JUST OUTSIDE THE DESERT OASIS of Djanet, Algeria, there’s a national park brimming with pieces of the past. A trip through the alien-like landscape of Tassili n’Ajjer is like stepping into an open-air art gallery, where the sandstone rock formations become canvases for more than 15,000 prehistoric carvings and paintings, is was discovered first in 1910 and subsequently in the 1930s and ’60s.
Tassili n’Ajjer which means ‘Plateau of the Rivers‘ or some people say Tassili n Ajjer is a Tamahaq name meaning ‘plateau’ of the Ajjer people, the name of the Kel Ajjer group of tribes whose traditional territory was there.
The magnificent Tassili n’Ajjer mountain range can be easily reached from the beautiful town of Djanet. Due to its location in the breathtaking desert regions of the country, the mountain range is mostly comprised of sandstone, allowing the Saharan winds to carve spectacular landforms and rock arches.
The sandstone composition however, has very good water holding features, allowing the vegetation to grow lush landscapes and woodlands that are home to Saharan Myrtle and Saharan Cypress which are both endangered species known locally as Tarouts; one of the rarest plants on earth ;the Tassili cypress is an endemic species which only exists on the Tassili.
It is also one of the oldest trees in the world after the barbed pine (Pinus aristata) in the USA. In addition to the living trees there are 150 dead Tarouts on the Tassili. Most large animal species have disappeared, but Barbary sheep (mouflon), gazelle, hyrax, wild cats and possibly cheetah are still p resent.
In the Neolithic, when the Sahara was not yet a desert, men painted and engraved the rocky walls of Tassili n’Ajjer. Animals, hunting scenes or enigmatic ceremonies, these masterpieces did not reveal all their secrets.
