Bazina (archeology)
The Bazina (Berber languages, German "mound" ) is a mostly two-story and rimmed by stone walls grave mound ( tumulus ) in the by Berbers inhabited areas of the Maghreb . The sophisticated construction principle, as can be observed in the systems at Frenda , Tiaret , Tipaza , Tamda , Chellala and Batna (Northern Algeria), requires a long development and probably also foreign architectural influences.
description
Originally, the Bazinas of the Maghreb were circular grave monuments, the outer skin being made of dry masonry or larger stone slabs and the interior being filled with earth or sand. The hill-like structures of the later Bazinas that did not exist or were not preserved in the simple buildings (→ web links) in the Sahara region - which at that time were probably still rich in plants and animals - suggest references to those in northern Africa (e.g. in Volubilis ) close tumuli. These developed - perhaps under Egyptian influence (→ mastabas ) - possibly in a later period to the mostly two-story, round stone constructions, which were always stepped back on the upper floor, but which retained their round hill shape.
Sometimes the Bazinas of the late period take on large dimensions, both in area and in height, which are reminiscent of the large cromlechs and burial tumuli of the megalithic cultures (see Table des Marchand , Gavrinis or Newgrange ), but different from most large megalithic tombs The grave site was closed in Europe, so that - at least in the case of the later buildings - no entrance and therefore no astronomical orientation of any kind is recognizable. In addition, those buried here were usually not given a burial chamber , but were buried in or below the heaped earth.
history
In the 1950s, Gabriel Camps saw the bazinas of the northern Maghreb as the forerunners of the local megalithic systems ; this hypothesis has become obsolete due to the increasing backdating of the megalithic buildings on Malta , the Cromlech of M'Soura (Morocco) and the Tunisian buildings near Ellès and Makthar . The subsequent assumption that the Bazinas are in the tradition of the Neolithic round buildings - such as the stone circle of M'zora or the temples on Malta - cannot be completely ruled out. The continuation of the megalithic tradition from the Neolithic to the Bazinas is not without problems, because in the post-Neolithic period the tradition of building with monoliths came to a standstill.
The round shape and the two-storey structure of the Bazinas represent with a certain probability an independent development of the North African Berber peoples in the post-Neolithic period, i. H. in the 2nd and 1st millennium BC BC, whereby a recourse to megalithic tumuli cannot be dismissed out of hand. The architectural elements ( half-columns with capitals ) on the outer walls of some of the large buildings of the late period are strongly reminiscent of Hellenistic or Roman provincial building traditions, as can be seen, for example, in the amphitheater in El Djem , Tunisia (3rd century AD).
symbolism
The circular shape of the Bazinas is closely linked to the boundlessness and infinity of the sky. It differs significantly from the tradition of nomad tents ( Berber tent ) with a rectangular floor plan and the first residential buildings made of clay or stone ( tighremt ) from a later period .
See also
literature
- Gabriel Camps: Aux origines de la Berbérie. Monuments et rites funéraires protohistoriques. Paris 1961, OCLC 459658286 .
- Maurice Reygasse: Monuments funéraires préislamiques de l'Afrique du Nord. Arts et Métiers Graphiques, Paris 1950, OCLC 958994979 .