The Garamantes' Chariots at Assaraya Alhamra Museum, Tripoli.
Classical historians spoke of the wheel being invented by
the Libyans, by which they mean the Berbers of North Africa. According
to Herodotus, chariots were invented by the Libyans, and to this day chariots
are still used in Tripoli (see below). It is more probable their use had spread
to Egypt from Libya, and from there to southern Europe and the
Middle East. On average there are about 500
drawings of chariots known to exist so far, and a considerable
number of chariot tracks across the Sahara; the main ones of which became modern
roads as people never stopped using them. One of these tracks led all the way
to coastal Leptis Magna, where Garamantian chiefs and dignitaries conducted business
in the wealthy city.
Sahara Aouanrhet Rock Art: Alien-like Crafts &
Flying Bodies?
All the elements are real;
only the colours were added
to convey the surreal nature of the composition.
The drawing at the top of the above image (from Aouanrhet)
is known as
"The Swimming Woman with Breasts on her Back (127x85 cm); Post Bovidian Period. According
to Henri Lhote,
"This painting was discovered under a
beehive rock and in a shelter too small ever
to have served as a dwelling. The scene is a
complex one. Above, is a woman stretched out
and towing a man whose limbs are doubled up. Below, to the
left, a figure, with outstretched arms, is emerging
from a curious ovoid object
"
(Frescoes, p. 221).
The "curious ovoid" object apparently
was the flying object or the alien craft of the proponents of the alien
origin of human civilisation. Why should we think the Sahara had anything to
do with it? There is no
reason why not to understand them in the natural way as early expressions of
our African ancestors to document what then must had had seemed the best invention.
Could the prehistoric painting register one of the first wheel toys to be invented?
On the left is a drawing made to simplify the original, and
on the right the reconstructed image of a spacecraft (or a spaceboat), as envisaged
by some of the proponents of the alien civilisation. The prehistoric image could
be an early form of go-carting or
some sort of a wheel-toy made
of one or two wheels, probably with a child being pushed by an adult. These could
have later evolved to become chariots. The following image shows a collection
of the different types of chariots found in cave art. One or more of them clearly
show what looks like an early scooter,
with two front wheels and a long handle at the front.
Garamantian Chariots.
Garamantian chariot from Wadi Tashwinat, in Acacus, Fezzan, southern Libya.
In his Histories [IV. 170] Herodotus states that the four-horse chariot was also known in Cyrenaica, in Eastern Libya, where the Greeks learned the art of chariot-racing from the Libyans and became exceedingly proficient at it. Many of these prehistoric chariots preserved in cave art are much older than literary sources of recorded history and therefore the statements of Herodotus and others must have been based on popular culture current at the time. There is so much cave art in Libya, most of which still is undiscovered.
Chariot, from Tin Newen.
A chariot pulled by two horses; from Tin Newen, Acacus.
This is what the modern Libyan chariot looks like today; still used in Tripoli city centre as a taxi.
