D.J. Mattingly

With the spread of Islamic civilization in the seventh century A.D., the Garamantian kingdom faded, but the city of Germa remained important as a caravan settlement. Its medieval landscape (shown here, compare with photo of oasis of Wadi el-Agial) was dominated by an imposing mudbrick kasbah, or castle. When the first European travelers arrived in Germa in the early 19th century, they found few traces of the region’s past grandeur. The area was sparsely inhabited and a Turkish overlord was using the kasbah to store his date harvest.