Some Anthropological Places In Algeria

Realised by: B. Sara

Academic year: 2014/2015

PEOPLE'S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF ALGERIA

UNIVERSITY CHADLI BENJEDID EL TAREF

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

Introduction• People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in

North African the Mediterranean coast. Its capital and most populous city is Algeirs. 90% of which is desert, Algeria is the country in the world, and the largest in Arab world and Africa and on the Mediterranean.

• The territory of today's Algeria was the home of many prehistoric cultures, including Aterian and Capsian and the Proto-Berber cultures. Its area has known many empires and dynasties, including ancient Numidians, Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Vandals, Byzantines, Umayyads, Abbasids, Fatimids, Hammadids. And the following are some of it’s anthropological places.

1-Places:

Tighenif• Ternifine, also called Tighenif, site of

paleoanthropological excavations located about 20 km (12 miles) east of Mascara, Algeria, known for its remains of Homo erectus.

• Ternifine was quarried for sand in the 19th century, and numerous fossilized animal bones and stone artifacts were recovered. Realizing the potential significance of these finds, paleontologists carried out systematic excavations in 1954–55. Their efforts produced much additional material, including three human mandibles (jawbones). Digging was stopped because of flooding, but subsequent lowering of the water table permitted detailed studies of the sediment layers. The Ternifine deposits consist of layers of hard grayish clays and sands of a small lake or swamp. The surrounding environment of this area was probably treeless and rather arid, as inferred from the types of animals present. The fossils of those animals along with geologic evidence date Ternifine to about 700,000 years ago.

TASSILI N'AJJER – ALGERIA

• Location and Values: The Tassili N’Ajjer world heritage site covers a vast area of desert landscape in southern Algeria, stretching from the Niger and Libyan border area, north and east of Djanet, as far as Illizi and Amguid. It includes the whole of the Tassili N’Ajjer mountain range, as well as the sands and dune areas in the extreme southeast of the country, adjoining the Libyan Tadrart Acacus world heritage property. The site is listed under both natural and cultural criteria, and, from a cultural perspective ranks as the premier rock-art site anywhere in the world.

• It is the home of more than 15,000 rock paintings and engravings, dating back as far as 12,000 years. This incredible open-air gallery tells the story of the changing fortunes of this part of the Sahara and the people who have occupied the area over the millennia.

15,000 artworks over ten millennia reveal the evolution of human life on the edge of the Sahara

Tassili n'Ajjer has been described as the finest prehistoric open-air museum in the world.

Great god of Sefar (c 10,000 BC). Photo source.

The art comprises more than 15,000

paintings and engravings on exposed

rock faces, and includes pictures of

wild and domestic animals, humans,

geometric designs, ancient script, and

mythical creatures, such as men with

animal heads and gods or spirit

beings.

• The oldest art belongs to the Wild Fauna Period (or ‘naturalistic period’), which is estimated to have existed between 12,000 and 6,000 BC. It depicts the fauna of the savannah, which inhabited the area when it was much wetter than today and includes elephants, giraffes, hippos, rhinos, and other animals.

Petroglyph depicting a possibly

sleeping antelope, located at Tin

Taghirt on the Tassili n’Ajjer in

southern Algeria. Photo credit: Linus

Wolf

• The so-called Round Head Period (or ‘archaic period’), from approximately 9500 BC to 6,000 BC, is associated with schematic figures that evoke possible magic-religious practices. Generally, Round Head figures are seen in profile with round, often featureless heads, seemingly floating through space (depicted in the featured image and the picture below). In one scene, women are depicted with raised hands, as though seeking blessings from a huge figure that towers above them. Fabrizio Mori describes the scene: “We become aware, in them, of a sense of affectionate, fearless subjection (to the divine), of pure worship.” The art tends to portray and ethereal world where man is a part of nature rather than standing apart from it.

Round Head Figures. Photo credit: Mohammed Beddiaf

• The Pastoral Period (or ‘Bovidian period’) from around 7,200 BC to 3,000 BC is the dominant period in terms of the number of paintings, during which there is the representation of bovine herds and the scenes of daily life. They have an aesthetic naturalistic realism to them and are among the best known examples of prehistoric mural art

An engraving of an ancient species

of cow. Photo credit: Mohammed

Beddiaf

• The Horse and Libyan Warrior Period (‘Equidian period’), which dates from approximately 3200 BC to 1000 BC, covers the end of the Neolithic and protohistoric periods, which corresponds to the disappearance of numerous species from the effects of progressive desiccation and to the appearance of the horse. Horses have also been depicted pulling chariots, driven by whip-wielding

• unarmed charioteers, suggesting that the chariots were not used for fighting, but possibly for hunting. However, chariots with wooden wheels could not have been driven across the rocky Sahara and into the mountains where many of the chariot paintings

A depiction of two horses and

chariot. Photo source.

Some Historical Sites in Algeria:

Roman Ruins• Numerous ancient Roman cities are scattered along Algeria's coastal strip, displaying some

of the Mediterranean's best examples of classical Roman architecture. The most impressive

Roman sites in Algeria are Djemila, Algeria's best-known ancient city, set in the mountains of

Setif; Tipasa, spread along a pristine Mediterranean beach; and the ruins of Timgad in the

green hills of the northern Aurès Mountains, showcasing the orderly style of urban planning

used in Roman times. Highlights of Timgad include Trajan's Arch, a small theater still used to

stage productions, and the Capitaline Temple, dedicated 2,000 years ago to Jupiter.

TIPAZA

Image of Zeus, Djemila ruins, Algeria,

World Heritage - Photographie de stock

Theater, Timgad ruins, Algeria, World Heritage

Market, Djemila ruins, Algeria, World Heritage

• Many more monuments are scattered across the country, standing as memorials to a host of different eras and civilizations. Al-Qal'a of BeniHammad, an 11th-century fortified city southeast of Algiers, is one of the most impressive. Built by 11th-century Hammadid rulers, most of the city was demolished in 1152, but significant parts remain to this day within its several-mile circumference of fortified walls. Among other famous Algerian monuments are the Moorish architecture of Tlemcen on the Mediterranean coast and the medieval ramparts of Beni Isguenin the M'Zab.

Minaret, Al Qal'a of Beni Hammad, Algeria, World Heritage

City View, Beni-isguen, M'Zab Valley, Algeria, World Heritage

• Moorish architecture of Tlemcen

Tombs Of Berber kings

Tomb of Queen Tin Hinan

In Abalessa, the ancient capital of the Hoggar

region, there is the tomb of the famous Tuareg

queen Tin Hinan.

About this famous ancestress of the Tuaregs

following story is told: Tin Hinan came in the

company of her maid-servant Takamat from

Tafilalet in South Morocco to the Hoggar.

There she became the first Tamenokalt (=

Queen) of the Tuaregs and her fame was so

great, that even today the Tuaregs call

her »Mother of Us All«.

The corpse of the famous Tin Hinan was found when the grave was

excavated by archaeologists. She was lying on a finely carved

wooden bed and was covered all over by jewels. So she had seven

silver bracelets on her right forearm and on her left forearm seven

gold bracelets.

Tomb of King Massinissa in khroub

Pottery :Berber Pottery from sahara south Algeria

Berber pottery from northeastern Algeria Kabyle

Kabyle double vessel (19th century). By cliff1066 via