Idea #529 – Watching the White Lady’s fresco in the massif of Brandberg
The massif of Brandberg is a mountain of Damaraland, sheltering the peak of Namibia, the Königstein, that is 2573 meters high. The site of Brandberg was occupied by the people San, Bushmen, as Twyfelfontein. They painted there more than 45 000 scenes, distributed on thousand rocky shelters. A walk of about forty minutes, along former bed rivers, will allow you in particular to reach the most famous of them, the fresco of the white Lady, a 2000-year-old painting, which aroused quantities of speculations. The fresco of the White Lady (Weiße Dame in German) is under a rocky shelter, known under the name of shelter of Maack.
The painting was discovered in 1918 by the German explorer Reinhard Maack while he explored the massif of Brandberg. The explorer was, according to his statements, particularly impressed by the central figure, which he described as a “warrior”, and wrote that the Egyptian-Mediterranean style of drawings was surprising. He drew himself some parts of the fresco, and his drawings were later published in Europe, popularizing the White Lady.
Considered as one of the most beautiful regions of Namibia, this semidesert zone is also rich in fauna and in flora. By being a little bit attentive and persevering, you can perceive a number of species as springboks – kind of antelopes – damans, chives, elephants of a species, accustomed to the desert, even rhinoceros blacks. To visite the site, it is necessary to be accompanied with a Namibian official guide, Brandberg being a protected site.
Some Pictures
Where is it ?
Maack Shelter, Brandberg Mountains, Namibia
