ArcheoTour,  Curiosity

The mysterious Ksar of Draa in Timimoun

This particular building has attracted the interest of many ArcheoTravelers and beyond. So let’s try today to take stock of the situation based on what we know of this very particular fortified structure.

The Draa ksar rises majestically in the middle of an ocean of dunes. It has a characteristic circular shape, stands out in the middle of the desert and its history has been lost over the centuries.

Visiting this ksar is not an easy task without the help of expert guides. However, as you can imagine, once reached, its view and exploration of its environments must be an indescribable experience.

To date there are still several questions that have not been able to answer.

How was it built? From who? And why?

Not even the locals are able to provide information on this very particular structure, the only news related to it is that for a certain period of time it was occupied by the Jews of the Timimoun region. But in what precise period? What use did they make of it? Was it really a fortified castle or could it be a military post or even a prison? Or is it a caravanserai?

Ksar of Draa Timimoun
From “Top Destinations en Algérie”

Unfortunately, what remains of its structure is not very helpful in understanding its original function. A circular wall, about two meters high, surrounds the ksar towards the outside. This is also a circular one, consisting of a double wall, the external one in stones bound with clay and the internal one in clay only. It has a single access point to the north, and a series of rooms on three levels develop between the two walls. The absence of exposed stairs allows us to hypothesize that there were internal ones that allowed access to the various floors. A further peculiarity lies in the fact that there are no communicating rooms and not even any windows facing outwards.

Ksar

The ksar is a fortified village typical of the Maghreb. It generally consists of granaries and houses, and is located on hills or raised points near oases or waterways in order to be better protected from attacks by nomadic tribes.

At the base of the construction of the ksar there is a particular housing module called Ghorfa (room in Arabic), inside which foodstuffs were stored in anticipation of periods of drought.

From “Top Destinations en Algérie”
From “Top Destinations en Algérie”

A possible caravanserai?

The term caravanserai refers to a building generally consisting of a wall that encloses a large courtyard and a portico, which was used to stop the caravans crossing the desert.

Inside you could also find rooms for travelers that could be used freely by them travelers. In some caravanserai there were even libraries, we can in fact deduce that especially during the evening there was the opportunity for profound cultural exchanges between people from different backgrounds.

From “Top Destinations en Algérie”
From “Top Destinations en Algérie”

It is a typology of building typical of the Persian culture, however many examples can also be seen in North Africa and throughout the Middle and Near East. Many of these structures were built by master engineers belonging to Sufi orders who applied the principles of golden geometry and the perfect ratio of proportions, as was also the case for mosques.

However, we must admit that the style of the Draa Ksar differs from the caravanserais that have come down to us.

From “Top Destinations en Algérie”

Legends

To date the function of this building remains a real mystery. Its particularity obviously led to the formulation of the most disparate hypotheses, but to the spread of singular legends linked to this very special place. Among the most recent is that of an American team (of scholars?) Who arrived in Timimoun in the 1980s. This recruited the best guides in the region, gathered supplies and entered the Tinerkourk Erg. After crossing the sea of ​​dunes, the expedition reached the mysterious building. The Americans asked the guides to leave them alone and pick them up after a week. Nobody knows what they looked for in the ksar or even what they eventually found inside.

From “Top Destinations en Algérie”

Reading tips

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Trained at the University of Turin, where she obtained her three-year degree in Cultural Heritage Sciences and her master's degree in History of Archaeological and Historical-Artistic Heritage, she specialized at the University of Milan, graduating in Archaeological Heritage. Freelancer, she deals with computer archeology and virtual heritage, museum displays, 2D graphics and multimedia products applied to cultural heritage. Collaborates with various public and private bodies in the field of projects related to the research, enhancement, communication and promotion of cultural heritage. She deals with the creation of cultural itineraries relating to the entire Italian Peninsula and the development of content (creation of texts and photographic production) for paper and virtual publications. Her study interests include the development of new techniques and means of communication for the enhancement of cultural heritage and the evolution of the symbolism of power between the Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages.

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8 Comments

    • Lorena Cannizzaro

      Hi, I’m so glad you liked the article!
      I discovered it by chance and I admit that I was very intrigued and so I started doing research about it, all the material collected ended up in the deepening.
      Are you an archaeologist too?

      Thank you so much for the comment you wrote to me, very kind! 😊🙏

      • Patrick

        I’m curious why nobody knows what the team of Americans found at the site. Did they just disappear? I would think some information must have come back with them.

        • Lorena Cannizzaro

          And you’re right, I’m also very curious about it, but to date I haven’t found any scientific publications about it, nor a survey of the site or anything else. Honestly now I have doubts even if this shipment ever took place…

  • Michael Browy

    You state in your article that the walls are two meters in height? That cannot be correct unless this structure is very small. Even using the smallest wall as a guide (at two meters) the total diameter is at maximum 12 times that distance, or only about 90 feet in diameter. Am I correct or did I miss something? That is hardly the size of a village.

    • Lorena Cannizzaro

      Look, the outermost wall has been preserved for about 2 m, the innermost structure instead has walls about 8 m high (at least the most preserved ones). Unfortunately, to date I have not found a reliable survey of the plan of the building or of its walls in order to have further information on the matter.

    • Lorena Cannizzaro

      Did you happen to see it in person? Do you know anything else about it?
      I find it a really interesting structure!

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