Madghacen
Imdghasn | |
 Aerial view of the Numidian Mausoleum | |
  Shown within Algeria | |
| Location | Batna Province, Algeria |
|---|---|
| Region | Numidia |
| Coordinates | 35°42′26″N 6°26′04″E / 35.70722°N 6.43444°E |
Madghacen (Template:Lang-ber), 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]
History
Madghis was a king[2] of independent kingdoms of the Numidia, between 300 and 200 BC 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.[3][4]
Don Julian Iniguez de Medrano,[5] born in Navarre around 1540, published an interesting collection containing proverbs, remarkable pieces by Spanish poets, etc, “1029: Medrasseiif, Medrasen or Madracen, a monument erected in Algeria, in the province of Constantino, 35 kilometers away. NOT from Batna. It dates back to a period prior to Roman domination. It has, very artistically, been given the name tomb of Sypliax. MÉDRÉAC, comm. Ile-et-Vilaine, district. 19 kilometers from Montfort.” Julian Iniguez de Medrano legitimately suggested that the name Medrassen, or Madghassen, comes from Madghes who was, according to Ibn Khaldun, the ancestor of the Numidians which the Masinissas and the Massyles were descended.
Threats
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]
See also
References
- ^ Ibn Khaldun and Yassine Bouharrou, History of the Berbers [ISBN missing][page needed]
- ^ Gautier, Émile Félix (1952). Le passé de l'Afrique du Nord: les siècles obscurs (in French). Payot.
- ^ Ibn Khaldoun, History of the Berbers
- ^ Gautier, É. F. (1937)
- ^ Julián Íñiguez de Medrano, su Silva curiosa (1583) y una anécdota tudelana by Carlos Mata Indurain Literary Magazine of the Ribera de Navarra Overpass, no. 19, May 1999, p. 53-56.)
- ^ Algeria Mausoleum of Medracen in Danger
- ^ "Algeria Mausoleum of Medracen in Danger" (PDF). ICOMOS. 2006–2007. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
Further reading
- Gabriel Camps, Nouvelles observations sur l'architecture et l'âge du Medracen, mausolée royal de Numidie, CRAI, 1973, 117–3, pp. 470–517.
- Yvon Thébert & Filippo Coarelli, Architecture funéraire et pouvoir : réflexions sur l'hellénisme numide, MEFRA, Année 1988 * Serge Lancel, L'Algérie antique, édition Mengès, Paris 2003.
External Links
- Images of Medracen in Manar al-Athar digital heritage photo archive
