Marmarika

The Romans began to call the region Marmarika, probably from the period of late antiquity by the name of the Marmarids living there, who often opposed them in wars.

• Ancient history of the region - see. Ancient Libya .
• I century BC er - IV c. n er - This area is under the authority of the Roman Empire and it is beginning to be called Marmarika. It was part of the province of Egypt , and after the reforms of the administrative division, the province of Lower Libya was formed on its territory as part of the diocese Vostok , and later the diocese of Egypt , which was part of the prefecture East .
• 395 - when the Roman Empire was divided into Western and Eastern , it remained to exist as a province of Lower Libya in the Eastern Roman Empire .
• con VI century. - entered the Egyptian Exarchate (a new form of administration in the Byzantine Empire).
• beginning VII century. - The Persian Sassanid state seized power in the region, conquering neighboring Egypt, and after them a wave of Arab conquest rolled over Egypt, and then Libya.
• history of the region from the VII century. - see Libya and Egypt (modern states).

Current position

The western part of Marmarika was located in the north-east of the territory corresponding to the modern state of Libya (the municipalities of El Butnan , partially El Wahat and Ajdabiya ), and the eastern part of Marmarika corresponds to the north-west of modern Egypt (north-west of the Matruh governorate ).

Coastline

The country is washed by the Libyan Sea ( lat. Libycum mare ) - this name is informally used to this day. But the Libyan Sea, stretching from the Gulf of Big Sirt to the island of Crete , somewhere in the Maramariki region has a conditional border with the Egyptian Sea ( lat. Aegyptium pelagus ), which allows some ancient authors to state that the country is washed by the Egyptian Sea ^[1] . Strabo defined the length of the Marmarika coastline at 2,200 stages (about 400 km) and described it this way: “[...] sailing along the coast is not easy at all, because there are few harbors, anchorages, settlements and water bodies” ^[2] .

Small islands off the coast are mentioned: Aphrodisias and Platea ^[3] .

Relief

Low bare chains of rocks - the Libyan Mountains ( ancient Greek. Τò Λιβυκòν 'όρoς , lat. Libyci montes , modern Jebel Silfili ridge ), which from the west fringed the Nile valley in Egypt, gradually moving into a low ridge of cliffs connecting to the north -West with the Barka Plateau in Cyrenaica. In the triangle between this ridge ( Baskis Mountains ), the coast and the delta of the Nile River lies the Libyan Plateau , on which most of Marmarika's territory was located ^[4] . The plateau heights are 300–600 m. ^[5] In the southeast, Mount Asif, and beyond the region’s borders, just south of the Baskis Mountains, small cliffs are the Anagombra Mountains ^[1] .

The fertile coast is not very different from similar places in the Mediterranean, and in the inner regions of the country dry, flat plains dominate, turning into the barren Libyan desert . Sandy ridges, tens and hundreds of kilometers in length, reach a height of 300 m ^[5] .

In the desert in the hollows of the plateau are areas of fertile soil - oases. Thus, in the south-west of Marmarika, it came into contact with the oasis of Avgila , and in the southeast with the oasis Ammonium (τον Άμμώνιον) ^[6] . Avgila is 4 days east of the Great Sirte Bay, it was usually uninhabited, but nomads came here during the harvest of dates ^[2] . The oasis area is referred to as quite fertile:

“[...] This area is similar to Ammonium: there are overgrown palms and plenty of water; it extends over Cyrenaica towards the south and at a distance of 100 stages it is tree-rich, up to 100 other stages it has only crops, although it does not produce rice due to dryness. Above this country is the region producing the sylphs ; then there is an uninhabited area [...] "

- Strabo (Geography. Book XVII.)

There was an Ammonium oasis 10 days south of Augila, 5 days south of the coast and 12 days west of the city of Memphis . Had a length of 40 stages (about 7.5 km) and the same in width, was fertile, rich in trees (palm trees), water sources and salt deposits. This oasis was constantly inhabited (in some periods there even existed an independent state).

The Oagis of Avgil was referred by the ancient authors to Marmarik (although its territorial majority was in Cyrenaica), the Ammonium oasis was considered a separate region.

Climate

Now this region is a sandy steppe with a narrow strip of cultivated land along the sea. In ancient times, the natural conditions were probably milder and the strip of fertile land was much wider.

On the coast, one of the types of subtropical climate is the Mediterranean climate , more precisely, its continental variety, characteristic of the countries of the eastern and southern Mediterranean , with a reduced amount of precipitation (up to 100-200 mm per year). Here, several harvests per year are taken, which directly depend on winter rains (under favorable circumstances, the average annual rainfall reaches 400 mm and more). The average temperatures of the coldest month (January) are +11 - +12 ° C, the warmest (July) +27 - +29 ° C ^[5] .

The climate within the country is pronounced desert ( tropical dry climate ) - dry and hot. It is characterized by sharp daily and seasonal fluctuations in temperature. The average temperatures of the coldest month (January) are +15 - +18 ° C, the warmest (July) +32 - +35 ° C. In the depths of the desert, precipitation sometimes does not happen for several years. ^[5] From the inland, the desert gradually steps toward the coast. The process of desertification of the country began in ancient times - the North African savannah disappeared, the population migrated and the forms of management changed.

Frequent dust (sand) storms. When the south wind " died " the temperature sometimes rises to +50 ° C (registered record +57.8 ° C), and the humidity drops below 15% (blowing from one to four days in spring and autumn). More long (about 50 days, starting in spring) is another southerly wind - “ Khamsin ”. ^[7] .

Inland waters

Water resources, both in antiquity and at present, are extremely scarce: there are no large rivers, a small number of small rivers (for example, the mentioned river on the coast in the Azirid area ^[3] ), some of which are seasonally drying up (their valleys are now called wadis ). There are reserves of groundwater. In the oases, they are located close to the surface and, thanks to them, there are sources and small lakes (eg Lake Cleart ^[1] in Avgil). ^[five]

Animal and Plant World

The fauna of the region belongs to the zoogeographical Mediterranean subregion with African elements and is not distinguished by anything (mainly various species of snakes and lizards ^[5] ). Some animals mentioned by Herodotus (History. Book IV.) When describing Libya (more precisely, North Africa ) and some other authors:

• the Oryx antelope is white , the ancients have the Oriya ( ancient Greek Ὄρυες ), from the horns of which they made curved necks for the lira ^[3] .
• mouflon , the ancient - "wild sheep" , is currently not found in Libya.
• the giraffe , in the ancients, “dictums” ( ancient Greek διχτυς “net animal”), is not currently found in North Africa.
• armored crocodile , among the ancients - "land crocodile" , currently not found in North Africa.
• the ostrich , among the ancient Romans, the “overseas sparrow,” is not currently found in North Africa.
• an extinct representative of the spectacle serpent species, among the ancients - “a small single-horned serpent” (perhaps “kerast” or “kenhris” ).
• Lion - Lions are often mentioned Marmarians , apparently their set lived here. ^[8] , currently not found in North Africa.

The flora of the coast and oases mainly refers to subtropical , represented by acacias , sycamore trees , tamarisks , where it is more humid, maquis grows, there are groves of cedars ^[5] . Plants that played a role in the economy of the ancient population are fructifying:

• date palm
• olive

Further, on the border with the desert, a strip of hard low-growing herbs , wormwood, and the region’s most famous plant also grew here:

• sylphs ( ancient Greek σίλφιον ) is an shrub of the umbrella family that played a large role in the export from Marmarika to the antique states of the Mediterranean . This species of plants became extinct in the 1st century AD. er The territory where the sylphs grew was, according to Strabo, located south of the Auguil oasis and was narrow (300 stages, i.e. about 55 km) and rather elongated from east to west (1000 stages, i.e. about 180 km) ^[2] . According to Herodotus, it grew from the island of Plateia (located near the coast of Marmarika) to the coast of the Great Sirte Bay in the south of Cyrenaica ^[3] .

There is no vegetation on vast expanses in the desert; there are rarely spots of lichen , solyanka, and dry thirsty prickly plants ^[5] .

Tribes and Nations

Borders, Neighbors

Western frontier (with Cyrenaica area):
1) according to Claudius Ptolemy: “Marmarik [...] is limited from the west to Cyrenaica along the line passing through the city of Darnis and part of Inner Libya to the very south [...]”
2) more often the border was placed slightly east ^{[2] [4]}

Eastern Border (with Egypt):
1) according to Claudius Ptolemy to Cape Glavkon
2) to the city of Apis ^[4]

In the north :
limited by the Libyan Sea (from other authors by the Egyptian Sea ). Claudius Ptolemy argues that Liviarchs, anerites / anereits, bassahites live north of the Marmarik region, perhaps simply referring to the tribes of its northern regions between Giligammas and the coast, or these tribes are identical to the Giligammas. Perhaps he localizes Marmarika a little inland from the coast.

Southern border :
here Marmarik was limited to a conditional line from the Avgilsky (present-day Dzhalu) to Ammonsky (present-day Siva ) oases in which the regions of Avgilia (sometimes referring to Marmarika, sometimes to Cyrenaica ) and Ammonium (independent state) were located. In the south-west (Avgilia), the camps of the Nasamons began, and one of their tribes, the Augus.

• Christopher - the holy martyr , revered by the Catholic and Orthodox churches , was a native of Marmarika.
• At the turn of the III - IV centuries in the Roman army there was a division - Numerus Marmaritarum (Roman cohors III Valeria Marmaritarum cohort) ^[9] possibly formed from Marmarits / Marmarids (people from the Marmarik area or representatives of the Berber tribe).
• Christian tradition speaks of death (or burial) in Marmarik James Alfeyev - the apostle of Jesus Christ . There are also references to the burial of another apostle here, James Zavedeev , but this is more likely due to the mixing in the Christian literature of two Jacob.
• Bishop Marmariki Feon, was expelled by Constantine I, together with Arius , during the struggle with the schism of Arianism .
• The name "Marmarika" was given to the Italian army corps of the German-Italian tank army in January 1942.

Harbors, capes, cities and settlements of Marmarika, mentioned in II c. n er Claudius Ptolemy (Geography. Book IV. Chapter 5) as well as some other ancient authors ( Herodotus , Strabo ):

Western coastal settlements of Marmarika (Marmarika proper) from west to east:

The east coast of Marmarika (Libya / Libyan Nome) settlements from west to east:

Inner settlements of western Marmarika (Marmariki proper):

East Marmarika internal settlements (Libya / Libyan Nome):

• Herodotus Book IV Melpomene // History / Translation by G. A. Stratanovsky. - Herodotus. Story. In 9 kN. - M .: LLC AST Publishing House, Ladomir, 2001. - 752 p.
• Strabo. Book XVII. // Geography / Translation, article and comments of G. A. Stratanovsky, edited by prof. S. L. Utchenko. Translation Editor prof. O. O. Kruger. - Strabo. Geography in 17 books. - M .: “Ladomir”, 1994.
• Claudius Ptolemy. Book IV. // Geography. / Translation from ancient Greek by A. E. Kulakov. - Claudii Ptolemaei Geographiae liber 4, 5 (Geographia (lib. 4-8), ed. CFA Nobbe. Claudii Ptolemaei geographia. Vols. 1-2. Leipzig: Teubner, 1: 1843; 2: 1845 (repr. Hildesheim: Olms , 1966): 1: 222-284; 2: 1-264. * Lib. 4: vol. 1, p. 222-284 (TLG 0363 014).
• Samuel Butler. Africa Septentrionalis // Atlas of Ancient & Classical Geography. - Suffolk / UK: Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, 1908.
• Libya // Brief geographic encyclopedia / Ch. editor A. A. Grigoriev. - Brief geographic encyclopedia. (In 4 volumes). - M .: "Soviet Encyclopedia", 1961. - T. 2. - 27 l. cards and ill., 1 l. Dep. cards, with ill. and cards. - 592 s. - 82 thousand copies.