sahnun, in the 800s, also quoted the opinion of Malik ibn Anas on the Fazzanis, implying that they were still non-Muslim blacks in the late 700s (see the fascinating article by Brunschevig on this). Then, al-Ya'qubi referred to the Fazzan region as ruled by a powerful chief who was always at war with the Mazata Berbers in Wadan.

The Mazata were Ibadites, and probably among the slave-traders described by the same author as operating in Zawila and Kawar. My guess is that Waddan and Germa were the centers of two different polities that dominated the region, and in Waddan and Zawila, the Ibadites and their trading network were powerful enough to be the victim of a raid from the Abbasids in c.762-763. Yet, over a century later, another part of the Fazzan region is described as independent. The polity controlling the section of the Fazzan in opposition to the Mazata at Waddan were possibly the Garamantes, whose wars with the Ibadi Mazata would have led to some of them becoming captives sold into slavery abroad.

Further evidence of this Garamantian state surviving longer can be seen in the remnant populations living at Germa and Tassawa described by al-Idrisi. Al-Idrisi seems to have been confused about the political layout of the land in the pre-Islamic era, but he described the people at these two towns using an irrigation system (perhaps the foggara in a far less intensive manner). Perhaps this remnant of the Garamantes engaged in trans-Saharan salt trade, since al-Muqaddasi described the Qaramatiyyun transact with salt. Maybe the Garamantes (or their possible desendants) focused on the salt trade in the southern Fazzan and perhaps Kawar while the Mazata and other Berbers engaged in the slave trade with their Ibadi partners and Kanem and beyond? 

We can state with some degree of certainty that al-Muqqadasi was the last writer to refer to a population called Garamantes (or something approximate). The Garamantes, at least in some form, may have survived as a distinct people until the end of the 10th or early 11th century, and were likely a heterogeneous Berber population. Islamization of Garama and its surroundings appears to have been complete by this time, too, with archaeologists like Mattingly reporting findings of a central mosque in the ancient Garamante capital. 

Christianity and the Garamantes

One topic we hope archaeologists could potentially answer is the possible conversion of the Garamantes to Christianity in the 6th century. We know of at least 4 or 5 6th century sources that refer to Christianity among the Garamantes or with their neighbors, although the most direct source is John of Biclar. John of Biclar, whose chronicle mentioned Garamantian envoys to the Byzantines requesting peace and to become questions, gives a date of 568 or so. However, earlier references in the 6th century hint at a Christian presence among the Garamantes or their neighbors. For instance, Cosmas Indicopleustes, the famous 6th century traveler who is an important source on Aksum during this period, alluded to the land of the Garamantes as one that included churches. 

While Cosmas Indicopleustes may have writing rhetorically to suggest how universal Christianity was, it is interesting that he wrote around 550, several years before the Garamantes sent a delegation to the Byzantine Empire (to the coast or Constantinople?). In addition to these aforementioned writers, Procopius, whose Buildings includes a section on churches and construction in Libya and North Africa during the reign of Justinian. Like the others, Procopius  was writing around the middle of the 6th century, and according to him, the Byzantine Empire promoted Christianity in Ghadames, Augila (including a church for the Mother of God), and among various Berber peoples like the Gadabitani. He rebuilt and refortified cities like Leptis Magna, where he also constructed a chapel in honor of Mary. 

One more 6th century writer of the Roman Empire also alluded, indirectly, to the Garamantes. In his epic on the campaigns of John against the Berbers, Corripus wrote that neighbors of the Garamantes (Nasamonians) were part of the Berber alliance that attacked John. The genre and type of reference used by Corripus here is probably exaggerating the number and diversity of Berber foes John Troglita fought to portray him as a more heroic figure. Nonetheless, we know from earlier incidents that the Garamantes did occasionally participate or join in raids against the Romans on the coast of Libya in earlier centuries. If the Garamantes or their neighbors were involved in the conflict with John Troglita, perhaps it helps explain why they were seeking peace with the Byzantines by 568?

Additional references to the Garamantes in relation to Vandal North Africa (epigrams of Luxorius which reference Garamantes and their dark skin) and the Mediterranean can be found. And The Archaeology of the Fazzan series found evidence of ongoing trade and exchange with the Mediterranean at Garamante sites. However, no evidence of a church has been found at the capital of the Garamantes or any other site. In fact, archaeologists found evidence for the persistence of use of pagan temples. Indeed, Islam itself does not appear to have spread in the capital of the Garamantes for a few centuries after Uqba b. Nafi attacked Garama. Brunschevig also cited evidence that suggests the Fazzanis were pagans in the late 700s. So, what happened? Was Christianization of the Garamantes real or did the distance and realities of Byzantine rule in coastal Libya make it an ineffective mission? Or was the Fazzan already fragmented with a state or chiefdom based at Waddan and, perhaps, Zawila, the real centers of the Fazzan who were more likely to have received an actual church? Was Knut Vikor's theory correct about Qasr Umm Isa in Kawar being Jado (Djado)? If so, perhaps the place name is a testament to that era of 6th century Christian expansion, though we lack any evidence that the Kawar site ever hosted Christians. Besides this speculative theory, references in the early Arabic sources to Egyptians and Rum on an oasis route that connected Egypt to areas of the western Sudan may hint at contacts with Copts and Byzantines in the desert via Fazzan and Kawar. 

The Golden Age of the Garamantes

This week's episode from the History of Africa Podcast is a fascinating one on the Golden Age of the Garamantes. And yes, it would be "cool" if the language of the Garamantes was a Nilo-Saharan one written with proto-tifinagh. The theory of a Garamantes connection with populations in the Tibetsi, Kawar, and later Kanem is certainly an intriguing one, as is the worship of Amun by the Garamantes possibly finding an echo in later customs of the Zaghawa and Kanem states.