Nasamones

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 they hunted Troglodytae referred to as Arabs of south.[2][3] 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.[4][5]

History

There is a story about a young Nasamonian king named Etearchus.[6] who travelled through the Sahara and Libya and discovered the River (possibly Niger River) where they found a Great City, gaining access to gold and Trans-Saharan trade[7][8][9][10][11]

They took their name from Nasamon (Νασάμων), the son of Amphithemis and the nymph Tritonis.[12] while also being ancestors of Zenaga people and Laguatan[13] from translation of an ancient Numidian language inscription. They also practiced Polygamy[14]

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. [15]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 6th century when the emperor Justinian built a church for the Byzantines in Awjila.[16]

It is unknown what became of the Nasamones after that period.

Religion

The Nasamones worshiped a handful of deities:

  • Anzar: the god of rain, sky, and spring, who is sacrificed a bride each year while saying “O God Anzar Give us Water”
  • Sinifere: a god of war, who was also tribal god who helped in peace as well as war
  • Amon: a mythical king and king of the gods, who is associated with divine protection
  • Ausean: a goddess or rain and sky often associated with Virginity and cows[19]

See also

References

  1. ^ Strabo, Geography, §17.3.20
  2. ^ Arrian (1814). Arrian's History of Alexander's Expedition. R. Lea. p. 13.
  3. ^ "Saudi Aramco World : Libya's Forgotten Desert Kingdom".
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ Anthon, Charles (1872). A Classical Dictionary. Harper & brothers.
  6. ^ Rollin, Charles (1829). The History of the Arts and Sciences of the Ancients. Blackie, Fullarton. p. 523.
  7. ^ Lenormant, François (1871). The Student's Manual of Oriental History: Medes and Persians, Phœnicians, and Arabians. J. B. Lippincott & Company.
  8. ^ LEMPRIERE (D.D.), John (1833). A Classical Dictionary ... A new edition, revised and considerably enlarged, by the Rev. T. Smith.
  9. ^ Herodotus (1824). The History of Herodotus, literally tr. by a graduate of the university.
  10. ^ Quatrefages, Armand de; Bréau, Armand de Quatrefages de (1895). The Pygmies. Macmillian and Company.
  11. ^ Lempriere, John (1842). Lempriere's Bibliotheca classica; or, Classical dictionary, re-ed. by E.H. Barker. ed. by C. Anthon.
  12. ^ A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, Nasamon
  13. ^ 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.
  14. ^ Haynes, Denys Eyre Lankester (1965). An archaeological and historical guide to the pre-Islamic antiquities of Tripolitania. Internet Archive. [Tripoli] Antiquities, Museums and Archives of Tripoli, Libya.
  15. ^ Mattingly, David J. (2003-09-02). Tripolitania. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-78283-2.
  16. ^ "The Nasamones of Awjila". livius.org. Livius. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
  17. ^ Syvanne, Ilkka (2015-09-09). Military History of Late Rome 284-361. Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1-84884-855-9.
  18. ^ Bates, Oric (1914). The eastern Libyans. Princeton Theological Seminary Library. London, Macmillan and co., limited.
  19. ^ Bates, Oric (1914). The eastern Libyans. Princeton Theological Seminary Library. London, Macmillan and co., limited.
  20. ^ Bates, Oric (2013-11-05). The Eastern Libyans (1914). Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-24877-1.
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