Qatrun

Qatrun is an oasis in southern Fezzan, a green depression surrounded by the sands of the central Sahara. Date palms sustained its inhabitants, who also kept livestock and cultivated vegetables and fodder. The oasis lay on the Bornu road, which connected the Mediterranean coast with the lands south of the desert through Zawila and, later, Murzuq.

Great caravans did not necessarily stop in the oasis itself. They could rest at wells some distance away, while goods destined for Qatrun were brought to its market. Textiles and paper came south from Tripoli, and leather and wooden bowls travelled from the opposite direction. For the Toubou inhabitants, the oasis was both a home among the palms and a meeting place on a long desert road.