Waddan (, ) is an
oasis town of the
Sahara Desert in the northeast
Fezzan
Fezzan ( , ; ; ; ) is the southwestern region of modern Libya. It is largely desert, but broken by mountains, uplands, and dry river valleys (wadis) in the north, where oases enable ancient towns and villages to survive deep in the otherwise in ...
region of southwest
Libya
Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...
, in the
Jufra District. It was an important town on the ancient trade routes across the Sahara.
Geography
Waddan is the oldest city in
Jufra District located south of
Sirte, and northeast of
Hun. The town is at the crossroads of the Sirte-Waddan Road and the
Fezzan Road.
The
natural springs support native
date palm (''Phoenix dactylifera'') groves.
History
In the Seventh Century C.E., Waddan was the primary town among the oasis settlements in the al-Jufra area. It was captured for
Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
during the southern excursion of
Amr ibn al-As in 642 C.E. by commander
Busr ibn Artat, although he only extracted tribute and didn't garrison the town.
However, the nephew of Amr ibn al-As,
Uqba ibn Nafi, reconquered Waddan in 666-667, and established a military post there.
During the
Libyan Civil War,
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
forces bombed an ammunition store in the town. On 8 September 2011, the town was reported to be under the control of forces allied with the
National Transitional Council.
Although the Libyan government had declared in 2014 that it has destroyed all of its chemical weapons, after the fall of
Gaddafi and the start of the
Libyan civil wars additional chemical weapons were discovered.
While the Libyan civil wars raged, some were destroyed at the
GEKA facility in Germany, but the U.S.
Defense Threat Reduction Agency established a
chemical munitions elimination facility in Waddan, where they destroyed 570 chemical weapons over the course of its operation.
Economy
The economy of the town is based primarily on the production of
dates, the fruit of ''Phoenix dactylifera''.
It is a travel stop on the road from
Sirte to
Hun and
Sawknah, and boasts its Waddan Tourist Park.
Since Roman times it has been a stop on the trade route down to
Chad
Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...
.
Waddan has geothermal resources that have yet to be exploited.
Archaeology
Above the town, in the upper stretches of Wadi Waddan, there are paleolithic rock art sites.
In Waddan are the pre-Islamic underground water irrigation channels or
foggaras (''al-Faqarat''), as well as a number of circular tombs.
The pre-Ottoman Arab fortress (Toza)
has not been fully excavated. The ruins of the ancient cities of Bossi and Dalbak lie one kilometer southwest of Waddan.
References
See also
*
List of cities in Libya
This is a list of the 100 largest populated places in Libya. Some places in the list could be considered suburbs or neighborhoods of some large cities in the list, so this list is not definitive.
''Source:Amraja M. el Khajkhaj, "Noumou ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waddan, Libya
Populated places in Jufra District
Oases of Libya