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The plateau where the spirit blew
This is the
title of the chapter Alfred Muzzolini
devoted to the Messak in his book " Les
Images Rupestres du Sahara " (1995). The
members of the AARS are particularly
attached to the Messak: one could almost say
that the association was born on the
plateau. During our first meetings, most of
the communications concerned the new
discoveries made by our members in these
wadis "where the spirit blew".
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Satellite photograph of the Messak with the
Tadrart Acacus and the eastern ramifications
of the Tassili-n-Ajjer. |
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The explorer Heinrich Barth, the first
European to explore the Messak. |

Recording by H.Barth of the "Apollo of the
Garamantes". |
Gérard Jacquet,
Giancarlo Negro, Anne Michelle and Axel Van
Albada, Gabriele and Rüdiger Lutz, Christine
and Yves Gauthier, Jean-Loïc Le Quellec,
Annie and Gérard Garcin and many others have
held us for hours with the projection of
their most recent photographs of astonishing
unpublished engravings. But these recent
"discoveries" should not lead one to believe
that the engravings of the Messak were
unknown in Europe before then. Already in
1857, in the description of his travels in
northern and central Africa, H. Barth had
published some of them, which created great
astonishment. And in 1932, an expedition
directed by the German ethnologist Leo
Frobenius explored the Wadis Tillizaghen,
I-n-Habeter and Bergiug Berjuj). |
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In 1937 he
published "Ekade Ektab", a book on the rock
art of the Fezzan, containing many of the
photos and the fine recordings done by the
painter Cuno. |
The engraving of the "Apollo of the
Garamantes". Wadi Tilizzaghen. |
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The "Meerkatzen" (according to Frobenius) or
"Gatti mammoni" (according to Graziosi)
which dominate the Matkhendouche well. |
The engravings on the rock face above the
Matkhendouche well (Ekade Ektab, 1978), with
the "Meerkatzen" (at the top), the
therianthrope dragging a rhino (on the left)
and several giraffes. |
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One of Cuno's recordings in "Ekade Ektab".
The therianthrope on the right is dragging a
small antelope by the neck. |
But it is with
the first mission of Paolo Graziosi, in
1938, that the systematic study of the rock
art of the Messak begins. This professor of
the University of Florence managed to
establish a relative chronology of the
regions' engravings, after an examination of
the superimpositions, patinas and subjects
represented.
He identified an older
period, with engravings of the "fauna
selvaggia" (wild fauna), representing these
themes with a great deal of naturalism,
expression and movement, in images of an
evolved and careful style.
The
numerous therianthropes (mythical figures
with an animal head), often in hunting
scenes, belong to this period. According to
Graziosi, these works are followed by those
of the "pastoral" phase, very naturalistic
cattle, often with a collar and pendants,
represented with great artistic feeling.
Graziosi thought at first that the peak of
the "pastoral" art coincided with the
decline of hunting.
But the many
superimpositions noted on the Messak sites
led him to qualify this position and admit
the persistence of hunters' traditions in
the "pastoral" art of the Messak. The
schematic figurations of the horse period,
fairly rare here, complete the sequence of
pre-camel works.
After Paolo
Graziosi, and before the creation of the
AARS, our knowledge of the rock art of the
Messak owes much to the late lamented Jan
Jelínek and to our friend Giancarlo Negro,
each of whom have published interesting
works dedicated to this region (see
bibliography page).
Finally, one
cannot talk about the engravings of the
Messak without saying a few words at least
about its fascinating plateau. This latter
descends from the steep northern and western
cliffs towards the Edeyen of Murzuq, without
showing any perceptible relief. Only the
breaks of the wadis interrupt a horizon
hopelessly flat, which gets lost in the
infinite. For a very long time now, this
plateau has been almost unfrequented, for
the aridity of the recent centuries has made
survival difficult.
But the stone
monuments and traces of paths are relatively
common. Who built them, who travelled along
them? When the patina of the stones, in the
middle and on their edges, is almost total,
they are prehistoric. If one looks carefully
at these stones on the plateau, one notices
that among them are large numbers of worked
stones: these are either Neolithic or
Palaeolithic.
Unfortunately, under
these remains there is a lot of oil! And
certain western oil prospecting or
exploitation companies working in this
desert environment have met with no control
on the part of the inhabitants, now too
distant from the Messak.
They have worked without any respect for
the regional cultural heritage, chipping the
corners of the engravings, destroying the
prehistoric tracks and many other remains
over considerable distances. Luckily, in
recent years, the Libyan authorities have
become aware of the massacre
that certain western companies*
have perpetrated on their cultural heritage
and have laid down rules.
Nevertheless, it is necessary to hurry to
act and reinforce the controls very
seriously, for the enormous financial power
of these companies can easily allow all the
evidence to be hidden.
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Bubalus (Homoioceras) antiquus.
W. Tilizzaghen |
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A therianthrope, mounted on an elephant
andcarrying its prey, a rhinoceros,
leads a group of elephants.
Wadi Meseknan. |
A rhino with its young. Wadi Imrawen. |
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An exceptional engraving, clearly pastoral.
Several three-forked posts can be made
out, from which hang
containers. At the bottom, on the right,
is a milking scene
with several cows. A figure in the
middle is busy hanging
a container on one of these posts. Wadi
Tiksatin. |
Most of the engravings are found on cliffs
of the wadis which are often relatively
rich in vegetation. El Awrer. |

Preislamic tomb with engraved stones. In the
foreground, a
therianthrope has been engraved on a
standing stone of
the monument. Wadi Tilizaghen. |
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Prehistoric path on the Messak plateau. |
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Remains of a Palaeolithic stone-knapping
workshop. |
Tracks for oil exploitation on the Messak,
between the wadis Beddis and l-n-Erahar.
The grid pattern has an east- west
length of 200 m.In the whitest
part, the plateau's surface has been
completely destroyed. |
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An engraving beside an oil company's track
in I-n-Elobu. |
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Une des pistes pétrolières qui descend du
plateau à El Awrer. |
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* we underline this, because the West is the
first responsible for a great number of
inexcusable destructions, through its
unbridled thirst for oil at restrained
prices.. |
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Last
update of this website
20/12/14
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