Abalessa is a town and

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

Tamanrasset Province Tamanrasset or Tamanghasset ( ar, ولاية تمنراست ''Wilāya Tamanrāssat'', Berber languages) is the largest province ('' wilaya'') in Algeria. It was named after its province seat, Tamanrasset. The province has two national parks, mor ...

, in southern

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

, coextensive with the

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

of the same name. According to the 2008 census it has a population of 9,163 up from 6,484 in 1998, with an annual growth rate of 3.6%. Abalessa is located along the ancient

Trans-Saharan trade route Trans-Saharan trade requires travel across the Sahara between sub-Saharan Africa and North Africa. While existing from prehistoric times, the peak of trade extended from the 8th century until the early 17th century. The Sahara once had a very d ...

, west of the city of

Tamanrasset Tamanrasset (; ar, تامنراست), also known as Tamanghasset or Tamenghest, is an oasis city and capital of Tamanrasset Province in southern Algeria, in the Ahaggar Mountains. It is the chief city of the Algerian Tuareg. It is located an alt ...

, the capital of the province. The postcode of the town is 11120.

History

The former capital of the Ahaggar, Abalessa is famous for the

Tin Hinan Tomb The Tin Hinan Tomb (french: Tombeau de Tin Hinan) is a monumental tomb located at Abalessa in the Sahara, in the Hoggar Mountains of southern Algeria. The sepulchre was built for Tin Hinan, the Tuareg ancient Queen of the Hoggar (Ahaggar). His ...

. This 1,500 year old monumental grave is dedicated to the Tuareg matriarch

Tin Hinan Tin Hinan was a 4th-century Tuareg queen. What may be her monumental tomb is located in the Sahara, at Abalessa in the Hoggar region of Algeria. Queen of the Hoggar Legends Tin Hinan is sometimes referred to as "Queen of the Hoggar", and by th ...

, and vestiges of a

Tifinagh Tifinagh ( Tuareg Berber language: or , ) is a script used to write the Berber languages. Tifinagh is descended from the ancient Libyco-Berber alphabet. The traditional Tifinagh, sometimes called Tuareg Tifinagh, is still favored by the Tuar ...

inscription have been found on one of its walls. According to

Henri Lhote Henri Lhote (16 March 1903 – 26 March 1991) was a French explorer, ethnographer, and discoverer of prehistoric cave art. He is credited with the discovery of an assembly of 800 or more works of primitive art in a remote region of Algeria o ...

, the edifice may have built on top of an earlier

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

castrum In the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a po ...

since its architecture is different from the surrounding tombs and similar to that used by the Roman legionaries to construct their desert fortifications. On 18 October 1927,

Byron Khun de Prorok "Count" Byron Khun de Prorok (October 6, 1896 – November 20, 1954, born in Mexico City/ref> as Francis Victor Kuhn) was a Hungarian-American amateur archaeologist, anthropologist, and author of four travelogues. He has come to be regarded as a t ...

discovered a vault near Abalessa containing a skeleton, belonging to a woman, and her furniture. In his book ''Mysterious Sahara: The Land of Gold, of Sand, and of Ruin'' Khun de Prorok attributed the skeleton to Tin Hinan. Today, the skeleton is on display at the

Bardo Museum , logo = , image = Tunis, musée du Bardo, salle de Virgile 01.jpg , caption = Apartments of the Bey, room called Virgil, after the name of the mosaic of Sousse that was exposed until the extension of the years 2010 , alt = , map_type = ...

in Algiers, while the monument where it was discovered continues to be a popular tourist attraction in Abalessa among visitors to the Tamanrasset.

Geography

The municipality reaches an average elevation of approximately above sea level. The main town lies at an elevation of , at the confluence of the two intermittent ''

wadi Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water ...

s''

Oued Rellachene Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water o ...

and

Oued Iheri Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water o ...

. A rocky mountain range, part of the Ahaggar Mountains rises to the west of the town reaching about . There is significant vegetation in the river valleys; the area belongs to the

West Saharan montane xeric woodlands The West Saharan montane xeric woodlands is an ecoregion that extends across several highland regions in the Sahara. Surrounded at lower elevations by the largely barren Sahara, the West Saharan montane xeric woodlands are isolated refuges of pla ...

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...

Transportation

The N55A national highway, which branches off from the

Trans-Sahara Highway The Trans-Sahara Highway or TAH 2 is a proposed transnational highway project to pave, improve and ease border formalities on an existing trade route running north–south across the Sahara Desert. It runs between North Africa bordered by the Medi ...

(route N1) at Tit, is the main road through the area, passing just south of Abalessa.

Education

4.6% of the population has a tertiary education, and another 12.4% has completed secondary education. The overall literacy rate is 78.7%, and is 85.4% among males and 70.8% among females.

Localities

The commune is composed of eight localities: *Abalessa * Silet * Iglène * Tefert El Fougania * Tefert El Tahtania * Tin Amansagh *Daghmouli * Issalissekine * Tahart *In Azarou

References

Neighbouring towns and cities

{{Tamanrasset Province Communes of Tamanrasset Province