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ot: Saharan rock art
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[QUOTE]Originally posted by alTakruri: [QB] [IMG]http://www.temakel.com/fototassiliport.jpg[/IMG] This particular fresco which, though strictly Saharan, has a Chadic or maybe central and east African feel about it. Some say she is Auset (Isis). The provence of this art piece is Inaouanrhat, Tassili N Ajjer in the middle of the Sahara of southeast Algeria. A larger size repro is in [b] Henri Lhote [/b][i] The Search for the Tassili Frescoes [/i] New York: EP Dutton, 1959 Me, I think the figure is of a legendary or mythological woman or goddess. Her pose suggests she may be fleeing. More likely she is, perhaps, in a ritual dance. She appears to have no hands or maybe her hands are covered. Whatever. Toward the wrist end of her forearms is some kind of meshed and woven covering. They are tied, clamp-like, at the ends. The right hand covering has a single long thread. The left hand covering has four threads 2/3 as long as the right hand thread. She also has meshed anklets. Her armlets have fiber threads hanging from them and her skirt likewise is composed of fibrous threading, not at all appearing to be a cloth. Between the skirt and the belly are two strings of beads(?). Her knees are wrapped in a material similar to that of the armlets but without any strand attachment. The left knee wrapping does has something attached to it that extends in length down to the anklet. It appears to be solid and may be cloth or leather. That the figure is female is attested by the slightly protuberent rounded belly, no hint of a penis seen behind the skirt, and two long thin breasts. The breasts are profusely scarified. Scarification is also evident on the shoulders, the sides or chest to the stomach, and the right leg. There is some stratified marking on the right thigh that doesn't appear to be raised bumps of scarification. The left leg may be missing scars because they were only raised on the outer side of the leg. The absence of hands or their covering is one piece of evidence of the legedary or mythological significance of the figure. Even more so is the prescence of horns either growing directly from the head or as part of a headress. Then there is some sort of aura looking part of the drawing of the head that composes part of the forehead nose and upper lip. This "aura", mask, or headressing completely surrounds the short Afro style hair and sits up over the crown of the head above the hair. It's possible that what's taken for horns, actually represents something else that is associated with what looks like a field of grain or grass stretched between them. This "field" adds to the legendary/mythological interpretation and has something represented by medium sized dots under it that fills up the space between the "horns", borders the bottom of the "horns", and borders the face, neck, and collar of the figure. The painting was executed on the wall of a completely isolated shelter indicating a sacred space. There are other figures superimposed on, in front of, and under the raised right leg of the main figure. These smaller figures drawn above the knee level of the main figure appear to be mostly male. The vast majority of them have a bushy Afro and a goatee beard. Two of them have very short hair or are bald. Four of them, though in a fleeing stance, are headless! One set of three men are armlocked in perhaps a dance step? Alongside them are three bushy Afro figures with broad hips, thick thighs, and possibly small breasts, most likely they are female and a part of the dance. All these little figures are nude. Below the knee level is another scene. Another female depicted in larger size than those already described but smaller than the main figure, also appears to be a legedary or mythological personage. Only her head, arms, and torso are drawn. She has a skirt, breast, side and stomach scars, armlets, strands dangling from the right arm, and a headress or nimbus. Surrounding her is what looks like a rainbow. She is approached by two small figures, a female walking with the right arm upraised, and a goateed male in a position of obeisance, legs spread, proffering a bowl, perhaps containing an offering of some type. The entire scene may relate a single motif or story or set of beliefs held at least 6000 years ago. The paintings are executed in the style of the Masks period. There are paintings very similar in style to the "Horned Goddess" in Sefar. One such has a waistband with clothlike or leather material hanging from it like the Horned Goddess has on her left knee. It also has the same type anklets. Another shows pubescent females with body, thigh, and leg scars. __________________________ Replaced Image per request [/QB][/QUOTE]
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