At the beginning of 2007, with a small group of local people, we visited the area of Jebel Uweinat. I intended to take a series of pictures and we also planned to climb that spectacular mountain in order to verify the presence of prehistoric sites after the Talh saddle, at the upper end of Karkur Talh, and on the high plateau bordering the top of the mountain.
The idea was that, thousands of years back, vertical transhumance could have been practiced at Jebel Uweinat, a theory supported by reports and books we read in recent years about the Sahara and this fascinating massif. In December 2003, Mahmoud Marai found a major shelter at an altitude of 1235 m and this confirmed the idea that upper Jebel Uweinat was probably occupied at certain times of the year by herders who intended to take advantage of grazing grounds. Moreover, Andras Zboray and companions in 2002 and 2003 found several sites at altitudes exceeding 1400 m. Recent finds by an Italian team in the western granitic part uf Uweinat provided more evidence of high-altitude occupation. Sites with paintings at an altitude of 930 m in upper Karkur Talh, also reported by Andras Zboray and later visited by us, hinted atz people moving upwards from the mountain foot to the highest grazing areas in two steps, just as people still do nowadays in the Swiss Alps.
Transhumance pasoralism is an ancient form of breeding used to take advantage of varying climatic conditions. Herdsmen can find favourable grazing land at different altitudes according to weather conditions at different times of the year. Transhumance is still practied in other regions of the Sahara, such as the eastern High Atlas in Morocco, where Berbers during early springtime climb up with their sheeps in search of grassy lands.
Transhumance is also practiced in the very arid Tibesti mountains, as I found out while climbing the Emi Koussi (3415 m in northern Chad) in 1996. According to Gerd Spittler vertical and horizontal transhumance still takes place among various Tuareg tribes in and outside the Air Mountains area in Niger. In the Atacama desert of Chile a team conducted by prof. Martin Grosjean of the University of Berne found evidence of vertical transhumance in prehistoric times at altitudes between 2500 and 4500 m.
NEW PAINTINGS AT AN ALTITUDE OF 1425 M
New evidence of vertical transhumance at Jebel Uweinat is a prehistoric painted site in the whereabouts of the Talh saddle (1370 m), where the upper Karkur Talh comes to an end towards the plateau. Although the Talh saddle is nowadays rather difficult to reach, because of the large boulders occupying the passage, it has probably been possible for prehistoric people to drive animals up this valley to reach the higher plateaus.
Karkur Talh is the main valley systen draining the central and northeastern part of the Uweinat mountain. The Talh saddle not only leads to the large plateau, but it is also the northern „door“ to the summit of Jebel Uweinat. On the plateau we found some grass here and there, a result of the very heavy rainfall that occurred on August 29th, 2005. Rainfall is very rare, considering that this is in the world’s largest hyperarid region, with its average annual rainfall ranging to less than two mm. Surprisingly, after our ascent to the summit, we were able to replenish our water stock at Ain el Brins, where we found, as a consequence of the spectacular 2005’s rainfall, water of good drinking quality instead of the normally scarce brackish water.
As transport by camel is impossible along the rocky mountain slopes, Hamed and Khaled each carried 15 litres of water up the the whereabouts of the Talh saddle, to prearrange a waater deposit that would allow us to stay up there for about three days (6-8 February). After a short break they returned back to our bascecamp at lower Karkur Talh (630 m), where they arrived just before nightfall.
The same afternoon, while tow of us where installing our bivouac for the coming nights, I climbed a cliff to the west of the Talh saddle, looking for good viewpoints to take photographs later on in the evening light, and slo to study the best route to reach the summit of Jebel Uweinat (1951 m) to the south-east. At an altitude of 1425 m I found two shelters. the northern one, named „Talh-saddle cave“ displayed surprisingly good paintings.
On the third day we found in the vicinity, towards a terrace to the south, some more rather faint paintings. After our successful climb of the Uweinat summit next day, Mahmoud Marai spotted two more new sites, approximately two km east of the Talh saddle. The first one, to the east of a small dry watercourse, is an open-air site with deteriorated paintings showing several cows and people. The second one is flat on the ground and water washed off the paintings; ahead of this site is a small circular field with a very faint cow and a small human figure.
Despite remteness and difficulty to reach these new finds, no geographical coordinates are given here, in an attempt to preserve all of them, and especially the extraordinary „Talh-saddle cave“.
BUTTER AND CHEESE AT „TALH-SADDLE CAVE“ ?
„Talh-saddle cave“ is a marvellous shelter about 60 m above the plain. Open the the east-southeast, it receives sunshine early in the morning and offers the best shade even in the hottest dayhours. The paintings can no doubt be compared to the Giraffe cave’s art reported by Alessandro Menardi Noguera and companions in the southwestern highland of Jebel Uweinat. In this panel too, an inhabited hut with different containers painted in detail is the most remarkable depiction.
Of course other examples of scenes with utensils hanging from shelter or hut roofs are known in the Libyan Desert, such as one of the first findings on the „Hassanein plateau“ described by Andras Zboray (2004). In „Talh-saddle cave“ the paintings, in an excellent state of preservation, are dominated by about 15 bovines – some painted in solid red and others in a lighter red with minor white patches – one goat and eight impressive people in different sizes. State of preservation is god also thanks to the elevated position, as sandblasting effects at 1425 m are much reduced.
On the left, partially behind a cow, is a big male figure holding a long stick and leading the cattle herd towards the hut, probably for milking. In the left lower corner of the painting, possibly a wild cat (?) (or cheetah ?) is taking pssession of an attacked (?) lying bovine. It is interesting to remark that in 1997 I did find cheetah’s tracks in northern Ennedi (Chad). Two small archers complete the sscene, one of them – maybe sounded – is lying next to the collapsed bovine.
The most remarkable subject in „Talh-saddle cave“ is the hut. Similar to the huts still existing in the Tibesti region, it is occupied by three people, one of them a male figure with decorations on his arms and neck. A woman, wearing bracelets, is sitting and possibly shaking milk in a sack (?) to make butter. My assumption is that the three bags hanging from the ceiling are filled either with butter or cheese, these being perhaps, together with milk and to a lesser extent with game the main foodstuff of those days. The well marked udders of many painted cows can be interpreted as a symbol of the vital importance of milk in prehistoric times. Could therefore these pastoralist people be calles a „milkeater“ society ? According to Gerd Spittler, whenever Tuaregs were hit by persistent famine, milk was the only food for survival and even wild plants were eatable only together with milk.
Maybe prehistoric pastoralists in this area already had enough skill to tan goat and sheep hides with bark, and could therefore store or carry in their leather sacks commodities such as water, milk, cheese and seeds or grains. In addition to ordinary cheese, I dare assume that they could produce dry cheese as the Air Touaregs do from time immemorial. It probably was common knowledge that cheese prevents or is a medicament for various health problems. Dry cheese is not perishable can last years and, along with water, makes long caravan journeys possible. It cannot be ruled out therefore that donkey caravans in those early days could reach the neighbourhoods of Tibesti and Ennedi or even the northern Dakhla Oasis via the ancient caravan route, the Abu Ballas Trail, followed by Carlo Bergmann. Jebel Uweinat, where in ancient times favourable conditions prevailed, had many natural wells with permanent water and could presumably be one of the most important stops for donkey caravans in search of food on the way from Dakhla Oasis to the Tibesti and Ennedi regions. Moreover, karkur menas wadi in the Teda language and this could point to an ancient link between Uweinat, Tibesti and Ennedi.
The history of cheese does indeed go back to very ancient dimes and cheese manufacturing is already known ten thousand years before ancient Rome. It was the only way to make milk durable for travelling. Ancient Greeks used to make crdled milk with unripe, „green“ figs. Possibly, figs were known in prehistoric times in the Sahara, with seeds being brought by birds of passage. It is also known that early pastoral people used intestines of animals to preserve milk. Tu sum up, it can be assumed that as early as animals have been domesticated and then milked, production of butter and cheese was known.
VERTICAL TRANSHUMANCE AT JEBEL UWEINAT
„Talh-saddle cave“, at an altitude of 1425 m, can confirm our vertical-transhumance theory at Jebel Uweinat, where pastoralists took advantage out of three different vegetation zones:
1. The main living area for transhumant herders in the earlier days was the base of Karkur Talh (600 m) where most paintings and engravings are located.
2. The first elevated area where they temporarily lived is at an altitude of about 900 m, and here Andras Zboray found some painted shelters.
3. The second area where transhumant herders found grazing land and lived temporarily is at an altitude of around 1400 m, right after the Talh saddle.
4. Herders then moved back to the area around 900 m and stopped for a short grazing there.
5. They then returned to the base of Karkur Talh (600 m) where in the meantime grass had been growing again.
The close similarity of the art painted n the so-called „Uweinat Patoralist“ style by Neolithic people in this area during the 4th and 3rd millennia B.C. also speaks in favour of vertical transhumance. Unlikely people could live in the higher areas of Jebel Uweinat all year around, on acount of climatic circumstances. As a conclusion, we can assume that a short-distance cyclical vertical transhumance took place in Jebel Uweinat, following a seasonal fixed rythm.
It can easily be presumed that many more rock art sites will be found in the wide former grazing lands above the Talh saddle.
NEWLY FOUND „UWEINAT ROUNDHEAD“ PAINTINGS AT HIGH ALTITUDE
We also wish to report a new find that occurred after climbing the Uweinat, on February 10th 2007. When revisiting sites discovered by Andras Zboray situated on the ridge between the two branches of Karkur Talh, we spotted a superb „Uweinat Roundhead“ style site. This nique painting is on the ceiling of a shelter situated in a huge rock at an altitude of 930 m. According to Andras Zboray, so far this style has not been recorded at these altitudes.
AKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I especially wish to express my deep gratitude towards the whole team of our Uweinat 2007 journey and my appreciation for the assistance and comments by Yves Gauther, Andras Zboray, Werner Pichler, and last but not least Roberta Simonis.
On all my photographic journeys during the last forty years in the Sahara, mainly in Chad (Tibesti and Ennedi), Libya (Acacus), Niger (Erg de Bilma and Tenere), Algeria (Hoggar, Tassili N’Ajjer, Tefedest, Ethiopia (Danakil Desert) and southern Morocco, success in photographing and exploring was based on the philosophy: „small is beautiful“. With rare exceptions, only locals have been on my side and it must be pointed out that many Saharan findings would not have been possible without these so inspiring, handsome and experienced people.
The trip took place from mid-January to early March 2007. Besides Mahmoud Marai from Cairo, responsible for logistics, the local team was composed by Hamed Mohammed Bosgera, a fine mechanic, Khaled Abed El Seamma, an expert driver, both from Baharyia Oasis, and Hassan Samba from N’Djamena (Chad), a brilliant cook with a lot of qualitites fit for the desert.
