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The Ababda have inhabited this region since time immemorial. They witnessed the rise and decline of the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Turks and Franks who passed through. Treated as robbers and barbarians, the Ababda were expelled outside the borders of the invaders. Excluded from the invaders' cultures, they managed to maintain all of their own traditions and with them an identity which did not change much over the centuries. To a large extent, this continuity was a result of their modest way of life and the harshness of the living conditions to which they were uniquely adapted.