The National Park of Djurdjura in Kabylie is renown for having the most spectacular mountains in Algeria, and is considered a national and international treasure for its variety of flora and fauna. I have no doubt as to the veracity of this observation. I think of the sublime photos that nature photographer Lotfi Bouslah of Lolo Pics has shared of Djurdjura, like his photos taken on the heights of Azru 'n Thor, and the article I dedicated to his unforgettable photo of a sunrise there, an article I titled " At the Portal of Time : The Codebreaker Sun of Lotfi Bouslah ", of October 28th.
On December 13th, the nature photographer shared a photo that is striking because of its composition under a vibrant azure sky of a cedrus atlantica, a species of cedar native to the Atlas mountains of Morocco and Algeria, an ancient tree that has a history of cultural importance that spans thousands of years. Cedrus is a tree that originated in the Himalayan mountains and the Mediterranean region. The cedar is an evergreen tree, that belongs to the family of fir trees, and the word cedar tree is sometimes used to describe 30 species of plants that belong to 3 different families : Pinaceae, with between 220 and 250 species; Cupressaceae, with between 130 - 140 species, and Meliaceae, with about 600 species. The cedar is a tree that flourishes in high elevations, of 1500 - 3000 meters in the north - western regions of the Himalayas, and at altitudes of 2000 meters in the Mediterranean region, and the trees reach a height of between 30 and 40 meters, sometimes even reaching 70 meters, and they have thick branches with cracked bark.
Cedars symbolize strength, and are considered sacred since Antiquity. Their wood was used for the doors of temples, and for the ceremonial fires of purification rites. They were believed to be the hosts to the gods, and portals to higher realms. The oldest cedars are found in Lebanon, where to this day the original remnants of the Forest of the Gods still stand, the remaining cedars of the abundant forests that in Antiquity were used by the Phoenicians, the Israelites, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Romans, the Turks, for their naval shipyards, and the Ottoman Empire used the wood of the cedar trees for their railways. Since 1998, these forests are a classified UNESCO World Heritage Site. The cedar tree is the symbol of the Lebanese flag, and the forest of these remaining ancient cedars of the Forest of God can be found on the slopes of Mount Makmel, that dominate the Kadisha Valley, where these cedars are at an altitude of more than 2100 meters. Four of these cedars are 35 meters tall, and their trunks have a circumference of between 12 and 14 meters. The photo of Lotfi Bouslah shows a cedar, an Atlantic cedar, that the nature photographer introduces with the very appropriate title : " The tree that resists the conditions of nature. " It is a sublime photo of an Atlantic cedar, perched on the heights o Azru 'n Thor, in the National park of Djurdjura, with its twisted trunk, a marvelous contrast to its thick sparse, green and asymmetrical crown under an intense azure sky. At the foot of the cedar tree, are pale rocks, and around the cedar, coiled almost like a small dragon that appears to protect the ancient tree, there is a dead branch, and to the right, near the ground, there is a young green branch, that looks like a parasol, that shades the little dragon from the intensity of the sun and its almost blinding light. It is indeed a tree that " resists the conditions of nature. " Due to climate change, the forests of these precious forests suffer with the lack of water, caused by intense and prolonged droughts. The resilient cedar in the photo of Lotfi Bouslah has an austere elegance, that exudes a joie de vivre, so to speak, that celebrates the blue sky and that tolerates the heat and the uncertainty of the future, being a proud and rebellious descendant of an ancient past that goes back to the times of the pharaohs and the glories of ancient Babylon and Persia. It is a photo full of optimism, and full of beauty, with the azure sky as if made out of the silk for an ancient emperor's jewel display, and the elegant and proud cedar looks like a beautiful satin stitching, and the little dragon and the branch - parasol a design made with a needle threaded with silver silk, just like the design of the rocks too add an imperial touch to the tableau. One can imagine the heat, the silence, and one appreciates the determination of the cedar, hanging on with tenacity to the rocky soil, to the hope of the fresh green grass sprigs scattered along the rocks. The photo of Lotfi Bouslah is an inspiration, a piece of artistic perfection in every sense of the word.
Trudi Ralston
The research on the ancient history of the cedar tree, and Cedrus atlantica, courtesy of Wikipedia.
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