It is known from the history of the development of mankind that the very first and great civilizations arose in the valleys of the Nile, Euphrates, Tigris, as well as in some areas of the Middle East. Then archaeologists discovered the Indus Valley and some places of the Chinese rivers. All these places were characterized by the following features: warm climatic conditions, fertile land, and most importantly, the availability of fresh water.
Scientists and researchers were convinced that there could be no civilization west of the Nile. The vast desert terrain frightened people. This desert is the Sahara.
If we analyze the statements of the first researchers, scientists, archaeologists, we get the opinion that the Sahara Desert is a hostile area. So, in the fifth century BC. Herodotus described sand dunes, salt domes and the gloom of the desert world in his works. Then later, another scientist Strabo described how the inhabitants of the desert treat water with care. And a century later, the scientist Pliny confirms the description of other researchers and says that there is no water at all in the desert and rain is a very rare phenomenon. But over time, researchers and archaeologists moved deeper into the desert. Interesting news began to come from them that all kinds of images on the rocks were found in the desert, which testified to the permanent residence of people in these places. In the last century, a French archaeological expedition led by Duveyrier saw petroglyphs in Libya, then after a while German travelers noticed drawings of animals on the rocks. This archaeological expedition was led by the historian Nachtigall. Then other travelers found petroglyphs and drawings on the rocks, but no one made a sensation from this, because scientists did not think about their value. But only by the middle of the last century, this situation began to change little by little. Archaeological expeditions, while in the Sahara, began to pay more and more attention to frescoes and petroglyphs. Scientists began to change their opinion about the life of the primitive population of the desert. In this regard, they had a lot of questions. So, for example, why are images of animals such as hippos, ostriches, rhinos painted on the frescoes,giraffes? The images of the Egyptian boat and horses with chariots aroused great interest. In 1932, the military officer Brenan, who served in Algeria on the Tasilia plateau, painted some of the plateau's frescoes. Brenan was also an artist, everything that he saw could not leave him indifferent, everything caused him delight and admiration. He sent the sketches of the frescoes to the great specialist in primitive painting, Breuil. The sketches of the frescoes made an indelible impression on Breuil, and he began to ask the French government to send an archaeological expedition to the Sahara. The expedition was organized and sent under the guidance of the traveler and historian A. Lot. This expedition was well prepared and equipped with modern equipment and technology. French explorers went to the Sahara for a long time,and their task was not to sketch images, but to accurately copy them in color. The expedition included artists, photographers, cameramen. All members of the expedition worked in difficult climatic conditions. However, in almost two years of work, they did a lot in discovering the world of the Sahara. They all had a different idea of this deserted place. Most of the work of the expedition was devoted to the study of the Tassili plateau. An interesting translation of the word Tassili - "river plateau", but there are no rivers at all. Its dimensions are about eight hundred kilometers long and up to sixty kilometers wide. From the south, Tassili rises above the Ahaggara plateau. The Tassili ridge is sandy. There are many canyons that are formed by water streams. The water cut through the entire territory of the massif, and figures of bizarre shapes were formed. Here is the mystery of nature, where does the water come from?Where is the water from here?Where is the water from here?Where is the water from here?Where is the water from here?Where is the water from here?Where is the water from here?Where is the water from here?Where is the water from here?Where is the water from here?Where is the water from here?Where is the water from here?Where is the water from here?and their exact copying in color. The expedition included artists, photographers, cameramen. All members of the expedition worked in difficult climatic conditions. However, in almost two years of work, they did a lot in discovering the world of the Sahara. They all had a different idea of this deserted place. Most of the work of the expedition was devoted to the study of the Tassili plateau. An interesting translation of the word Tassili - "river plateau", but there are no rivers at all. Its dimensions are about eight hundred kilometers long and up to sixty kilometers wide. From the south, Tassili rises above the Ahaggara plateau. The Tassili ridge is sandy. There are many canyons that are formed by water streams. The water cut through the entire territory of the massif, and figures of bizarre shapes were formed. Here is the mystery of nature, where does the water come from?and their exact copying in color. The expedition included artists, photographers, cameramen. All members of the expedition worked in difficult climatic conditions. However, in almost two years of work, they did a lot in discovering the world of the Sahara. They all had a different idea of this deserted place. Most of the work of the expedition was devoted to the study of the Tassili plateau. An interesting translation of the word Tassili - "river plateau", but there are no rivers at all. Its dimensions are about eight hundred kilometers long and up to sixty kilometers wide. From the south, Tassili rises above the Ahaggara plateau. The Tassili ridge is sandy. There are many canyons that are formed by water streams. The water cut through the entire territory of the massif, and figures of bizarre shapes were formed. Here is the mystery of nature, where does the water come from?The expedition included artists, photographers, cameramen. All members of the expedition worked in difficult climatic conditions. However, in almost two years of work, they did a lot in discovering the world of the Sahara. They all had a different idea of this deserted place. Most of the work of the expedition was devoted to the study of the Tassili plateau. An interesting translation of the word Tassili - "river plateau", but there are no rivers at all. Its dimensions are about eight hundred kilometers long and up to sixty kilometers wide. From the south, Tassili rises above the Ahaggara plateau. The Tassili ridge is sandy. There are many canyons that are formed by water streams. The water cut through the entire territory of the massif, and figures of bizarre shapes were formed. Here is the mystery of nature, where does the water come from?The expedition included artists, photographers, cameramen. All members of the expedition worked in difficult climatic conditions. However, in almost two years of work, they did a lot in discovering the world of the Sahara. They all had a different idea of this deserted place. Most of the work of the expedition was devoted to the study of the Tassili plateau. An interesting translation of the word Tassili - "river plateau", but there are no rivers at all. Its dimensions are about eight hundred kilometers long and up to sixty kilometers wide. From the south, Tassili rises above the Ahaggara plateau. The Tassili ridge is sandy. There are many canyons that are formed by water streams. The water cut through the entire territory of the massif, and figures of bizarre shapes were formed. Here is the mystery of nature, where does the water come from?All members of the expedition worked in difficult climatic conditions. However, in almost two years of work, they did a lot in discovering the world of the Sahara. They all had a different idea of this deserted place. Most of the work of the expedition was devoted to the study of the Tassili plateau. An interesting translation of the word Tassili - "river plateau", but there are no rivers at all. Its dimensions are about eight hundred kilometers long and up to sixty kilometers wide. From the south, Tassili rises above the Ahaggara plateau. The Tassili ridge is sandy. There are many canyons that are formed by water streams. The water cut through the entire territory of the massif, and figures of bizarre shapes were formed. Here is the mystery of nature, where does the water come from?All members of the expedition worked in difficult climatic conditions. However, in almost two years of work, they did a lot in discovering the world of the Sahara. They all had a different idea of this deserted place. Most of the work of the expedition was devoted to the study of the Tassili plateau. An interesting translation of the word Tassili - "river plateau", but there are no rivers at all. Its dimensions are about eight hundred kilometers long and up to sixty kilometers wide. From the south, Tassili rises above the Ahaggara plateau. The Tassili ridge is sandy. There are many canyons that are formed by water streams. The water cut through the entire territory of the massif, and figures of bizarre shapes were formed. Here is the mystery of nature, where does the water come from?They all had a different idea of this deserted place. Most of the work of the expedition was devoted to the study of the Tassili plateau. An interesting translation of the word Tassili - "river plateau", but there are no rivers at all. Its dimensions are about eight hundred kilometers long and up to sixty kilometers wide. From the south, Tassili rises above the Ahaggara plateau. The Tassili ridge is sandy. There are many canyons that are formed by water streams. The water cut through the entire territory of the massif, and figures of bizarre shapes were formed. Here is the mystery of nature, where does the water come from?They all had a different idea of this deserted place. Most of the work of the expedition was devoted to the study of the Tassili plateau. An interesting translation of the word Tassili - "river plateau", but there are no rivers at all. Its dimensions are about eight hundred kilometers long and up to sixty kilometers wide. From the south, Tassili rises above the Ahaggara plateau. The Tassili ridge is sandy. There are many canyons that are formed by water streams. The water cut through the entire territory of the massif, and figures of bizarre shapes were formed. Here is the mystery of nature, where does the water come from?From the south, Tassili rises above the Ahaggara plateau. The Tassili ridge is sandy. There are many canyons that are formed by water streams. The water cut through the entire territory of the massif, and figures of bizarre shapes were formed. Here is the mystery of nature, where does the water come from?From the south, Tassili rises above the Ahaggara plateau. The Tassili ridge is sandy. There are many canyons that are formed by water streams. The water cut through the entire territory of the massif, and figures of bizarre shapes were formed. Here is the mystery of nature, where does the water come from?
There is one answer to this question. For a very long time, in the past, people lived in this region, as evidenced by medieval cities with ancient architectural structures.
But the expedition staff still had to study and scientifically substantiate all this. They had enough difficulties on the expedition, it was not clear which was easier to bear - heat or cold. All members of the expedition reacted better to the heat, because going to the Sahara, everyone was ready for the heat, but the cold ?! At night, the water in the vessels was covered with ice, the clothes - with frost. The winds, it would be more correct to say, sandstorms, demolished the tents, and the whole camp was covered with sand. The most unpredictable event that the members of the expedition suffered was flooding. For several years there was no rain in this region, and now, exactly when the expedition was working, it rained twice. The rains were heavy for several days.
And if you add a lot of poisonous snakes and scorpions to all this nightmare, then you get a completely terrible picture. A constant thirst pursued the researchers throughout the entire expedition. Sometimes people could not stand it and drank dirty water from reservoirs with insects. In the end, all these difficulties were overcome, because the members of the expedition were mostly young. Without interruption, at the risk of their lives, the leader of the expedition, Lot, and his detachment climbed the rocky recesses, along the walls of the caves, superimposing large paper sheets on the image of the frescoes, copying the images onto them, and then painting them to maintain the accuracy of the correspondence. Then they did not think at all that they were performing a feat.
From the study of the earliest frescoes of Tassilia, which were made about seven thousand years ago, it can be concluded that at that time the Sahara was not a desert. The frescoes depict very accurately and expressively hunters and many animals of huge sizes: elephants, mouflons, antelopes, rhinos. And if we also compare these facts with the geological studies carried out, then in conclusion we can say that the Sahara was, most likely, green and abundant in water.
Analyzing the next period, we see that a new direction appears in works of art and works. Artists began to paint divine images of enormous proportions. In this period, among the many such frescoes, the fresco called "The White Lady" by Lot stands out. It depicts a running black woman wearing an incomprehensible headdress.
Promotional video:
During the pastoral period, which spanned about one and a half thousand years and ended in a thousand years BC, the climate of the Sahara began to change dramatically. On the frescoes, images of a large number of bulls and antelopes appeared. So on one fresco, Lot counted more than fifty animals. Many frescoes depict the inhabitants of the Sahara: women working on the farm, children playing, men chopping wood, a meeting of the council of elders in one circle. Usually, the places where the frescoes were painted contained kitchen utensils, vessels, arrows, and even decorations. Later frescoes depict horses, horse teams, then camels loaded with a load.
And then, without any doubt, people left this land, as the desert moved on them and they could no longer live in this drought. Most likely, their path lay to the Mediterranean Sea. Only rarely was it possible to find a touring tent. But they did not know where these paintings came from, and did not know what animals are depicted in these frescoes. And if you look at the facial features of people, they are very diverse. There are large numbers of negroid facial features, as well as those similar to the Egyptians and Libyans.
At the present time, several thousand frescoes from Tassilia, made by members of the expedition, have taken one of the places of honor in the Paris Museum of Man.
I would like to note that in this museum there are also many copies, photographs brought by members of other expeditions that were carried out later by Lot. With their help, we can assess the level of development of the ancient inhabitants of the central part of the Sahara, unravel the mysteries of the history of the development of this desert region, which turned out to be completely different than we expected.
From the frescoes, we traced in detail the Saharan civilization, which developed in the same way as the Egyptian culture or the Indus culture. But nature turned out to be stronger than the people of the Sahara and the Saharan civilization was cut short, leaving no majestic temples and even cities behind. But those works of art that the artists of the Sahara left behind make us bow before them. After all, only with the help of their works did we learn in such detail about the world buried in the desert.