The Sahara Desert houses the most important collection of rock art in the world.
In the time of Herodotus, large areas of what is now the Sahara Desert were inhabited by farmers.
Later, during classical antiquity, at least three well-traveled routes were established crossing the Sahara from north to south.
Maps mark them.
Their existence is confirmed by human traces, rock carvings, and the skeletal remains of men and animals who perished along those paths.
The Sahara is much more than a geographical reference.
It is an ancient story, filled with legends, myths, inexplicable vestiges of civilizations with mysterious origins.
One of the greatest spectacles one can witness is venturing into the desert dunes to watch the sunset.
It is astonishing to see how the apparent absence of life can create such a breathtaking scene.
An old Tuareg proverb says: “With the desert before you, do not say: what silence. Say: I cannot hear.”
The Sahara Desert is the largest in the world.
With its more than 9 million km², it stretches from the Atlas Mountains in the north to Sudan in the south, and from Egypt in the east to the Atlantic Ocean in the west.
This desert covers territories mainly in Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco, as well as Mauritania and Niger.
It also extends into Libya, Egypt, and Chad.
It is a difficult and challenging place for any type of archaeological or scientific research.
In the Sahara, suffocating heat can be followed by intense cold.
Sometimes violent winds filled with dust and sand arise, followed by long periods of absolute calm.
In this vast desert lie some of the hottest places on Earth, with temperatures ranging between 56 and 76 °C in the shade, yet at night they can suddenly plummet, producing a sharp thermal contrast.
Relative humidity is often below 10%, and in certain areas it may rain only once every 10 years.
There is only one recorded case of snow in the Sahara: on February 18, 1979, in southern Algeria, at dawn.
Despite its extreme conditions and the challenges it poses for archaeological research, the Sahara has already revealed some of its mysteries.
Berber is the name given both to the language and to some of the peoples inhabiting large areas of North Africa.
Over the centuries, the Berbers have mixed with many ethnic groups, especially Arabs. For this reason, today they are recognized more by linguistic features than by racial traits.
If we go back to the Neolithic period, when the cultures of the Sahara peoples emerged, we find an even more fascinating picture.
Across North Africa there were vast herds of animals.
Its surface was covered by trees and steppe vegetation, and it was inhabited by fair-skinned peoples, hunters and fishermen, who drew and left behind countless cultural vestiges.
There are places with rock walls that shine under the sun, where men and women of that time sketched drawings and paintings depicting animals typical of the steppe and the savanna: giraffes, elephants, rhinoceroses, buffaloes, antelopes, lions, ostriches…
They also drew on the warm rocks archers, swimmers, adorned magicians, dancers, and giant hands.
Centuries later, explorers found remains of megalithic monuments, stone tombs, caves that may have served as cemeteries, and circular pits.
Deposits of ancient wheat appeared, as well as castles built with massive stone blocks stacked without mortar.
In the different excavation layers, archaeologists found metal and glass jewelry, pearls and leather objects, clay sculptures, pottery vessels, and drums.
Also, fertility symbols: statuettes of a female figure or great mother holding her breasts with both hands.
The oldest remains date back to the Upper Paleolithic, the most recent to the beginnings of the Metal Age.
It is certain that, for several millennia, a refined culture flourished in the Sahara—comparable to the primitive cultures of Western and Southern Europe, and to those that developed in the Near East.
This culture was later inherited by the Iberian or Berber peoples, who in turn developed the culture of the Cro-Magnon man in the Upper Paleolithic.
Near Mechta, in Algeria, skeletons of primitive Saharan people have been found. They were tall, with long limbs, robust bones, a domed skull, wide face, and a strong lower jaw. Their close kinship with the Cro-Magnon race is unmistakable, as is their resemblance to pure Berbers, not mixed with Arabs or sub-Saharan Africans.
According to prominent prehistorians, Cro-Magnon men were blond and blue-eyed.
The legacy of the Cro-Magnon race can be traced far into the African interior. And the legend…
It is said that every legend contains a grain of truth. Perhaps this is also true of the Sahara.
Aidinan, the Devil’s Mountain, near the city of Ghat, Libya, was a taboo land for the Tuareg. The 800-meter-high black, scorched promontory in the middle of the Libyan desert was believed to be a refuge for the Yenún, and no Tuareg would dare venture into that mass of bare rock and spend a single night there.
Many ancient stories circulate about these devil’s mountains. The evil of the Yenún is feared—supernatural beings who behave strangely and who, according to legend, have goat’s feet.
According to Tuareg legend, Allah—“God”—began the creation of the world on a Sunday. But on Friday afternoon, shortly before prayer, He was creating a Yin (singular of Yenún). He left it unfinished, which is why its feet are not human. Since then, the Yenún, or devils, have roamed the Earth bringing all sorts of misfortunes upon mankind. That is their vengeance.
At first glance, the story of beings with goat’s feet seems like a simple legend. But the tales told by Tuaregs in the remote deserts of North Africa are strikingly similar to those told in Europe and the United States about demons and strange goat-men. There are also accounts of lights descending on the Devil’s Mountain.
They move at great speed, approach camps, and pursue vehicles venturing into the desert at night. Then they return to the stars. The Tuaregs say that from these lights, the Yenún leap down to the ground and attack livestock. Sometimes cattle are found dead, drained of blood, with strange wounds on their heads.
The Yenún have even been depicted in engravings and rock paintings in Matkhendus, Libya.
Written by:
Abdurrahman Jimenez