الآثار في الجزائر
تذخر الجزائر بالآثار من قبل التاريخ، بما في ذلك أنشطة بشرية وأطلال جلمودية من جميع صنف معروف (تقريباً). Numerous flints of palaeolithic type have been discovered, notably في تلمسان وKolea. بالقرب من الجلفة، في الأطلس الكبير، وفي Mechra-Sfa ("ford of the flat stones"), a peninsula in the valley of the river مينا القريبة من تيارت، are vast numbers of megalithic monuments. Notable among the prehistoric cultures of the area is the Capsian culture, whose shell-mounds are found throughout the north.
في قبر الرومية-- "grave of the Roman lady," "Roman" being used by the Arabs to designate strangers of Christian origin—the Madghacen, and the Jedars, Algeria possesses a remarkable series of sepulchral monuments.
قبر الرومية-- الذي يشتهر بإسمه الفرنسي Tombeau de la Chrétienne, tradition making it the burial-place of Florinda, la Cava Rumía، الابنة الجميلة سيئة الحظ للكونت جوليان—يقع بالقرب من Kolea, وتُعهد أنها قبر الملك المورطاني يوبا الثاني وزوجته كليوپاترا سلينه، ابنة مارك أنطونيووكليوپاترا، ملكة مصر. It is built on a hill 756 قدم (230 م) above the sea. A circular stone building surmounted by a pyramid rests on a lower platform, 209 قدم (64 م) square. Originally the monument was about 130 قدم (40 م) in height, but it has been wantonly damaged. Its height is now 100 قدم 8 بوصة (30.68 م): the cylindrical portion 36 قدم 6 بوصة (11.13 م), the pyramid 64 قدم 2 بوصة (19.56 م) The base, 198 قدم (60 م) in diameter, is ornamented with 60 engaged Ionic columns. The capitals of the columns have disappeared, but their design is preserved among the drawings of James Bruce, the African traveller. In the centre of the tomb are two vaulted chambers, reached by a spiral passage or gallery 6 1⁄2 قدم broad (2.0 م), about the same height, and 489 قدم long (149 م). The sepulchral chambers are separated by a short passage, and are cut off from the gallery by stone doors made of a single slab which can be moved up and down by levers, like a portcullis. The larger of the two chambers is 142 قدم (43 م) long by 11 قدم (3.4 م) broad and 11 قدم (3.4 م) high. The other chamber is somewhat smaller. The tomb was early violated, probably in search of treasure. In 1555 Salah Rais, pasha of Algiers, set men to work to pull it down, but the records say that the attempt was given up because big black wasps came from under the stones and stung them to death. At the end of the 18th century Baba Mahommed tried in vain to batter down the tomb with artillery. In 1866 it was explored by order of the emperor Napoleon III, the work being carried out by Adrien Berbrugger and Oscar Maccarthy.
Madghacen is a monument similar to the Qabr-er-Rumia, but older. It was built about 150 B.C. as the burial-place of the Numidian kings, and is situated 35 ميلs (56 kم) southwest of Constantine. The form is that of a truncated cone, placed on a cylindrical base, 196 قدم (60 م) in diameter. It is 60 قدم (18 م) high. The columns encircling the cylindrical portion are stunted and much broader at the base than the top; the capitals are Doric. Many of the columns, 60 in number, have been much damaged. When the sepulchral chamber was opened in 1873 by Bauchetet, a French engineer officer, clear evidence was found that at some remote period the tomb had been rifled and an attempt made to destroy it by fire.
The Jedars (Arabic "walls" or "buildings") is the name given to a number of sepulchral monuments placed on hill-tops. A rectangular or square podium is in each case surmounted by a pyramid. The tombs date from the 5th to the 7th century of the Christian era, and lie in two distinct groups between Tiaret and Frenda. Frenda, which has largely preserved its old Berber character, has numerous dolmens and prehistoric rock sculptures close by.
Algeria contains many Roman remains besides those mentioned and is also rich in monuments of Saracenic art. For a description of the chief antiquities see the separate town articles, including, besides those already cited, Lambessa, تبسة، تيپازا وتمقاد.
انظر أيضاً
- Prehistory of Central North Africa
