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leo 0 SI N T ERN A T ION ALe 0 U Ne lL 0 N M0 N UMEN T SA N D S
IT E S
CON S E lL I N T ERN A T ION A L DES M0 N UMEN T SET DES S ITl e
o M0 S 7 5 RUE D U TEMPLE 750 0 3 PAR I S TEL: 2 7 7. 3 5
LIS'IE DU PA'I'RI.M)INE MJNDIAL
A) IDENTIFICATION
Bien propose : Vallee du MI ZabLieu: Wilaya ee LaghouatEtat
partie : AlgerieDate : 23 Decerrbre 1981
b) ROCOMMANDATION.DE L' ICOms
Que Ie bien cu1 urel propose soiinscr i sur la Liste du
Patri.rtoinefundial.
e) JUSTIFICATION
IDRID HERI'IAGELIST N 188
A) IDENTIFICATION
Nornirtation : The M' Zab ValleyLOCa.tion : Laghouat WilayaState
party : AlgeriaDa.te : Decerrber 23 , 1981
B) ICOmS REmMMENDATICN
'Ihat the proposed cultural propertybe inscribed on the World
Heritage Li
e) JUSTIFICATION
A 600 krns au sud d' Alger, aux confins du 'Ihe M' Zab Valley,
located wi hin thedesert saharien, la vallee du M' Zab abrite , l
imits of the Sahara [esert , s ix hmdrdans m e aire restreinte n I
excedant pas kilarreters to the south of Algiers, i s75 krns2 lID
ense:rrble unique de s i tes dent the si te of a unique grouping of
si tes1e Bureau de 11 Ieoms recormande l ' inscrip- confined in a
restrained area no nore .:ion sur la Liste du Patrirroine fundial
au 75 km2. I ts inscription on the Worldti re Ces cr i eres I I , I
I I e t V. Heri age List i s reoo:mrrended by the boDes traces
dlhabitat t res anciennes se of ICOM)S on the basis of cri ter ia I
I ,rencontrent sur Ie plateau e t les escarpe- and V.rrents:rocheux
qui bordent cette vallee ra- Traces of very early settlerrent
arevagee par les crues raresret devastatrices be found on the
plateau an d the rockyde I ' oued, mais 1 occupation reguliere du
slopes boreering this valley which hassol , l ' appropriation a un
s i te semi-deser- been ravaged by rare and devastatingtique d' une
archi ectUl::e puissamrentori floods of the wadi. HCMever, the
systeginale datent du debut du XIe sieele e t t ic occupation of
the land and the adsent Ie fa i t dlun groupe humai.n defini par
tat ion of a strikingly original archlID ideal religieux, social e
t noral d I une tune to a semi-desert si te date from tgranee
rigueur. . beginning of the 11th century and areLes Ibadi es, dent
la doctrine attenue ' achieverrent of a group of human beingsur
plusieurs pJints-. le purisn:e intransi : eefined by a religious,
social and nogeant du Kharidjisrre, daminerent lIDe par t ie ideal
of great preciseness.du Maghreb au Xe siecle. I ls fonderent un ;
The lbadis ,. whose doctrine attaine
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I.e choix de cette vallee, OCC1.1p8e Jus- was burned in 909,
whereafter they sougqua la sporadiqu:ment par des populations out
other terr i toria l bases: a t Sedratanorrades, s 'expliqua avant
tout par les and f inal ly in the M' Zab.possibi l i res .de
defense qu' el le offrai 'Ihe choice of this valley, inhabiteda une
carrrrnm.aute soucieuse de sa defense sporadically unt i l then by
norrad populae t farouche:rrent decidee a sauvegarder son t ions, i
s explained above a l l by the deidenti te , ftlt ...ce au prix de
l' solerrent. fensive possibil i t ies which it offeredL'occupation
du sol e t l 'organisation carrmurli.ty, concerned with i t s
protectiode l 'espace s ' inspirent de princifes t res and fiercely
dedicated to the preservas t r ic t s e t rewten t un caractere
exam- of i ts identity , even a t the exp:mse oplaire par leur
rigueur e t leur minutie. i t s CMn isolat ion.Cinq ksour (vil
lages fort i f ies) : El 'Ihe occupation of the land and the
orAttetff, Bou Neura, Beni Isgoon, Malika e t nization of space
were inspired by ve:ryGhardaia, irrplantes sur des eperons ro- s t
r i c t principles; and,in the i r precisencheux, regrotrp:mt une
population seden- and their detai l , they are of an exemptaire e t
essentiellerrent W>aine. Chacune character . Five ksour (fort i
f ied villagde ces cites miniatures, enserree de rnu- : El Atteuf,
Bou Noura,Beni Isguan, Mara i l les , es t damineepar une rrosquee
dent Ghardaia, located on the rocky outcroppIe minaret f a i t
fonction'de tour de ~ t . group together a stationa:ry and essentLa
rrosquee e s t en ef fe t congue camre une m::ban FOPulation. Each
of these miniatuforteresse, demier bastion de la res is- c i adels,
encircled by walls, i s domintance en cas de s i ege , e t
carrporte un by a rrosque, whose minaret functions asarsenal e t un
si lo a grains. Autour de ce watch taver. 'lhe rrosque (with i t s
arsenbAtirrent essentiel a la vie camrmmautaire and grain stores)
is , in fact , conceives 'organisent des maisons disposees en cer-
as a for tress, the l a s t bastion of rescles concentrlques
jusqu'au rerrpart. Cha- tance in the event of a Siege. Aromd tque
maison consti ue une cellule cubique building which i s essential
to carrmunde type f ixe, i l lus t rant une organisation l i fe ,
are houses bull in concentr;i..c csociale egali ai:r:e fondre sur
Ie respect cles and se t out, up to the fortress wade la s tructure
familiale dent el le s ' a t- Each house, a cubic ce l l of a
standardtache a preserver l ' int imite e t I ' autono- type, i l
lus t . ra tesan egalitar ian sociam1e. organization, based on the
respect forBors les rnurs, cet ideal egali taire re- structure of
the famil.y, whose intimacyg it encore les necropoles, ou seules se
andautonart' i t s aim was to preserve.distingoont, panni des
sepultures indiffe- OUts1de the walls, this egalitar ian irenciees,
le s t.arrbes des sages e t de pet i - reigns, as well, in the
necroples, whetes rrosquees. arrong the nondistinctive graves, only
t
I.e rrode de vie des Ibadi es ce la vallee tarrbs o f sages and
the small rrosques adu M' Zab irrpliquait m e migration saison-
distingLUshable.niere . Chaque ete, la population s ' ins ta l -
'lhe l iving pattern of the Thadis ofIe dans la palrreraie, ou des
ilvilles diM' zab Valley included a seasonal migraete" se signalent
par I ' :inplantation plus Each sumrrer, the population set t led
inlAche de 1 'habitat , Ie caractere defensif groves, where the
"sumrer cit ies" weret res pousse" des maisons, la presence de ked
by the looser organization of theitours de gut e t dime rrosquee
sans mina- settlem:mts, the-highly defenSive nature t carrparable a
celles des cinet ieres. the houses, the presence of watch t.c:MeCes
3 elerrents constants: ksar, cinet i - and of a rrosque without
minaret, carrpaere, palrreraie avec sa cite d I ete , se re- to
those in the cerreteries.trouvent dans les 5 vil les Us contribu-
'Ihese 3 unchang1ng elerrents: the ksaent a i l lustrer , selon Ie
cr i ere V, m the cerrete:ry, the palm grove with i t sexerrple,
eminent d'un habitat humain t ra- ITer "citadel", are found in a l
l 5 villadi iannel, representatif d' une culture 'Ihey serve to i l
lus t ra te an exarrple ofqui perdure Jusqu'au XXe siecle. t radit
ional human sett lerrent which, inI l s apportent aussi ,aux
terrres du cr i te- cordance with cri terion V, i s represenre I I
I ,m terroignage exceptionnel sur la t ive of a culture which has
continuedculture ibadite a son ar:ogee. 20th century.
