Foggara of Tidikelt South (In Salah Tidikelt Foggara Extension)
Tidikelt South Foggara · In Salah Southern Foggara
Islamic Berber (900–1050 CE) Tidikelt Zenata·Zenata Berber Tidikelt (Algerian Sahara)·🇩🇿 Adrar Province? Actually Tamanrasset border, Tidikelt Plateau South, In Salah South foggara (Tidikelt Depression south), Algeria
About
About Foggara of Tidikelt South (In Salah Tidikelt Foggara Extension)
Southern Tidikelt plateau foggara (280 m) 18 km south of In Salah town, Tidikelt depression south, Algerian Sahara. Foggara gallery 3.8 km with 84 shafts (heights 8–14 m) feeding Tidikelt date palm basin 18 ha via seguia surface channel 1.2 km. Gallery 0.8 m × 1.4 m hewn in Continental Intercalaire sandstone with water capture from Albian aquifer artesian rise. Sharing weir 12-part foggara comb (peigne) at outlet with 12 stone notches dividing flow by oasis kin group — intangible heritage sharing system. Dated Zenata Berber 1050 CE with earlier 900 CE Kharidjite origin debate. Still flowing but 40% reduced due to modern pumped bore drawdown Albian 12 m.
Why it mattersSouthernmost Tidikelt Albian foggara with intact 12-kin peigne comb — intangible sharing heritage.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01900 vs 1050 CT Kharidjite vs Zenata origin debate
Theories
- 01Albian rise vs Continental Intercalaire source — hydrogeology tap difference
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.900 – 1050 CE (Kharidjite 900 or Zenata 1050 debate)
- Period
- Islamic Berber (900–1050 CE) Tidikelt Zenata
- Culture
- Zenata Berber Tidikelt (Algerian Sahara)
- Builders
- Tidikelt Zenata foggara community 12 kin groups
- Purpose
- Albian artesian foggara 3.8 km 84 shafts 18 ha palm basin via peigne comb 12-way sharing
- Abandoned
- still flowing reduced 40%
- Rediscovered
- 2014 Tidikelt foggara sharing weir survey (Remini)
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
900 CE
Kharidjite foggara origin debate
1050 CE
Zenata Berber peigne comb 12 construction
2014
Remini Tidikelt sharing system documented
On the ground
Structures & features
27.1200° N · 2.4800° E · 280 m · 2 mapped features
Peigne Comb Sharing Weir (12-notch)
structure12-notch stone peigne comb dividing foggara flow by 12 kin groups
27.1210° N · 2.4810° EShaft Field (84 shafts 8–14 m)
structure84 shafts 8–14 m deep along 3.8 km gallery — sandstone hewn
27.1190° N · 2.4790° E