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Awjila
Awjila (Arabic: أوجلة, Italian: Augila) is an oasis town in the Al Wahat District in the Cyrenaica region of northeastern Libya. Since classical times it has been known as a place where high quality dates are farmed. Since the Arab conquest in the 7th century, Islam has played an important role in the community. The oasis is located on the east-west caravan route between Egypt and Tripoli, Libya, and the north-south route between Benghazi and the Sahel between Lake Chad and Darfur. In the past, it was an important trading center. The people cultivate small gardens using water from deep wells. Recently, the oil industry has become an increasingly important source of employment.
Awjila and the adjoining oasis of Jalu are isolated, the only towns on the desert highway between Ajdabiya, 250 kilometres (160 mi) to the northwest, and Kufra, 625 kilometres (388 mi) to the southeast. An 1872 account describes the cluster of three oases: the Aujilah oasis, Jalloo (Jalu) to the east and Leshkerreh (Jikharra) to the northeast. Each oasis had a small hill covered in date palm trees, surrounded by a plain of red sand impregnated with salts of soda. Among them, the three oases had a population of 9,000 to 10,000 people. The people of the oasis are mainly Berber, and some still speak a Berber-origin language. As of 2005, the Awjila language was highly endangered.
Awjila has a hot desert climate (BWh) according to the Köppen climate classification.
The Awjila (Augila; Αὔγιλα) oasis is mentioned by Herodotus (c. 484 – 425 BC). He describes the nomadic Nasamones who migrated between the coasts of Syrtis Major and the Augila oasis, where they may have exacted tribute from the local people. Herodotus says it was a journey of ten days from the oasis of Ammonium, modern Siwa, to the oasis of Augila.[citation needed] This distance was confirmed by the German explorer Friedrich Hornemann (1772–1801), who covered the distance in nine days, although caravans normally take 13 days. In the summer the Nasamones left their flocks by the coast and travelled to the oasis to gather dates. There were other permanent inhabitants of the oasis.
Strabo writes that Augila resembles the oasis of Ammon, is productive of palm trees, is well supplied with water, and is reached on the fourth day by those directing their course from the recess of the Great Syrtis, from about the neighbourhood of Automala, in the direction of the winter sunrise.
Ptolemy (c. 90 – 168) implies that the Greek colonists had forced the Nasamones to leave the coast and take up residence in Augila. Procopius, writing around 562, says that even in his day sacrifices continued to be made to Ammon and to Alexander the Great of Macedon in two Libyan cities that were both called Augila. He was probably referring to what are now El Agheila on the Gulf of Sirte and the oasis of Awjilah.[citation needed] According to Procopius the temples of the oasis were converted into Christian churches by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I (c. 482 – 565). The 6th-century geographer Stephanus of Byzantium described Augila as a city.
The Arabs launched a campaign against the Byzantine Empire soon after Muhammad died in 632, quickly conquering Syria, Persia and Egypt. After occupying Alexandria in 643, they swept along the Mediterranean coast of Africa, taking Cyrenaica in 644, Tripolitania in 646 and Fezzan in 663.
The region around Awjila was conquered by Sidi ‘Abdullāh ibn Sa‘ad ibn Abī as-Sarḥ. He was a companion of Muhammad and standard bearer, and an important saint. His tomb was established in Awjila around 650. A modern structure has since replaced the original tomb. The Sarahna family, who consider themselves the family of Sidi Abdullah, are the protectors of his tomb. When the Senussi center was established in Awjila in 1872, the Sarahna assumed the role of Islamic teachers.
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Awjila
Awjila (Arabic: أوجلة, Italian: Augila) is an oasis town in the Al Wahat District in the Cyrenaica region of northeastern Libya. Since classical times it has been known as a place where high quality dates are farmed. Since the Arab conquest in the 7th century, Islam has played an important role in the community. The oasis is located on the east-west caravan route between Egypt and Tripoli, Libya, and the north-south route between Benghazi and the Sahel between Lake Chad and Darfur. In the past, it was an important trading center. The people cultivate small gardens using water from deep wells. Recently, the oil industry has become an increasingly important source of employment.
Awjila and the adjoining oasis of Jalu are isolated, the only towns on the desert highway between Ajdabiya, 250 kilometres (160 mi) to the northwest, and Kufra, 625 kilometres (388 mi) to the southeast. An 1872 account describes the cluster of three oases: the Aujilah oasis, Jalloo (Jalu) to the east and Leshkerreh (Jikharra) to the northeast. Each oasis had a small hill covered in date palm trees, surrounded by a plain of red sand impregnated with salts of soda. Among them, the three oases had a population of 9,000 to 10,000 people. The people of the oasis are mainly Berber, and some still speak a Berber-origin language. As of 2005, the Awjila language was highly endangered.
Awjila has a hot desert climate (BWh) according to the Köppen climate classification.
The Awjila (Augila; Αὔγιλα) oasis is mentioned by Herodotus (c. 484 – 425 BC). He describes the nomadic Nasamones who migrated between the coasts of Syrtis Major and the Augila oasis, where they may have exacted tribute from the local people. Herodotus says it was a journey of ten days from the oasis of Ammonium, modern Siwa, to the oasis of Augila.[citation needed] This distance was confirmed by the German explorer Friedrich Hornemann (1772–1801), who covered the distance in nine days, although caravans normally take 13 days. In the summer the Nasamones left their flocks by the coast and travelled to the oasis to gather dates. There were other permanent inhabitants of the oasis.
Strabo writes that Augila resembles the oasis of Ammon, is productive of palm trees, is well supplied with water, and is reached on the fourth day by those directing their course from the recess of the Great Syrtis, from about the neighbourhood of Automala, in the direction of the winter sunrise.
Ptolemy (c. 90 – 168) implies that the Greek colonists had forced the Nasamones to leave the coast and take up residence in Augila. Procopius, writing around 562, says that even in his day sacrifices continued to be made to Ammon and to Alexander the Great of Macedon in two Libyan cities that were both called Augila. He was probably referring to what are now El Agheila on the Gulf of Sirte and the oasis of Awjilah.[citation needed] According to Procopius the temples of the oasis were converted into Christian churches by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I (c. 482 – 565). The 6th-century geographer Stephanus of Byzantium described Augila as a city.
The Arabs launched a campaign against the Byzantine Empire soon after Muhammad died in 632, quickly conquering Syria, Persia and Egypt. After occupying Alexandria in 643, they swept along the Mediterranean coast of Africa, taking Cyrenaica in 644, Tripolitania in 646 and Fezzan in 663.
The region around Awjila was conquered by Sidi ‘Abdullāh ibn Sa‘ad ibn Abī as-Sarḥ. He was a companion of Muhammad and standard bearer, and an important saint. His tomb was established in Awjila around 650. A modern structure has since replaced the original tomb. The Sarahna family, who consider themselves the family of Sidi Abdullah, are the protectors of his tomb. When the Senussi center was established in Awjila in 1872, the Sarahna assumed the role of Islamic teachers.
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