# Mausoleum of Syphax

The Mausoleum of Syphax, also known as Beni Rhénane monument which dates from the early Numidian period, located in Algeria 12 km southwest of Béni Saf on the edge of the Tafna wadi, in the wilaya of Aïn Témouchent, formerly Siga. The name of the mausoleum was adopted by the French archaeologist Gustave Vuillemot, according to the toponym of the nearest farm located below, today the village of Beni-ghanem in the commune of El Emir Abdelkader.
The Royal Mausoleum of Numidia has been included on the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List since 2002 under the heading of "Royal Mausoleums of Numidia, Mauritania and Pre-Islamic Funerary Monuments" for criteria (ii)(iii)(iv).

## History

The monument is located near the ancient capital of the Numidian king Syphax, stands on an eminence in the Tafna valley. It was cleared and partially excavated by Gustave Vuillemot in the early sixties. Then it was excavated by an Algerian-German mission in the summer of 1976 led by Mounir Bouchenaki and Friedrich Rakob. These are the remains of a large turriform mausoleum with a hexagonal plan, whose height must have reached 17 meters. The building was decorated with half-columns and Ionic capitals; located under the monument, the funerary chambers are vaulted and cut into the rock. Dated from the 3rd century BC, attributed to Vermina, the son of Syphax, this mausoleum was deliberately demolished, perhaps during the annexation of Siga to the Mauri Kingdom by Bocchus the Younger.
Before this date, it was buried under a large pile of stone blocks that the inhabitants of the region called Kerkour L'Arayïs which can be translated as (the Dome of the brides), a local tradition consisted of future brides going around the pile of stones several times to ensure prosperity and longevity to their marriage.

## Description

The mausoleum is composed of two distinct structures: an above-ground structure made of cut stone and an underground structure (hypogeum).
* the aerial structure, the ground around the monument is covered with paving on which a series of steps is formed, surmounted by a massive rock formation with eight courses. This 5-meter elevation forms an irregular polyhedron with alternating concave and flat faces. The stones and architectural elements lying around the monument suggest that the mausoleum was an imposing 17-meter tower, its summit topped with a pyramidal aedicule. Decorative elements borrowed from the architecture of ancient Greece (half-columns, capitals, cornice and acroteria) adorned the facades of the monument.
* The underground structure is a long gallery of 45 meters winding in the external limit of the paving according to the pattern suggested by the above-ground structure. Originally, this gallery was divided into three separate compartments. Access to each compartment was made separately through a shaft leading to a portcullis door. Today, it is possible to walk through the gallery, from one end to the other, due to the openings made in the partition walls by looters. It is composed of 10 chambers, which shows the collective character of the tomb. It is, probably, a dynastic tomb of the kings and Aguellids Massaesyles who ruled over the region and of which King Syphax was the most important.