The Sahara Desert in Africa covers an area of ??2 million square kilometers. It has a volatile climate and extremely inconvenient transportation. It has long been a magical land that makes people stop. However, in recent years, with the development of world tourism, exciting adventure tourism has suddenly emerged. In some countries in the Sahara region of Africa, camel riding or hiking tourism is popular, allowing tourists to experience the harsh environment, inaccessible and ever-changing scenery. Desert scenery. Saharan murals have therefore become an emerging tourist hotspot in the world's tourism industry.
The Sahara Mural is located on a desolate plateau called Tassili in the Sahara Desert in Algeria, so it is also called Tassili Mural. There used to be a mountain range called Tasili here, which stretches for 800 kilometers, has an average altitude of more than 1,000 meters, and the highest peak of 2,335 meters. The baptism of time has made this mountain range as cold and desolate as the surface of the moon, with no grass growing. Off the beaten track. In distant ancient times, there were abundant water sources, dense forests and vast pastures here. Tassili means "tableland with rivers" in the language of the indigenous Tuareg people. However, for a long time, the rivers here have dried up and been deserted, leaving behind countless valleys and mountains eroded by the rivers. The jagged hills and huge mushroom-shaped stone pillars that stand haphazardly seem to be silently telling the world everything that has happened here, and painting has become the only way for them to tell.
At the beginning of the 20th century, several officers including Captain Cortier and Lieutenant Brennan of the French colonial army accidentally discovered it while patrolling an unconquered area 5 kilometers south of Algiers, Algeria. They were very curious about these unknown murals. According to Brennan's account: "In 1933, when I was leading a camel team to reconnoiter the Tassili Plateau, I discovered several 'art galleries' one after another, and there were so many exhibits. ! It included scenes of hunters, cart drivers, elephants, herds, religious rituals and family life. I was deeply moved by these images, so I spent a lot of time sketching these works of art. ”
When Brennan showed these sketches to French archaeologists and geographers, they were very excited. Because this will undoubtedly prove that the Sahara Desert has never been as deserted as people imagine. There were once water sources and pastures there. Human beings had lived and multiplied, otherwise what explanation could be given to those murals?
Among the people who saw Brehay's sketches was the famous explorer Henry Lott. He was an orphan and made a living by himself at the age of 14. Losing his parents at a young age cultivated his perseverance and enterprising spirit. Later he became an Air Force pilot. At the age of 19, an accident left him deaf in one ear, ending his flying career. However, he did not lose hope in life. An accidental opportunity made him fascinated by the vast desert. After that, he traveled back and forth in the desert, walking more than 30,000 kilometers, and accumulated rich experience in desert work. He regarded desert inspection as a own lifelong career.
He spent a year and a half inspecting the Tassili area and made friends with the Tuaregs scattered around this area. This indigenous people still live in this area where the river has dried up. On this land, men are veiled, but women are not, and live a free and unrestrained life. In some caves that were washed away by water tens of thousands of years ago, he discovered many well-preserved murals, which made him amazed and delighted. These murals record many interesting things in prehistoric times: naked hunters shooting arrows, round-headed warriors throwing spears, calm shepherds wearing aprons and Egyptian turbans, holding horns and herding cattle, and orders. Incredible canoe. There are also many animals painted on the cave walls, some of which have long since disappeared from the earth, and others such as rhinos, hippopotamus, ostriches, giraffes, etc., have also disappeared from the area.
Facing these brilliant masterpieces created by prehistoric humans, Lott was indescribably excited. He was determined to copy these works of art in their original size and color. But it was impossible to do it by relying solely on personal strength, so he decided to organize an expedition team to Tassili to complete this task. However, for a young man who is just starting out and does not even have a high school diploma, who will respond to his call? For this reason, he entered the University of Paris and worked part-time, and finally obtained a doctorate. At this time, the Second World War broke out. Lott suffered a spinal injury and was bedridden for 10 years. The plan to copy Tassili art had to be shelved.
In 1955, Lott recovered his health. He traveled around, received support and funding from some French scientific research institutions and government departments, and formed a team of 4 painters, 1 photographer and 1 technician. An expedition team composed of young Berber girls. Carrying all kinds of necessities, they set out in February 1956. They first flew to the Algerian city of Janet, and then headed north from there, riding camels and walking for eight days, eating and sleeping in the open and experiencing hardships along the way. , before arriving at the destination.
The natural environment in Tassili is very harsh. There is a huge temperature difference between day and night, and the air is dry. During the day, the wind is often howling, and the sand and gravel are flying, which is unbearable. The rock paintings in Tassili are scattered on the protruding parts of the cave wall and on the curved and suspended rocks. Some paintings even turn corners and jump over cracks. In order to copy these paintings accurately, the expedition team members endured severe cold and heat, lack of water and loneliness. In the isolated desert, they often had to kneel or lie down to work for hours or even days.
In November 1956, the weather turned cold, the expedition team was exhausted, and the work came to an end temporarily. In 1957, Lott recruited some enthusiastic young people to start work again. Finally, he brought back to Paris a copy of 1,500 square meters of murals, which were copies of the greatest prehistoric art ever discovered. He then exhibited these prehistoric art treasures in the Louvre, astonishing visitors. , and at the same time, I feel incredible that prehistoric humans could create such wonderful works of art.
There are tens of thousands of paintings and carvings in the rock art in Tassili. Most of the murals show that the Sahara Desert was once a paradise with abundant water and grass and herds of cattle and sheep. The earliest murals can be traced back to the Mesolithic Age, which is about 10,000 years ago. The latest murals are probably from around BC and lasted for nearly 10,000 years. The themes and contents of the murals in different eras are different, and the styles are different. Some are scrawled, some are rigorous, some are immature, and some are condensed. They are so diverse and dizzying that they record the lives of the various ethnic groups living here at that time. activity status.
The oldest pictures in the rock paintings were painted by prehistoric humans who lived between 8000 and 6000 AD. The brushstrokes are immature and they depict some purple-striped little people with extremely unequal bodies and large heads. It is round, and its legs and arms are as thin as reed wood. They may be depictions of smoked people who lived by hunting and gathering, as there are figures in the rock paintings with tattoos and masks, a custom that is exactly the same as that of black people. In the cave, there is a picture of a 5.5-meter-tall giant with two hands, a round head, and hunched shoulders. There seem to be four metal pieces attached to the head. There is no nose on the face, and the two eyes are crooked, just like the works of Picasso. , because the thousands of other murals were not very freehand, but this giant statue was particularly abstract. Lott was puzzled and named him "The God of Mars". The Swiss visionary Feng Daniken believed that the God of Mars was wearing either a space suit or a diving suit, and he wore a spherical helmet with wireless equipment on his head. He was obviously an extraterrestrial visitor. In fact, what looks like a helmet and wireless is actually a turban decorated with feathers. Moreover, the figures on the uneven rock surface are not necessarily drawn neatly in the vertical direction, so Daniken speculates that it is a cosmic person. is far-fetched.
Headless figures and strange-shaped objects abound in the rock paintings of this period. Similar scenes have also been found in early Neolithic relics in the Anatolian Plateau of Western Asia. However, most of them are Unexplainable.
During this period, scenes of weddings, banquets and circumcision ceremonies appeared, as well as scenes of a group of people surrounding a man holding a "magic wand" looking for water. In addition, several people could be seen. A child is sleeping under a blanket, a group of women are building a pergola, a man is shaking a drunken man to wake him up, a dog is barking... These vivid pastoral scenes recreate the tranquility of the Saharan residents in the past. daily life situations.
Around 5000 AD to 4000 BC, scenes of grazing cattle and sheep, semicircular houses, dancing girls, wars and daily life appeared in Tasili rock paintings. There are also many hunting scenes, and the entire process from driving away birds and beasts to shooting prey with bows and arrows is reflected in the rock paintings. The painting style is completely realistic, with clever composition and bright colors.
It is speculated that these rock paintings were painted by the Farbai people who still live in the southern Sahara Desert, because they are exactly the same in terms of hairstyles, hats, weapons, residences, and polygamy. They migrated from Lefei with their cattle when the pastures in the Sahara were plentiful. During this period, Tassili painting art reached its peak.
Around 1500 BC, the Sahara began to dry up, valleys dried up, oases dried up, and the harsh natural environment was no longer suitable for grazing cattle and sheep. The Farbais moved south in search of new pastures, and another people using horse-drawn carriages followed. The two-wheeled carriages in the Tasili petroglyphs reveal this mysterious change. These two-wheeled carriages were not used to transport goods, but were used for war and hunting. Due to the rugged roads and numerous stone pillars in Tasili, it was difficult to carry a carriage. Traveling, so there are very few residents. This nation migrated to other places around 1000 BC.
After that, the Sahara became increasingly dry and the sand dunes gradually expanded. Around BC, the situation was like today. At this time, the Tasili rock paintings showed not horses but camels, the "ship of the desert". Camels are either single or in groups, and some have people riding on their backs. Camels are an "imported product" imported from Asia. According to North African inscriptions, camels came to the Sahara around 150 BC. Documentary records date it slightly later, to 46 BC. As camels entered the African continent, the history of the Sahara opened a new page, the prehistoric era came to an end, and history entered the era of written records - the Greco-Roman era.
The main pigment of Saharan murals is obtained from shale. When painting, first grind the pigment into powder, dilute it with water and then add resin, animal oil, blood, honey, urine and other materials to make it into a liquid or paste for use.
In some sites, stone vessels and stone plates for melting paint, as well as small stone mortars for grinding paint, and painting tools such as fingers, pens or brushes were also found. Pens and brushes were made of grass. , hair, feathers and shaved twigs.
The Tasili murals are unforgettable. Tourists who come to Tassili for sightseeing, looking around the vast desert, can't help but wonder: Will there be mysterious rock paintings and unknown treasures in the vast desert?