Writing the desert
The ‘Tifinagh’ rock inscriptions of the Tadrart Acacus (southwestern Libya)
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6041650 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Stefano Biagetti (0000-0003-0936-3070, University College London, corresponding author), Ali Ait Kaci (University of Algiers Benyoucef Benkhedda), Lucia Mori (0000-0003-3437-7407, Sapienza University of Rome), Di Lernia (0000-0003-1732-1567, University of the Witwatersrand), Savino Di Lernia |
| Year | 2012 |
| Volume | 47 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 153-174 |
| Publication date | 2012-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Azania Archaeological Research in Africa (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0067-270X • E-ISSN: 1945-5534 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/0067270x.2012.674323 |
| OpenAlex | W2065474055 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 14 |
| References cited | 10 |
The mountain ranges of the Tadrart Acacus and Messak in southwestern Libya (central Sahara) are widely known for their outstanding rock art inventory and some key prehistoric sites. This paper illustrates the preliminary outcomes of current investigations on the ‘Tifinagh’ inscriptions of the Tadrart Acacus the recording of which has recently increased thanks to the support of ‘Endangered Archives Programme’ of the British Library. Its aim is twofold: first, to outline the main steps of the project, placing these within the most relevant issues related to the phenomenon of writing in the Sahara, and second, to describe the results that have been achieved to date and to foresee possible avenues of development. In fact, although difficulties in both dating and decipherment have been repeatedly stressed through the years, we emphasise that Tifinagh texts can play an important role in the process of landscape interpretation. A proper ‘written landscape’, where humans left readable signs of their passages or their stays, can integrate other archaeological approaches pursued so far in the Tadrart Acacus and its surroundings
Archaeology · Art · Decipherment · Desert (philosophy · Geography · Humanities · Interpretation (philosophy · Political science · Prehistory · Rock art · African Studies and Ethnography · African Studies and Geopolitics · Computer Science · History · Language, Linguistics, Cultural Analysis
Made in the Desert
Tadrart Acacus Rock Art Sites
Garamantian Oasis Settlements in Fazzan
The Linguistic Prehistory of the Sahara
Ethnoarchaeological Suggestions for a Review of the Last 3,000 Years in the Tadrart Acacus
Saharan Rock Art
A Saharan archive and its afterlives
Bentyia (Kukyia)
Re-entering the central Sahara at the onset of the Holocene
Holocene Deposits of Saharan Rock Shelters
Monumental funerary landscapes of Dhar Tagant (south‐eastern Mauritania)
The archaeology of Fazzān
Places, monuments, and landscape
Land-use and cultivation in theetaghasof the Tadrart Acacus (south-west Libya)
A Preliminary Report of Excavations in Fewet, Libyan Sahara
Working in a Unesco WH Site. Problems and Practices on the Rock Art of Tadrart Akakus (SW Libya, Central Sahara)
Déchiffrages. Quelques réflexions sur l’écriture libyco-berbère
"Provincial, Superficial or Incompetent? A Few Comments on Paul Bahn's "Memoria dell'arte
Recherche sur l'ancêtre des alphabets libyco-berbères
Protecting Libya's Archaeological Heritage
Incoming tourism, outgoing culture
Archeology
| Unique citing works | 14 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,08 |
| Citation span | 2013 - 2025 (13) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 14 |