GHADAMES, GADAMES or RHADAMES (anc. Kc56µ77, Lat. Cidamus or Cydamus), a town in an oasis of the same name, in that part of the Sahara which forms part of the Italian colony of Tripoli-Tamia. It is about 30o m. S.W. of the city of Tripoli and some Io m. E. of the Algerian frontier, which closely follows the caravan route from Ghadames to Ghat. The oasis, which stands on the cretaceous Tinghert plateau 1,200 ft. above the sea, is enclosed by a circular rampart over 3 m. in circumference, the town being at the S.W. corner. The mean temperature is 73°, the rainfall about 8 in., and the number of rainy days six. The streets of the town are narrow and vaulted and have been likened to the bewildering galleries of a coalpit. The roofs are laid out as gardens and preserved for the exclusive use of the women. The Ghadamsi merchants have been known for centuries as keen and adventurous traders. Ghadames itself is the centre of a large number of caravan routes, and in the early part of the 19th century about 30,000 laden camels entered its markets every year. Its prosperity was affected by, the com petition of the Tripolitan merchants about 1873 and by the in vasion of Bornu by Rabah in 1893. The chief articles brought by the caravans are ostrich feathers, skins and ivory and one of the principal imports is tea. In 1845 the population was estimated at 3,000, of whom about 500 were slaves and strangers, and upwards of 1,200 children; in 1905 it amounted in round num bers to 7,000. The inhabitants are chiefly Berbers and Arabs, while many Tuaregs (q.v.) live outside.
Before the Christian era Ghadames was a stronghold of the Garamantes, who took their name from Garama (see FEZZAN) . There are remains of the old settlement of the Garamantes on the near the town. In the 7th century Ghadames was conquered by the Arabs. It appears afterwards to have fallen under the power of the rulers of Tunisia, then to a native dynasty which reigned at Tripoli, and in the 16th century it became part of the Turkish vilayet of Tripoli. It has since then shared the political fortunes of that country.