Tassili N’ Azdjer: A site of the world heritage to be visited In the region of Algerian Sahara

Aoussine SEDDIKI
University of Oran 2

Abstract:
Algeria is the biggest country in Africa. In this Maghreban country, there is the most important part of the desert in comparison with Saharan countries. The landscape and the climate are divided into four zones (the Mediterranean fertile coast, the Atlas, the highlands of chotts, which are used by the nomads as the zone of pasture, Sahara which occupies 80 % of the surface).
The Tassili N’Ajjer was declared national park in 1972 as big part of the mountain range of Tassili, that is approximately 72 000 km2. Since 1982, the Tassili n’Ajjer is recognized as site of the world cultural heritage and the site of the world natural heritage. Further to an evaluation led by the UNESCO, this site of the world heritage was added to the list of the reserves of biosphere in 1986. Djanet is the capital of the region of Tassili which is touristically very attractive. The employment of the local inhabitants of Djanet depends on the tourist offer. A major interest is given to the management of the tourism in this region. With the aim of optimizing the tourist potential in Sahara, the Algerian government recently took new measures of support (air connections, the development of the tourist infrastructure, the digital visibility, the visits, the exhibitions abroad …).
Thanks to the cultural expedition organized in Mars 2018 to Djanet and to the fruitful interviews with the local authorities the Center Polylogue de Vienne will organize in Mars 2019, in cooperation with the competent regional and national institutions an international conference on the tourism to Djanet. This project will give certainly a new moose to the tourism in the region.
Keywords: the mountain range of Tassili, site of the world cultural heritage, the national park, the rock paintings, the rock art, the engravings, the forests of rock, archaeological remains, Saharan tourism, tourist activities, archaeological remains.

Introduction

Algeria, situated in North Africa and in the region of the Maghreb, is the biggest country of Africa and constitutes the most important part of the Saharan desert of all the countries. Algeria as country from the Maghreb is approximately 23 times as big as Austria with 2 381 741 km 2 and seven times as big as Germany. The landscape and the climate are divided into four zones:
-The rich and fertile coastal part follows the Mediterranean quotation · The chain of the Atlas, · The highlands of the chott, consisted of fields of rubble stones, of dunes, salt lakes and swamps without drainage. This zone is used by the nomads as the place of pasture.
-Sahara, the biggest zone of Algeria, occupies 80 % of its territory.

In this article, the mountain range of Tassili, situated in the southeast of Algeria and which crosses Sahara in approximately 500 km, is mainly handled from the cultural and tourist aspect. The main objective consists in analyzing the world attractiveness of the mountain of Tassili in the plan

The rock paintings and other archeological sites go back to the prehistoric period. The scientific researches confirm that rock paintings (elephants, giraffes, crocodiles and bovine pastoralism) have between 9 000 and 10 000 years. The local climate was wet at that time. It was much more the savanna than the desert. 1.2. Drawings and prehistoric engravings

The numerous paints and the engravings as well as the presence of numerous prehistoric vestiges are extraordinary testimonies of the prehistory. One of the whole rock art the most important to the world is in this interesting moonscape, endowed with a particular geologic character. Since 6000 before JC.

There are more than 15 000 drawings and engravings.

Until first ones centuries AD there was climate change, the migration of the wild sorts (species) and the development of the human life on the borders of Sahara. With its affected stonewares ” forests of rock “, the panorama of geological formations presents an extraordinary interest. There is ten thousand years, until first ones centuries, the successive peoples left numerous archaeological tracks, housing environments, burial mounds and farms which supplied numerous materials such as the stone and the ceramic. However, they are the rock art (engravings and paints (paintings)) which (who), from 1933 at the time of his (her,its) discovery, confer on world-famous Tassili more sense(direction) and visibility. This day, 15 000 engravings were cataloged. The region also has a big geologic and esthetic importance. The important collection of paints (paintings) and petroglyphs of various times (periods) gives to this region a good international reputation.

The analysis of paints suggests that the representations of the “period of round spirit” refer to possible magico-religious practices of at least 10 000 years. As regards the representation of the period of the cattle, which marks daily social life in the region of Tassili, the naturalistic-esthetic realism and the famous prehistoric rock art are presented to it. The taming of horses and camels is illustrated in the last images. The region also presents a big geologic and esthetic interest. The rock art presents images covering a period about 10 000 years. The alive and faded cultural traditions and the cultural heritage of Tassili are reflected. The former successions and the evolutions of civilizations and prehistoric cultures are particularly striking and important.
The latter are particularly livened up by archaeological remains. They are considered real witnesses of the climate change, the changes of the flora and fauna. Above all, the possibilities offered by the breeding and pastoral life at times of the prehistory must be taken into account.
Tracks and imprints of the big geologic and climatic events characterize stonewares. To create a particular morphology, first of all the water and the wind contributed to the effects of the corrosion. The tray was cut by the water and softened by the wind.


1.3. Geologic form of the Tassili n’Ajjer

The geologic form of the Tassili n’Ajjer, which presents preCambrian crystalline units and sedimentary sequences of stoneware, dresses a big importance paléogéographique and paléoécologique.

The inhabitants lived in this region by developing physiological and cultural behavior adapted to the severity of the climate. Their testimonies go back to several hundred thousand years. The most eloquent expression of the relations between the man and its environment is the rock art, the tassili, to be exact. More than 15 000 drawings and engravings testify of the evolution of the climate, of the migration of the fauna (crowd) and of the evolution of the fauna(crowd) in the borders of Sahara. Hippopotamuses and disappeared sorts (species) which depend on some water and which live in the region there is several thousand years are illustrated by this art.
A particularly representative example of the witness (baton) of the life in this region is this combination (overall) of geological, environmental and cultural elements.

1.4. Integrity and authenticity of the heritage (holdings) Tassili

The natural beauty and all the sites of biological and ecological diversity represent all the sites of rock art and the main landscapes considered as attributes of an extraordinary universal value. The integrity of the cultural heritage to be assured(insured) and the preservation of the geologic process can be saved thanks to the use of new technologies of safety(security) and a plan of surveillance(supervision) suited because of the limits and of the size of the good(property), which covers 72 000 km2.

The national park of Tassili as tourism park

2.1. Protection of the Algerian cultural and natural values

It is not a coincidence if the Algerian Ministry of Culture decided to create a «Service (Office) of the Park of Tassili “. The current geostrategic challenges and new programs of arrangement(development) and town and country planning of the nearby regions of Sahara led(drove) the Ministry of Culture to adopt the law 98-04 on the protection of the cultural heritage, guaranteeing the protection of the Algerian cultural and natural values. The cultural park is a strategy from which the main objective is to protect the geographical spaces in which the various values of the national cultural heritage are confidentially connected and juxtaposed under the shape of an objective configuration.

Aided by this cultural context, he(it) became necessary to define the rules(rulers) of organization and management allowing to organize in a optimal way the structures and the mechanisms of management of these spaces. On the basis of a general plan, these cultural sites were defined since the prehistoric cave up to the current urban fabric.

From this identification, the rules (rulers) of organization and management were determined, the organization of these spaces of the prehistoric cave in the current urban fabric. This is organized of course by a general domain and a development plan. Thanks to this general plan of development of the zone, which establishes the legal and technical framework, the various sectors of the culture, the Home Office, the environment and the Agreement(Convention) can work together.

he implementation of the law on the cultural heritage and its measures to create and to organize the national park of Tassili as ” organization of the public administration ” contributes to develop a sustainable management. The main task of the EPA is to protect, to keep(preserve) and to improve the cultural and natural heritage. This organ of the EPA, managed by a director(manager) and an advisory board, gathers(combines) the various ministries and the local elected representatives.

2.2. The tourist activities

The region of Tassili, the capital of which is Djanet, is considered as the most attractive tourist destination of the Algerian southeast. Because of the local tourist potential, income and employment(use) of the local population of Djanet depend practically on the tourism.
The tourist activities which produce socioeconomic advantages for the benefit of the local population are subjected(submitted) to conditions which guarantee a better use of natural resources and cultural heritage. The tourism is strictly checked (controlled), groups of visitors are always accompanied by an official guide. One of the medium-term objectives will be the management of the tourism in this immense region

.3. Djanet: meeting place of the tourists

The city of Djanet was a destination favored for the tourists because of its status of site of the world heritage. In this region, the borders of three countries (Algeria, Libya, Niger) meet. It is a real meeting place for the tourists of the desert. The visitors of this tourist place are fascinated by this huge oasis in the forms of different rocks. The Erg Admer is visible along the road southward or towards Djanet. Looking like trees in cypress, old furthermore of four thousand years, vbelong to the most former creatures of the world.
The hillside white houses characterize the town of Djanet. For practical reasons, there’s still some room available for numerous gardens of palm trees with thousands of palm trees and the oases of biological vegetables.

With the aim of promoting the agriculture in this region and of reaching a certain autonomy, a governmental plan was implemented, whose results are already visible (water, earth, energy, agricultural products, etc.). Other important agricultural projects are always a part of the program. Similar projects were realized, e.g. in the Adrar (southwest) and Biskra (southeast).
The local museum gives a first good impression of the agricultural environment of the Tassili n’Ajjer. The famous paints and the rupestral engravings are also presented. The prehistoric rock paintings which go back up in it has there approximately ten thousand years are also present.

Situated in Djanet, the travel agency of State ONAT, with decades of working experience(experiment) with other travel agencies, pursues a unique(only) and interesting tourist strategy in the region. Djanet-ONAT works in close collaboration with the ONPCTA Djanet, which underlines rightly in the introduction of its fascinating notebook Tassili-N’AZDJER: ” by considering the ‘HABITS AND CUSTOMS’ as being a cultural element of the national cultural identity, it is thus our duty to protect them, to protect them, to value them and to pass on(to transmit) them in the future generations “. Within the framework of the excursions for example towards Tadrart, paints(paintings) and rupestral engravings of Tadrart are shown to the tourists.

3. Cultural expedition

Within the framework of the implementation of the project Digital World Museum of the mountains translation and methodology TRADTEC of which hundred countries are involved, the research laboratory ” ” organized in association with the ” Polylogue Center of Vienna(Vienne) ” an international colloquium on ” The languages(tongues), the literatures, Arts, Internet and the employability “, in the Faculty(Power) of the foreign languages of the University of Oran 2, from 10 till 14/03/2018. Just before the colloquium in question, a cultural expedition (shipping) towards Tassili was organized from 04 till 09 March 2018. This expedition (shipping) had the main following objectives:
– Grip(taking) of photos of the Tassili N’ Azdjer, his rock art and its engravings,
– The representation of the mountain range Tassili aims to be an introduction to the Digital World Mountain Museum.
– Presentation(display) of a part(party) of the photos of Tassili taken within the framework of ‘ the workshop Tassili ‘,
– Presentation(display) of the results(profits) of the expedition(shipping) Tassili,
– Presentation(display) of the most former(oldest) forms of art with a high technology (holograms or three-dimensional images),
– Development of a unique(only) public opinion in Europe, in America, in Africa and in Asia relative to the importance of the region of Tassili for the human history(story).

The exchange of the conversation which had on-the-spot place between the wali delegated by Djanet, the ambassador of Austria in Algiers, the leader(head) of the National park of Tassili, the director(manager) of the ‘ Center Polylogue of Vienna(Vienne) and the director(manager) of the research laboratory ‘ Translation and Methodology – TRADTEC ‘ led to fruitful and interesting results(profits):
-All the concerned parts(parties) declared themselves completely inclined to contribute to the development of the cooperation in the various sectors. Especially, the tourism, the culture, the environmental protection, the protection of the national park of Tassili, the agriculture(farming), the renewable energies, the hotel business and the restoration(catering).
-The mountain of Tassili is a part(party) of ‘ Digital World Mountain Museum ‘.
– Programming of an international conference for the beginning of March, 2019 on ” The Saharan tourism: Djanet as destination “.
-Festival of music festival on the occasion of the international colloquium on the tourism to Djanet,
-Exhibition(Exposure) on Tassili abroad,
-Publication on Tassili as world heritage.

Tassili N’ Azdjer, as recognized site of the UNESCO world heritage, is considered as a reliable destination for the Saharan tourism supported at present by the Algerian government. Because of the existing cultural and natural potential at the level of Djanet and of its neighborhood, with the aim of promoting the tourism it is imperative for the entities concerned to take appropriate measures (flights(thefts), offers of attractive prices(prizes), guides, digital visibility, exhibitions(exposures) on Tassili abroad, modalities(methods) of visas). This new approach (initiative) could give to the travelers of the desert a new moose(run-up) all over the world so that they can find quickly and without any particular difficulty their path(way) towards Djanet, the pearl of oases. The optimization of the local culture relative to the bivouac and to the gastronomy should be the object of a particular attention. Besides, a major interest should be granted to the cultural, scientific and socioeconomic tourism. The colloquium on the tourism to Djanet, planned for the beginning of March, 2019, is a prototype. This important and strategic international colloquium will undoubtedly help in the short term or medium-term to assure(insure) a long-lasting(sustainable) cooperation in the various domains (tourism, culture, environmental protection, the protection of the National park of Tassili, the agriculture(farming), the renewable energies, the industry of the hotel and the restoration(catering).

Picture

Bibliography

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Ministère de la culture, Office National du Parc Culturel du Tassili N’Azdjer : Patrimoine Immatériel et Ethnographique du Tassili N’Azdjer. – 4, 2015. ONDA : 2015-5090 ; ISBN : 978-9931-9265-0-4

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Internet links

Recording in the UNESCO world heritage list (English and French): stone natural Protectedplanet.net Ponts from the region (English), from Guilain Debossens UNESCO “Culture” World Heritage center Integrity: http://whc.unesco.org/fr/list/179.