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The Ornamental white marble use and reuse at the Ottoman palaces of Algiers’ Regency: New knowledge to a provenance study

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Abstract

This multi-disciplinary study examines the historical and technical aspect of the supply of ornamental white marble in Ottoman Algiers between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. Our systematic analysis of Ottoman Regency administration archives, specifically the correspondence between provincial chiefs of Algiers and Cherchell dating from 1824 to 1825AD, reveals two distinct supply routes for white ornamental marble to Algiers' building sites. The first identifies Genoa as the sole source of imports, while the second confirms the reuse of remains from the ancient Roman city of Caesarea/Cherchell. To verify these provenances of ornamental white marble, petrographic and geochemical analyses were conducted on fifteen (15) white marble samples collected from the architectural elements of the Ottoman Algiers Citadel. This palatial complex's construction and subsequent completion coincide with the period of the archival data. Experimental results confirm the Italian origin of the majority of samples, primarily from Carrara.

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Data availability

The marble samples were carried from a storage of decorative and ornamental elements in a state of destruction (columns, capitals, door and window frames), ensuring that no architectural, historiographic, or aesthetic value was damaged or lost. All relevant data are within the manuscript. The fifteen (15) marble samples are stored in the ETAP Laboratory (Environment and Technology for Architecture and Cultural Heritage), in the Institute of Architecture and Urban Planning (I.A.U), University Blida 1, Algeria. On request, the samples are available for scientific re-evaluation. The archives in supports (Figs. 3 and 4) are available on request at the Manuscript Department of the National Library of Algiers (B.N), and in the archive service "El-Beylic" of the Ottoman administration of the Algiers Regency, at the Center of the National Archives of Algeria (C.N.A). All documents were consulted and taken in scan capture after an official authorization granted in the context of this study.

Notes

  1. Beylical registers are administrative documents inherited from the Ottoman administration of Algiers’ Regency, preserved at the National Archives Center of Algeria. On the subject of the history of marble in Ottoman Algiers, S. Chergui (2009) has exploited the beylical register classified under the code of 325/423.

  2. The coordinates of the citadel are 36°47′02.967"(N) 3°03′17.891'' (E). The information was registered during the sampling operation in 2023, by using a GPS devise.

  3. For more details on sample preparation procedures, and instruments references (equipment) used, see: Prochaska & Attanasio (2021; 2022b).

  4. The chemical analyses were done in the usual routine of the lab in the Technical University of Vienna, controlling the quality of the analyses by systematic repeats of a running standard and by regular analysis of an international standard. Each analytical number represents the average of 10 measurements.

  5. For reference quarry data, the databank of Prochaska and Attanasio (2022b) was mainly used, because these data are the only information providing numerical values. Other data published are only available as diagrams without the single analytical values.

  6. For a multivariate analysis considering a large number of variables, it is indispensable to have all these variables at hand obtained from each single sample from the database. It is not possible to add single variables from other databases that were done in another analytical and methodological format. An important issue is the multivariate discriminate analysis, that is the simultaneous evaluation of a large number of significant variables obtained on each single and specific sample.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the General Directorate for Scientific Research and Technological Development of Algeria (D.G.R.S.D.T) and the ETAP laboratory to have funded the research. We thank also the Ministry of Culture and Arts of Algeria for the sampling permission from the storage of the remains of the ornamental white marble of the Citadel, and the Cultural Property Management and Development Authority (O.G.E.B.C) for their collaboration to facilitate the mission. We are also grateful to National Office of Geological and Mining Research of Boumerdes (O.R.G.M) to the sample preparation. The petrographic analysis will not be completed without efforts of Pr. Omar Kolli, in the department of geology, University of Science and Technology Houari-Boumediene (U.S.T.H.B), Algeria, so we acknowledge him. The archive service "El-Beylic" of the Ottoman administration of the Algiers Regency, at the Center of the National Archives of Algeria (C.N.A), and even the Manuscript Department of the National Library of Algeria (B.N) are also gratefully acknowledged.

Funding

The research was supported by General Directorate for Scientific Research and Technological Development (D.G.R.S.D.T) of Algeria.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ETAP Laboratory, Department of Built and Urban Cultural Heritage, IAU, University Blida 1, Blida, Algeria

    Aicha Bibimoune & Samia Chergui

  2. National School of Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage – ENSCRBC, Tipaza, Algeria

    Mohamed Chérif Hamza

  3. Austrian Archaeological Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria

    Walter Prochaska

Authors
  1. Aicha Bibimoune
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  2. Samia Chergui
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  3. Mohamed Chérif Hamza
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  4. Walter Prochaska
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Contributions

The study's conception and design were contributed by all authors. Aicha Bibimoune and Samia Chergui, who were major contributors to the manuscript writing, and they performed the historical background and the interpretation of the archival documents. Aicha Bibimoune, Mohamed Chérif Hamza, performed sampling and preparation of samples. Aicha Bibimoune and Walter Prochaska performed and interpret the deffrent analysis. All authors reviewed and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Aicha Bibimoune.

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Data deposition

The archival document supporting Fig. 3 is available on microfilm format under the reference of: the register N°380 / Beyt El Beylic / CNA, in the archive service "El-Beylic" of the Ottoman administration of the Algiers Regency, at the Center of the National Archives of Algeria. The archive in support of Fig. 4 is available in paper format at the Manuscript Department of the National Library of Algiers (B.N), under the reference: N°15/ Box3206 /Correspondences /Service manuscripts/ BN.

Geolocation information

The study covers on the old Ottoman city of Algiers, which is currently the commune of Casbah of Algiers, belongs to the capital of Algeria. DMS geographical coordinates of the archeological sites, the Ottoman citadel of Algiers as below: 36°47′02.967"N 3°03′17.891'E. The administrative address as below: La Citadelle d'Alger, Boulevard Mohamed Taleb, Casbah.

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Bibimoune, A., Chergui, S., Hamza, M.C. et al. The Ornamental white marble use and reuse at the Ottoman palaces of Algiers’ Regency: New knowledge to a provenance study. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 16, 75 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-024-01976-9

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