The plural form Atlantes is the classical term in architecture for the male sculptured figures supporting a superstructure as in the baths at Pompeii, and in the temple at Agrigentum in Sicily. In 18th-century architecture half-figures of men with strong muscular development were used to support balconies (see [Caryatides] and [Telamones]).
A figure of Atlas supporting the heavens is often found as a frontispiece in early collections of maps, and is said to have been first thus used by Mercator. The name is hence applied to a volume of maps (see [Map]), and similarly to a volume which contains a tabular conspectus of a subject, such as an atlas of ethnographical, subjects or anatomical plates. It is also used of a large size of drawing paper.
The name “atlas,” an Arabic word meaning “smooth,” applied to a smooth cloth, is sometimes found in English, and is the usual German word, for “satin.”
ATLAS MOUNTAINS, the general name for the mountain chains running more or less parallel to the coast of North-west Africa. They extend from Cape Nun on the west to the Gulf of Gabes on the east, a distance of some 1500 m., traversing Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. To their south lies the Saharan desert. The Atlas consist of many distinct ranges, but they can be roughly divided into two main chains: (1) the Maritime Atlas, i.e. the ranges overlooking the Mediterranean from Ceuta to Cape Bon; (2) the inner and more elevated ranges, which, starting from the Atlantic at Cape Ghir in Sús, run south of the coast ranges and are separated from them by high plateaus. This general disposition is seen most distinctly in eastern Morocco and Algeria. The western inner ranges are the most important of the whole system, and in the present article are described first as the Moroccan Ranges. The maritime Atlas and the inner ranges in Algeria and Tunisia are then treated under the heading Eastern Ranges.
The Moroccan Ranges.—This section of the Atlas, known to the inhabitants of Morocco by its Berber name, Idráren Dráren or the “Mountains of Mountains,” consists of five distinct ranges, varying in length and height, but disposed more or less parallel to one another in a general direction from south-west to north-east, with a slight curvature towards the Sahara.
1. The main range, that known as the Great Atlas, occupies a central position in the system, and is by far the longest and loftiest chain. It has an average height of over 11,000 ft., whereas the loftiest peaks in Algeria do not exceed 8000 ft., and the highest in Tunisia are under 6000 ft. Towards the Dahra district at the north-east end the fall is gradual and continuous, but at the opposite extremity facing the Atlantic between Agadir and Mogador it is precipitous. Although only one or two peaks reach the line of perpetual snow, several of the loftiest summits are snowclad during the greater part of the year. The northern sides and tops of the lower heights are often covered with dense forests of oak, cork, pine, cedar and other trees, with walnuts up to the limit of irrigation. Their slopes enclose well-watered valleys of great fertility, in which the Berber tribes cultivate tiny irrigated fields, their houses clinging to the hill-sides. The southern flanks, being exposed to the hot dry winds of the Sahara, are generally destitute of vegetation.
At several points the crest of the range has been deeply eroded by old glaciers and running waters, and thus have been formed a number of devious passes. The central section, culminating in Tizi n ’Tagharat or Tinzár, a peak estimated at 15,000 ft. high, maintains a mean altitude of 11,600 ft., and from this great mass of schists and sandstones a number of secondary ridges radiate in all directions, forming divides between the rivers Dra’a, Sús, Um-er-Rabíā, Sebú, Mulwíya and Ghír, which flow respectively to the south-west, the west, north-west, north, north-east and south-east. All are swift and unnavigable, save perhaps for a few miles from their mouths. With the exception of the Dra’a, the streams rising on the side of the range facing the Sahara do not reach the sea, but form marshes or lagoons at one season, and at another are lost in the dry soil of the desert.
For a distance of 100 m. the central section nowhere presents any passes accessible to caravans, but south-westward two gaps in the range afford communication between the Tansíft and Sús basins, those respectively of Gindáfi and Bíbáwan. A few summits in the extreme south-west in the neighbourhood of Cape Ghir still exceed 11,000 ft., and although the steadily rising ground from the coast and the prominence of nearer summits detract from the apparent height, this is on an average greater than that of the European Alps. The most imposing view is to be obtained from the plain of Marrákesh, only some 1000 ft. above sea-level, immediately north of the highest peaks. Besides huge masses of old schists and sandstones, the range contains extensive limestone, marble, diorite, basalt and porphyry formations, while granite prevails on its southern slopes. The presence of enormous glaciers in the Ice Age is attested by the moraines at the Atlantic end, and by other indications farther east. The best-known passes are: (1) The Bíbáwan in the upper Wad Sús basin (4150 ft.); (2) the Gindáfi, giving access from Marrákesh to Tárudánt, rugged and difficult, but low; (3) the Tagharat, difficult and little used, leading to the Dra’a valley (11,484 ft.); (4) the Gláwi (7600 ft.); (5) Tizi n ’Tilghemt (7250 ft.), leading to Tafilet (Tafílált) and the Wad Ghír.
2. The lower portion of the Moroccan Atlas (sometimes called the Middle Atlas), extending north-east and east from an undefined point to the north of the Great Atlas to near the frontier of Algeria, is crossed by the pass from Fez to Tafílált. Both slopes are wooded, and its forests are the only parts of Morocco where the lion still survives. From the north this range, which is only partly explored, presents a somewhat regular series of snowy crests.