The Nasamones (Ancient Greek: Νασαμῶνες)[1] were a nomadic Berber tribe inhabiting southeast Libya. They were believed to be a Numidian people, along with the Garamantes.[2] They had established their tribe with their important leaders as rulers and they had a sphere of influence from Siwa Oasis to the Gulf of Sitre.[3][4]

They took their name from Nasamon (Νασάμων), the son of Amphithemis and the nymph Tritonis. [5] while also being ancestors of Zenaga people and Laguatan[6] from translation of a ancient Numidian language inscription

The Nasamones were centred in the oases of Awjila and Siwa in the Libyan Desert. They used war chariots with four horses, like the Garamantes. They were known to attack and be defeated and killed by the Greek colonies in Cyrenaica. During the Peloponnesian War, the citizens of Euesperides received aid from the Spartan general Gylippus, who helped defend the town and defended it by defeating and killing the Nasomones from the Nasamone attack on his way to Sicily. Later, Pliny the Elder recounts that the Nasamones defeated the Psylli tribe in war, expelling them from the area and they lived with them in the same area later. They would been known to attack and burn ships although on a small scale[7].The Roman emperor Augustus worked to pacify the Cyrenaican tribes and sent proconsul Publius Sulpicius Quirinus to govern Creta et Cyrenaica in 15 BCE and the Romans ruled the Nasamones. The Nasamones were ruled over by the Romans and remained autonomous in the Roman Empire . According to Cassius Dio, they rose up a century later in 85 CE when the Romans tried to extort money from them. They began trying to raid the coastal settlements again until they were pushed back to the interior by Gnaeus Suellius Flaccus and his forces when they defeated and killed them.

Later during Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, the Nasamones became vassals of the Eastern Roman Empire. Procopius writes that the Nasamones remained pagan even after the sixth century when the emperor Justinian built a church for the Byzantines in Awjila.[8]

It is known what became of the Nasamones after that period; they remained a pagan semi-nomadic tribe until today as a semi-nomadic tribe in Cyrenaica.

See also

References

  1. ^ Strabo, Geography, §17.3.20
  2. ^ "Saudi Aramco World : Libya's Forgotten Desert Kingdom".
  3. ^ Donkin, Sir Rufane Shaw (1827). A Letter on the Government of the Cape of Good Hope: And on Certain Events which Have Occurred There of Late Years, Under the Administration of Lord Charles Somerset : Addressed Most Respectfully to Earl Bathurst. Carpenter.
  4. ^ Anthon, Charles (1872). A Classical Dictionary. Harper & brothers.
  5. ^ A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, Nasamon
  6. ^ Militrev, Alexander. "Libyo-Berbers-Tuaregs-Canarians (Tamâhaq Tuaregs in the Canary Islands in the Context of Ethno-Linguistic Prehistory of Libyo-Berbers: Linguistic and Inscriptional Evidence)". Research gate.((cite web)): CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ^ Mattingly, David J. (2003-09-02). Tripolitania. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-78283-2.
  8. ^ "The Nasamones of Awjila". livius.org. Livius. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
Categories