Madracen
Imdghasn
Photo in 2010
Location in Algeria
Location in Algeria
Shown within Algeria
LocationBatna Province, Algeria
RegionNumidia
Coordinates35°42′26″N 6°26′04″E / 35.70722°N 6.43444°E / 35.70722; 6.43444

Madghacen (Berber languages: imedɣasen), also spelled Medracen or Medghassen or Medrassen or Madghis is a royal mausoleum-temple of the Berber Numidian Kings which stands near Batna city in Aurasius Mons in Numidia, Algeria.[1]

Though independent, the Numidian kingdom was increasingly involved in Mediterranean power politics, and an architect familiar with classical architecture has surrounded the vertical section of wall at the base with engaged columns in the Doric order, "heavily proportioned and with smooth shafts, beneath a cavetto cornice". The whole exterior was, and very largely still is, covered with a stone facing, the straight cone of the upper part (except for a flat top) formed into steps, like the Pyramids of Egypt.[2]

History

Madghis was a king[3] of the independent kingdom of Numidia, between 300 and 200 BC. Numidia bordered Ptolomeic Egypt and was involved in the Second Punic War, switching sides from the Carthaginians to Rome.

Near the time of neighbor King Masinissa and their earliest Roman contacts. Ibn Khaldun said: Madghis is an ancestor of the Berbers of the branch Botr Zenata, Banu Ifran, Maghrawa (Aimgharen), Marinid, Ziyyanid, and Wattasid.[4][5]

Threats

From above in 2015, showing the stepped sides
Aerial view
One of the Doric order columns

As ICOMOS noted in their 2006/2007 Heritage at Risk report, the mausoleum has become "the victim of major 'repair work' without respect for the value of th[e] monument and its authenticity."[6][7]

In 2020, The United States Embassy in Algeria has launched a $175,000 project to restore the Medracen Mausoleum in Batna as part of a larger cultural preservation and anti-looting partnership with the Algerian Ministry of Culture and the Arts.[8]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Medracen.

References

  1. ↑ Ibn Khaldun and Yassine Bouharrou, History of the Berbers
  2. ↑ Lawrence, A. W., Greek Architecture, p. 189, 1957, Penguin, Pelican history of art
  3. ↑ Gautier, Émile Félix (1952). Le passé de l'Afrique du Nord: les siècles obscurs (in French). Payot.
  4. ↑ Ibn Khaldoun, History of the Berbers
  5. ↑ Gautier, É. F. (1937)
  6. ↑ Algeria Mausoleum of Medracen in Danger
  7. ↑ "Algeria Mausoleum of Medracen in Danger" (PDF). ICOMOS. 2006–2007. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
  8. ↑ Algiers, U. S. Embassy in (2021-12-23). "U.S. Embassy Launches Project to Restore Medracen Mausoleum". U.S. Embassy in Algeria. Retrieved 2024-01-16.

Further reading

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