Ajdābiyā

Ajdabiya stands on the dry plain near the eastern end of the Gulf of Sidra. At the meeting of the coastal road and routes into the Libyan desert, the town relied on wells and cisterns for water. Medieval accounts describe palms and orchards, as well as brick domes used where timber was scarce. Already a caravan town in the ninth century, Ajdabiya prospered under the Fatimids, who left a mosque and a fortified palace. The arrival of the Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym in 1051 brought severe damage, and the town's earlier prosperity declined.