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| Rock Paintings, Tadart Acacus, Libya |
Once upon a time, the Sahara was green and animals such as giraffes, elephants and wildebeests grazed in the savanna. Men lived in caves, others in thatched huts made of wood and reed. They fashioned tools with flint and bones and spent the day hunting animals for food.
At night, perhaps after their meals were eaten and they get tired of sitting by the camp fire, these people would gather around a strange rock. Those seen in the mountains of Tadart Acacus. Using oil they found on the ground. They would paint pictures telling their everyday life. To preserve a memory; to leave instructions for their children and grandchildren to follow.
Along the geologic timeline, rains stopped falling. Lakes dried up and rivers disappeared. Animals died and so were the early humans. Their drawings lived on. Their descendants who survived continue the tradition of painting their everyday life, until they too had left the desert for lands more receptive to life.
Today, what is left are these hand-drawn paintings of animals, of men hunting for food, of a tribe gathering around a camp fire to dance, for all of us, who have lived throughout the ages to remember.
I was putting words into the picture for the raketship when the image suddenly spoke to me. And I felt a tinge of sadness knowing the people behind these drawings had put so much effort to let their story outlive them.
Read more about the Tadart Acacus Rock Paintings here:
3 comments:
They were our forefathers and mothers. I remember reading The Journey of Man where its author Spencer Wells tells us that we came from our African brothers and sisters. At such an early stage, they already know how to tell stories and remind us that we should never fail to tell our own.
...and i did stare at the picture for good 2 minutes. a first time for me.
the illustrations are nice! so artsy, given how ancient they are.i
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