Tazirbu
Encyclopedia
Tāzirbū , is an Oasis
placed in the Libyan Desert
in the Al Kufrah District of Libya
, about 250 km to the NW of Kufra
. The name means "main seat" in Tebu
language, because this was the seat of the Tebu Sultanate
before the Arab invasion. The oasis is 25-30 km long, and 10 km wide. In the middle of the oasis and parallel to it runs a shallow valley with salt ponds and salines. In Tāzirbū there are about ten villages: the most important is called El-Jezeera. In the oasis grow groups of palms, tamarisks
, acacias, esparto
and Juncus
. Some Kilometers to the north of this village lie the ruins of an old castle, named Gasr Giránghedi, which was the seat of the Sultan.
The first European to visit the oasis was the German Gerhard Rohlfs
in August 1879.
Oasis
In geography, an oasis or cienega is an isolated area of vegetation in a desert, typically surrounding a spring or similar water source...
placed in the Libyan Desert
Libyan Desert
The Libyan Desert covers an area of approximately 1,100,000 km2, it extends approximately 1100 km from east to west, and 1,000 km from north to south, in about the shape of a rectangle...
in the Al Kufrah District of Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
, about 250 km to the NW of Kufra
Kufra
Kufra is a basin and oasis group in Al Kufrah District, southeastern Cyrenaica in Libya. Kufra is historically important above all because at the end of nineteenth century it became the center and holy place of the Senussi order...
. The name means "main seat" in Tebu
Toubou
The Tubu are an ethnic group that live mainly in northern Chad, but also in Libya, Niger and Sudan....
language, because this was the seat of the Tebu Sultanate
Sultan
Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...
before the Arab invasion. The oasis is 25-30 km long, and 10 km wide. In the middle of the oasis and parallel to it runs a shallow valley with salt ponds and salines. In Tāzirbū there are about ten villages: the most important is called El-Jezeera. In the oasis grow groups of palms, tamarisks
Tamarix
The genus Tamarix is composed of about 50-60 species of flowering plants in the family Tamaricaceae, native to drier areas of Eurasia and Africa...
, acacias, esparto
Esparto
Esparto, or esparto grass, also known as "halfah grass" or "needle grass", Macrochloa tenacissima and Stipa tenacissima, is a perennial grass grown in northwest Africa and the southern part of the Iberian Peninsula employed for crafts .-Esparto paper:It is also used for fiber production for paper...
and Juncus
Juncus
Juncus is a genus in the plant family Juncaceae. It consists of some 200 to 300 or more species of grassy plants commonly called rushes...
. Some Kilometers to the north of this village lie the ruins of an old castle, named Gasr Giránghedi, which was the seat of the Sultan.
The first European to visit the oasis was the German Gerhard Rohlfs
Friedrich Gerhard Rohlfs
Friedrich Gerhard Rohlfs was a German geographer, explorer, author and adventurer.He was born at Vegesack, now part of Bremen. There was much pressure on Rohlfs to be in the medicine field, and he eventually joined the French Foreign Legion in a medical capacity...
in August 1879.