Jibreen Machar.. What many do not know about the discoverer of the Tassili drawings
Tassili Najer.. the largest open-air museum in Algeria and the world, about 30,000 years old. It is still a mystery that baffles scholars and researchers specializing in ancient archaeology and excavations, after the discovery of its caves and rock drawings for the first time in the thirties of the last century by an Algerian and not a French as it is rumored. .
In the early thirties, Jibreen, the son of the Tamghit region in the heart of the Tassili Plateau, decided to undertake an expedition that lasted for about two and a half months to find out the secrets of the lost city.
In the state of Illizi, history captivates you and attracts you with secrets that are thousands of years old, carved by the circumstances of nature and man on strange rocks and caves in the charming city of Sevar. Despite the research and studies that have been conducted, hypotheses and legends have been woven around it. Some say that it is the city of paradise, and others go to the hypothesis that it was the home of alien creatures, according to the suggestions of the drawings engraved in its rocks, while others believe that it dates back to the "lost Atlantis" continent.
Perhaps what is interesting and what is hidden from these stories is the identity of the discoverer of the drawings of Tassili Najer, located in the Djanet region of Illizi, (southeast of the country), not the French Henri Lott, as it is rumored, but an Algerian named Jibrin Machar.
? Who is Jibrin Machar
According to an exclusive documenting the family tree, Jibrin, whose full name is Jibreen Aq Muhammad Aq Machar Aq Boubaker, was born in 1890 AD, from the “Kil Madak” tribe, which inhabited the Tamgit area in the heart of the Tassili Plateau, and his wife Ayoub Mama Bint Aghali and Tammar Hamid's daughter
At the beginning of the thirties of the last century, Jibreen decided to undertake an expedition, which lasted for about two and a half months, in Tassili, where he saw the lost city, and one of the wonders of the universe.
Like dozens of prominent figures in history, painting, literature, science and the arts, Jibrin Machar remains marginalized and forgotten, and is hardly known in his country.
After joining a French research team in the thirties of the last century, Jibrin, the son of the region, did not expect years later that his discovery would go unheeded, and be absent because of the scheme of Henri Lott, the French researcher who dealt with him and attributed to him the discovery of rock art in Tassili.
Abu Bakr Machar, the grandson of Machar Jibrin, says that "Jibreen was a man who loved tourism, roaming and travelling. He hardly stayed in one place. He was a traveler moving from one region to another in the middle of the vast desert."
Jibrin adds with an interesting narrative: "I have the right to describe my grandfather Jibrin as the artist, who loves discovery and adventure, travels alone, sometimes with my father, Sogi Machar, in the "desert depths".
Jibreen.. and Henry Lott
In his conversation with Algeria, Boubacar returns to the beginnings of Jibrin with French researchers, explaining that "his grandfather did not meet Henry Lott at the beginning, but his first meeting was with the traveler and researcher Bernan, and the last, after the end of his mission in Algeria, recommended Henry Lot, to take care of Jibrin and taken as a travel and research guide.
Before entering the world of discoveries and plant and animal sciences, Jibrin resisted the French colonialism in the Avako region with the people of the region hidden in history books, according to what Boubaker Machar tells, who pointed out that France at that time tortured and killed those who refused to conscription, but for his grandfather, Jibrin Machar, took him as a general tourist and scientific guide 1920 After one of the officers realized his genius and experience in tracing, his strong fondness for travel and his great knowledge of the “corridors” of the desert and its terrain.
Our interviewer does not hide that the late Jibrin Machar was distinguished, in addition to his deep knowledge of the secrets of the desert, his proficiency in reading and writing the letters of the Tifinagh, which qualified him - according to him - to be installed as an official guide in the various scientific studies and research that the French were doing in Tassili n’Ajjer .
guide tassili nazjer
There is pleasure when you enjoy the tale of the desert guide, Jibreen, in the words of his grandson, feel the sincerity of the words and the narration, and discover a fact that has remained unknown, especially in his relationship with "Henry Lott", who attributed the discoveries of the Tassili drawings to himself and wrote down false information other than those that Gabrien had learned and taught him, before he By correcting this, without choice, in his second book, after "anger" against UNESCO and the international press. According to Abu Bakr Machar.
The speaker, Abu Bakr, a tourist guide, expressed his regret for what happened to Jibrine after the disappearance of his achievements by the French Henri Lott, in his first book, considering that what Lot did was unfair to someone who gave a lot to Algeria by showing the world one of the wonders of the universe.
Jibreen, who dealt with the United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (UNESCO), had a relationship with Henry Lott after the latter left Algeria at the end of the seventies of the last century.
In his account of Jibrin's stations in the desert and his relationship with the French, Abu Bakr Machar explained that "Jibreen had a working and tourism relationship with the French administration only, and he was paid (in return) for it."
Regarding his humanitarian aspects, the spokesman did not hide that "his grandfather is generous and loyal, good in dealing with people, especially tourists, and loves to receive them whenever he has the opportunity, to introduce and promote the cultural and natural heritage of the region."
First and second flight
Jibrin's first trip took place in several locations, including Tamgit, "In Etin", Etges Nalias, Sefar, "Tin Tzrift", "Tin Apteika", "Tin Touhami", "Tin Kinna", "Ajabaran", and he did not leave it empty-handed. Where he discovered frescoes, various rock inscriptions, caves, funerary monuments, fossils and tools belonging to the ancient man who inhabited the area.
Jibreen's passion was greater, with a broader dream, so in 1932 he resumed his research trips, where he first landed in the Tadrart region, here the colonial administration had to seek help, and take him as a guide in the first expedition mission headed by Captain Brennan in 1933. According to a statement he made to "Ultra" Algeria,” Algerian researcher and academic Bouda Al-Eid.
Bouda indicated in his speech that "the information about the desert guide, Machar Jibrin, is very scarce and the sources are few, as what you get is related to the first meeting between Jibreen and the French researcher Henri Lott, who decided to publish documented research on Tassili jewels and published in the fifties of the last century."
What encouraged Lott Henry to move forward in his research, based on the results of the traveler Brennan's trip in 1935, but Lott used Jibrin, especially after Brennan's old age and his inability to split the desert as he was in his youth. According to Boda.
Bodeh, the author of a study on " Litham of the Tuareg" , reveals that Jibreen accompanied "Lot" on a scientific mission during which he surveyed vast areas of Tassili Nazger, known in the Tuareg language as "The Bull Plateau", and it extends over an area of 72,000 square kilometers, with a width of 50 to 60 km and a length 800 km, in addition to an altitude of more than 2,000 meters above sea level, and despite him, the French administration relied on him for a number of military mapping missions, perhaps the most famous of which was his mission in Tadarart and “Amiok” in 1937.
13 years before the independence of Algeria (1962), Machar Jibreen had a great reputation, and even entered academic scientific research through the gate of the University of Algiers, and that was between 1949 and 1952, when he was appointed as an official directory of the university.
After independence, specifically in 1978, Jibrin was appointed in charge of the Tamghet camp for tourists (affiliated with the state company Sonatrach), and then set up a tourist guide for the various scientific and tourist missions that come to Tassili. According to the information obtained by the researcher Bouda from various sources.
The last days of the discoverer of 'Lost Atlantis'
After Jibreen Machar's long journey full of secrets and discoveries in the Tassili barn, which is listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, his last stop was on February 22, 1981, in the village of En Berber, Djanet, where he passed away at the age of 90. His grandson Abu Bakr Machar says.
Sadly, Machar Abu Bakr talks about the last days of Jibrin before his death: “Despite what he accomplished and the discoveries he made, he dealt with UNESCO, led convoys of tourists and scientific expeditions, but in his last days he entered Mustafa Pasha University Hospital, in the capital, and did not receive the visit of officials, and upon his return to The city of Djanet, he died, in a house granted to his children during the era of the late President Houari Boumediene. As for his first house, it is a stone house similar to ruins, built by nature among the bushes and rocks in the Tamaghit area.
Jibreen Machar contributed to the discovery of part of what was considered among the thousands of inscriptions and caves in the Tassili region
Among the 15,000 drawings, engravings, and sculptures of ancient human remains, animals and plants contained in Tassili, Jibrin contributed to discovering a significant part of it, and taking it out of its dark “caves” to the world. Does he not deserve honor, praise and definition of what he accomplished? Why not document his biography and his amazing discoveries in books and studies By Algerian researchers? Is Jibrin destined to remain forgotten?
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