Ancient Libya

In Greek mythology, Athena was believed to have been of Libyan origins and was therefore nicknamed Athene Tritogeneia ("born of Trito"),^[7] from her birth in Lake Tritonis in North Africa (modern-day Algeria and Tunisia)^[8][a][b][9] where she is considered native to the land.^[10] In this version of the story she is the daughter of Poseidon and Tritonis a Libyan lake nymph.^[c][d] In another version of the story in the same source, they say that she was daughter of Poseidon and Lake Tritonis, and that, being for some reason angry at her father, she gave herself to Zeus, who made her his own daughter, on the other hand some say that she sprang from the forehead of her father Zeus in the same location in North Africa.^[11] According to Herodotus, it is the Libyans who taught Greeks how to ride four-horse chariots^[e],^[12] this is further shown when Mastanbal the prince of Numidia who is well versed in Greek literature.^[13] A sportsman in his youth, the prince took part in chariot races and the Panathenaic Games which only populations whom the greeks considered equal to them culturally and religiously were allowed to participate. Mastanbal was a sportsman who was passionate about horseback riding. He owned a stud farm of purebred horses. Around 168 BC or 164 BC, he won a gold medal for his people in Numidia at the Athens Hippodrome at the Panathenaic Games in the prestigious horse-drawn chariot racing event.^[14]

In Pseudo-Apollodorus, the Greeks proceeded to write of Hyperborea as a place that existed in ancient Libya somewhere within or between the Atlas ranges of North Africa^[f][g] as that was the well-known dwelling place of Atlas as he was enduring punishment by Zeus, he was visited by Herakles as well as Perseus in North Africa^[g]. This coincides exactly with North Africans being well known for their worship of their sun god 'Tafukt' or commonly identified by the Greeks as Apollo^[h] they were believed to inhabit a sunny, temperate, and divinely-blessed land. The oldest myths portray them as the favorites of Apollo, and some ancient Greek writers regarded them as the mythical founders of Apollo's shrines at Delos and Delphi.^[15] Masinissa received a golden crown from the inhabitants of Delos as he had offered them several shiploads of grain to the temple of Apollo in Delos the famous birthplace of the sun god and his twin sister Artemis.^[i][16]

Berbers are native to North Africa and have established their culture for thousands of years alongside the Egyptians. Egypt today contains the Siwa Oasis, which borders Libya at the Western Desert. The Siwi language, one of the Berber languages, is still spoken in the area by around 21,000 people. Their ancient Egyptian neighbors referred to the various Libyan groups and tribes as the Tehenu, Temehu, Rebu and Meshwesh.

Homer names Libya, in the Odyssey (IX.95; XXIII.311). Homer used the name in a geographic sense, while he called its inhabitants "Lotus-eaters". After Homer, Aeschylus, Pindar, and other ancient Greek writers used the name. Herodotus (1.46) used Λιβύη Libúē to indicate the African continent; the Líbues proper were the light-skinned North Africans, while those south of Egypt (and Elephantine on the Nile) were known to him as "Aethiopians";^[20] this was also the understanding of later Greek geographers such as Diodorus Siculus, Strabo...etc, amongst other writers.

In the Hellenistic period, the native Berbers were known collectively as Libyans to the Greco-Roman world,^[21] a Greek term for the inhabitants of the Maghreb, they identified the Massylii, the Masaessyli, the Gaetuli, the Phareusiens and the Mauri.

Libyans were known far and wide as glorious warriors with extraordinary physical strength; they were efficient in battle and effective when combined with an army. They were either employed as mercenaries or were made part of an army as was the case with Numidian cavalry. Polybius first mentions Numidian cavalry as part of the Carthaginian army during the First Punic War.^[22] In the ranks of both Roman Empire and Ancient Carthage, they completely overturned the tide of battle in Cannae for Hannibal and Battle of Zama for Scipio Africanus. Virgil speaks of the Libyans in this way: "The surrounding lands are Libyan, a race unbeatable in war."^[23]

After the Egyptians, the Greeks, Romans, and Byzantines mentioned various other tribes in Libya. Later tribal names differ from the Egyptian ones, but probably, some tribes were named in the Egyptian sources, as well as the later ones. Scholars believe the Meshwesh are the people called the Mazyes by Hektaios and Maxyes by Herodotus, while it was called "Mazaces" and "Mazax" in Latin sources. All those names are similar to the name used by the Berbers for themselves, such as Imazighen.^[24]

Late-period sources give more detailed descriptions of Libya and its inhabitants. The ancient historian Herodotus describes Libya and the Libyans in his fourth book, The Libyan Book. Writers such as Pliny the Elder, Diodorus Siculus, and Procopius also contributed to what is now primary source material on ancient Libya and the Libyans.

The name is based on the ethnonym Libu (Ancient Greek: Λίβυες Líbyes, Latin: Libyes). The name Libya (in use since 1934 for the modern country formerly known as Tripolitania and Barca) was the Latin designation for the region of the Maghreb, from the Ancient Greek (Attic Greek: Λιβύη Libúē, Doric Greek: Λιβύᾱ Libúā). In Classical Greece, the term had a broader meaning, encompassing the continent that later (second century BC) became known as Africa, which, in antiquity, was assumed to constitute one third of the world's land mass, Europe and Asia combined making up the other two thirds.

The name Libya is of Tebu origin, derived from the word for north, Yala. This term is composed of two parts: Ya, which literally means "waters," and La, meaning "northerners." Together, these two terms form a single word meaning "north." Individually, La and Li carry the specific meanings of "northerners" and "northerner," respectively, while also serving as indicators for the direction "north." For example, when La or Li appears in a place name, it denotes a northern location; when it appears in the name of an ethnic group, it indicates that the people are either currently located in the north or originate from the north. The element Ya has layered meanings such as "people," "inhabitants," "descendants" or "waters people" when combined with another word. For example, Tehenya means "the inhabitants of Tehenu." Historically, the Egyptians used the name Tehenu to refer to the region west of the Nile Delta. In the Tebu language, Tehenu means "Southern Land," derived from Te ("land") and enu ("south"), a construction also seen in names like Arkenu (Arken a tree used to grow there and plus enu). The "h" in Tehenu arises naturally through pronunciation. Following this linguistic logic, Temehu translates to "Eastern Land." ^[25] In this specific context, it refers to "waters people," which can denote sea, river, or lake people. A clear parallel is found in the ancient Nubian group Yam, interpreted as Ya ("waters") plus M ("people"), meaning "river people" in reference to the Nile. When combined with the term bi (or be), meaning "big," the name Libya is understood as "the big northern waters people" that's "the big northern sea people." Historically, this name was applied to the Rebu group who descended upon the Tehenu (Tebu's ancestors) in Northern Egypt. This occurred because the Rebu were the leading group among the Berber groups at that time.^[26][27]

The Libu are attested since the Late Bronze Age as inhabiting the region (Egyptian R'bw, Punic: 𐤋𐤁𐤉‎ lby). The oldest known documented references to the Libu date to Ramesses II and his successor Merneptah, pharaohs of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt, during the 13th century BC. LBW appears as an ethnic name on the Merneptah Stele to designate Libyans.^[28]

Menelaus had travelled there on his way home from Troy; it was a land of wonderful richness, where the lambs have horns as soon as they are born, where ewes lamb three times a year and no shepherd ever goes short of milk, meat or cheese.

When the Ancient Greeks actually settled in Libya, the old name taken from the Egyptians was applied by the Greeks of Cyrenaica, who may have coexisted with the Libu.^[29] Later, the name appeared in the Hebrew language, written in the Bible as Lehabim and Lubim, indicating the ethnic population and the geographic territory as well. In the neo-Punic inscriptions, it was written as Lby for the masculine noun, and Lbt for the feminine noun of Libyan.^{[citation needed]}

Latin absorbed the name from Greek and the Punic languages. The Romans would have known them before their colonization of North Africa because of the Libyan role in the Punic Wars against the Romans. The Romans used the name Líbues, but only when referring to Barca and the Libyan Desert of Egypt. The other Libyan territories were called "Africa", which were Roman provinces.

Classical Arabic literature called Libya Lubya, indicating a speculative territory west of Egypt.^{[clarification needed]} Modern Arabic uses Libya. The Lwatae, the tribe of Ibn Battuta,^[30] as the Arabs called it, was a Berber tribe that mainly was situated in Cyrenaica. This tribe may have ranged from the Atlantic Ocean to modern Libya, however, and was referred to by Corippius as Laguatan; he linked them with the Maures. Ibn Khaldun's Muqaddimah states Luwa was an ancestor of this tribe. He writes that the Berbers add an "a" and "t" to the name for the plural forms. Subsequently, it became rendered as Lwat.

Conversely, the Arabs adopted the name as a singular form, adding an "h" for the plural form in Arabic. Ibn Khaldun disagrees with Ibn Hazam, who claimed, mostly on the basis of Berber sources, that the Lwatah, in addition to the Sadrata and the Mzata, were from the Qibts (Egyptians). According to Ibn Khaldun, this claim is incorrect because Ibn Hazam had not read the books of the Berber scholars.^[31]

Oric Bates, a historian, considers that the name Libu or LBW would be derived from the name Luwatah^[32] whilst the name Luwatah is a derivation of the name Libu.^{[clarification needed]} Furthermore, Bates considered all the Libyan tribes to be a single civilization around 3000 BC^[33] united under central Libu and Meshwesh control.^[34][35]

The ancient Libu and Meshwesh plundered west into Zawyet Umm El Rakham, which allowed them trade with Mycenaeans, Cyprus, Levant and the Aegean people. The Mycenaean Greek in specific seemed to have clashed with the Libyans.^[36][37]

Compared with the history of Egypt, historians know little about the history of Libya, as there are few surviving written records. Information on ancient Libya comes from archaeological evidence and historic sources written by Egyptian scribes, as well as the ancient Greeks, Romans, and Byzantines, and later from Arabs of Medieval times.

Since the Neolithic, the climate of North Africa has become drier over time. A reminder of the desertification of the area is provided by megalithic remains, which occur in great variety of form and in vast numbers in presently arid and uninhabitable wastelands:^{[citation needed]} dolmens and circles akin to Stonehenge, cairns, underground cells excavated in rock, barrows topped with huge slabs, and step-pyramid-like mounds.^{[citation needed]} Most remarkable are the trilithons, some still standing, some fallen, which occur isolated or in rows, and consist of two squared uprights standing on a common pedestal that supports a huge transverse beam.^{[citation needed]} In the Terrgurt valley, Cowper says: "There had been originally no less than eighteen or twenty megalithic trilithons, in a line, each with its massive altar placed before it".^{[38][citation needed]}

In ancient times, the Phoenicians/Carthaginians, the Saite Egyptians, the Persian Achaemenid Empire (see Libya (satrapy)), the Macedonian Empire of Alexander the Great and his Ptolemaic successors from Egypt ruled variously parts of Libya. With the Roman conquest, the entire region of present-day Libya became part of the Roman Empire. Following the fall of the Empire, Vandals, and local representatives of the Byzantine Empire also ruled all or parts of Libya. The territory of modern Libya had separate histories until Roman times, as Tripoli and Cyrenaica.

Cyrenaica, by contrast, was Greek before it was Roman. It was also known as Pentapolis, the "five cities" being Cyrene (near the village of Shahat) with its port of Apollonia (Marsa Susa), Arsinoe (Tocra), Berenice (Benghazi) and Barca (Merj). From the oldest and most famous of the Greek colonies, the fertile coastal plain took the name of Cyrenaica.

These five cities were also known as the Western Pentapolis; not to be confused with the Pentapolis of the Roman era on the current west Italian coast.

The exact boundaries of the whole of ancient Libya are unknown, but it likely constituted the western regions of Ancient Egypt in 3100 BC, and was known as "Tjehenu" to the Egyptians.^[39]

Ibn Khaldun, who dedicated the main part of his book Kitab el'ibar, which is known as "The history of the Berbers", did not use the names Libya and Libyans, but instead used Arabic names: The Old Maghreb, (El-Maghrib el-Qadim), and the Berbers (El-Barbar or El-Barabera(h)).

There were many tribes in ancient Libya, including the now extinct Psylli, with the Libu being the most prominent. The ancient Libyans were mainly pastoral nomads, living off their goats, sheep and other livestock. For subsistence, milk, meat, hides and wool were gathered from their livestock for food, pitching tents and as clothing.

Ancient Egyptian sources describe Libyan men with long hair, braided and bearded, neatly parted from different sides and decorated with feathers attached to leather bands around the crown of the head while wearing thin robes of antelope hide, dyed and printed, crossing the shoulder and coming down until mid calf length to make a robe. Older men kept long braided beards, while women wore the same robes as men, plaited, decorated hair and both sexes wore heavy jewelry. Depictions of Libyans in Egyptian reliefs show prominent and numerous tattoos, very similar to traditional Berber tattoos still seen today. Their weapons included bows and arrows, hatchets, spears and daggers.^[40]

The Libyan script that was used in Libya was mostly a funerary script.^[41] It is difficult to understand, and there are a number of variations.^[42]

Ibn Khaldun divided the Berbers into the Batr and the Baranis.^{[43][clarification needed]}

Herodotus divided them into Eastern Libyans and Western Libyans. Eastern Libyans were nomadic shepherds east of Lake Tritonis. Western Libyans were sedentary farmers who lived west of Lake Tritonis.^[44] a catastrophic change reduced the vast body of fresh water to a seasonal lake or marsh.^[45]

Ibn Khaldun and Herodotus distinguish the Libyans on the basis of their lifestyles rather than ethnic background, those practicing agriculture, and the others nomadic pastoralism. Modern historians tend to follow Herodotus's classical distinctions. Examples include Oric Bates in his book The Eastern Libyans. Some other historians have used the modern name of the Berbers in their works, such as the French historian Gabriel Camps.^[46]

The Libyan tribes mentioned by Herodotus include the « Adyrmachidae », « Giligamae », « Gindanes (Ginda) », and the « Lotophagi »—also known as the Lotus-eaters; a tribe of Lotus-eaters was mentioned by Philistus called « Erebidae » and also two tribes recorded by Ptolemy called « Eropaei » (Eroba) and Erebidae).^[47] Other tribes mentioned by Herodotus include the « Auschisae » or « Auschiae » (Auschi); Hecataeus of Miletus and Callimachus also mentioned a Libyan city called « Ausigda » and its tribe called « Ausigdi », which is the same tribe as the Auschisae.^[48] « Garamantes », « Gaetules », « Marmaridae », « Tidamansii » or « Tidamensii » (the suffix n-(sii) means people in Greek) is a group of tribes recorded by Claudius Ptolemy, located them between Tripolitania (west of Gulf of Sirte) and northern Fezzan (see Oric Bates, p. 60, representing Ptolemy’s map).^[49] Carl Müller identified their homeland with « Cidamus » or « Cidamae » modern-day Ghadames, by changing the ethnic group name from its prefix T(i) to C(i) and hence he identified their homeland to Cidamus or Cidamae as noted by Oric Bates (p. 63, line 40) then Oric realised the name how was writtern by Ptolmey with Ti prefex was the correct spelling as Oric noted the plausible Ti- prefix seems against such a correction (p. 63, line 40) ^[50] Ptolemy carefully recorded branches of an ethnic group, treating them at the most detailed ethnic level. He was meticulous and remarkable, and his work allows to learn many African tribes and others that are otherwise unmentioned, providing invaluable insight into antiquity ^[51]

Etymology of « Τιδαμήνσιοι » (Tidamensioi / Tidamensii)

The name « Τιδαμήνσιοι » (Tidamēnsioi in Greek), rendered in English as Tidamensioi (a direct transliteration of the Greek letters) and in Latin as Tidamensii, reflects a typical Greek formation of ethnonyms. The suffix « -σιοι » (-sioi) is a common Ancient Greek gentilic ending used to denote “the people of” or “inhabitants of” a particular place. It functions similarly to English suffixes such as “-an” (e.g., Tripolitan, from Tripoli) or “-er” (e.g., New Yorker).

The ethnonym appears in the work of Claudius Ptolemy, a meticulous geographer and historian. By removing the Greek suffix « -σιοι » (-sioi), the form reduces to Tidame, which, with a natural adjustment of the final vowel from -e to -a, becomes Tidama, indicating an underlying place name.

A. H. Augustus Henry Keane regarded the Tibu as descendants of the Garamantes and identified the Tedamansii a branch of the Garamantes (Keane 1920, p. 473).^[52] This interpretation has been disputed by later scholars, particularly within colonial-era scholarship of the 1950s, who instead associate the Garamantes primarily with Berber-speaking populations.

From a linguistic standpoint, removing the suffix -nsii from Tidamensii yields Tidame which, with a natural vowel adjustment, becomes Tidama—as a place name meaning "The Place of Tida." The Greek form Τιδαμήνσιοι would therefore signify "The People of Tidama," corresponding to modern Ghadames, a corruption of the original name Tidama. This aligns with standard Greek ethnographic naming conventions. This connection is also supported by Oric Bates, who noted that the Ti- prefix is the correct form (p. 63, line 40), alongside the emendation proposed by C. Müller identifying the Tidamensii’s homeland.^[49] Garama, the capital of the Garamantes, means "The Place of Gara."^[53]

In the Tebu language, Gara means "Ga-speakers." the language of Tebu Tidaga and Dazaga is Ga. When you take Tidaga and add the suffix -ra (meaning speakers), it becomes Tidagara. If you remove the prefix "Tida," you are left with Ga + ra, which means "Ga-speakers" (Gara). The same applies to Dazagara, a term still in use today: Dazaga + ra means Dazaga-speakers. When "Daza" is removed, it again yields Ga + ra (Gara). This is the core of the Tebu identity. This linguistic connection is further evidenced by the Tebu sultanate tribe, the Tamagara (Tumagara), which also retains the -gara root. The word Ma has layered and under this system, the inhabitants of the town of Tidama would also be referred to collectively as Tidama means "people of Tidama", while an individual would be called a Tidami or Tidame which means "a person from Tidama" (Ghadames). The name Tidama was corrupted into Cidamus (or Cidamum) during the Roman invasion of the Fezzan led by Cornelius Balbus in 20 BC. When the Latin suffixes -us and -um are removed, it yields Cidam, where the original prefix T- and the ending -a are missing. Despite these changes, the root remains identifiable: Cidam signifies "The Place of Cida."

In this structure, Da means people while Ci has no meaning. By replacing the corrupted C with the original T, the name is restored to Tida, as noted by Oric Bates (p. 60, line 40). The same rule applies to the variant Cydamus (Cydamum): by restoring the T and adjusting the vowel y to i, it returns to the original form, Tida (Tyda).

Historically, the Tamagara (or Tumagara) were recorded by Pliny as the Tamaigi, though some sources contain the corrupted form Nanaagi. While Tamagara represents the plural, the singular forms—Tamagaré, Tamagari, or Tamaghari—were often shortened in classical records to Tamagé (or Tamagi). This pattern of recording Garamantian groups by their singular or abbreviated names is common, as seen with the Tidamensii. A similar linguistic shift appears in the toponym Zizama ("The Place of Ziza"), where the inhabitants were also called Zizama, though the name was occasionally corrupted to Zizaia or Cizania. Furthermore, Matelgae (more accurately Matelgé) signifies "the northern place of Magé." Magé is one of Tebu's tribes. Oric (p. 68) identifies them as the Magemburi, noting they are among the six African peoples listed by the Roman geographer Vibius Sequester—who originally classified them among the Libyan nations (North Africa) the same tribe as Magé who are the same origin as Tamagé.^[54][55] Begé in this context Gé means "the big place of Gé tongue (Gara)" like Béja in Tunisia correctly Bega means "the big place of Gâ (Gara)" and Ghat an oasis in Fazzan is a Tebu term which means "the land of Gâ (Gara)"

This pattern is consistent with how Greek authors adapted foreign names: a base toponym was combined with a gentilic suffix to produce a collective ethnic designation. Thus, « Τιδαμήνσιοι » (Tidamensii) reflects both the preservation of an indigenous name and its integration into Greek linguistic structure.

Some Latin sources also record related forms such as « Tautameus » (Tudameu-s), « Tautameos » (Tudameu-s), and « Tautamei » (Tudami). Bates (p. 65, footnote 6) suggested that these are corruptions of a lost original Greek form, written as « Τανταμαίους » (Tautamaio(us)), more correctly rendered as Taudamu(us). By recognizing the characteristic Greek accusative plural ending, he demonstrated that these Latin records were copied from earlier Greek sources that are now lost.^[56] Some Latin chronicles also refer to them as Syrtic peoples, Τανταμαῖοι (Taudamaîoi), indicating that they were living in Tidama (Ghadames) and Gulf of Sirte. This Garamantian group's name also appears in related forms such as « Tautamona » (Tudamona), another magnified variants of their name.^[57]« Halagues or Hilagues» (Hallagu), poorly written in some sources as « Ilaguas », « Haliardi » recoreded by Ptolemy^[58], « Austuriani (Austuri) who also known as Ausuriani (Ausuri) »^[59] Additional tribes include the « Macae», pronounced as Makaï, Makiiê, or Makayi. Claudius Ptolemy recorded two tribes, the « Macae »—the same as those mentioned by Herodotus—and the « Macatutae » (Macatu), apparently the same tribe under different names, similar to the case of Eropaei (Erobae) and Erebidae).^[60] The ancient North African groups, the Tehenu and Temehu, are the direct ancestors of the Garamantes. The Gaetules and Marmaridae were also Gara people (Garamantes) under different names, as were the above peoples, who are the ancestors of the Tebu (Tebu also known as Gara’an), a name ascribed to them through their Garamantian heritage.^[25]

« Asbys(tae) or Asby(tae)», Hecataeus of Miletus recorded a tribe called « Zebyt(tis) » (Sebyt(tis)), which corresponds to the « Asbystae » mentioned by Herodotus and to the « Esbet »a tribe of Rebu known from ancient Egyptian sources, as noted by Oric Bates. A tribe mentioned by Philistus called the « Elbestioi » in Libya was also considered by Bates to be the same as the « Asbystae » or « Esbet » and these may also be related to the Sultanate of Aïr, also known as « Asben » or « Asbine »« Atarantians », Bacale (Bakale) or Kabale, « Machiles », « Auseans », « Maxyes » or (Mazyes), « Zaueces », and « Gyzentes »—the latter recorded by Hecataeus of Miletus as « Zygantes ». As noted by Oric Bates, the letter G is generally absent in Berber, and he therefore considered « Byzantes » to be the correct form; however, the reading « Zygantes » (Zigana or Zighna) appears to preserve the more accurate form.^{[61][62][63][64]} « Nasamones », which may correspond to the « Mastinoi » mentioned by Philistus,^[64] since the Greeks also referred to the Nasamones as «  Mesammones  », as noted by Pliny the Elder.^[65] « Mauri » also known as Maurusii, « Luwatae », as well as many others.^[46][40]

• Libya (daughter of Epaphus)
• History of North Africa
• North Africa during classical antiquity
• Necropolis of Cyrene