(Garama)

The ruins of Germa are located in southern Libya, 160 km south-west of Sebha. It was founded by the Garamantes, who belonged to a large Libyan tribe, experienced in desert travelling. The ancient Libyans, who used the feather as their symbol, recorded their battles and wars be engraving them on the rocks of the area. The importance of the area as a trade link between central Africa and Mediterranean was similarly recorded, as were beautifully executed war chariots and horse carts.

In Germa, ancient houses, temples and baths carry the distinguished designs of the different civilizations that existed in this land: ancient Egyptian, Carthaginian, Greek and Roman. Other ruins in Germa suggest civilization in the are dating back to 5000 B.C., such as that of Acacus, as evidenced by the coloured drawings in the nearby mountains.

The Garamantes, with the help of their neighbouring tribes, resisted the Roman influence. Their armies reached the fringes of Leptis Magna, hundreds of kilometers to the north. Peaceful relations were not realized until the end of the 2nd century A.D., at the time of Libyan-born Emperor Septimius Severus(193-211 A.D.).

The museum in Tripoli (Al-Matthaf Al-Jamahiri) exhibits the various masterpieces and collections discovered in the area, where the earliest finds data back to the first millennium B.C.