Even in the 21st century, being involved in cave art has a touch of adventure and mystery that leads many people to organize a whole trip to get closer to it. It must be taken into account that many of the caves and natural environments in which they are located are often subject to restrictions for conservation reasons. But in the countries of our catalog, spread across the Middle East and North Africa, there are some places that preserve interesting vestiges of a remote past and are easily visited. Here we review the subject, even though we know that many other places of interest for rock art lovers are left out of the article.
What is rock art?
When we speak of cave art, we refer to all those creative manifestations that use rock as a support (from the Latin rupestris) and that still remain in their original natural location. We often associate this art with prehistoric times, as it was created in caves, which were the usual habitat of Paleolithic humans. However, it is also possible to speak of rock art in later stages of history, as you will understand below.
Turkey and the Anatolian melting pot
What is now Turkey is home to numerous examples of rock art, datable to very different periods in the past. Among the most fascinating are the reliefs of the Hittite civilization, such as those found in the sanctuary of Yazılıkaya, executed more than three millennia ago and showing the vast and complex pantheon of kings of that religion.
More recent but no less spectacular are the cave paintings of Cappadocia. They were discovered in the 19th century but were executed in medieval times (11th century). They are the sample of the peculiar Christian religiosity of the monks and hermits retired in this lunar and ascetic landscape, formed by fairy chimneys(today Göreme Open Air Museum). The churches that can be mentioned are many: the Dark, the Apple, the Serpent, the Church of St. Barbara….
Jordan, great (and small) masterpieces in the rock
If there is a country created in harmony with the rock, it is Jordan. Some of its most famous destinations are precisely embedded in it, for example Petra, as its name suggests. Everything here is rock art, but with a touch of ancient art. ancient and Nabataean and Nabataean art that gives it an extraordinary singularity: the Treasury, the Monastery, the Siq, the Royal Tombs… A demonstration of the mastery in this art of the Nabataean civilization.
But to find other more ancient examples of rock art we can travel to the heart of the Wadi Rum desert. In its canyons, on hidden (or sometimes not so hidden) walls, petroglyphs can still be seen, many of them figurative, showing hunting scenes and alphabetic characters. The oldest date back a millennium and a half before our era and were made by the Thamud tribe. Others, on the other hand, are more recent, including medieval graffiti in Arabic or even modern ones. In total, it is estimated that there are more than 25,000.
Egypt and its amazing Swimmers Cave
Finally, we mention Egypt, which is synonymous with Antiquity. And in this case, of surprise, because in the middle of the desert, near the border with Libya(Gilf Kebir plateau) is located the Cave of the Swimmers, with striking paintings made about 10,000 years ago, in times of the last glaciation. Only this explains that, when the Sahara was a humid orchard, scenes of people swimming could be represented. In addition, its easy accessibility for any visitor is also surprising, perhaps due to the remoteness of this place with the large urban centers.
