Party outfit
When Bardaï is celebrating, the Toubou women dress in their most beautiful attire, and the silver jewels, sometimes gold, blaze in the sun.
Chad - Bardaï - 1968

Assembly
Meeting of women in the oasis of Bardaï.
Chad - Bardaï - 1968

Between the Enneri Tao and Bardaï, an old lava flow on the edge of the track underlines the geological origin of the Tibesti in a grandiose way and makes the progression difficult. - Chad - 1967

Bardaï in 1967. It remains the main town in Tibesti. - Chad - 1967

At noon, the main square of Bardaï is deserted by the population. - Chad - 1967

In the Bardaï palm grove, the mosque is characterised by its smooth and uncluttered architecture. Around the town, the impressive volcanic massifs make the Tibesti an impregnable citadel. - Chad - 1967

On the arrival of an important guest in Bardaï, the camel riders throw on their ceremonial garb. This is a tradition that is by no means dying out. The nomad guards are something like the mounted police of Tibesti. - Chad - 1967

Women's meeting in the Bardaï oasis. - Chad - 1967

Zouï oasis near Bardaï. In the enclosed courtyard of a Toubou house, an old woman is busy weaving baskets. The palm fibres woven into strips, put together, make baskets or sleeping mats. While the substructure of the houses is made of brick, the roof is made of large rushes, which can be found almost everywhere in the Sahara. - Chad - 1967

The young Tubu woman Cherie sorting grains. - Bardaï - Tibesti - Chad - 1967

Grain sprouts between the date palms. The sedentary leads a hard, miserable life, he is a slave to his land. For days he draws water from the bottom of the well and empties it into the seguias, the irrigation channels that run through the cultivated land. - Chad - 1967

This Tubu woman from the Bardaï oasis, Tibesti, pours the water from her “dellou” into a seguia, the gutter that irrigates the garden she maintains. The rope to which the “dellou” is attached is fixed to the end of a long wooden pendulum weighted with a stone at the other end, so as to form a pendulum. This is a long, tedious and arduous task which, with countless variations, is repeated in all the oases over the entire surface of the Sahara, between the Red Sea and the Atlantic. The only exception is the land of feggaguir (plural of foggara), long underground canals leading to the open air in the oasis; they were dug by man and sunk to the places where it was possible to drain a little water. There are 360 kilometres of canals in the oasis of Aoulef alone. But in all other cases, the “chadouf”, with its pendulum, is the typical hydraulic device of the oases. The most astute use a donkey, an ox or a camel to bring up the “dellou” full of water from the bottom of the well. - Chad - 1967

Young Toubou, in Zouï, near Bardaï. Considered as the greatest walkers of the Sahara, the Toubous have an extraordinary endurance. They are almost always on the move. A guerba filled with water and a few dates are enough for them to cross the desert and climb the rocks with agility. - Chad - 1967

Tubu caravanner on the Bardaï trail. - Chad - 1967

Mrs Leclerc with child. The tubu woman is beautiful, the facial features and fine physique suggest a Mediterranean rather than a negroid type. - Bardaï - Tibesti - Chad - 1967

Mrs Leclerc - The tubu woman is beautiful, the facial features and fine physique suggest a Mediterranean rather than a Negroid type. - Bardaï - Tibesti - Chad - 1967

The young Tubu woman Cherie. - Bardaï - Tibesti - Chad - 1967

When it is festival time in Bardaï, the women adorn themselves with their most beautiful finery and become brightly coloured dolls. The silver, sometimes gold, jewellery flares in the sun. The Toubou woman is beautiful, the facial features and fine physique suggest a Mediterranean rather than a Negroid type. - Bardaï - Tibesti - Chad - 1967

The Tubu blacksmith of Bardaï, in the heart of the Tibesti, has an extremely important function, as he is also a musician and, as such, leads the dances during the festivals. The very slim type of this man is remarkable, as he could be seen on a buccaneer's boat in the Red Sea. The anthropology of the human groups currently living in the desert strip of North Africa confirms what human palaeontology already revealed in the Neolithic period; we always find three types: Mediterranean, black and mixed race. The passage of the first type undoubtedly took place at the level of the Red Sea and the Isthmus of Suez, but this delicate problem is far from being completely clarified. - Bardaï - Tibesti - Chad - 1967

The festival at the forges of Bardaï is in full swing. To the sound of the drum, the women dance slowly in circles, and their arms are like snakes lambent against the sky. - Bardaï - Tibesti - Chad - 1967

The wedding feast at the forges of Bardaï is in full swing. To the sound of the drum, the women dance slowly in circles, and their arms are like snakes lambent against the sky. - Bardaï - Tibesti - Chad - 1967

Foot bracelets. These silver jewels are the work of blacksmiths. Both feared and despised by the nomads and the sedentary people living in the desert, the blacksmith or malem belongs to a special caste. He masters fire and material, fashioning jewellery as well as weapons or the metal parts that make up the harness of camels. - Bardaï - Tibesti - Chad - 1967

When it is festival time in Bardaï, the women adorn themselves with their most beautiful finery and become brightly coloured dolls. The silver, sometimes gold, jewellery flares in the sun. The Toubou woman is beautiful, the facial features and fine physique suggest a Mediterranean rather than a Negroid type. - Bardaï - Tibesti - Chad - 1967

These blacksmiths' wives in Bardaï give a timeless image of the Sahara.... The fabrics they wear come mostly from the Fezzan and are brought by the trucks that supply the oases in the Tibesti. - Bardaï - Tibesti - Chad - 1967

In Bardaï, the wife of a blacksmith takes part in the festival with her most beautiful ornaments and dances late into the night. - Bardaï - Tibesti - Chad - 1967

Galli, a young Toubou woman from Bardaï, is the soul of the parties that are improvised in the shade of the palm trees. She goes from house to house and gathers her friends to dance. The fabrics she wears come from the Fezzan with the camions that supply most of the Tibesti oases. - Bardaï - Tibesti - Chad - 1967

On the night of Tibesti, a wedding is celebrated. The women dance in a circle; the blacksmith sings the love songs that the young girls take up; intoxicated with joy, he beats his drum. The men look on in admiration and try to establish future kinships. - Bardaï - Tibesti - Chad - 1967

The Enneri Alli between Soborum and Bardaï. "Enneri" means "river". Like a wadi, it is characterised by the fact that it is almost always dry. - Tibesti- Chad - 1967

A small caravan in the Enneri Bessama between Bardaï and Soborum. "Enneri" means something like "river". Like a wadi, it is characterised by the fact that it is almost always dry. - Tibesti - Chad - 1967

View of the Enneri Bessama (Tibesti). Note the small figure: it serves as a scale for the landscape. "Enneri" means something like "river". Like a wadi, it is characterised by the fact that it is almost always dry. The road that connects Bardaï with Soboroum runs through the bed of the Enneri Bessama. The volcanic tuff seems to have been cut with a gigantic sword stroke; soft, very fine sand, which makes walking difficult, fills the bottom of the Enneri. - Tibesti - Chad - 1967

View of the Enneri Bessama (Tibesti). Note the two men: they serve as a scale for the landscape. "Enneri" means something like "river". Like a wadi, it is characterised by the fact that it is almost always dry. The road that connects Bardaï with Soboroum runs through the bed of the Enneri Bessama. The volcanic tuff seems to have been cut with a gigantic sword stroke; soft, very fine sand, which makes walking difficult, fills the bottom of the Enneri. - Tibesti - Chad - 1967

Nomadic Tubu herders on their way to Bardaï. While the men go on foot, pushing their donkeys and goats in front of them, the camels, heavily loaded, close the march. In the distance, the spiky triangle of the Botoum peak (2416 m altitude) rises up. - Tibesti - Chad - 1967

Caravan of Tubu nomads on the track leading to Bardaï. The men walk, the camels trotting behind the donkeys and the goats, carrying heavy loads. In the background, the rugged triangle of Pic Botoum. - Tibesti - Chad - 1967

One of Marshal Leclerc's Tubu guides, inspector of troops in North Africa, who distinguished himself in Chad and Libya during the Second World War. - Tibesti - Chad - 1967

Tubu woman. The Tubu are pastoral nomads who mainly keep goats and sheep, and they also breed camels. Donkeys are also kept as work and pack animals. In contrast to the Tuareg, who are neighbours in the west, the Tubu have an egalitarian form of society; the position of women is stronger than in most other Islamic ethnic groups. - Tibesti - Chad - 1967

635 - Bardaï (Tibesti). - Engraved herd of bovids.

636 - Bardaï (Tibesti). - Very schematic but clearly identifiable cheetah, drawn by Maximilien Bruggmann from his photograph.

636 - Bardaï (Tibesti). - (original photo) Very schematic but clearly identifiable cheetah, drawn by Maximilien Bruggmann from his photograph.

637 - Bardaï (Tibesti). - Drawing by Maximilien Bruggmann representing six figures from a fresco that contains eighteen in total, spanning 1.55 m in length. Each figure measures about 0.20 m in height. It may depict a dance scene. Each individual wears a feather, sometimes two, on their head. It is unclear if they are dressed, as their visible genitalia suggest otherwise. However, it is likely not ithyphallicism.

637 - Bardaï (Tibesti). - (original photo) Drawing by Maximilien Bruggmann representing six figures from a fresco that contains eighteen in total, spanning 1.55 m in length. Each figure measures about 0.20 m in height. It may depict a dance scene. Each individual wears a feather, sometimes two, on their head. It is unclear if they are dressed, as their visible genitalia suggest otherwise. However, it is likely not ithyphallicism.

638 - Bardai (Tibesti). - Pastoral scene combining figures and bovids. Each individual is equipped with some sort of sickle. The curvature does not suggest that it is a "boomerang."

639 - Bardaï (Tibesti). - The same scene as the previous one, and in the same style. An unexplained semicircular form is added. From the tail of the central cow to the farthest tip of the horn: 0.68 m.

640 - Bardaï (Tibesti). - Two very curious, elongated figures showing a sex in the shape of a "winding mechanism." The profile is sketched. The postures are accurate. The lines were previously dotted. The man on the right seems to be preparing to throw a spear. He is 0.83 m tall.

641 - Bardaï (Tibesti). - A large bovine rendered through rough but regular dotting. The horns are exaggerated, and the posture is somewhat schematic.

642 - Bardaï (Tibesti). - A cow with overloaded horns. The added horns are asymmetrical, which is also found in nature. From the top of the left horn to the front hoof: 0.63 m.

651 - Gonoa (Tibesti). - Deeply engraved elephant. The smallest one preceding it is probably not from the same period. Typical landscape of Gonoa in a field of volcanic rocks. From the front of the small elephant to the hind leg of the large one: 1.60 m.

652 - Gonoa (Tibesti). - Pastoral scene engraved by puncturing in a very decadent style. The first archer on the right is 0.41 m tall.

653 - Gonoa (Tibesti). - Elephant rendered primarily with straight lines, giving a geometric look to this engraving, which is recent in style but rare: 0.41 m tall. Only the back and trunk are slightly curved. From the base of the tail to the hind leg: 0.88 m.

656 - Gonoa (Tibesti). - On a beautiful fresco of eight finely engraved giraff. Above, a punctuated bovine, later in date. Inside the bovine, there is an inexplicable structure. The very small man standing in front of the first giraffe, on the left, measures 0.14 m in height.

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