Pay tribute to the past at Twyfelfontein

Rather than being merely educational in nature, maps of water points or a record of events, it has become apparent over the years that the Twyfelfontein rock engravings have an important ritual and religious significance. They are thought to be the ‘prayers to the gods’ tapped out by the medicine men or shamans as they enter a trance state to communicate with the spiritual world, asking for food, healing, rain, luck for the hunt and protection for their people. Namibia’s dry climate has preserved these intriguing petroglyphs that are between 2000 and 6000 years old.

Rock canvas

Created through hundreds of millions of years of geological upheavals, the Mt Etjo sandstone was fractured along natural fissures, revealing flat surfaces that were ideal canvases for the ancient artists. The softer porous wind-laid (Aeolian) rock could easily be engraved by a harder rock, and the similar size of the sand grains allowed a clear image to be created without other particles breaking up around it.

© Gondwana Collection

Fountain of doubt

The Huab valley in northwestern Namibia was called /Uis-//aes - place among packed stones - by the San/Bushmen who inhabited the area, and later ‘Twyfelfontein’ – translated from Afrikaans as ‘doubtful spring’ - by farmer David Levin in the late 1940s.

When David Levin and his family arrived in the arid area, their battle began to ensure that their animals had enough water to drink. David was constantly thinking of ways to improve the water flow of the spring. When neighbours visited, his wife, Ella, would inform them that David was at the spring. One particular neighbour would visit regularly and always find him digging. Asking after his health, he would invariably receive the same reply that he was well but that he doubted the spring would make it to October when the first rains would arrive. The neighbour soon referred to him as David Twyfelfontein, David ‘Doubtful Spring’. When the time came for David to register a name for the land, the name had stuck (see also Twyfelfontein: The Fountain of Doubt).

© Gondwana Collection

Shamans & rain-animals             

The animals repeatedly engraved in the rock represent entreaties to the gods that were of vital importance for people living off the land: the giraffe for rain, the ostrich for food, the zebra – luck for the hunt and the rhino, possibly for protection. The animals are represented with elongated limbs or necks, as seen in the renditions of the giraffes, or like the well-known lion-man and dancing kudu, contain human elements or are half-human half animal, revealing the merging of the physical and spiritual worlds (see also Twyfelfontein - engraved in Rock).

Early hunter-gatherers

Unlike the younger Bushman/San paintings that mostly depict people involved in everyday events from dancing to hunting, the majority of the engravings focus on animals and were most probably executed thousands of years earlier by the ancestors of the San.

 © Gondwana Collection

Desert varnish

The dark patina of iron and manganese oxides known as ‘desert varnish’ is a thin ½-3 mm layer that has enabled us to determine the age of the engravings. Initially whitish-grey on a red background, they would have darkened over time.

World heritage site

The Twyfelfontein engravings, recognised for their cultural importance, gained world heritage status in 2007, the Twyfelfontein area offering one of the greatest concentrations of rock art in southern Africa. In the valley, over 2000 engravings or petroglyphs have been identified in an area covering only six hectares.

© Gondwana Collection

Fascinating facts

David Levin and family lived on the farm, Twyfelfontein, from 1947-1965 until the farmers in the area were required by the Odendaal Commission to sell their land to create a homeland for the Damara people.

Long before Twyfelfontein became a popular tourist destination, the land was visited sporadically by Damara people watering their animals at the trickling spring.

A well-known rock slab revealing circles within circles - approximately 4000 years old - looks remarkably similar to modern representations of the solar system.

Traveller’s tips

Avoid midday heat.

Wear walking shoes and a hat and carry sufficient water.

The turn off to Twyfelfontein is 60-70km west of Khorixas on the C39 and can also be reached from the D2612 if travelling from Uis/Brandberg.

Two guided walks are available.

Relish this ancient cathedral of prayer.

Ron Swilling 

Do you feel like exploring Twyfelfontein?

Contact the Gondwana Travel Centre to plan your trip.

travel@gcnam.com