The Royal Mausoleum of Mauretania is actually a
tomb situated on the road between the cities of Cherchell and Algiers, in
Algeria. Well, this is the final resting place of Berber Juba II and Cleopatra
Selene II, who were the last king and queen of Mauretania. Cleopatra Selene II
was the only daughter of the well-known Queen Cleopatra of Egypt and her
husband Mark Antony.
The mausoleum was built in 3 BC by King Juba II
himself intended not just for him and his wife, but as a dynastic funeral
monument for their royal descendants. The tomb is famous by numerous names. It
is occasionally referred to as the Mausoleum of Juba and Cleopatra Selene. In
Arabic, the mausoleum is called the Kubr-er-Rumia or Kbor er Roumia. While in
French it is call Tombeau de la Chretienne or "the tomb of the Christian
woman", because there is a cross-like shape of the division lines on the
false door.
The mausoleum was constructed according to
ancient mausoleums found in Numidia and their architectural design created from
mausoleums originates in Egypt and Anatolia. Although the circular mausoleum is
constructed from stone and stands on a square base with a pyramid or cone
comparable structure at the top. The measurement of tomb is between 60 to 61
meters in diameter but originally believed to be 40 meters tall. Because with
the passage of time and natural elements have decreased its height to about 30
meters.
This monument has been the victim of pillage very
early on. The base of the monument was once ornamented with 60 Ionic columns whose
capitals were stolen. Therefor in the center of the tomb there’re two vaulted
chambers “whose contents were perhaps also ransacked by treasure seekers”, that
can be reached by a spiral passage approximately seven feet in height and 489
feet in length. The burial chambers are detached by a short passage, and are
cut off from the gallery by stone doors prepared by a single slab which can be
moved up and down by levers.
Though early rulers tried several time to destroy
the monument. But in 1555, the Pasha of Algiers furnished orders to pull down
the mausoleum, but the attempt was reckless when big black wasps swarmed out
and stung some of the workers to death. At the end of the 18th century, the
attempt of Baba Mahommed got in vain to destroy the monument with artillery.
However later on the French occupied Algeria the monument was well used by the
French Navy for target practice. Lastly, in 1866 it was explored by order of
the Emperor Napoleon III, after which the site was ordered to be protected and
preserved.
In 1982, the mausoleum along with nearby
archeological sites containing monuments from the Byzantine and the Phoenician
ages were recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Though these
archeological sites remains are protected, but the ruins face continuous
threats from urban construction and expansion, open sewage drainage run offs,
meager maintenance, and continuous vandalism. Due to these constant problems,
these archaeological remains face an indeterminate future.
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