At the foot of these bizarre erosional forms in the Séfar area, you will come across shelters where you can admire countless rock paintings. - Algeria - 1966

At the foot of these bizarre erosional forms in the Séfar area, one encounters shelters where one can admire countless rock paintings. The Targui Hosseinie gives us a size comparison. - Algeria - 1966

The Targui Hosseinie stands at the entrance to a cave created by wind erosion near Séfar. - Algeria - 1966

479 - Séfar (Tassili-n'Ajjer). – The "Martian" remains mysterious, as it evokes a ritual whose meaning eludes us. This male figure – the sex is emphasized – has a body that is too long. The hands, with five fingers, are in the so-called orant position, but the nature of the protuberances on the arms and the shape of the head remain unexplained. He wears two bracelets represented by three lines on each arm. On the left, a small figure seems to be invoking him. Perhaps it is wearing a belt? The structure with vertical lines has no known meaning. Mysterious horned animals make the scene even more difficult to interpret. The scene, painted in white with red outlines, is at least mysterious and possibly magical. The arms of the orant measure 1.55 m from hand to hand.

480 - Séfar (Tassili-n'Ajjer). – Location of the "Martian" in the fresco from Séfar. The width of the panel depicted here: 8 m.

The shelter with the ‘Martian’ from Séfar.

481 - Séfar (Tassili-n'Ajjer). – The animal, also painted in white, has been deformed to make it appear mysterious. The panel depicted is 1.55 m wide.

484 - Séfar (Tassili-n'Ajjer). - “Tarzan”! Here we remain in the mythical, without knowing what the creators of these white paintings intended to tell us. The large figure on the right has powerful arms. To his left, a woman identified by her breasts raises her arms in the air. The individual preceding her holds a striped structure. Other paintings are even less identifiable. Chest width of the “gorilla”: 0.29 m.

485 - Séfar (Tassili-n'Ajjer). - Red ochre painting with white outlines. Time of the “round heads.” Perhaps we are witnessing an intimate scene depicting a couple and their child. This is a valid hypothesis. The figure on the right wears striped pants. Note the lack of muscle mass in the thighs, in contrast to the black bovid archers.

488 - Séfar (Tassili-n'Ajjer). - Is it a Bubale (Pelaravis antiquus Duv.), as the horns suggest? This white painting surrounded by red is typical of the animals depicted at Séfar. From muzzle to tail: 2.70 m long.

492 - Séfar (Tassili-n'Ajjer). - Enlarged detail of the previous fresco. Note, at the bottom center, the figure with the Mickey Mouse head.

493 - Séfar (Tassili-n'Ajjer). - The figure painted in white with a dark outline bears some resemblance to the "Martian" already seen at Séfar (photo 479). But here, it holds a spear (?) in its right hand and something indistinct in its left hand. A crescent is also depicted to its right. The body is very slender, and the thighs seem spread apart, but the legs do not continue. Chest width: 0.44 m.

498 - Séfar (Tassili-n'Ajjer). - Extraordinary fresco painted over several periods. At the bottom, there is a parade of white mouflons mixed with figures painted in dark ochre. Bottom left, a familiar scene with figures painted in white. At the top, another scene, this time involving black shepherds fighting with their bows. On the left, behind a man with a clearly visible loincloth, one might infer a dead man.

499 - Séfar (Tassili-n'Ajjer). - This photograph is a very fine document and at the same time highlights the difficulty of analyzing its content. It all seems to belong to the "round head" phase, to which the left figure undoubtedly belongs. On the right, one can clearly distinguish a giraffe.

500 - Séfar (Tassili-n'Ajjer). - Masks have always been problematic because they were primarily associated with hunting. In fact, in many forms, they seem to be linked to fertility through what we refer to with the umbrella term "sexuality." But here, it is a true mask with no connection to the animal and likely related to rites still unidentified in rock art. The masks shown in photographs 500 - and 501 belong to a series of three, the last being incomplete. Each mask is 0.50 m wide.

503 - Séfar (Tassili-n'Ajjer). - Large fresco painted in red ochre, dark gray, and yellow. The bovids are not depicted in the best way possible for the artists of this period. There are also people, as well as circular structures that could represent shelters (huts?). At least sixty bovids can be counted. The panel measures 2.60 meters in width.

504 - Séfar (Tassili-n'Ajjer). - Pastoral scene painted in ochre with remarkable precision. Some of the bovids are cows. One of the animals, in the center at the top, is ridden by a couple, one of whom, located at the front, is holding an unidentified object. The stick wrapped with a strap along its entire length is placed across the horns. In the top-right corner, a greyhound with a long snout, fast runner's legs, and a narrow pelvis is sniffing the ground. The archer below holds both his bow and two arrows, which is a well-observed gesture. It is also noted that he wears a loincloth.

505 - Séfar (Tassili-n'Ajjer). - The wife of Séfar, identifiable by her breasts, has a prominent belly which could indicate pregnancy: She wears a bracelet on each arm and holds with both hands an unidentified curved object. Height of the figure: 0.95 meters.

507 - Séfar (Tassili-n'Ajjer). - Oxen and cows. The two animals in the center are shown with only one horn visible. The ox on the right has a collar. Everything is painted in brown ochre. A seated man is depicted with a hairstyle. The distance from the back of the bovids on the left to the arm of the seated man on the right is 0.80 meters.

508 - Séfar (Tassili-n'Ajjer). - Painted giraffes, their coat represented by dotted spots. The large giraffe measures 0.31 meters in height.

509 - Séfar (Tassili-n'Ajjer). - Pastoral scene. Polychrome painting. Behind the last cow, in the top-left corner, an individual leans and extends a stick toward the bovine. Height of this figure: 0.11 meters.

510 - Séfar (Tassili-n'Ajjer). - Antelope painted in fine and precise lines with red ochre.

511 - Séfar (Tassili-n'Ajjer). - Pastoral scene. Figures engaged in their tasks amidst a herd of cows with very varied coats. Above, crouching figures and an unidentifiable structure. Below, another figure with moving arms. The animal above him measures 0.17 m in length, from the forehead to the back leg.

512 - Séfar (Tassili-n'Ajjer). - Gazelles (?). It seems that the one at the top, in the center, has a young one with her. Two-colored painting in white and dark ochre. Height of the left animal: 0.12 m.

513 - Séfar (Tassili-n'Ajjer). - A couple painted in red ochre, consisting of an archer who may be in the act of picking one of the arrows (left side), and a woman following him, with both hands stretched downward; the fingers are painted with precision. A piece of the woman’s clothing is blown by the wind to her back. Definitely a Negroid type, as revealed by several skeletons found in the region. The woman measures 0.19 m.

514 - Séfar (Tassili-n'Ajjer). - Hunting scene (?). Six Negroid archers are running to the left. A seventh is running in the opposite direction. One of them, at the top center, is armed only with an axe, while another, very faint, below him, shows that the bowstring was not attached at the ends of the bow but a little higher, to better withstand the tension. Height of the archer on the left: 0.18 m.

515 - Séfar (Tassili-n'Ajjer). - A Negroid archetype, with powerful musculature and a determined look, treated in dark red ochre. He wears a feather on his head and no visible clothing. He appears to be holding arrows in his right hand. Height of the figure: 0.21 m.

522 - Séfar (Tassili-n'Ajjer). – A "shepherd" extends something to a bovine facing him. This red ochre painting is less carefully executed than usual (legs of the right cow). From the horns to the hind legs: 0.22 m.

523 - Séfar (Tassili-n'Ajjer). – A Negro man, painted in red ochre, extends his right hand towards a sort of cube. Height of the man: 0.25 m.

524 - Séfar (Tassili-n'Ajjer). – Return to the time of the "round heads" with these stylized but refined paintings. A woman in the background watches the dance of two others, leaning to the right and wearing a loincloth. The one on the right wears curious white shin guards, flared at the bottom, two pieces of fabric tied to her arms, and a white headdress. She measures 0.24 m from head to foot.

525 - Séfar (Tassili-n'Ajjer). – These extraordinary fashion engravings, in reality paintings, reveal much about a civilization of which we know nothing. These women (?) are dressed in blouses, trousers, and in two cases, "leggings".

526 - Séfar (Tassili-n'Ajjer). – Scene of a ritual dance. The polychrome figures: dark brown, red, white, light yellow, are richly dressed and coiffed. They appear to be holding a stick. The tallest dancer is 0.48 m tall.

527 - Séfar (Tassili-n'Ajjer). – On the edge of the Ouad Séfar, the shelter "of the Amazons" (H. Lhote).

528 - Séfar (Tassili-n'Ajjer). – Here we see goats or sheep attached "to a rope". This gives them an astonishing sense of order. Below, there is a red structure extended downward by V-shaped lines. We also see archers sketched with painted lines, as well as figures in a red structure, bovids, and later archers treated in dark gray. Diameter of the circle: 0.25 m.

529 - Séfar (Tassili-n'Ajjer). – Two hands at the end of severed arms. The left hand is finely decorated; the other is bordered by a double line. At the bottom left: head of a mouflon. Length of the right hand and arm: 0.33 m.

530 - Séfar (Tassili-n'Ajjer). – Another "positive" hand at the end of its arm. Below, a very rare depiction of a fire. Europoid figures with headgear. The arm and hand measure 0.51 m in length.

531 - Séfar (Tassili-n'Ajjer). – In front of a stylized mouflon, an archer seems to be prostrated. At the bottom left, two elephant heads. Far right, a person in a long tunic tied at the waist. From the front paw to the back paw: 0.30 m.

532 - Séfar (Tassili-n'Ajjer). – A Europoid character irreverently called "De Gaulle". Height: 0.20 m.

533 - Séfar (Tassili-n'Ajjer). – This teratological bovine consists of two front parts welded together in the middle of the belly. It is the opposite of the "monster" from In Habeter III, where two rear ends are welded together at the same point (photo 194). Length from one snout to the other: 0.35 m.

534 - Séfar (Tassili-n'Ajjer). – Curious figures painted in ochre. In the center, a horn (possibly an elephant tusk?). The figure with an oversized neck is 0.17 m high.

536 - Séfar (Tassili-n'Ajjer). - Line drawing of an archer whose legs are twice the height of the torso. He still holds his bow in the left hand – like most depicted archers – and a stick in the right hand. His belt supports a cloth strip covering the groin. Notable features include: arm ring, necklace, appendages under the right arm, and hair hanging down the neck. Height of the depicted figure: 0.35 m.