Madghacen
Template:Short description Template:Infobox ancient site Madghacen (Template:Langx), 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 Ptolemaic 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
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 the monument and its authenticity."[6][7]
Gallery
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From above in 2015, showing the stepped sides
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One of the Doric order columns
See also
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References
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- ↑ Ibn Khaldun and Yassine Bouharrou, History of the Berbers Template:ISBN?Template:Page?
- ↑ Lawrence, A. W., Greek Architecture, p. 189, 1957, Penguin, Pelican history of art
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Ibn Khaldoun, History of the Berbers
- ↑ Gautier, É. F. (1937)
- ↑ Algeria Mausoleum of Medracen in Danger
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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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.
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External links
- Images of Medracen in Manar al-Athar digital heritage photo archive
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