GHADAMES DESERT OF LIBYA

Ghadames - The Pearl of The Desert
10/03/2007

One of the best-known municipalities of Libya is Ghadames. It is an oasis town 683 km. Southwest of Tripoli that has a population of about 20,000 (2005 estimate), next to the borders of Tunisia and Algeria. The old part of the town was surrounded by a wall. Today it is one of the best preserved of Arab towns in Libya. It has been declared World Heritage of the UNESCO.

The Ghadames population is composed of groups of people of Arab origin and other groups of ancient Libyan source. They speak Arabic which the Arab Muslim Leader Ugba ibn-Naafa’ brought with him to the city when he conquered it twice in the 7th century A.D.). The inhabitants also speak a sort of a vernacular language that is common today among the indigenous people of Ghadames. They are, of course Libyans.

Ghadames is recognized for its beautiful and inventive architecture, designed to fight the dramatic extremes in Saharan climate.

All houses are made out of mud, lime, and palm tree trunks. They are constructed so that all intersect, with covered alleyways between them, and attached roofs above them, allowing passage from one house to another.

The streets are both dark and with far lower temperatures than what one would find outdoors. It is a town that distinguishes itself by its shape and appearance; both extraordinary.

It is composed of several quarters that used to be inhabited by different family groups. The houses also are virtually part of a troglodyte world. Most families in the new town still own their house in the old town and it is possible to visit one or two of them today.

Rooftops were interconnected by walkways used only by womenfolk to meet each other. Unless accompanied by men belonging to the family women were never seen in the alleys of the old town.

Ghadames stands still as one of the most valuable spots in Libya for the traveller. Here one finds a tranquil old city with the colour white chosen for the building.

This town represents popular engineering, and is the result of a complex knowledge on how to deal with extreme temperatures. The positioning of the houses is far from casual. Every angle, every wall, every opening in the roofs over the alleyways, are parts of the same organism.

While the entire population has moved out of the old town to the modern nearby village, the old centre still provides a popular shelter from the summer heat.

Each of the seven clans that used to live in old part of the town had its own district, of which each had a public place where festivals could be held.

In the 1970s, the government built new houses outside of the old part of the town. However, many inhabitants return to the old part of the town during the summer, as its architecture provides better protection against the heat.

The first records about Ghadames exist not before the Roman period, when from time to time there were troops in the town. The Roman name for the town was Cydamus.

So the history of this oasis town is thought to go back some 5000 years. It owes its origins to the copious fresh water that till recent years kept the oasis full. For two centuries it was a Roman outpost and the people of the Byzantine Empire converted he Berbers to Christianity.

They stayed that way until the 7th Century when Muslim Arabs armies arrived and the population quickly converted to Islam.

For centuries Ghadames has been an important trading town and in the 19th century played an important role as base for the Trans-Saharan trade.

The economic base for Ghadames has been dwindling over the ears. Earlier the town was an important stopover on the caravan routes crossing the Sahara. through the Sahara, including slavery, originating from and ended their journey there. The market was rich in produce from all areas of Africa and the Mediterranean countries.

This commercial activity brought substantial wealth to this beautiful Libyan oasis, known as the pearl of the desert.

Today’s income for the inhabitants is derived from some camel breeding, diminutive agriculture and administrative and military activities. Tourism too could and should revive, and become even greater than it was in the colonial period.

The inhabitants of Ghadames, (Cydamae in the Roman times), are the Touareg lovers of freedom and liberty. People loved to hear the still of the night being broken by the music of a simple cane flute: or to attend the scene of a curtain of silence being lifted by the artistic fingers of a Bedouin woman playing a beautiful tune on strings attached to a small leather-coated drum: or the uproar of a tumuli on the dance ring with the songs of the Touareg.

Ghadames Oasis has its own framework of customs and habits, and its own social ways of life. The existence of a water spring endowed on its special attraction and gave it vital life arteries. Thus, it became one of the most important commercial stations for merchants’ caravans.

Legend has it that the name GHADAMES has an interesting story behind it. It is said that a long time before the town was given its name, a caravan passing through a valley decided to have lunch.

When it was all over, packed their belongings and left the spot, a member of the caravan noticed that one of the cooking utensils was missing. At this he exclaimed: “we forgot them at Ghadames (meaning: We left them at yesterday’s lunch.

In Arabic ‘Ghada’ means lunch and ‘ams’ means in Arabic means ‘Yesterday’. Therefore, ‘Gha-dames’ means yesterday’s lunch. But by chance, the Roman name “Gyadamae” has been transformed to “Ghadames”.

It is just a legend, for Ghadames took its name from a distortion of its original name, ‘Cydamus’. Its present name has no relation with (Ghada - Arabic for lunch).

It is possible to visit Ghadames in one day from Tripoli but it takes 14 hours of driving. A two or three-day trip is much better allowing time to visit Nalut, al-Kabaw or Yfren along the way.

(The Tripoli Post)