Eliseev A.V.: An Anthropological Excursion to the Sahara via Tripoli, Tunisia, and Algeria

Title

Antropologicheskaia ekskursiia v Sakharu cherez Tripoli, Tunis i Alzhir, Sankt-Peterburg 1885

An Anthropological Excursion to the Sahara via Tripoli, Tunisia, and Algeria

Keywords

Summary

Subtitle: “Communication made at the general meeting of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society. May 1, 1885”.
Upon the commission of the Orthodox Palestine Society, the author asserts undertaking a second expedition to the East to explore the Russian pilgrimage in the Holy Land. Starting from Palestine, the route extended through Greece, Italy, Sicily, and Malta, ultimately landing in Tripoli with the objective of visiting the Northern Sahara and the city of Gadames. During the author’s visits to Algerian cities, there is evident praise for the efforts of French colonisers in establishing roads and civilisation in general. In Biskra the author points out the diversity of the population of Berbers, Arabs, coloured people, Metis, and mulattoes. The journey continues to Tugurta, Igdes and further into the desert to Uargla, where a diverse cranial index (ranging from 84 to 62.5) and skin colour (from black to white European) are noted. When he finally reaches Gadames, the author notices that the population consists mostly of Berbers and Tuaregs. He provides detailed observations of the cranial index and physical appearances of Tuaregs, emphasising the role played by women in Tuareg society, who are highly educated and venerated. While praising the Tuaregs for qualities such as bravery and honesty, the author also acknowledges their involvement in practices of slavery and commerce of human beings. Overall, these travel notes include detailed descriptions of cranial indices, faces, body constitution, and hair of the populations encountered on the journey. Additionally, the author reveals his interest in local flora, which involves the collection of herbs for medical purposes. Being a doctor enables him to safely study the local population with the excuse of providing medical assistance. The narrative also includes numerous observations on fauna, archaeological sites, geology, historical insights, and climatic conditions in the visited locations.

Bio

Aleksandr Eliseev was a Russian doctor, traveller, and writer. Having served as a military doctor in Turkestan, the Baltic region, and Finland, Eliseev explored the northern regions of Russia, Finland, and the Urals. In 1881 he explored the Nile valley. In 1883 Eliseev crossed the deserts between the Nile and the Red Sea and travelled along the sea coast to Suakin, Massawa, and Aden. His most important journey to Africa began in 1884 from Tripoli. He travelled deep into the Sahara, crossed the Hamada el-Hamra plateau, but soon had to return to Tripoli. From there Eliseev went to Tunisia and visited the southern cities of Algeria, such as Constantine, Batna, Biskra. He also visited the oases of Ghadames, Touggourt, Ouargla, among others. In 1885 he went back to Algeria and subsequently returned to Russia. In 1893 Eliseev travelled to the Libyan desert, and in 1895 to Ethiopia, collecting anthropological, ethnographic and geographic material. He was a representative of the Palestine Society as physician at the military-medical department. Starting from 1878, he extensively described his travel experiences publishing them in Russian periodicals. For his contributions to geographical and anthropological research in Africa, the Russian Geographical Society awarded Eliseev with a silver medal.

Sources

M. Rait, Russkie ekspeditsii v Efiopii v seredine XIX-nachale XX vv. i ikh etnograficheskie materialy, “Afrikanskii etnograficheskii sbornik”, 1956, 1, p. 220-281;

M. Zabrodskaia, Russkie puteshestvenniki po Afrike, Moskva 1955;

B. Val’skaia, Vklad russkogo geograficheskogo obshchestva v izuchenie Afriki, “Strany i narody Vostoka”, 1969, 9, p. 5-18;

M. Gornung, I. Oleinikov, Geograficheskoe izuchenie Afriki v Rossii, in Izuchenie Afriki v Rossii (dorevoliutsionnogo perioda), ed. by A. Davidson, G. Nersesov, Moskva 1977, p. 30-71;

M. Zabrodskaia, Puteshestviia A.V. Eliseeva po Sakhare (1881-1893 gg.), “Strany i narody Vostoka”, 1987, 25.

M.E.