Jedars
Encyclopedia
Jedars is the modern archaeological name given to thirteen monumental Berber
mausoleums south of Tiaret city in Algeria
. The name is derived from the jidār (wall) which is used locally to refer to ancient ruins. These pre-Islamic tombs date from Late Antiquity
(4th-7th? centuries CE).
area about 30 km south of Tiaret. There are 3 on Jabal Lakhdar, and 10 on Jabal Arawi (also known as Ternaten) 6 km north of the first group. Their size and commanding situation indicates they were built for royalty. They have been systematically plundered for many centuries and hence are in a state of ruin.
The monuments were built straight onto the substratum or with very shallow excavation. Some stone was quarried from local limestone and sandstone, some was recycled from nearby settlements and necropoli of earlier times. The materials vary widely: dressed stone blocks 1-1.5 m. long, partially dressed blocks up to 2.4 m. long, natural rock slabs with minimal dressing, old tombstones, old building fragments. Most of the construction is dry stone, lime mortar is used sparingly.
The 13 Jedars share many characteristics, and there are many similarities with much smaller Berber
tombs, called bazinas, that are common in the pre-Sahara zone. This shows that they represent an indigenous Berber
tradition, in spite of their use of Roman building techniques and Mediterranean Christian iconography.
The characteristics are:
It is believed that the solid jedars that do not contain funerary chambers may cover a single tomb excavated into the bedrock.
. There are a few unobtrusive Christian symbols, and a couple of roughly carved panels (apparently hunting scenes) similar to many ancient Lybico-Berber rock carvings.
The largest jedar at Ternaten is the only one in that group sufficiently intact to display epigraphy and iconography. It contained large well-executed polychrome murals (now almost completely weathered away) of religious scenes typical of Mediterranean Christian iconography of the 5th century or later, indicating that the ruling class had by then become Christian. This jedar also contains many Latin inscriptions on recycled tombstones and other building material, dating from the time of Septimus Severus (202-203 CE) up to 494 CE. The source of this recycled material is not known with certainty, but there are several large ruins of cities and necropoli in the surrounding districts.
The only jedar in the Ternaten group for which dating has been attempted is the largest, Jedar F. Because the latest recycled tombstone bears a date of 494, it may be 6th or 7th century. Unlike the Jabal Lakhdar monuments, its funerary chambers seem to have been built to hold more than one occupant, so it has been proposed that it is dynastic, with the smaller jedars surrounding it those of lesser nobility or rank.
and other later writers. ar-Raqiq relates that when the Fatimid caliph Ismail al-Mansur
was conducting military operations in the Tiaret area, he was shown the jedars at Jabal Lakhdar and wanted to know what the dedicatory inscriptions said; he was given a fanciful translation that the monuments were built to celebrate a military victory by the Byzantine army of Justinian I
. Although Ibn Khaldun
lived in the area for a number of years, he made no other reference to the jedars.
Beginning in 1842, French military expeditions in the area noted the monuments, resulting in the first archaeological descriptions. Jedar A was opened in a very rough manner in 1875 by antiquarians who failed to publish their research. In 1882, Professor La Blanchère from Algiers University published a detailed study on the jedars (mostly based on the previous excavations) and attempted to place them in historical context. His identification of them as belonging to the Berber king Massonas mentioned by the 6th century historian Procopius
is not supported today.
In the early 1940s, an anthropology student, Dr. Roffo, obtained permission to excavate. In pursuance of this, he used explosives to open Jedar B, from which he obtained a skeleton which was in a wooden coffin in a tomb excavated beneath the building; the same happened with one of the smaller jedars at Ternaten. The whereabouts of these skeletons is unknown (they may lie unrecognised in an Algerian museum) and Dr. Roffo, it is said, burnt most of his notes in a fit of pique after an argument with the Director of Antiquities (who had probably got wind of his methods of 'excavation').
During the Algerian War of Independence
the jedars were closed by the French military who filled in any entrances and laid mines in some places. After the war they were used by a shaman for quasi-Islamic fertility rituals until he was evicted by local authorities.
During the years 1968-70, an Algerian studying under Gabriel Camps
at the University of Aix-Marseilles, Fatima Kadria Kadra, made the first archaeological study of the jedars to use systematic modern techniques. A book based on her thesis was published by Algiers University in 1983 and remains the definitive reference. Attempts by Camps
(1995) to attribute the tombs to known Berber kings such as Mastigas
and Garmul are considered speculative.
Further work has been discouraged by the unstable situation in Algeria
since that time.
Berber people
Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...
mausoleums south of Tiaret city in Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
. The name is derived from the jidār (wall) which is used locally to refer to ancient ruins. These pre-Islamic tombs date from Late Antiquity
Late Antiquity
Late Antiquity is a periodization used by historians to describe the time of transition from Classical Antiquity to the Middle Ages, in both mainland Europe and the Mediterranean world. Precise boundaries for the period are a matter of debate, but noted historian of the period Peter Brown proposed...
(4th-7th? centuries CE).
Construction
The tombs are situated on the tops of two hills in the mountainous FrendaFrenda
Frenda is a town and commune in Tiaret Province in northwestern Algeria. It is best known for ancient Berber monumental tombs known as Jedars. -Notable people:* Larbi Belkheir - Algerian politician* Abdelkader Benayada - Algerian association football player...
area about 30 km south of Tiaret. There are 3 on Jabal Lakhdar, and 10 on Jabal Arawi (also known as Ternaten) 6 km north of the first group. Their size and commanding situation indicates they were built for royalty. They have been systematically plundered for many centuries and hence are in a state of ruin.
The monuments were built straight onto the substratum or with very shallow excavation. Some stone was quarried from local limestone and sandstone, some was recycled from nearby settlements and necropoli of earlier times. The materials vary widely: dressed stone blocks 1-1.5 m. long, partially dressed blocks up to 2.4 m. long, natural rock slabs with minimal dressing, old tombstones, old building fragments. Most of the construction is dry stone, lime mortar is used sparingly.
The 13 Jedars share many characteristics, and there are many similarities with much smaller Berber
Berber people
Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...
tombs, called bazinas, that are common in the pre-Sahara zone. This shows that they represent an indigenous Berber
Berber people
Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...
tradition, in spite of their use of Roman building techniques and Mediterranean Christian iconography.
The characteristics are:
- A square body, the largest being 46 m. on a side, and the smallest 11.55 m., with a height of up to 4 m. In some cases, the body is solid stonework, in the largest examples it contains funerary chambers.
- A pyramidal top, which in all cases is very much ruined, but which must have been originally up to 13 m. high, constructed in many small steps (rise and tread about equal at around 0.2-0.25 m.). The top is mostly solid masonry, but in those jedars that contain funerary chambers, removable steps on one side conceal a passage leading down into the chambers, the ceilings of which may protrude up into the top.
- Most, perhaps all, were surrounded by a courtyard, square except for an extension in the middle of the side facing east. In the larger ones this extension contains a small building modeled after the main monument. This building is believed to have been used for obtaining divinatory dreams by sleeping in the vicinity of the tomb.
- Most if not all were further surrounded by a complex of low walls.
It is believed that the solid jedars that do not contain funerary chambers may cover a single tomb excavated into the bedrock.
Epigraphy and iconography
The jedars of Jabal Lakhdar seem to have displayed a dedicatory inscription on one side of the top. This inscription was in Latin, but not deeply engraved and hence in every case is now almost illegible; the inscribed blocks are also very damaged. Enough remains only to confirm that these were tombs, but not whose they were. However, these jedars display an enormous range of stonecutters' marks, from isolated letters to partial names. Most of these are also Latin, some have been postulated to be TifinaghTifinagh
Tifinagh is a series of abjad and alphabetic scripts used by some Berber peoples, notably the Tuareg, to write their language.A modern derivate of the traditional script, known as Neo-Tifinagh, was introduced in the 20th century...
. There are a few unobtrusive Christian symbols, and a couple of roughly carved panels (apparently hunting scenes) similar to many ancient Lybico-Berber rock carvings.
The largest jedar at Ternaten is the only one in that group sufficiently intact to display epigraphy and iconography. It contained large well-executed polychrome murals (now almost completely weathered away) of religious scenes typical of Mediterranean Christian iconography of the 5th century or later, indicating that the ruling class had by then become Christian. This jedar also contains many Latin inscriptions on recycled tombstones and other building material, dating from the time of Septimus Severus (202-203 CE) up to 494 CE. The source of this recycled material is not known with certainty, but there are several large ruins of cities and necropoli in the surrounding districts.
Age
The three jedars of Jabal Lakhdar are believed to be the oldest. Within this group, the relative chronology is now believed known, from study of the stonemasons' marks. The largest, with funerary chambers, known as Jedar A, is the oldest; very soon after, solid Djedar B was constructed by many of the same workmen. The last jedar, C, is believed to have been incomplete when it was very hurriedly finished and its occupant interred, perhaps a generation later. Taking into account the unobtrusive nature of the Christian symbols, it is believed the occupants of these tombs were not themselves Christian but ruled over Christian subjects. Remains of a wooden coffin from Jedar B returned a C14 date of 410 ± 50 CE. A recent re-reading of the dedication from Jedar A has proposed a 4th century date.The only jedar in the Ternaten group for which dating has been attempted is the largest, Jedar F. Because the latest recycled tombstone bears a date of 494, it may be 6th or 7th century. Unlike the Jabal Lakhdar monuments, its funerary chambers seem to have been built to hold more than one occupant, so it has been proposed that it is dynastic, with the smaller jedars surrounding it those of lesser nobility or rank.
History and archaeology
The earliest known reference to the jedars is in the lost Tarikh of the 11th-century historian Ibrahim ar-Raqiq, in extracts preserved in the works of Ibn KhaldunIbn Khaldun
Ibn Khaldūn or Ibn Khaldoun was an Arab Tunisian historiographer and historian who is often viewed as one of the forerunners of modern historiography, sociology and economics...
and other later writers. ar-Raqiq relates that when the Fatimid caliph Ismail al-Mansur
Ismail al-Mansur
Ismāʿīl al-Manṣūr was the third Caliph of the Fatimids in Ifriqiya .- History :Ismāʿīl was born in 913 in Raqqada near Kairouan and succeeded his father Abū l-Qāṣim al-Qā'im in 946. The Fatimid realm found itself deep in crisis due to the revolt of Abū Yazīd...
was conducting military operations in the Tiaret area, he was shown the jedars at Jabal Lakhdar and wanted to know what the dedicatory inscriptions said; he was given a fanciful translation that the monuments were built to celebrate a military victory by the Byzantine army of Justinian I
Justinian I
Justinian I ; , ; 483– 13 or 14 November 565), commonly known as Justinian the Great, was Byzantine Emperor from 527 to 565. During his reign, Justinian sought to revive the Empire's greatness and reconquer the lost western half of the classical Roman Empire.One of the most important figures of...
. Although Ibn Khaldun
Ibn Khaldun
Ibn Khaldūn or Ibn Khaldoun was an Arab Tunisian historiographer and historian who is often viewed as one of the forerunners of modern historiography, sociology and economics...
lived in the area for a number of years, he made no other reference to the jedars.
Beginning in 1842, French military expeditions in the area noted the monuments, resulting in the first archaeological descriptions. Jedar A was opened in a very rough manner in 1875 by antiquarians who failed to publish their research. In 1882, Professor La Blanchère from Algiers University published a detailed study on the jedars (mostly based on the previous excavations) and attempted to place them in historical context. His identification of them as belonging to the Berber king Massonas mentioned by the 6th century historian Procopius
Procopius
Procopius of Caesarea was a prominent Byzantine scholar from Palestine. Accompanying the general Belisarius in the wars of the Emperor Justinian I, he became the principal historian of the 6th century, writing the Wars of Justinian, the Buildings of Justinian and the celebrated Secret History...
is not supported today.
In the early 1940s, an anthropology student, Dr. Roffo, obtained permission to excavate. In pursuance of this, he used explosives to open Jedar B, from which he obtained a skeleton which was in a wooden coffin in a tomb excavated beneath the building; the same happened with one of the smaller jedars at Ternaten. The whereabouts of these skeletons is unknown (they may lie unrecognised in an Algerian museum) and Dr. Roffo, it is said, burnt most of his notes in a fit of pique after an argument with the Director of Antiquities (who had probably got wind of his methods of 'excavation').
During the Algerian War of Independence
Algerian War of Independence
The Algerian War was a conflict between France and Algerian independence movements from 1954 to 1962, which led to Algeria's gaining its independence from France...
the jedars were closed by the French military who filled in any entrances and laid mines in some places. After the war they were used by a shaman for quasi-Islamic fertility rituals until he was evicted by local authorities.
During the years 1968-70, an Algerian studying under Gabriel Camps
Gabriel Camps
Gabriel Camps was a French historian, founder of the Encyclopédie berbère and considered a prestigious scholar in Berber historical studies.-Biography:Gabriel Camps was born in Misserghine...
at the University of Aix-Marseilles, Fatima Kadria Kadra, made the first archaeological study of the jedars to use systematic modern techniques. A book based on her thesis was published by Algiers University in 1983 and remains the definitive reference. Attempts by Camps
Gabriel Camps
Gabriel Camps was a French historian, founder of the Encyclopédie berbère and considered a prestigious scholar in Berber historical studies.-Biography:Gabriel Camps was born in Misserghine...
(1995) to attribute the tombs to known Berber kings such as Mastigas
Mastigas
Mastigas or Mastinas was the ruler of the Moors in Mauretania Caesariensis in the 530s. According to the Byzantine historian Procopius , who is the only source on him, Mastigas was an independent ruler who controlled the entire former Roman province except for the capital, Caesarea, which was...
and Garmul are considered speculative.
Further work has been discouraged by the unstable situation in Algeria
Algerian Civil War
The Algerian Civil War was an armed conflict between the Algerian government and various Islamist rebel groups which began in 1991. It is estimated to have cost between 150,000 and 200,000 lives, in a population of about 25,010,000 in 1990 and 31,193,917 in 2000.More than 70 journalists were...
since that time.