Giraffes Across the Rock Face rock engraving, Ouanahar, Tadrart Rouge, Algeria
Giraffes Across the Rock Face
Makers unknown · rock engraving of a human figure with a staff, a tall giraffe and three smaller giraffes, with Tifinagh and Arabic inscriptions · near the track at Ouanahar, Tadrart Rouge, Tassili n’Ajjer National Park, reached from Djanet
Photo as published on Street Art Utopia; photographer not named. Its file name places it in Djanet, Wilaya d’Illizi
A figure holding a long staff stands face to face with a giraffe whose neck arches high above him, while three smaller giraffes walk together on the right. National Geographic places the panel “near the track at Ouanahar in Tadrart”, the red sandstone range that visitors reach by 4×4 from the oasis town of Djanet. No source we found names its makers or dates this panel; the newest dated photo, by Eric Lafforgue, was taken on 30 December 2022.
5 things to know
- Placed by National GeographicA photo caption in National Geographic’s 2023 feature on Algerian rock art: “This engraving of a human figure and giraffe is a prominent sight near the track at Ouanahar in Tadrart.” National Geographic
- Hunter or warriorA 2018 photo story from the Tadrart Rouge: “Another engraving, this time staging giraffes. The character on the left seems to be a hunter.” Getty Images captions Eric Lafforgue’s photos “Rock carvings depicting a warrior with giraffes”. Toucan’s photos · Getty Images
- Writing on the same wallThe Wikimedia Commons photo of the panel is described as “Rock gravings representing hunter with giraffes; Tifinagh and arabic inscriptions”. The script runs between the animals on the same wall. Wikimedia Commons
- Reached from DjanetNational Geographic: “Among Tassili’s most beautiful areas is Tadrart Rouge, accessible via 4×4 tours from the oasis town of Djanet, a two-and-a-half-hour flight from the Algerian capital, Algiers.” National Geographic
- Animals of a green SaharaNational Geographic, on giraffe engravings in the park: “They recall the ‘African Humid Period,’ between 11.7 to 5.5 thousand years ago, when the greening of the Sahara lured large mammals north from the sub-Sahara.” UNESCO inscribed Tassili n’Ajjer as a World Heritage Site in 1982. National Geographic · UNESCO
Check-in guide
- 📍
- Near the track at Ouanahar in the Tadrart Rouge, in Tassili n’Ajjer National Park, south-east Algeria (National Geographic, Getty Images).
- 🧭
- No source we found gives coordinates for the panel. The Maps button opens the Tadrart Rouge range; Wikipedia puts its highest point about 160 km south-east of Djanet (Wikipedia).
- 🚙
- National Geographic describes the Tadrart Rouge as “accessible via 4×4 tours from the oasis town of Djanet” (National Geographic).
- 🪨
- A row of loose stones runs along the foot of the panel in our photo and in National Geographic’s photo.
Sightings
- 20131 Jan
Wikimedia Commons photo
- 201823 Aug
Tadrart Rouge photo story
- 202230 Dec
Eric Lafforgue, Getty Images
- 20238 Aug
National Geographic feature
Every stamp links to the dated source. Green stamps are photos of the panel with a recorded date: Clemens Schmillen’s photo on Wikimedia Commons (date given on its file page as 1 January 2013) and Eric Lafforgue’s photos on Getty Images (taken 30 December 2022). The amber stamps are publication dates: a 2018 photo story and National Geographic’s 2023 feature, photographed by Matjaz Krivic. All four show the same figure, giraffes and inscriptions as the photo at the top of this page.
On the record
It’s been called ‘the greatest museum of prehistoric art’—but few tourists know it exists
“This engraving of a human figure and giraffe is a prominent sight near the track at Ouanahar in Tadrart.”
Photo caption. Words by Henry Wismayer, photographs by Matjaz Krivic.
Algeria: The Tadrart Rouge, a window to the Sahara and its history
“Another engraving, this time staging giraffes. The character on the left seems to be a hunter.”
Rock carvings depicting a warrior with giraffes
“Rock carvings depicting a warrior with giraffes, Tassili N'Ajjer National Park, Tadrart Rouge, Algeria”
Caption to Eric Lafforgue’s photo (Art in All of Us/Corbis via Getty Images).
The facts
- Makers
- Unknown; no source we found names the makers of this panel Unconfirmed
- Subject
- A human figure with a staff beside a tall giraffe, with three smaller giraffes and a smaller animal; called a hunter by one source and a warrior by another (Toucan’s photos, Getty Images, Wikimedia Commons) Checked
- Inscriptions
- Tifinagh and Arabic inscriptions on the same wall (Wikimedia Commons) Reported
- Place
- Tadrart Rouge, Tassili n’Ajjer National Park, Algeria (Getty Images, Toucan’s photos, Wikimedia Commons, National Geographic) Checked. Near the track at Ouanahar, according to National Geographic (National Geographic) Reported. Exact coordinates: none published Unconfirmed
- Age
- Not dated by any source for this panel; Street Art Utopia calls its makers prehistoric Unconfirmed. National Geographic links the park’s giraffe engravings in general to the African Humid Period, 11.7 to 5.5 thousand years ago (National Geographic) Reported
- Our photo
- Shows the same panel, figure, giraffes and inscriptions as the photos by Matjaz Krivic, Eric Lafforgue, Clemens Schmillen and Toucan’s photos; published on Street Art Utopia, photographer not named (National Geographic, Getty Images) Checked. SAU’s “near Djanet” refers to the town the Tadrart Rouge is reached from
- Status
- Seen December 2022: Eric Lafforgue’s photos, taken 30 December 2022 (Getty Images) Checked
Related
- On Street Art Utopia: I Had to Look Twice (9 Photos) (10 October 2026), where the photo above appears as work no. 6, and Ancient Art of Tassili n’Ajjer.
- Tassili n’Ajjer on the World Heritage List. UNESCO
- How to visit the rock art of the Tadrart Rouge and Tassili n’Ajjer. National Geographic
All sources (6)
This work
- National Geographic: “It’s been called ‘the greatest museum of prehistoric art’—but few tourists know it exists”, by Henry Wismayer, photographs by Matjaz Krivic, 8 August 2023. Caption naming Ouanahar; 4×4 access from Djanet; African Humid Period.
- Toucan’s photos: “Algeria: The Tadrart Rouge, a window to the Sahara and its history”, 23 August 2018. Photo of the panel; “seems to be a hunter”.
- Getty Images: “Rock carvings depicting a warrior with giraffes”, Eric Lafforgue/Art in All of Us/Corbis, taken 30 December 2022, Tadrart Rouge.
- Wikimedia Commons: “TadrartRouge6.jpg”, Clemens Schmillen, dated 1 January 2013, CC BY-SA 4.0. “hunter with giraffes; Tifinagh and arabic inscriptions”.
Background
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre: “Tassili n’Ajjer”, inscribed 1982; more than 15,000 drawings and engravings.
- Wikipedia: “Tadrart Rouge”, highest point about 160 km south-east of Djanet.
Artwork File · Last checked 10 October 2026 · Certainty labels follow How We Verify Art · All Artwork Files