which identified them as Garamantians. Almost 20 years later in 1933, French archaeologist Pierre Belair discovered the mind-bending number of 100,000 tombs in the vicinty of Garama.

Known by its modern appellation--Germa--the ancient Garamantian capital city of Garama is located in the region of modern Libya dubbed the Fezzan, an arabiscised rendering of "Phazania", the ancient world's name for the region. The Garamantian realm, according to the historian Herodotus, was "a kingdom larger than Europe" defended by warriors "who chased the Ethiopian troglodytes" for sport in their battle chariots. Images of these vehicles have survived the passing of centuries on the stone walls of canyons and desert massifs, particularly Djebel Zenkekra. Images stretching even farther back into the historical record can be found at this location: 7000 years ofit, even as the Sahara became less and less hospitable, with grass growing too scarce to support horses and cattle. The Garamantians and their four-hourse chariots belong to the period marked between 1250 and 1000 B.C.E., and have been identified by some as "Peoples of the Sea" who assaulted Pharaonic Egypt from the Eastern Mediterranean. When their plans were thwarted, this warlike culture may have settled in Phazania, west of Egypt.

The Garamantians also receive a curious mention in a 16th century book called Reloj de Principes and written by Spanish chronicler Antonio de Guevara (1480-1545). Chapter 22 of said work bears the title "Of how the Great Alexander, after defeating King Darius in Asia, went on to conquer Great India and of what happened with the Garamantes..." Guevara