Photo Gallery

The Wadi Mathendous has carved its bed into the rugged landscape of the Messak noir, in the Fezzan in southern Libya. Following the dead course of the former river, now blocked by boulders, one reaches the famous site of the elephant of In Galjeïen: It is located on the rock that closes off the farthest part of the horizon. - Libya - 1969

Wadi Mathendous. Habeter II - Bubalinic Era. This bovine with monumental horns was contemporary with the Neolithic and disappeared with it. This specimen is equipped with two tails. The scale of the pictured Bubalus is derived from the distance between the tips of its horns: 72 centimetres. Note the small, older (?) ostrich between the horns. - Libya - 1969

Maximilien Bruggmann and his team during the Blaka mission (1969) in Wadi Mathendous (Libya). From 1961 to 2003, Maximilien Bruggmann undertook 18 expeditions to the Sahara. He created two films, took several thousand photos and illustrated four large books. The Equipe Mission Blaka in front of the famous tail crocodile with a length of 2.25 m in the Wadi Mathendous: Philippe Roulet, Jean-Claude Bourgeon, Eva Bruggmann, Zoumri, Jean Garzoni, Maximilien Bruggmann - Libya - 1969

Our journey has taken us to the sandy deserts and to Djebel, through the gorges of Tassili and into the tall grass of the steppe. Everywhere we met people who were able to build their lives and even laugh and sing. But it is to the sand that our minds and, why not, our hearts are drawn. This single man leading his camel across the hot, soft sand represents the triumph of the will over the most hostile matter. Sure, at the end of the journey, palm trees await him again, similar to those here in the valley of Adjahl; but even these exist only thanks to the will of other people, if the sand is not ultimately to win the day. - Libya - 1964

The Edeyen or dune massif of Oubari with Lake Gabr' Aoun in the foreground, one of the seven lakes around which live the Daouda, people of dark complexion whose existence is one of the most miserable in the whole Sahara. Eight ridges of high, hard-to-walk dunes, some 50 kilometres, separate them from the fertile Adjal valley, which is dotted with rich oases. - Libya - 1964

The Edeyen or dune massif of Oubari with Lake Gabr' Aoun in the foreground, one of the seven lakes around which live the Daouda, people of dark complexion whose existence is one of the most miserable in the whole Sahara. Eight ridges of high, hard-to-walk dunes, some 50 kilometres, separate them from the fertile Adjal valley, which is dotted with rich oases. - Libya - 1964

The Edeyen or dune massif of Oubari with Lake Gabr' Aoun in the foreground, one of the seven lakes around which live the Daouda, people of dark complexion whose existence is one of the most miserable in the whole Sahara. Eight ridges of high, hard-to-walk dunes, some 50 kilometres, separate them from the fertile Adjal valley, which is dotted with rich oases. - Libya - 1964

In Fezzan, in the Edeyen of Oubari, a strange people lives near the lakes surrounded by high dunes. They are the Daouda. The word Daouda comes from "doud", which means worm in Arabic. In fact, the Daouda eat "worms", which they fish in the lakes fed by underground springs. Only the women are authorised to devote themselves to this task. Their net resembles the plankton net used by biologists. The worms - in reality crustaceans - are dried and then buried for several months before being eaten. - Libya - 1964

In Fezzan, in the Edeyen of Oubari, a strange people lives near the lakes surrounded by high dunes. They are the Daouda. The word Daouda comes from "doud", which means worm in Arabic. In fact, the Daouda eat "worms", which they fish in the lakes fed by underground springs. Only the women are authorised to devote themselves to this task. Their net resembles the plankton net used by biologists. The worms - in reality crustaceans - are dried and then buried for several months before being eaten. - Libya - 1964

In Fezzan, in the Edeyen of Oubari, a strange people lives near the lakes surrounded by high dunes. They are the Daouda. The word Daouda comes from "doud", which means worm in Arabic. In fact, the Daouda eat "worms", which they fish in the lakes fed by underground springs. Only the women are authorised to devote themselves to this task. Their net resembles the plankton net used by biologists. The worms - in reality crustaceans - are dried and then buried for several months before being eaten. - Libya - 1964

In Fezzan, in the Edeyen of Oubari, a strange people lives near the lakes surrounded by high dunes. They are the Daouda. The word Daouda comes from "doud", which means worm in Arabic. In fact, the Daouda eat "worms", which they fish in the lakes fed by underground springs. Occasionally, however, a goat is slaughtered and the meat hung out to dry. - Libya - 1964

A Daouda boy weaving a ribbon. - Edeyen of Oubari - Libya - 1964

Drinking water is fetched from the well by lever arm. - Gabr Aoun - Edeyen of Oubari - Libya - 1964

At the well of Oumm al-Aranib in Fezzan, a winch is used to lift the drinking water. - Libya - 1964

The Daouda of Gabr Aoun need their donkeys for food supplies, which they have to transport from far away over several dunes. - Libya - 1964

Tombs at Maqbara as Sahaba near Zawila in south-western Libya, about 150 km east of Murzouq, in the heart of the Fezzan region in the Libyan Sahara. Zawila was an important trading centre in the Middle Ages, its main business being the slave trade. It was also the capital of the Fezzan region during this period. In ancient times, the region around Zawila was part of the land of the Garamantes. - Libya - 1964

The inhabitants of the Zawila (Zouïla) oasis see themselves as descendants of the Prophet Muhammad. The place is said to have been founded in 918 and soon became the administrative centre of the whole of Fezzan. - Libya - 1964

Mosque of Murzuk in the centre of Fezzan. Murzuk is 120 kilometres south of Sabha, and is an important transport hub towards the southern Sahara. Murzuk replaced Zawila as the centre of the Fezzan in the 12th century and was the most important place in this Saharan region until the 20th century. This importance was based on its function as a hub for trans-Saharan trade on the "Bornu Road" between Lake Chad and Tripoli. Thus, a large slave market was located here. - Libya - 1964

A basket trader at the Murzuk market sells her wares. - Libya - 1964

A girl at the Murzuk market. Its elegant posture comes from learning to carry heavy loads on its head at a very early age. - Libya - 1964

This little girl comes from Traghan near Murzuk. In the picture you can count 12 flies. - Libya - 1964

Date harvest in Murzuk in the Fezzan of Libya. Dates are rich in sugar and have a correspondingly high calorie content. This earned them the name "bread of the desert". Fibre, minerals such as potassium, calcium and magnesium, and B vitamins make them a healthy snack. The content of the amino acid tryptophan is particularly interesting. - Libya - 1964

Dunes in the Eyden of Murzuk, a Saharan sand desert (erg) in the southern Libyan province of Murzuk and has an almost circular shape with a diameter of about 250 km. - Libya - 1969

This strange photograph is not a montage. It is a "public transport" in honour of the truck's manufacturer. On top of 15 tonnes of cargo, 53 passengers crammed themselves as best they could to make the hundreds of kilometres from Sebha, Libya, to Bilma, Niger. - Libya - 1964