Most Libyans know little about the Hasawnas, a mountain range spanning 800 square kilometers north of the Wadi al Shatii District in southwestern Libya. A charming cultural and historical landmark, the Hasawnas has been ignored even though its rocks and valleys tell the stories of those who passed through there and lived in this area thousands of years ago.

Most Libyans know little about the Hasawnas, a mountain range spanning 800 square kilometers north of the Wadi al Shatii District in southwestern Libya. A charming cultural and historical landmark, the Hasawnas has been ignored even though its rocks and valleys tell the stories of those who passed through there and lived in this area thousands of years ago.

The Hasawnas is composed of many valleys and overlapped hills. The valleys form natural waterways for torrents during the rainy season, which is the Hasawnas’ source of life. Torrents come down nearly every three years and they transform these valleys into lush pastures on which the populations of the surrounding areas depend and where they bring their livestock to graze.

Rich pictures

The waterways and channels among these overlapped and narrow valleys are colored by several desert plants which are used by the mountain visitors and residents in folk medicine.

“Some trees are over 400 years old, including Cymbopogon, Marrubium vulgare L and Teucrium,” said Mohamed Buhassan, Vice Chairman of the Hasawnas Association for Environment Protection (HAEP).

“The diverse flora led to a notably diverse fauna where valleys and heights were full of antelopes, deer, foxes, fennecs, rabbits and snakes, in addition to different bird species, including ravens, falcons, badgers, hoopoes, etc. However, the number of these animals has decreased dramatically due to overhunting and overgrazing,” he said.

Previous reserve

The HAEP launches awareness campaigns for the mountain’s visitors, urging them to respect the wildlife and to stop hunting and overgrazing, which harms plants and reduces the green areas available for animals.

The first station in the trip is the Zazaa Valley which used to be a natural reserve full of diverse plants and animals before it was destroyed by negligence and the abuse of the mountain visitors. The area has turned into a logging place and a dump for broken weapons.

Water reservoirs

The mountain has six well-like holes people used to dig to keep in as much water as possible when torrents retreat. Each contains nearly 10,000 cubic liters of water.

The area also contains eight natural basins, each holding 30,000 cubic meters of water. Most of these were destroyed by Mohamed Makni in his 1813 war against some of the tribes that opposed Yusuf Karamanli (1795-1832) in an attempt to stop them from reaching water after they fled to the mountains. The HAEP is trying to revive these basins.

Historical landmark

A major historical site, the Hasawnas features the engravings of ancient civilizations in Libya. Buhassan says these engravings are 7,000 years old. Most of the rocks are full of these engravings. Some of them have been effaced due to erosion, but most of them are in a good condition.

These engravings portray the human life in this mountain during ancient times, characterized by hunting and grazing. Other engravings portray social life and marriage and burial rituals in these civilizations.

Buhassan says the HAEP is doing its best to reserve this cultural heritage, especially since the majority of the mountain’s visitors engrave their own names on rocks without considering the historical engravings, which are still under-researched by archaeologists and human heritage experts.

Fire and tea

Lighting a fire for light and warmth is one of the most interesting desert rituals, while tea is the companion of pleasant night conversations. The desert people, the Tuareg, say: “Fire is the night’s eye.” They are also the best tea-makers.

Nighttime tales

The mountain’s history is full of events and interactions among tribes which once lived or passed through it. “Under the Ottomans, the mountain’s people used to spend falls and winters in Zulaf, between Wadi al Shatii and Sabha to the south of the mountain, and springs and summers at the mountain for its moderate climate,” said Buhassan.

The mountain is located on the road of convoys which brought goods from sub-Saharan Africa to the north. The traces of these roads which are called the Arabian Roads are still clear and they guide the mountains’ visitors and grazers. The convoys used to bring wheat and barley, staples for the mountain’s people at the time.

Currently, this mountain range is uninhabited as most of its people have settled in the towns and villages of Wadi al Shatii and the mountain has largely turned into a recreational place, a pasture for grazers and a spot for hunting. Most importantly, it is a resort for outlaws and those fearing revenge because its complicated networks of valleys and channels are a perfect hideout for runaways.