The Jeddars are stone pyramid tombs in Algeria, where the ancient Berber rulers are believed to have been buried. Created between the 4th and 7th centuries, they bear traces of the beliefs prevalent in these territories in the pre-Islamic period. The country's Ministry of Culture is applying for the inclusion of these monuments in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2020 … During this time, it is necessary not only to go through bureaucratic procedures, but also to collect research data.
At the moment, these structures are poorly understood and in many ways remain a mystery to scientists. It would seem that it is not so difficult: square in cross-section, stepped pyramids were erected only one and a half kilometers from the capital of the state. However, until the 1980s, Algerian universities did not train archaeological students at all, and specialists in burial monuments are not being trained even now.
For centuries, cultural sites have been plundered by looters and victims of vandalism, and many monuments have suffered in the colonial and post-colonial eras. The exhibits - bones, jewelry, and everything that was found - were taken to the metropolis, and now local scientists do not have access to the French scientific archives of those years. But the legacy that remains must be preserved for future generations, says Mustafa Dorbain, professor at the Institute of Archeology at the University of Algeria.
It is not known exactly who was buried in the pyramids. Once the places in which they now stand were part of the Roman province of Numidia. When the power of the Romans fell, small holdings of the Berber kings were formed there. Very little is known about their history, and the study of the pyramids may shed light on this period of the country's life.
Now archeology teachers and their students study the monuments. Inside the pyramids are labyrinths of rooms and burial chambers. Some of the graffiti on the walls - supposedly in Latin and Greek - has been practically destroyed by time, but scientists have not yet lost hope of "squeezing" information out of them.
Perhaps the Algerian scientists will be helped by new technologies for the study of antiquities. For example, muon scanners, with which they search for hidden rooms and voids. These scanners pick up muons, charged particles that appear when cosmic rays collide with gas molecules in the air. From bursts in the muon background, one can determine the empty space. It was thanks to these devices that a secret room was discovered in one of the Egyptian pyramids in 2016.
Polina Gershberg
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