Kel Ahaggar ( Berber: ⴾⵍ ⵂⴴⵔ) (trans: "People of Ahaggar") is a

Tuareg The Tuareg people (; also spelled Twareg or Touareg; endonym: ''Imuhaɣ/Imušaɣ/Imašeɣăn/Imajeɣăn'') are a large Berber ethnic group that principally inhabit the Sahara in a vast area stretching from far southwestern Libya to southern A ...

confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

inhabiting the

Hoggar Mountains The Hoggar Mountains ( ar, جبال هقار, Berber: ''idurar n Ahaggar'') are a highland region in the central Sahara in southern Algeria, along the Tropic of Cancer. The mountains cover an area of approximately 550,000 km. Geography This ...

(Ahaggar mountains) in

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

. The confederation is believed to have been founded by the Tuareg

matriarch Matriarchy is a social system in which women hold the primary power positions in roles of authority. In a broader sense it can also extend to moral authority, social privilege and control of property. While those definitions apply in general E ...

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 ...

, whose monumental

tomb A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a :wikt:repository, repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be ...

is located at

Abalessa Abalessa is a town and commune in Tamanrasset Province, in southern Algeria, coextensive with the district 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%. Abale ...

. The official establishment is dated to around 1750. It has been largely defunct since 1977, when it was terminated by the

Algerian government Politics of Algeria takes place in a framework of a constitutional semi-presidential republic, whereby the President of Algeria is head of state while the Prime Minister of Algeria is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by th ...

. The language of the confederation is '' Tahaggart'', a dialect of

Tamahaq Tamahaq (''Tahaggart Tamahaq'', ''Tamahaq Tahaggart'') is the only known Northern Tuareg language, spoken in Algeria, western Libya and northern Niger. It varies little from the Southern Tuareg languages of the Aïr Mountains, Azawagh and Adagh ...

Tribes

The Kel Ahaggar confederation is made up of a number of tribes, including: *Aït Loaien *Dag Rali (also spelled Dag Ghâli) *Iregenaten *Kel Rela, the ruling tribe. *Kel Silet *Taituq *Tégéhé Millet

Popular culture

*A novel about the 1881 attempt by the French government to drive a railroad through the heart of the

Sahara , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

, including the Ahaggar region. The expedition, led by Lt. Colonel Paul Flatters, was attacked by the

of the Kel Ahaggar. *The 1957 film ''

Legend of the Lost ''Legend of the Lost'' is a 1957 Italian-American adventure film produced and directed by Henry Hathaway, shot in Technirama and Technicolor by Jack Cardiff, and starring John Wayne, Sophia Loren, and Rossano Brazzi. The location shooting fo ...

'', starring

John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed The Duke or Duke Wayne, was an American actor who became a popular icon through his starring roles in films made during Hollywood's Gol ...

Rossano Brazzi Rossano Brazzi (18 September 1916 – 24 December 1994) was an Italian actor. Biography Brazzi was born in Bologna, Italy, the son of Maria Ghedini and Adelmo Brazzi, an employee of the Rizzoli shoe factory. He was named after Rossano Vene ...

and Sophie Loren, has the trio on a treasure hunt in the Sahara. They come across a nomadic group which Wayne’s character, Joe January, states are “Hoggars”, and to be much feared.Source: the film itself, at around 48 minutes. See also:

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20070930191707/http://sea.unep-wcmc.org/sites/pa/1460v.htm
Kel Ahaggar
(in German) * https://web.archive.org/web/20050922005745/http://www.petrabode.privat.t-online.de/detail.htm (in German) 1977 disestablishments in Algeria States and territories established in 1750 States and territories disestablished in 1977 African nomads Berber history Maghreb Sahara Society of Algeria Tuareg confederations {{Africa-hist-stub