Сахарадағы Тибести тауларының ежелгі өнері

Mountain range in the Sahara
the current region of Chad

in northern Chad in 2012 and 2016 has renewed hope that a similar feat might be achieved in the Tibesti.

The Tibesti Mountains are renowned for their rock and parietal art. Around 200 engraving sites and 100 painting sites have been identified. Many date as early as the 6th millennium BC, long before the arrival of the Toubou. The art has suffered the effects of time, including weathering from sand blown by the wind. The earliest works often portray animals that have since died out in the region due to climate change, including elephants, rhinoceros, hippopotamus and giraffes. More recent art includes ostriches, antelopes, gazelles, baboons and sheep. Later works, dated less than 2000 years old, portray domesticated animals, such as oxen and camels. Other engravings portray warriors dressed in feathers or spiked ornaments and armed with bows, shields, assegai, or traditional knives. Still others portray celebrations and scenes from everyday life. The walls of a canyon near Bardaï have engravings that measure over in height, including that of the "man of Gonoa", Gonoa being the name of the enneri that runs through the valley. These primarily show hunting scenes. The Tibesti art is unique in the Sahara because of the absence of inscriptions, the relative lack of chariots, and the low representation of camels and horses until comparatively recently.

The Tibesti Mountains have inspired several contemporary works of art and literature. The volcanic spires of the Tibesti, along with a stylized sheep's head, were displayed on a 20 CFA franc postage stamp issued by Republic of Chad in 1962.