Early History of Tunisia
Encyclopedia
The Early History of Tunisia includes the general background, the last millennia of prehistory and the earliest recorded history of its native Berber people
. Modern commentary and reconstructions are presented concerning their ancient livelihood, material culture, religion, and social organization, including tribal confederacies. Evidence comes from various artifacts, inscriptions, and historical writings; a view of the remote past is derived by disciplines studying languages and genetics. Perhaps eight millennia ago, already there were prior peoples established here, among whom the proto-Berbers (coming from the east) mingled and mixed, and from whom the Berber people would spring, during an era of their ethno-genesis. Today half or more of modern Tunisians appear to be the descendants of ancient Berber ancestors.
were anciently more often known as Libyans
. Yet many "Berbers" have for long self-identified as Imazighen or "free people" (etymology
uncertain). Mommsen, a widely admired historian of the 19th century, wrote:
Berbers together with their relations and descendants
have been the major population group to inhabit the North African regions since about eight kya (thousand years ago). This region includes terrain from the Nile to the Atlantic, encompassing the vast Sahara
at whose center rise the mountain heights of Ahaggar and Tibesti. In the west the Mediterranean coastlands are suitable for agriculture and also have for hinterland the Atlas Mountains
. This region includes the land now known as the Republic of Tunisia. Yet the most ancient written records concerning the Berbers are those reported by neighboring peoples. When the Berbers enter history during the first millennium BC, their own points of view on situations and events are, unfortunately, not available to us.
Evidence of human habitation in the region, however, stretches back one or two million years. Cavalli-Sforza
includes the Berbers in a much larger genetic group
, one which also includes S.W. Asians, Iranians, Europeans, Sardinians, Indians, S.E. Indians, and Lapps. Cavalli-Sforza also makes two related observations. The Berbers and those S.W. Asians who speak Semitic idioms together belong to a large and ancient language family
(the Afroasiatic). This large language family incorporates in its ranks members from two different genetic groups, i.e., (a) some elements of the one listed by Cavalli-Sforza immediately above, and (b) one called by him the Ethiopia
n group. This Ethiopian group inhabits lands from the Horn
to the Sahel
region of Africa. In confirmation of Cavalli-Sforza's genetic conclusions, recent demographic study indicates a common Neolithic origin for both the Berber and Semitic
populations.
Dating to the Mesolithic
era, stone blades and tools, as well as small stone figurines, of the Capsian culture
(named after Gafsa
, Tunisia) are connected to the prehistoric presence of the Berbers in North Africa. Also connected are some of the monuments built of very large rocks (dolmens), found throughout the western Mediterranean. A commonly held view of Berber origins is that Paleo-Mediterranean peoples long occupying the region combined with several other largely Mediterranean
groups, two from the east near S.W.Asia and bringing the Berber languages about eight to ten kya, (one traveling west along the coast and the other by way of the Sahel and the Sahara), with a third intermingling earlier from Iberia
. "At all events, the historic peopling of the Maghrib is certainly the result of a merger, in proportions not yet determined, of three elements: Ibero-Maurusian, Capsian and Neolithic
." A widespread opinion is that the Berbers are a mixed ethnic group sharing the related and ancient Berber languages.
Saharan rock art
, the inscriptions and the paintings that show various design patterns as well as figures of animals and of humans, are attributed to the Berbers and also to black Africans from the south. Dating these art works has proven difficult and unsatisfactory. Egyptian influence is considered very unlikely. Some images infer a terrain much better watered. Among the animals depicted, alone or in staged scenes, are large-horned buffalo (the extinct bubalus antiquus), elephants, donkeys, colts, rams, herds of cattle, a lion and lioness with three cubs, leopards or cheetahs, hogs, jackles, rhinoceroses, giraffes, hippopotamus, a hunting dog, and various antelope. Human hunters may wear animal masks and carry their weapons. Herders are shown with elaborate head ornamentation; a few dance. Other human figures drive chariots, or ride camels.
By five kya (thousand years ago) a neolithic culture
was evolving among the Berbers of northwest Africa, characterized by agriculture and animal domestication
, pottery and finely chipped stone implements including arrowheads. Wheat and barley were sown, beans and chick peas cultivated. Ceramic
bowls and basins, goblets, large plates, as well as dishes raised by a central column, were in daily use; these domestic items were hung up on the wall. For clothing findings indicates hooded cloaks, and also cloth
woven into stripes of different color. Sheep, goats, and cattle measured wealth. From physical evidence unearthed in Tunisia archaeologists
present the Berbers as already "farmers with a strong pastoral element in their economy and fairly elaborate cemeteries", well over a thousand years before the Phoenicians arrived to found Carthage
.
Prior to written records about them, sedentary rural Berbers apparently lived in semi-independent farming villages, composed of small tribal units under a local leader. Yet seasonally the villagers might have left to find pasture for their herds and flocks. Modern conjecture is that feud
ing between neighborhood clans at first impeded organized political life among these ancient Berber farmers, so that social coordination did not develop beyond the village level. On the more marginal lands, pastoral
Berbers roamed to find grazing for their animals. Tribal
authority was strongest among the latter wandering pastoralists, much weaker among the agricultural villagers, and would later attenuate with the advent of cities. By particularly fertile regions, larger villages arose. In the west of the Maghrib
, the Berbers reacted to the growing military
threat from colonies started by Phoenician traders. Eventually Carthage and its sister city-states would inspire Berber villages to join together in order to marshall large-scale armies, which naturally called forth strong, centralizing leadership. Punic social techniques from the nearby polities
were adopted by the Berbers, to be modified for their own use. To the east, the Berbero-Libyans had interacted with the Egyptians during the earlier rise of the ancient Nile civilization.
hieroglyphs from early dynasties testify to Libyans, the Berbers of the "western desert". First mentioned as the Tehenou during the pre-dynastic reigns of Scorpion
(c. 3050) and of Narmer
(on an ivory cylinder), their appearance is later shown in a bas relief of the Fifth Dynasty temple of Sahure
. Ramses II (r.1279-1213) placed Libyan contingents in his army. Tombs of the 13th century contain paintings of Libu leaders wearing fine robes, with ostrich feathers in their "dreadlocks", short pointed beards, and tattoos on their shoulders and arms. Evidently, Osorkon the Elder
(Akheperre setepenamun), a Berber leader of the Meshwesh
tribe, became the first Libyan pharaoh. Several decades later, his nephew Shoshenq I
(r.945-924) became Pharaoh
of Egypt, and the founder of its Twenty-second Dynasty
(945-715). In 926 Shoshenq (Shishak
of the Bible) successfully campaigned to Jerusalem then under Solomon's heir
. For several centuries Egypt was governed by a decentralized political system based on the Libyan tribal organization of the Meshwesh
. Becoming acculturated, Libyans also eventually served as high priests at centers of Egyptian religion. Hence during the classical era of the Mediterranean, all of the Berber peoples of North Africa were often collectively called Libyans, after the Meshwesh
dynasty.
In the far west, foreigners came to know of some Berbers living in remote deserts as Gaetuli
ans; more familiar coastal Bebers were known as Numidians
, and also as the Mauri or Maurisi (later the Moors
). The western Berbers are mentioned in ancient literature (by Herodotus
) regarding specific military events during the 5th century BC, i.e., c. 480, as mercenaries of Carthage in Sicily. Thereafter the Berbers more frequently enter into the early light provided by various Greek
and Roman historical works
. Yet unfortunately, apart from the Punic inscriptions, little Carthaginian literature has survived. During these centuries, Berbers of the western regions actively traded and intermingled most frequently with Carthage, founded by Phoenicians; the name Libyphoenicians was coined for the cultural and ethnic mix surrounding the city. Political skills and civic arrangements encountered in Carthage, as well as material culture, were adopted by the Berbers for their own use. In the 4th century Berber kingdoms are referenced, e.g., the ancient historian Diodorus Siculus
evidently mentions the Libyo-Berber king Aelymas, a neighbor of Carthage, who dealt with Agathocles
(361-289), a Greek ruler in Sicily
.
A bilingual (Punic and Berber) inscription of the 2nd century BC from urban Numidia, specifically from the ancient city of Thugga (modern Dougga, Tunisia), indicates a complex city administration, with the Berber title GLD (cognate to modern Berber Aguellid, or paramount tribal chief
) designating the ruling municipal officer. This top position apparently rotated among the selected members of the leading Berber families. Since the Numidian titles of the offices mentioned (GLD, MSSKWI, GZBI, GLDGIML) were not translated into Punic but left in Berber, it suggests an indigenous development.
Circa 220 BC, three large kingdoms had arisen among the Berbers (west to east): (1) the Mauri (in modern Morocco) under king Baga; (2) the Masaesyli (in northern Algeria) under Syphax
who ruled from two capitals, Siga (near modern Oran
) and to the east Cirta
(modern Constantine
); and (3) the Massyli (south of Cirta, west and south of Carthage) ruled by Gala [Gaia], father of Masinissa
. Following the Second Punic War, both Roman and Hellenic
states gave Masinissa the great honors befitting an admired King.
In his history of Rome Ab urbe condita, Livy
(59-AD 17) provides some indication of the character and career of the Masinissa
the Berber king, during the era of the Second Punic War
. Livy tells us of Masinissa's early military services to Carthage and of his victory with Carthage over the Masaesyli led by Syphax; next, of his leading cavalry units for Carthage against Rome in Hispania
. Masinissa then switches sides to ally with Rome, and personally meets with Scipio Africanus
the celebrated Roman general in Hispania. Next follows the death of his father Gala the King of the Massyli, his return home where an usurpation takes over the kingdom of the Massyli, and subsequently his life as a guerilla leader in the mountains of Africa. By persistent struggle Masinissa regains his kingdom; but quickly comes an invasion by Syphax
who defeats him and takes over the Massyli kingdom, after which Masinissa escapes into the bush. Later, his forces find the army of Scipio who has landed in Africa; in battle they defeat an army of Carthage. Syphax is captured; Masinissa's envoys meet with the Roman Senate. Hannibal, recalled from Italy to defend Carthage
, fights the Battle of Zama
(202 BC) against the Roman army under Scipio, with Masinissa leading the cavalry on Scipio's right wing. Following victory, Masinissa is restored to his Massyli kingdom, then called Numidia
, where he will rule for fifty years.
The religion of the ancient Berbers
, of course, is difficult to uncover sufficiently to satisfy the imagination. Burial sites provide early indication of religious beliefs; more than sixty thousand tombs are located in the Fezzan
alone. The construction of many tombs indicates their continuing use for ceremonies and sacrifices. A grand tomb for a Berber king, traditionally assigned to Masinissa
(238-149) but perhaps rather to his father Gala, still stands: the Medracen in eastern Algeria. Architecture for the elegant tower tomb of his contemporary Syphax
shows some Greek or Punic
influence. Much information about Berber beliefs comes from classical literature. Herodotus (c. 484-c. 425) mentions that Libyans of the Nasamone tribe, after prayers, slept on the graves of their ancestors in order to induce dreams for divination
. The ancestor chosen being regarded the best in life for uprightness and valor, hence a tomb imbued with spiritual power. Oaths also were taken on the graves of the just. In this regard, the Numidian king Masinissa was widely worshipped after his death.
Early Berbers beliefs and practices are often characterized as a religion of nature. Procreative power was symbolized by the bull, the lion, the ram. Fish carvings represented the phallus, a sea shell the female sex, which objects could become charms
. The supernatural
could reside in the waters, in trees, or come to rest in unusual stones (to which the Berbers would apply oils); such power might inhabit the winds (the Sirocco
being formidable across North Africa). Herodotus writes that the Libyans sacrificed to the sun and moon. The moon (Ayyur
) was conceived as being masculine.
Later many other supernatural entities became identified and personalized as gods, perhaps influenced by Egyptian or Punic practice; yet the Berbers seemed to be "drawn more to the sacred than to the gods." Early worship sites might be in grottoes, on mountains, in clefts and cavities, along roadways, with the "altars casually made of turf, the vessels used still of clay with the deity himself nowhere", according to the Berber author Apuleius
(born c. 125 CE), commenting on the local worship of earlier times. Often only a little more than the names of the Berber deities are known, e.g., Bonchar, a leading god. Julian Baldick, culling literature covering many eras and regions, provides the names and rôles of many Berber deities and spirits.
The Berbero-Libyans came to adopt elements from ancient Egyptian religion. Herodotus writes of the divine oracle, sourced in the Egyptian god Ammon
, located among the Libyans at the oasis of Siwa
. The god of the Siwa oracle, however, may be a Libyan deity. Later, Berber beliefs would influence the religion of Carthage
, the city-state founded by Phoenicians. George Aaron Barton suggested that the prominent goddess of Carthage Tanit
originally was a Berbero-Libyan deity whom the newly arriving Phoenicians sought to propitiate by their worship. Later archeological finds show a Tanit from Phoenicia. From linguistic evidence Barton concluded that before developing into an agricultural deity, Tanit probably began as a goddess of fertility
, symbolized by a tree
bearing fruit. The Phoenician goddess Ashtart was supplanted by Tanit at Carthage.
, the Numidians
, and the Gaetulians. The Mauri inhabited the far west (ancient Mauritania, now Morocco and central Algeria). The Numidians were located between the Mauri and the city-state of Carthage. Both had large sedentary
populations. The Gaetulians were less settled, with large pastoral
elements, and lived in the near south on the margins of the Sahara. The medieval historian of the Maghrib, Ibn Khaldun
, is credited or blamed for theorizing a causative dynamic to the different tribal confederacies over time. Issues concerning tribal social-economies and their influence have generated a large literature, which critics say is overblown. Abdallah Laroui discounts the impact of tribes, declaring the subject a form of obfuscation which cloaks suspect colonial ideologies. While Berber tribal society has made an impact on culture and government, their continuance was chiefly due to strong foreign interference which usurped the primary domain of the government institutions, and derailed their natural political development. Rather than there being a predisposition for tribal structures, the Berber's survival strategy in the face of foreign occupation was to figuratively retreat into their own way of life through their enduring tribal networks. On the other hand, as it is accepted and understood, tribal societies in the Middle East have continued over millennia and from time to time flourish.
Berber tribal identities survived undiminished during the long period of dominance by the city-state of Carthage. Under centuries of Roman rule also tribal ways were maintained. The sustaining social customs would include: communal self-defense and group liability, marriage alliances, collective religious practices, reciprocal gift-giving, family working relationships and wealth. Abdallah Laroui summarizes the abiding results under foreign rule (here, by Carthage and by Rome) as: Social (assimilated, nonassimilated
, free); Geographical (city, country, desert); Economic (commerce, agriculture, nomadism); and, Linguistic (e.g., Latin
, Punico-Berber, Berber).
During the initial centuries of the Islamic era, it was said that the Berbers tribes were divided into two blocs, the Butr (Zanata and allies) and the Baranis (Sanhaja, Masmuda, and others). The etymology
is unclear, perhaps deriving from tribal customs for clothing ("abtar" and "burnous"), or perhaps words coined to distinguish the nomad (Butr) from the farmer (Baranis). The Arabs drew most of their early recruits from the Butr. Later, legends arose which spoke of an obscure, ancient invasion of North Africa by the Himyarite Arabs of Yemen
, from which a prehistoric ancestry was evidently fabricated: Berber descent from two brothers, Burnus and Abtar, who were sons of Barr, the grandson of Canaan
(Canaan being the grandson of Noah
through his son Ham
). Both Ibn Khaldun
(1332–1406) and Ibn Hazm
(994-1064) as well as Berber genealogists
held that the Himyarite Arab ancestry was totally unacceptable. This legendary ancestry, however, played a rôle in the long Arabization
process that continued for centuries among the Berber peoples.
In their medieval Islamic history the Berbers may be divided into three major tribal groups: the Zanata, the Sanhaja
, and the Masmuda
. These tribal divisions are mentioned by Ibn Khaldun (1332–1406). The Zanata early on allied more closely with the Arabs and consequently became more Arabized, although Znatiya Berber is still spoken in small islands across Algeria and in northern Morocco (the Rif
and north Middle Atlas
). The Sanhaja are also widely dispersed throughout the Maghrib, among which are: the sedentary Kabyle
on the coast west of modern Algiers
, the nomadic Zanaga
of southern Morocco (the south Anti-Atlas
) and the western Sahara to Senegal
, and the Tuareg (al-Tawarik), the well-known camel breeding nomads of the central Sahara
. The descendants of the Masmuda are sedentary
Berbers of Morocco, in the High Atlas
, and from Rabat
inland to Azru and Khanifra, the most populous of the modern Berber regions.
Medieval events in Ifriqiya
and al-Maghrib
often have tribal assoiciations. Linked to the Kabyle Sanhaja were the Kutama
tribes, whose support worked to establish the Fatimid Caliphate
(909-1171, only until 1049 in Ifriqiya); their vassals and later successors in Ifriqiya the Zirids (973-1160) were also Sanhaja. The Almoravids
(1056–1147) first began far south of Morocco, among the Lamtuna
Sanhaja. From the Masmuda came Ibn Tumart
and the Almohad movement (1130–1269), later supported by the Sanhaja. Accordingly, it was from among the Masmuda that the Hafsid dynasty
(1227-1574) of Tunis
originated.
(also called Tamazight) are spoken in North Africa. Berber speakers were once predominate over all this large area, but as a result of Arabization
and later local migrations, today Berber languages are reduced to several large regions (in Morocco, Algeria, and the central Sahara) or remain as smaller language islands. Several linguists characterize the Berber spoken as one language with many dialect variations, spread out in discrete regions, without ongoing standardization. The Berber languages may be classified as follows (with some more widely known languages or language groups shown in italics). Ethnic historical correspondence is suggested by the designation |Tribe|.
Nota Bene: The classification and nomenclature of Berber languages lack complete consensus.
The Libyan
Berbers developed their own writing system, evidently derived from Phoenician, as early as the 4th century BC. It was a boustrophic script, i.e., written left to right then right to left on alternating lines, or up and down in columns. Most of these early inscriptions were funerary and short in length. Several longer texts exist, taken from Thugga, modern Dougga, Tunisia. Both are bilingual, being written in Punic with its letters and in Berber with its letters
. One throws some light on the governing institutions of the Berbers in the 2nd century BC. The other text begins: "This temple the citizens of Thugga built for King Masinissa
... ." Today the script descendent from the ancient Libyan remains in use; it is called Tifinagh
.
Berber, however, no longer is widely spoken in present day Tunisia; e.g., centuries ago many of its Zenata
Berbers became Arabized. Today in Tunisia the small minority that speaks Berber may be heard on Jerba island, around the salt lakes
region, and near the desert
, as well as along the mountainous
border with Algeria (across this frontier to the west lies a large region where the Zenati
Berber languages and dialects predominate). In contrast, use of Berber is relatively common in Morocco, and also in Algeria, and in the remote central Sahara. Berber poetry endures, as well as a traditional Berber literature.
Taken together these Berber languages constitute one of the five branches of Afroasiatic, a pivotal world language family, which stretches from Mesopotamia
and Arabia across the Nile river and the Horn of Africa
to the Atlas Mountains
and Lake Chad
. The other four branches of Afroasiatic are: Ancient Egyptian, Semitic
(which includes Akkadian, Aramaic, Hebrew, Arabic, and Amharic), Cushitic
(around the Horn and the lower Red Sea
), and Chadic
(e.g., Hausa). The Afroasiatic language family has great diversity among its member idioms and a corresponding antiquity in time depth, both as to the results of analyses in historical linguistics
and as regards the seniority of its written records
, composed using the oldest of writing systems. The combination of linguistic studies with other information about prehistory taken from archaeology and the biological sciences has been adumbrated. Earlier academic speculation as to the prehistoric homeland of Afroasiatic and its geographic spread centered on a source in southwest Asia
, but more recent work in the various related disciplines has focused on Africa.
The conjecture proposed by the well-regarded linguist and historian Igor M. Diakonoff
may be summarized. From a prehistoric homeland near Darfur
, which was better watered, the "Egyptians" were the first to break from the proto Afroasiatic communities, before ten kya (thousand years ago). These proto Egyptian language speakers headed north. At about the same time, the Chadic branch left, traveling west. About eight kya the speakers of the proto Cushitic languages broke off and journeyed east. During the next millennium or so, the remaining proto Semitic and Berber speakers ("Semito-Libyan") eventually went their divergent ways. The Semites passed by the then marshlands of the lower Nile and crossed into Asia (evidently the Semitic speakers anciently present in Ethiopia
remained in Africa or later crossed back to Africa from Arabia). Meanwhile, the peoples who spoke proto Berbero-Libyan spread out westward across North Africa, along the Mediterranean coast and into a Sahara
region then better watered, traveling in a centuries-long migration until reaching the Atlantic and its offshore islands. Later, Diakonoff revised his proposed prehistory, moving the Afroasiatic homeland north toward the lower Nile, then a land of lakes and marshes. This change reflects several linguistic analyses showing that common Semitic then shared very little "cultural" lexicon with the common Afroasiatic. Hence the proto Semitic speakers probably left the common Afroasiatic community earlier, by ten kya (thousand years ago), starting from an area nearby a more fruitful Sinai
. Accordingly, he situates the related Berbero-Libyan speakers of that era by the coast, to the west of the lower Nile.
Technological innovations following economic development in the eastern Mediterranean, Mesopotamia, and along the Nile, increased the demand for various metals not found locally in sufficient quantity. Phoenician traders recognized the relative abundance and low cost of the needed metals among the goods offered for trade by local merchants in Hispania, which spurred trade. In the Phoenician city-state of Tyre, much of this Mediterranean commerce, as well as the corresponding trading settlements located at coastal stops along the way to the west, were directed by the kings, e.g., Hiram
of Tyre (969-936).
By three thousand years ago the Levant
and Hellas
had enjoyed remarkable prosperity, resulting in population growth in excess of their economic base. On the other hand, political instability from time to time caused disruption of normal business and resulted in short term economic distress. City-states started organizing their youth to migrate in groups to locations where the land was less densely settled. Importantly, the number of colonists coming from Greece was much larger than those coming from Phoenicia. To these migrants lands in the western Mediterranean presented an opportunity and could be reached relatively easily by ship, without marching through foreign territory. Colonists sailed westward following in the wake of their commercial traders. The Greeks
arrived later, coming to (what is now) southern France, southern Italy including Sicily, and Libya. Earlier the Phoenicia
ns had settled in (what is now) Sardinia, Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Sicily, and of course, Tunisia.
This history continues with History of Punic era Tunisia.
Berber people
Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...
. Modern commentary and reconstructions are presented concerning their ancient livelihood, material culture, religion, and social organization, including tribal confederacies. Evidence comes from various artifacts, inscriptions, and historical writings; a view of the remote past is derived by disciplines studying languages and genetics. Perhaps eight millennia ago, already there were prior peoples established here, among whom the proto-Berbers (coming from the east) mingled and mixed, and from whom the Berber people would spring, during an era of their ethno-genesis. Today half or more of modern Tunisians appear to be the descendants of ancient Berber ancestors.
Berber background
The people commonly known today as the BerbersBerber people
Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...
were anciently more often known as Libyans
Libu
The Libu were an ancient Berber tribe, from which the name Libya derives....
. Yet many "Berbers" have for long self-identified as Imazighen or "free people" (etymology
Berber (Etymology)
The term Berber is a variation of the Latin original word Barbarian, earlier in history applied by Romans specifically to their northern hostile neighbors from Germania and to the hostile Berbers of North Africa. The variation is a French one when spelled Berbere and English when spelled Berber...
uncertain). Mommsen, a widely admired historian of the 19th century, wrote:
"They call themselves in the Riff near Tangier Amâzigh, in the Sahara Imôshagh, and the same name meets us, referred to particular tribes, on several occasions among the Greeks and Romans, thus as Maxyes at the founding of Carthage, as Mazices in the Roman period at different places in the Mauretanian north coast; the similar designation that has remained with the scattered remnants proves that this great people has once had a consciousness, and has permanently retained the impression, of the relationship of its members."
Other names were used by their ancient neighbors: Libyans (by Egyptians and later by Greeks), Nomades (by Greeks), Numidians (by Romans), and later Berbers (by the Arabs); also the self-descriptive Mauri in the west; and Gaetulians in the south.
Berbers together with their relations and descendants
Arabized Berber
Arabized Berber is a term to denote an inhabitant of the North African Maghreb of Berber origin whose native language is a dialect of Arabic. According to these persons, the Arab identity in North Africa is a myth coming from the Arabization of the official institutions after French rule.They...
have been the major population group to inhabit the North African regions since about eight kya (thousand years ago). This region includes terrain from the Nile to the Atlantic, encompassing the vast Sahara
Sahara
The Sahara is the world's second largest desert, after Antarctica. At over , it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as Europe or the United States. The Sahara stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean coasts, to the outskirts of the Atlantic Ocean...
at whose center rise the mountain heights of Ahaggar and Tibesti. In the west the Mediterranean coastlands are suitable for agriculture and also have for hinterland the Atlas Mountains
Atlas Mountains
The Atlas Mountains is a mountain range across a northern stretch of Africa extending about through Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. The highest peak is Toubkal, with an elevation of in southwestern Morocco. The Atlas ranges separate the Mediterranean and Atlantic coastlines from the Sahara Desert...
. This region includes the land now known as the Republic of Tunisia. Yet the most ancient written records concerning the Berbers are those reported by neighboring peoples. When the Berbers enter history during the first millennium BC, their own points of view on situations and events are, unfortunately, not available to us.
Evidence of human habitation in the region, however, stretches back one or two million years. Cavalli-Sforza
Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza
Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza is an Italian population geneticist born in Genoa, who has been a professor at Stanford University since 1970 .-Books:...
includes the Berbers in a much larger genetic group
Population genetics
Population genetics is the study of allele frequency distribution and change under the influence of the four main evolutionary processes: natural selection, genetic drift, mutation and gene flow. It also takes into account the factors of recombination, population subdivision and population...
, one which also includes S.W. Asians, Iranians, Europeans, Sardinians, Indians, S.E. Indians, and Lapps. Cavalli-Sforza also makes two related observations. The Berbers and those S.W. Asians who speak Semitic idioms together belong to a large and ancient language family
Historical linguistics
Historical linguistics is the study of language change. It has five main concerns:* to describe and account for observed changes in particular languages...
(the Afroasiatic). This large language family incorporates in its ranks members from two different genetic groups, i.e., (a) some elements of the one listed by Cavalli-Sforza immediately above, and (b) one called by him the Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
n group. This Ethiopian group inhabits lands from the Horn
Horn of Africa
The Horn of Africa is a peninsula in East Africa that juts hundreds of kilometers into the Arabian Sea and lies along the southern side of the Gulf of Aden. It is the easternmost projection of the African continent...
to the Sahel
Sahel
The Sahel is the ecoclimatic and biogeographic zone of transition between the Sahara desert in the North and the Sudanian Savannas in the south.It stretches across the North African continent between the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea....
region of Africa. In confirmation of Cavalli-Sforza's genetic conclusions, recent demographic study indicates a common Neolithic origin for both the Berber and Semitic
Semitic
In linguistics and ethnology, Semitic was first used to refer to a language family of largely Middle Eastern origin, now called the Semitic languages...
populations.
Mesolithic
The Mesolithic is an archaeological concept used to refer to certain groups of archaeological cultures defined as falling between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic....
era, stone blades and tools, as well as small stone figurines, of the Capsian culture
Capsian culture
The Capsian culture was a Mesolithic culture of the Maghreb, which lasted from about 10,000 to 6,000 BCE.It was concentrated mainly in modern Tunisia, and Algeria, with some sites attested in southern Spain to Sicily....
(named after Gafsa
Gafsa
Gafsa is the capital of Gafsa Governorate of Tunisia. Its name was appropriated by archaeologists for the Mesolithic Capsian culture. With a population of 84,676, it is the 9th Tunisian city.-Overview:...
, Tunisia) are connected to the prehistoric presence of the Berbers in North Africa. Also connected are some of the monuments built of very large rocks (dolmens), found throughout the western Mediterranean. A commonly held view of Berber origins is that Paleo-Mediterranean peoples long occupying the region combined with several other largely Mediterranean
Mediterranean race
The Mediterranean race was one of the three sub-categories into which the Caucasian race and the people of Europe were divided by anthropologists in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, following the publication of William Z. Ripley's book The Races of Europe...
groups, two from the east near S.W.Asia and bringing the Berber languages about eight to ten kya, (one traveling west along the coast and the other by way of the Sahel and the Sahara), with a third intermingling earlier from Iberia
Iberians
The Iberians were a set of peoples that Greek and Roman sources identified with that name in the eastern and southern coasts of the Iberian peninsula at least from the 6th century BC...
. "At all events, the historic peopling of the Maghrib is certainly the result of a merger, in proportions not yet determined, of three elements: Ibero-Maurusian, Capsian and Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
." A widespread opinion is that the Berbers are a mixed ethnic group sharing the related and ancient Berber languages.
Saharan rock art
Saharan rock art
Saharan rock art is a significant area of archaeological study focusing on the precious treasures carved or painted on the natural rocks found in the central Sahara desert. There are over three thousand sites discovered that have information about Saharan rock art...
, the inscriptions and the paintings that show various design patterns as well as figures of animals and of humans, are attributed to the Berbers and also to black Africans from the south. Dating these art works has proven difficult and unsatisfactory. Egyptian influence is considered very unlikely. Some images infer a terrain much better watered. Among the animals depicted, alone or in staged scenes, are large-horned buffalo (the extinct bubalus antiquus), elephants, donkeys, colts, rams, herds of cattle, a lion and lioness with three cubs, leopards or cheetahs, hogs, jackles, rhinoceroses, giraffes, hippopotamus, a hunting dog, and various antelope. Human hunters may wear animal masks and carry their weapons. Herders are shown with elaborate head ornamentation; a few dance. Other human figures drive chariots, or ride camels.
By five kya (thousand years ago) a neolithic culture
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
was evolving among the Berbers of northwest Africa, characterized by agriculture and animal domestication
Neolithic Revolution
The Neolithic Revolution was the first agricultural revolution. It was the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture and settlement. Archaeological data indicates that various forms of plants and animal domestication evolved independently in 6 separate locations worldwide circa...
, pottery and finely chipped stone implements including arrowheads. Wheat and barley were sown, beans and chick peas cultivated. Ceramic
Ceramic
A ceramic is an inorganic, nonmetallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous...
bowls and basins, goblets, large plates, as well as dishes raised by a central column, were in daily use; these domestic items were hung up on the wall. For clothing findings indicates hooded cloaks, and also cloth
History of clothing and textiles
The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic and is a feature of most human societies. It is not known when humans began wearing clothes...
woven into stripes of different color. Sheep, goats, and cattle measured wealth. From physical evidence unearthed in Tunisia archaeologists
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
present the Berbers as already "farmers with a strong pastoral element in their economy and fairly elaborate cemeteries", well over a thousand years before the Phoenicians arrived to found Carthage
Carthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
.
Prior to written records about them, sedentary rural Berbers apparently lived in semi-independent farming villages, composed of small tribal units under a local leader. Yet seasonally the villagers might have left to find pasture for their herds and flocks. Modern conjecture is that feud
Feud
A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight between parties—often groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one party perceives itself to have been attacked, insulted or wronged by another...
ing between neighborhood clans at first impeded organized political life among these ancient Berber farmers, so that social coordination did not develop beyond the village level. On the more marginal lands, pastoral
Pastoralism
Pastoralism or pastoral farming is the branch of agriculture concerned with the raising of livestock. It is animal husbandry: the care, tending and use of animals such as camels, goats, cattle, yaks, llamas, and sheep. It may have a mobile aspect, moving the herds in search of fresh pasture and...
Berbers roamed to find grazing for their animals. Tribal
Tribe
A tribe, viewed historically or developmentally, consists of a social group existing before the development of, or outside of, states.Many anthropologists use the term tribal society to refer to societies organized largely on the basis of kinship, especially corporate descent groups .Some theorists...
authority was strongest among the latter wandering pastoralists, much weaker among the agricultural villagers, and would later attenuate with the advent of cities. By particularly fertile regions, larger villages arose. In the west of the Maghrib
Maghreb
The Maghreb is the region of Northwest Africa, west of Egypt. It includes five countries: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania and the disputed territory of Western Sahara...
, the Berbers reacted to the growing military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
threat from colonies started by Phoenician traders. Eventually Carthage and its sister city-states would inspire Berber villages to join together in order to marshall large-scale armies, which naturally called forth strong, centralizing leadership. Punic social techniques from the nearby polities
Polity
Polity is a form of government Aristotle developed in his search for a government that could be most easily incorporated and used by the largest amount of people groups, or states...
were adopted by the Berbers, to be modified for their own use. To the east, the Berbero-Libyans had interacted with the Egyptians during the earlier rise of the ancient Nile civilization.
Accounts of the Berbers
EgyptianAncient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
hieroglyphs from early dynasties testify to Libyans, the Berbers of the "western desert". First mentioned as the Tehenou during the pre-dynastic reigns of Scorpion
Scorpion
Scorpions are predatory arthropod animals of the order Scorpiones within the class Arachnida. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by the pair of grasping claws and the narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back, ending with a venomous stinger...
(c. 3050) and of Narmer
Narmer
Narmer was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Early Dynastic Period . He is thought to be the successor to the Protodynastic pharaohs Scorpion and/or Ka, and he is considered by some to be the unifier of Egypt and founder of the First Dynasty, and therefore the first pharaoh of unified Egypt.The...
(on an ivory cylinder), their appearance is later shown in a bas relief of the Fifth Dynasty temple of Sahure
Sahure
- Etymology :Sahure's birth name means "He who is Close to Re". His Horus name was Nebkhau.- Biography :Sahure was a son of queen Neferhetepes, as shown in scenes from the causeway of Sahure's pyramid complex in Abusir. His father was Userkaf. Sahure's consort was queen Neferetnebty. Reliefs show...
. Ramses II (r.1279-1213) placed Libyan contingents in his army. Tombs of the 13th century contain paintings of Libu leaders wearing fine robes, with ostrich feathers in their "dreadlocks", short pointed beards, and tattoos on their shoulders and arms. Evidently, Osorkon the Elder
Osorkon the Elder
Akheperre Setepenre Osorkon the Elder was the fifth king of the twenty-first dynasty of Egypt and was the first pharaoh of Libyan extraction in Egypt...
(Akheperre setepenamun), a Berber leader of the Meshwesh
Meshwesh
The Meshwesh were an ancient Libyan tribe from beyond Cyrenaica where the Libu and Tehenu lived according to Egyptian references and who were probably of Central Berber ethnicity. Herodotus placed them in Tunisia and said of them to be sedentary farmers living in settled permanent houses as the...
tribe, became the first Libyan pharaoh. Several decades later, his nephew Shoshenq I
Shoshenq I
Hedjkheperre Setepenre Shoshenq I , , also known as Sheshonk or Sheshonq I , was a Meshwesh Berber king of Egypt—of Libyan ancestry—and the founder of the Twenty-second Dynasty...
(r.945-924) became Pharaoh
Pharaoh
Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. The title originates in the term "pr-aa" which means "great house" and describes the royal palace...
of Egypt, and the founder of its Twenty-second Dynasty
Twenty-second dynasty of Egypt
The Twenty-First, Twenty-Second, Twenty-Third, Twenty-Fourth and Twenty-Fifth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Third Intermediate Period.-Rulers:...
(945-715). In 926 Shoshenq (Shishak
Shishak
Shishak or Susac or Shishaq is the biblical Hebrew form of the first ancient Egyptian name of a pharaoh mentioned in the Bible.-Shishak's Reign:...
of the Bible) successfully campaigned to Jerusalem then under Solomon's heir
Rehoboam
Rehoboam was initially king of the United Monarchy of Israel but after the ten northern tribes of Israel rebelled in 932/931 BC to form the independent Kingdom of Israel he was king of the Kingdom of Judah, or southern kingdom. He was a son of Solomon and a grandson of David...
. For several centuries Egypt was governed by a decentralized political system based on the Libyan tribal organization of the Meshwesh
Meshwesh
The Meshwesh were an ancient Libyan tribe from beyond Cyrenaica where the Libu and Tehenu lived according to Egyptian references and who were probably of Central Berber ethnicity. Herodotus placed them in Tunisia and said of them to be sedentary farmers living in settled permanent houses as the...
. Becoming acculturated, Libyans also eventually served as high priests at centers of Egyptian religion. Hence during the classical era of the Mediterranean, all of the Berber peoples of North Africa were often collectively called Libyans, after the Meshwesh
Meshwesh
The Meshwesh were an ancient Libyan tribe from beyond Cyrenaica where the Libu and Tehenu lived according to Egyptian references and who were probably of Central Berber ethnicity. Herodotus placed them in Tunisia and said of them to be sedentary farmers living in settled permanent houses as the...
dynasty.
In the far west, foreigners came to know of some Berbers living in remote deserts as Gaetuli
Gaetuli
Gaetuli was the Romanised name of an ancient Berber tribe inhabiting Getulia, covering the desert region south of the Atlas Mountains, bordering the Sahara. Other sources place Getulia in pre-Roman times along the Mediterranean coasts of what is now Algeria and Tunisia, and north of the Atlas...
ans; more familiar coastal Bebers were known as Numidians
Numidians
The Numidians were Berber tribes who lived in Numidia, in Algeria east of Constantine and in part of Tunisia. The Numidians were one of the earliest natives to trade with the settlers of Carthage. As Carthage grew, the relationship with the Numidians blossomed. Carthage's military used the Numidian...
, and also as the Mauri or Maurisi (later the Moors
Moors
The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...
). The western Berbers are mentioned in ancient literature (by Herodotus
Herodotus
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
) regarding specific military events during the 5th century BC, i.e., c. 480, as mercenaries of Carthage in Sicily. Thereafter the Berbers more frequently enter into the early light provided by various Greek
Ancient Greek literature
Ancient Greek literature refers to literature written in the Ancient Greek language until the 4th century.- Classical and Pre-Classical Antiquity :...
and Roman historical works
Roman historiography
Roman Historiography is indebted to the Greeks, who invented the form. The Romans had great models to base their works upon, such as Herodotus and Thucydides. Roman historiographical forms are different from the Greek ones however, and voice very Roman concerns. Unlike the Greeks, Roman...
. Yet unfortunately, apart from the Punic inscriptions, little Carthaginian literature has survived. During these centuries, Berbers of the western regions actively traded and intermingled most frequently with Carthage, founded by Phoenicians; the name Libyphoenicians was coined for the cultural and ethnic mix surrounding the city. Political skills and civic arrangements encountered in Carthage, as well as material culture, were adopted by the Berbers for their own use. In the 4th century Berber kingdoms are referenced, e.g., the ancient historian Diodorus Siculus
Diodorus Siculus
Diodorus Siculus was a Greek historian who flourished between 60 and 30 BC. According to Diodorus' own work, he was born at Agyrium in Sicily . With one exception, antiquity affords no further information about Diodorus' life and doings beyond what is to be found in his own work, Bibliotheca...
evidently mentions the Libyo-Berber king Aelymas, a neighbor of Carthage, who dealt with Agathocles
Agathocles
Agathocles , , was tyrant of Syracuse and king of Sicily .-Biography:...
(361-289), a Greek ruler in Sicily
History of Sicily
The history of Sicily has seen Sicily usually controlled by greater powers—Roman, Vandal, Byzantine, Islamic, Norman, Hohenstaufen, Catalan, Spaniard—but also experiencing short periods of independence, as under the Greeks and later as the Emirate then Kingdom of Sicily...
.
A bilingual (Punic and Berber) inscription of the 2nd century BC from urban Numidia, specifically from the ancient city of Thugga (modern Dougga, Tunisia), indicates a complex city administration, with the Berber title GLD (cognate to modern Berber Aguellid, or paramount tribal chief
Tribal chief
A tribal chief is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribal societies with social stratification under a single leader emerged in the Neolithic period out of earlier tribal structures with little stratification, and they remained prevalent throughout the Iron Age.In the case of ...
) designating the ruling municipal officer. This top position apparently rotated among the selected members of the leading Berber families. Since the Numidian titles of the offices mentioned (GLD, MSSKWI, GZBI, GLDGIML) were not translated into Punic but left in Berber, it suggests an indigenous development.
Syphax
Syphax was a king of the ancient Algerian tribe Masaesyli of western Numidia during the last quarter of the 3rd century BC. His story is told in Livy's Ab Urbe Condita .-Biography:...
who ruled from two capitals, Siga (near modern Oran
Oran
Oran is a major city on the northwestern Mediterranean coast of Algeria, and the second largest city of the country.It is the capital of the Oran Province . The city has a population of 759,645 , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately 1,500,000, making it the second largest...
) and to the east Cirta
Cirta
Cirta was the capital city of the ancient Kingdom of Numidia in northern Africa . Its strategically important port city was Russicada...
(modern Constantine
Constantine, Algeria
Constantine is the capital of Constantine Province in north-eastern Algeria. It was the capital of the same-named French département until 1962. Slightly inland, it is about 80 kilometres from the Mediterranean coast, on the banks of Rhumel river...
); and (3) the Massyli (south of Cirta, west and south of Carthage) ruled by Gala [Gaia], father of Masinissa
Masinissa
Masinissa — also spelled Massinissa and Massena — was the first King of Numidia, an ancient North African nation of ancient Libyan tribes. As a successful general, Masinissa fought in the Second Punic War , first against the Romans as an ally of Carthage an later switching sides when he saw which...
. Following the Second Punic War, both Roman and Hellenic
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
states gave Masinissa the great honors befitting an admired King.
In his history of Rome Ab urbe condita, Livy
Livy
Titus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...
(59-AD 17) provides some indication of the character and career of the Masinissa
Masinissa
Masinissa — also spelled Massinissa and Massena — was the first King of Numidia, an ancient North African nation of ancient Libyan tribes. As a successful general, Masinissa fought in the Second Punic War , first against the Romans as an ally of Carthage an later switching sides when he saw which...
the Berber king, during the era of the Second Punic War
Second Punic War
The Second Punic War, also referred to as The Hannibalic War and The War Against Hannibal, lasted from 218 to 201 BC and involved combatants in the western and eastern Mediterranean. This was the second major war between Carthage and the Roman Republic, with the participation of the Berbers on...
. Livy tells us of Masinissa's early military services to Carthage and of his victory with Carthage over the Masaesyli led by Syphax; next, of his leading cavalry units for Carthage against Rome in Hispania
Hispania
Another theory holds that the name derives from Ezpanna, the Basque word for "border" or "edge", thus meaning the farthest area or place. Isidore of Sevilla considered Hispania derived from Hispalis....
. Masinissa then switches sides to ally with Rome, and personally meets with Scipio Africanus
Scipio Africanus
Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus , also known as Scipio Africanus and Scipio the Elder, was a general in the Second Punic War and statesman of the Roman Republic...
the celebrated Roman general in Hispania. Next follows the death of his father Gala the King of the Massyli, his return home where an usurpation takes over the kingdom of the Massyli, and subsequently his life as a guerilla leader in the mountains of Africa. By persistent struggle Masinissa regains his kingdom; but quickly comes an invasion by Syphax
Syphax
Syphax was a king of the ancient Algerian tribe Masaesyli of western Numidia during the last quarter of the 3rd century BC. His story is told in Livy's Ab Urbe Condita .-Biography:...
who defeats him and takes over the Massyli kingdom, after which Masinissa escapes into the bush. Later, his forces find the army of Scipio who has landed in Africa; in battle they defeat an army of Carthage. Syphax is captured; Masinissa's envoys meet with the Roman Senate. Hannibal, recalled from Italy to defend Carthage
Carthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
, fights the Battle of Zama
Battle of Zama
The Battle of Zama, fought around October 19, 202 BC, marked the final and decisive end of the Second Punic War. A Roman army led by Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus defeated a Carthaginian force led by the legendary commander Hannibal...
(202 BC) against the Roman army under Scipio, with Masinissa leading the cavalry on Scipio's right wing. Following victory, Masinissa is restored to his Massyli kingdom, then called Numidia
Numidia
Numidia was an ancient Berber kingdom in part of present-day Eastern Algeria and Western Tunisia in North Africa. It is known today as the Chawi-land, the land of the Chawi people , the direct descendants of the historical Numidians or the Massyles The kingdom began as a sovereign state and later...
, where he will rule for fifty years.
Ancient Berber religion
Berber mythology
The traditional Berber mythology is the ancient and native set of beliefs and deities developed by the Berber people in their historical land of North Africa...
, of course, is difficult to uncover sufficiently to satisfy the imagination. Burial sites provide early indication of religious beliefs; more than sixty thousand tombs are located in the Fezzan
Fezzan
Fezzan is a south western region of modern Libya. It is largely desert but broken by mountains, uplands, and dry river valleys in the north, where oases enable ancient towns and villages to survive deep in the otherwise inhospitable Sahara.-Name:...
alone. The construction of many tombs indicates their continuing use for ceremonies and sacrifices. A grand tomb for a Berber king, traditionally assigned to Masinissa
Masinissa
Masinissa — also spelled Massinissa and Massena — was the first King of Numidia, an ancient North African nation of ancient Libyan tribes. As a successful general, Masinissa fought in the Second Punic War , first against the Romans as an ally of Carthage an later switching sides when he saw which...
(238-149) but perhaps rather to his father Gala, still stands: the Medracen in eastern Algeria. Architecture for the elegant tower tomb of his contemporary Syphax
Syphax
Syphax was a king of the ancient Algerian tribe Masaesyli of western Numidia during the last quarter of the 3rd century BC. His story is told in Livy's Ab Urbe Condita .-Biography:...
shows some Greek or Punic
Carthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
influence. Much information about Berber beliefs comes from classical literature. Herodotus (c. 484-c. 425) mentions that Libyans of the Nasamone tribe, after prayers, slept on the graves of their ancestors in order to induce dreams for divination
Divination
Divination is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic standardized process or ritual...
. The ancestor chosen being regarded the best in life for uprightness and valor, hence a tomb imbued with spiritual power. Oaths also were taken on the graves of the just. In this regard, the Numidian king Masinissa was widely worshipped after his death.
Early Berbers beliefs and practices are often characterized as a religion of nature. Procreative power was symbolized by the bull, the lion, the ram. Fish carvings represented the phallus, a sea shell the female sex, which objects could become charms
Amulet
An amulet, similar to a talisman , is any object intended to bring good luck or protection to its owner.Potential amulets include gems, especially engraved gems, statues, coins, drawings, pendants, rings, plants and animals; even words said in certain occasions—for example: vade retro satana—, to...
. The supernatural
Supernatural
The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...
could reside in the waters, in trees, or come to rest in unusual stones (to which the Berbers would apply oils); such power might inhabit the winds (the Sirocco
Sirocco
Sirocco, scirocco, , jugo or, rarely, siroc is a Mediterranean wind that comes from the Sahara and reaches hurricane speeds in North Africa and Southern Europe. It is known in North Africa by the Arabic word qibli or ghibli Sirocco, scirocco, , jugo or, rarely, siroc is a Mediterranean wind...
being formidable across North Africa). Herodotus writes that the Libyans sacrificed to the sun and moon. The moon (Ayyur
Ayyur
Ayyur was the moon god according to the Berber beliefs. The name "Ayyur" means literally the moon, and it was also used as a term to indicate the word "month" and also as a masculine name....
) was conceived as being masculine.
Later many other supernatural entities became identified and personalized as gods, perhaps influenced by Egyptian or Punic practice; yet the Berbers seemed to be "drawn more to the sacred than to the gods." Early worship sites might be in grottoes, on mountains, in clefts and cavities, along roadways, with the "altars casually made of turf, the vessels used still of clay with the deity himself nowhere", according to the Berber author Apuleius
Apuleius
Apuleius was a Latin prose writer. He was a Berber, from Madaurus . He studied Platonist philosophy in Athens; travelled to Italy, Asia Minor and Egypt; and was an initiate in several cults or mysteries. The most famous incident in his life was when he was accused of using magic to gain the...
(born c. 125 CE), commenting on the local worship of earlier times. Often only a little more than the names of the Berber deities are known, e.g., Bonchar, a leading god. Julian Baldick, culling literature covering many eras and regions, provides the names and rôles of many Berber deities and spirits.
The Berbero-Libyans came to adopt elements from ancient Egyptian religion. Herodotus writes of the divine oracle, sourced in the Egyptian god Ammon
Amun
Amun, reconstructed Egyptian Yamānu , was a god in Egyptian mythology who in the form of Amun-Ra became the focus of the most complex system of theology in Ancient Egypt...
, located among the Libyans at the oasis of Siwa
Siwa Oasis
The Siwa Oasis is an oasis in Egypt, located between the Qattara Depression and the Egyptian Sand Sea in the Libyan Desert, nearly 50 km east of the Libyan border, and 560 km from Cairo....
. The god of the Siwa oracle, however, may be a Libyan deity. Later, Berber beliefs would influence the religion of Carthage
Religion in Carthage
The religion of Carthage in North Africa was a direct continuation of the polytheistic Phoenician religion of the Levant, with significant local modifications. Controversy prevails regarding the possible existence and practice of propitiatory child sacrifice in the religion of...
, the city-state founded by Phoenicians. George Aaron Barton suggested that the prominent goddess of Carthage Tanit
Tanit
Tanit was a Phoenician lunar goddess, worshipped as the patron goddess at Carthage. Tanit was worshiped in Punic contexts in the Western Mediterranean, from Malta to Gades into Hellenistic times. From the fifth century BCE onwards Tanit is associated with that of Baal Hammon...
originally was a Berbero-Libyan deity whom the newly arriving Phoenicians sought to propitiate by their worship. Later archeological finds show a Tanit from Phoenicia. From linguistic evidence Barton concluded that before developing into an agricultural deity, Tanit probably began as a goddess of fertility
Fertility
Fertility is the natural capability of producing offsprings. As a measure, "fertility rate" is the number of children born per couple, person or population. Fertility differs from fecundity, which is defined as the potential for reproduction...
, symbolized by a tree
Thuja
Thuja is a genus of coniferous trees in the Cupressaceae . There are five species in the genus, two native to North America and three native to eastern Asia...
bearing fruit. The Phoenician goddess Ashtart was supplanted by Tanit at Carthage.
Berber tribal affiliations
The grand tribal identities of Berber antiquity were said to be the MauriMauri
Mauri may refer to:*Mauri meaning the life force which all objects contain, in the Māori language of New Zealand and the Rotuman language of Rotuma*Mauri, or Maurya Empire, an ancient caste in India which built its greatest empire...
, the Numidians
Numidians
The Numidians were Berber tribes who lived in Numidia, in Algeria east of Constantine and in part of Tunisia. The Numidians were one of the earliest natives to trade with the settlers of Carthage. As Carthage grew, the relationship with the Numidians blossomed. Carthage's military used the Numidian...
, and the Gaetulians. The Mauri inhabited the far west (ancient Mauritania, now Morocco and central Algeria). The Numidians were located between the Mauri and the city-state of Carthage. Both had large sedentary
Sedentism
In evolutionary anthropology and archaeology, sedentism , is a term applied to the transition from nomadic to permanent, year-round settlement.- Requirements for permanent settlements :...
populations. The Gaetulians were less settled, with large pastoral
Pastoral
The adjective pastoral refers to the lifestyle of pastoralists, such as shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasturage. It also refers to a genre in literature, art or music that depicts such shepherd life in an...
elements, and lived in the near south on the margins of the Sahara. The medieval historian of the Maghrib, Ibn Khaldun
Ibn Khaldun
Ibn Khaldūn or Ibn Khaldoun was an Arab Tunisian historiographer and historian who is often viewed as one of the forerunners of modern historiography, sociology and economics...
, is credited or blamed for theorizing a causative dynamic to the different tribal confederacies over time. Issues concerning tribal social-economies and their influence have generated a large literature, which critics say is overblown. Abdallah Laroui discounts the impact of tribes, declaring the subject a form of obfuscation which cloaks suspect colonial ideologies. While Berber tribal society has made an impact on culture and government, their continuance was chiefly due to strong foreign interference which usurped the primary domain of the government institutions, and derailed their natural political development. Rather than there being a predisposition for tribal structures, the Berber's survival strategy in the face of foreign occupation was to figuratively retreat into their own way of life through their enduring tribal networks. On the other hand, as it is accepted and understood, tribal societies in the Middle East have continued over millennia and from time to time flourish.
Berber tribal identities survived undiminished during the long period of dominance by the city-state of Carthage. Under centuries of Roman rule also tribal ways were maintained. The sustaining social customs would include: communal self-defense and group liability, marriage alliances, collective religious practices, reciprocal gift-giving, family working relationships and wealth. Abdallah Laroui summarizes the abiding results under foreign rule (here, by Carthage and by Rome) as: Social (assimilated, nonassimilated
Cultural assimilation
Cultural assimilation is a socio-political response to demographic multi-ethnicity that supports or promotes the assimilation of ethnic minorities into the dominant culture. The term assimilation is often used with regard to immigrants and various ethnic groups who have settled in a new land. New...
, free); Geographical (city, country, desert); Economic (commerce, agriculture, nomadism); and, Linguistic (e.g., Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
, Punico-Berber, Berber).
During the initial centuries of the Islamic era, it was said that the Berbers tribes were divided into two blocs, the Butr (Zanata and allies) and the Baranis (Sanhaja, Masmuda, and others). The etymology
Etymology
Etymology is the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time.For languages with a long written history, etymologists make use of texts in these languages and texts about the languages to gather knowledge about how words were used during...
is unclear, perhaps deriving from tribal customs for clothing ("abtar" and "burnous"), or perhaps words coined to distinguish the nomad (Butr) from the farmer (Baranis). The Arabs drew most of their early recruits from the Butr. Later, legends arose which spoke of an obscure, ancient invasion of North Africa by the Himyarite Arabs of Yemen
South Arabia
South Arabia as a general term refers to several regions as currently recognized, in chief the Republic of Yemen; yet it has historically also included Najran, Jizan, and 'Asir which are presently in Saudi Arabia, and Dhofar presently in Oman...
, from which a prehistoric ancestry was evidently fabricated: Berber descent from two brothers, Burnus and Abtar, who were sons of Barr, the grandson of Canaan
Canaan
Canaan is a historical region roughly corresponding to modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and the western parts of Jordan...
(Canaan being the grandson of Noah
Noah
Noah was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the tenth and last of the antediluvian Patriarchs. The biblical story of Noah is contained in chapters 6–9 of the book of Genesis, where he saves his family and representatives of all animals from the flood by constructing an ark...
through his son Ham
Ham, son of Noah
Ham , according to the Table of Nations in the Book of Genesis, was a son of Noah and the father of Cush, Mizraim, Phut and Canaan.- Hebrew Bible :The story of Ham is related in , King James Version:...
). Both Ibn Khaldun
Ibn Khaldun
Ibn Khaldūn or Ibn Khaldoun was an Arab Tunisian historiographer and historian who is often viewed as one of the forerunners of modern historiography, sociology and economics...
(1332–1406) and Ibn Hazm
Ibn Hazm
Abū Muḥammad ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad ibn Saʿīd ibn Ḥazm ) was an Andalusian philosopher, litterateur, psychologist, historian, jurist and theologian born in Córdoba, present-day Spain...
(994-1064) as well as Berber genealogists
Genealogy
Genealogy is the study of families and the tracing of their lineages and history. Genealogists use oral traditions, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigrees of its members...
held that the Himyarite Arab ancestry was totally unacceptable. This legendary ancestry, however, played a rôle in the long Arabization
Arabized Berber
Arabized Berber is a term to denote an inhabitant of the North African Maghreb of Berber origin whose native language is a dialect of Arabic. According to these persons, the Arab identity in North Africa is a myth coming from the Arabization of the official institutions after French rule.They...
process that continued for centuries among the Berber peoples.
Sanhaja
The Sanhaja or Senhaja were once one of the largest Berber tribal confederations of the Maghreb, along with the Zanata and Masmuda...
, and the Masmuda
Masmuda
The Masmuda were a Berber tribal confederacy of Morocco and one of the largest in the Maghreb, along with the Zanata and the Sanhaja. They were composed of several sub-tribes: The Berghouatas, Ghumaras , Hintatas , Tinmelel, Hergha, Genfisa, Seksiwa, Gedmiwa, Hezerdja, Urika, Guerouanes, Bni...
. These tribal divisions are mentioned by Ibn Khaldun (1332–1406). The Zanata early on allied more closely with the Arabs and consequently became more Arabized, although Znatiya Berber is still spoken in small islands across Algeria and in northern Morocco (the Rif
Rif
The Rif or Riff is a mainly mountainous region of northern Morocco, with some fertile plains, stretching from Cape Spartel and Tangier in the west to Ras Kebdana and the Melwiyya River in the east, and from the Mediterranean Sea in the north to the river of Wergha in the south.It is part of the...
and north Middle Atlas
Middle Atlas
The Middle Atlas is part of the Atlas mountain range lying in Morocco, a mountainous country with more than 100,000 km² or 15% of its landmass rising above 2,000 metres. The Middle Atlas is the northernmost of three Atlas Mountains chains that define a large plateaued basin extending eastward...
). The Sanhaja are also widely dispersed throughout the Maghrib, among which are: the sedentary Kabyle
Kabyle people
The Kabyle people are the largest homogeneous Algerian ethno-cultural and linguistical community and the largest nation in North Africa to be considered exclusively Berber. Their traditional homeland is Kabylie in the north of Algeria, one hundred miles east of Algiers...
on the coast west of modern Algiers
Algiers
' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
, the nomadic Zanaga
Zanaga
Zanaga is a city and capital of Zanaga District in the Lékoumou Region of northeastern Republic of the Congo.It lies on the Ogooue River which flows north-west into Gabon.- External links :*...
of southern Morocco (the south Anti-Atlas
Anti-Atlas
The Anti-Atlas or Lesser Atlas or Little Atlas, is a mountain range in Morocco, a part of the Atlas mountains in the northwest of Africa. The Anti-Atlas extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the southwest toward the northeast, to the heights of Ouarzazate and further east to the city of Tafilalt,...
) and the western Sahara to Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
, and the Tuareg (al-Tawarik), the well-known camel breeding nomads of the central Sahara
Sahara
The Sahara is the world's second largest desert, after Antarctica. At over , it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as Europe or the United States. The Sahara stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean coasts, to the outskirts of the Atlantic Ocean...
. The descendants of the Masmuda are sedentary
Sedentism
In evolutionary anthropology and archaeology, sedentism , is a term applied to the transition from nomadic to permanent, year-round settlement.- Requirements for permanent settlements :...
Berbers of Morocco, in the High Atlas
High Atlas
High Atlas, also called the Grand Atlas Mountains is a mountain range in central Morocco in Northern Africa.The High Atlas rises in the west at the Atlantic Ocean and stretches in an eastern direction to the Moroccan-Algerian border. At the Atlantic and to the southwest the range drops abruptly...
, and from Rabat
Rabat
Rabat , is the capital and third largest city of the Kingdom of Morocco with a population of approximately 650,000...
inland to Azru and Khanifra, the most populous of the modern Berber regions.
Medieval events in Ifriqiya
Ifriqiya
In medieval history, Ifriqiya or Ifriqiyah was the area comprising the coastal regions of what are today western Libya, Tunisia, and eastern Algeria. This area included what had been the Roman province of Africa, whose name it inherited....
and al-Maghrib
Maghreb
The Maghreb is the region of Northwest Africa, west of Egypt. It includes five countries: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania and the disputed territory of Western Sahara...
often have tribal assoiciations. Linked to the Kabyle Sanhaja were the Kutama
Kutama
The Kutama were a powerful Berber tribe, in the region of Jijel , a member of the great Sanhaja confederation of the Maghrib and the armed body of the Fatimid Caliphate.-Origins of the Kutama:...
tribes, whose support worked to establish the Fatimid Caliphate
Fatimid
The Fatimid Islamic Caliphate or al-Fāṭimiyyūn was a Berber Shia Muslim caliphate first centered in Tunisia and later in Egypt that ruled over varying areas of the Maghreb, Sudan, Sicily, the Levant, and Hijaz from 5 January 909 to 1171.The caliphate was ruled by the Fatimids, who established the...
(909-1171, only until 1049 in Ifriqiya); their vassals and later successors in Ifriqiya the Zirids (973-1160) were also Sanhaja. The Almoravids
Almoravids
The Almoravids were a Berber dynasty of Morocco, who formed an empire in the 11th-century that stretched over the western Maghreb and Al-Andalus. Their capital was Marrakesh, a city which they founded in 1062 C.E...
(1056–1147) first began far south of Morocco, among the Lamtuna
Lamtuna
The Lamtuna were a powerful nomadic Berber tribe belonging to the Senhaja inhabiting the western Sahara.During the eighth century the Lamtuna created a kingdom out of a confederation of Berber tribes, which they dominated until the early tenth century. The Lamtuna probably did not convert to Islam...
Sanhaja. From the Masmuda came Ibn Tumart
Ibn Tumart
Abu Abd Allah Muhammad Ibn Tumart was a Berber religious Muslim scholar, teacher and later a political leader from the Masmuda tribe federation. He founded the Berber Almohad dynasty. He is also known as El-Mahdi in reference to his prophesied redeeming...
and the Almohad movement (1130–1269), later supported by the Sanhaja. Accordingly, it was from among the Masmuda that the Hafsid dynasty
Hafsid dynasty
The Hafsids were a Berber dynasty ruling Ifriqiya from 1229 to 1574. Their territories were stretched from east of modern Algeria to west of modern Libya during their zenith.-History:...
(1227-1574) of Tunis
Tunis
Tunis is the capital of both the Tunisian Republic and the Tunis Governorate. It is Tunisia's largest city, with a population of 728,453 as of 2004; the greater metropolitan area holds some 2,412,500 inhabitants....
originated.
Berber language history
Twenty or so Berber languagesBerber languages
The Berber languages are a family of languages indigenous to North Africa, spoken from Siwa Oasis in Egypt to Morocco , and south to the countries of the Sahara Desert...
(also called Tamazight) are spoken in North Africa. Berber speakers were once predominate over all this large area, but as a result of Arabization
Arabized Berber
Arabized Berber is a term to denote an inhabitant of the North African Maghreb of Berber origin whose native language is a dialect of Arabic. According to these persons, the Arab identity in North Africa is a myth coming from the Arabization of the official institutions after French rule.They...
and later local migrations, today Berber languages are reduced to several large regions (in Morocco, Algeria, and the central Sahara) or remain as smaller language islands. Several linguists characterize the Berber spoken as one language with many dialect variations, spread out in discrete regions, without ongoing standardization. The Berber languages may be classified as follows (with some more widely known languages or language groups shown in italics). Ethnic historical correspondence is suggested by the designation |Tribe|.
- I. GuancheGuanche languageGuanche is an extinct language that was spoken by the Guanches of the Canary Islands until the 16th or 17th century. It is only known today through a few sentences and individual words recorded by early travellers, supplemented by several placenames, as well as some words assimilated into the...
[extinct] - (Canary IslandsCanary IslandsThe Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
). - II. Old LibyanAncient LibyaThe Latin name Libya referred to the region west of the Nile Valley, generally corresponding to modern Northwest Africa. Climate changes affected the locations of the settlements....
[extinct] - (West of ancient EgyptAncient EgyptAncient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
). - III. Berber Proper.
- A. EasternEastern Berber languagesThe Eastern Berber languages belong to the Afro-Asiatic family and are spoken in Libya and Egypt. They include Awjila, Sokna and Fezzan , Siwi, and Ghadamès. Kossmann divides them into two groups:...
: Siwa, AwjilaAwjilah languageAwjila is a Berber language spoken in Cyrenaica, Libya, in the Awjila oasis. UNESCO considers Awjilah to be seriously endangered as the youngest speakers have reached or passed middle age.-References:* *...
, SoknaSawknah languageSokna or Sawknah is a Berber language spoken in the town of Sokna and the village of Fuqaha in northeastern Fezzan in Libya. The most extensive and recent materials on it are Sarnelli for Sokna and Paradisi for El-Fogaha...
- (LibyaLibyaLibya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
& EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
). - B. Tuareg - (Central SaharaSaharaThe Sahara is the world's second largest desert, after Antarctica. At over , it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as Europe or the United States. The Sahara stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean coasts, to the outskirts of the Atlantic Ocean...
region). |Sanhaja| - C. Western: ZenagaZenaga languageZenaga is a Berber language spoken by some 200 people between Mederdra and the Atlantic coast in southwestern Mauritania. The language shares its basic structure with other Berber languages, but specific details are quite different; in fact, it is probably the most divergent surviving Berber...
- (MauritaniaMauritaniaMauritania is a country in the Maghreb and West Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean in the west, by Western Sahara in the north, by Algeria in the northeast, by Mali in the east and southeast, and by Senegal in the southwest...
& SenegalSenegalSenegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
). |Sanhaja| - D. Northern Berber languagesNorthern-Geography:* Northern , various regions, states, territories, etc.* Northern Range, a range of hills in Trinidad* Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States-Education:* Northern University , various institutions...
- (MaghribMaghrebThe Maghreb is the region of Northwest Africa, west of Egypt. It includes five countries: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania and the disputed territory of Western Sahara...
).- 1. AtlasAtlas languagesThe Atlas languages, or more exactly Moroccan Atlas, also Masmuda, are a subgroup of the Northern Berber languages spoken in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. By mutual intelligibility, they are a single language; however, they are distinct sociolinguistically and are considered separate languages by...
: Shilha, Central Morocco TamazightCentral Morocco TamazightCentral Atlas Tamazight is a Berber languageCentral Atlas Tamazight may be referred to as either a Berber language or a Berber dialect...
- (MoroccoMoroccoMorocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
& AlgeriaAlgeriaAlgeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
). |Masmuda| - 2. KabyleKabyle languageKabyle or Kabylian is a Berber language spoken by the Kabyle people north and northeast of Algeria. Estimates about the number of speakers range from 5 million to about 7 million speakers worldwide, the majority in Algeria.-Classification:The classification of Kabyle is Afro-Asiatic, Berber and...
- (East of AlgiersAlgiers' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
). |Sanhaja| - 3. ZenatiZenati languagesThe Zenati languages, named after the medieval Zenata tribe, are a subgroup of the Northern Berber language family, spoken in North Africa, proposed in Destaing They are distributed across the central Maghreb, from northeastern Morocco to just west of Algiers, and the northern Sahara, from...
- (Morocco, Algeria, & TunisiaTunisiaTunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
). |Zenata|
- 1. Atlas
- A. Eastern
Nota Bene: The classification and nomenclature of Berber languages lack complete consensus.
The Libyan
Ancient Libya
The Latin name Libya referred to the region west of the Nile Valley, generally corresponding to modern Northwest Africa. Climate changes affected the locations of the settlements....
Berbers developed their own writing system, evidently derived from Phoenician, as early as the 4th century BC. It was a boustrophic script, i.e., written left to right then right to left on alternating lines, or up and down in columns. Most of these early inscriptions were funerary and short in length. Several longer texts exist, taken from Thugga, modern Dougga, Tunisia. Both are bilingual, being written in Punic with its letters and in Berber with its letters
Tifinagh
Tifinagh is a series of abjad and alphabetic scripts used by some Berber peoples, notably the Tuareg, to write their language.A modern derivate of the traditional script, known as Neo-Tifinagh, was introduced in the 20th century...
. One throws some light on the governing institutions of the Berbers in the 2nd century BC. The other text begins: "This temple the citizens of Thugga built for King Masinissa
Masinissa
Masinissa — also spelled Massinissa and Massena — was the first King of Numidia, an ancient North African nation of ancient Libyan tribes. As a successful general, Masinissa fought in the Second Punic War , first against the Romans as an ally of Carthage an later switching sides when he saw which...
... ." Today the script descendent from the ancient Libyan remains in use; it is called Tifinagh
Tifinagh
Tifinagh is a series of abjad and alphabetic scripts used by some Berber peoples, notably the Tuareg, to write their language.A modern derivate of the traditional script, known as Neo-Tifinagh, was introduced in the 20th century...
.
Zenata
Zenata were an ethnic group of North Africa, who were technically an Eastern Berber group and who are found in Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco....
Berbers became Arabized. Today in Tunisia the small minority that speaks Berber may be heard on Jerba island, around the salt lakes
Tunisian salt lakes
The Tunisian salt lakes are a series of lakes in central Tunisia, lying south of the Atlas Mountains at the northern edge of the Sahara. The lakes include, from east to west, the Chott el Fedjedji, Chott el Djerid, and Chott el Gharsa....
region, and near the desert
Grand Erg Oriental
The Grand Erg Oriental is a large erg in the Sahara desert. Situated for the most part in Saharan lowlands of northeast Algeria, the Grand Erg Oriental covers an area some 600 km wide by 200 km north to south...
, as well as along the mountainous
Atlas Mountains
The Atlas Mountains is a mountain range across a northern stretch of Africa extending about through Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. The highest peak is Toubkal, with an elevation of in southwestern Morocco. The Atlas ranges separate the Mediterranean and Atlantic coastlines from the Sahara Desert...
border with Algeria (across this frontier to the west lies a large region where the Zenati
Zenati languages
The Zenati languages, named after the medieval Zenata tribe, are a subgroup of the Northern Berber language family, spoken in North Africa, proposed in Destaing They are distributed across the central Maghreb, from northeastern Morocco to just west of Algiers, and the northern Sahara, from...
Berber languages and dialects predominate). In contrast, use of Berber is relatively common in Morocco, and also in Algeria, and in the remote central Sahara. Berber poetry endures, as well as a traditional Berber literature.
Taken together these Berber languages constitute one of the five branches of Afroasiatic, a pivotal world language family, which stretches from Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
and Arabia across the Nile river and the Horn of Africa
Horn of Africa
The Horn of Africa is a peninsula in East Africa that juts hundreds of kilometers into the Arabian Sea and lies along the southern side of the Gulf of Aden. It is the easternmost projection of the African continent...
to the Atlas Mountains
Atlas Mountains
The Atlas Mountains is a mountain range across a northern stretch of Africa extending about through Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. The highest peak is Toubkal, with an elevation of in southwestern Morocco. The Atlas ranges separate the Mediterranean and Atlantic coastlines from the Sahara Desert...
and Lake Chad
Lake Chad
Lake Chad is a historically large, shallow, endorheic lake in Africa, whose size has varied over the centuries. According to the Global Resource Information Database of the United Nations Environment Programme, it shrank as much as 95% from about 1963 to 1998; yet it also states that "the 2007 ...
. The other four branches of Afroasiatic are: Ancient Egyptian, Semitic
Semitic languages
The Semitic languages are a group of related languages whose living representatives are spoken by more than 270 million people across much of the Middle East, North Africa and the Horn of Africa...
(which includes Akkadian, Aramaic, Hebrew, Arabic, and Amharic), Cushitic
Cushitic languages
The Cushitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family spoken in the Horn of Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Sudan and Egypt. They are named after the Biblical character Cush, who was identified as an ancestor of the speakers of these specific languages as early as AD 947...
(around the Horn and the lower Red Sea
Red Sea
The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
), and Chadic
Chadic languages
The Chadic languages constitute a language family of perhaps 200 languages spoken across northern Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Central African Republic and Cameroon, belonging to the Afroasiatic phylum...
(e.g., Hausa). The Afroasiatic language family has great diversity among its member idioms and a corresponding antiquity in time depth, both as to the results of analyses in historical linguistics
Historical linguistics
Historical linguistics is the study of language change. It has five main concerns:* to describe and account for observed changes in particular languages...
and as regards the seniority of its written records
History of writing
The history of writing records the development of expressing language by letters or other marks. In the history of how systems of representation of language through graphic means have evolved in different human civilizations, more complete writing systems were preceded by proto-writing, systems of...
, composed using the oldest of writing systems. The combination of linguistic studies with other information about prehistory taken from archaeology and the biological sciences has been adumbrated. Earlier academic speculation as to the prehistoric homeland of Afroasiatic and its geographic spread centered on a source in southwest Asia
Southwest Asia
Western Asia, West Asia, Southwest Asia or Southwestern Asia are terms that describe the westernmost portion of Asia. The terms are partly coterminous with the Middle East, which describes a geographical position in relation to Western Europe rather than its location within Asia...
, but more recent work in the various related disciplines has focused on Africa.
Igor Diakonov
Igor Mikhailovich Diakonov was a Russian historian, linguist, and translator and a renowned expert in the Ancient Near East and its languages....
may be summarized. From a prehistoric homeland near Darfur
Darfur
Darfur is a region in western Sudan. An independent sultanate for several hundred years, it was incorporated into Sudan by Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1916. The region is divided into three federal states: West Darfur, South Darfur, and North Darfur...
, which was better watered, the "Egyptians" were the first to break from the proto Afroasiatic communities, before ten kya (thousand years ago). These proto Egyptian language speakers headed north. At about the same time, the Chadic branch left, traveling west. About eight kya the speakers of the proto Cushitic languages broke off and journeyed east. During the next millennium or so, the remaining proto Semitic and Berber speakers ("Semito-Libyan") eventually went their divergent ways. The Semites passed by the then marshlands of the lower Nile and crossed into Asia (evidently the Semitic speakers anciently present in Ethiopia
Ethiopian Semitic languages
Ethiopian Semitic is a language group, which together with Old South Arabian forms the Western branch of the South Semitic languages. The languages are spoken in both Ethiopia and Eritrea...
remained in Africa or later crossed back to Africa from Arabia). Meanwhile, the peoples who spoke proto Berbero-Libyan spread out westward across North Africa, along the Mediterranean coast and into a Sahara
Sahara
The Sahara is the world's second largest desert, after Antarctica. At over , it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as Europe or the United States. The Sahara stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean coasts, to the outskirts of the Atlantic Ocean...
region then better watered, traveling in a centuries-long migration until reaching the Atlantic and its offshore islands. Later, Diakonoff revised his proposed prehistory, moving the Afroasiatic homeland north toward the lower Nile, then a land of lakes and marshes. This change reflects several linguistic analyses showing that common Semitic then shared very little "cultural" lexicon with the common Afroasiatic. Hence the proto Semitic speakers probably left the common Afroasiatic community earlier, by ten kya (thousand years ago), starting from an area nearby a more fruitful Sinai
Sinai Peninsula
The Sinai Peninsula or Sinai is a triangular peninsula in Egypt about in area. It is situated between the Mediterranean Sea to the north, and the Red Sea to the south, and is the only part of Egyptian territory located in Asia as opposed to Africa, effectively serving as a land bridge between two...
. Accordingly, he situates the related Berbero-Libyan speakers of that era by the coast, to the west of the lower Nile.
Sea traders from the east
The historical era opens with the advent of traders coming by sea from the eastern Mediterranean. Eventually they were followed by a stream of colonists, landing and settling along the coasts of Africa and Iberia, and on the islands of the western seas.Technological innovations following economic development in the eastern Mediterranean, Mesopotamia, and along the Nile, increased the demand for various metals not found locally in sufficient quantity. Phoenician traders recognized the relative abundance and low cost of the needed metals among the goods offered for trade by local merchants in Hispania, which spurred trade. In the Phoenician city-state of Tyre, much of this Mediterranean commerce, as well as the corresponding trading settlements located at coastal stops along the way to the west, were directed by the kings, e.g., Hiram
Hiram I
Hiram I , according to the Hebrew Bible, was the Phoenician king of Tyre. He reigned from 980 to 947 BC, succeeding his father, Abibaal. Hiram was succeeded as king of Tyre by his son Baal-Eser I...
of Tyre (969-936).
By three thousand years ago the Levant
Levant
The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...
and Hellas
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
had enjoyed remarkable prosperity, resulting in population growth in excess of their economic base. On the other hand, political instability from time to time caused disruption of normal business and resulted in short term economic distress. City-states started organizing their youth to migrate in groups to locations where the land was less densely settled. Importantly, the number of colonists coming from Greece was much larger than those coming from Phoenicia. To these migrants lands in the western Mediterranean presented an opportunity and could be reached relatively easily by ship, without marching through foreign territory. Colonists sailed westward following in the wake of their commercial traders. The Greeks
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
arrived later, coming to (what is now) southern France, southern Italy including Sicily, and Libya. Earlier the Phoenicia
Phoenicia
Phoenicia , was an ancient civilization in Canaan which covered most of the western, coastal part of the Fertile Crescent. Several major Phoenician cities were built on the coastline of the Mediterranean. It was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean from 1550...
ns had settled in (what is now) Sardinia, Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Sicily, and of course, Tunisia.
This history continues with History of Punic era Tunisia.
See also
- Berber peopleBerber peopleBerbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...
- Berber languagesBerber languagesThe Berber languages are a family of languages indigenous to North Africa, spoken from Siwa Oasis in Egypt to Morocco , and south to the countries of the Sahara Desert...
- Ancient LibyaAncient LibyaThe Latin name Libya referred to the region west of the Nile Valley, generally corresponding to modern Northwest Africa. Climate changes affected the locations of the settlements....
- Shoshenq IShoshenq IHedjkheperre Setepenre Shoshenq I , , also known as Sheshonk or Sheshonq I , was a Meshwesh Berber king of Egypt—of Libyan ancestry—and the founder of the Twenty-second Dynasty...
- Phoenician languagesPhoenician languagesPhoenician was a language originally spoken in the coastal region then called "Canaan" in Phoenician, Arabic, Hebrew, and Aramaic, "Phoenicia" in Greek and Latin, and "Pūt" in Ancient Egyptian. Phoenician is a Semitic language of the Canaanite subgroup; its closest living relative is Hebrew, to...
- PhoeniciaPhoeniciaPhoenicia , was an ancient civilization in Canaan which covered most of the western, coastal part of the Fertile Crescent. Several major Phoenician cities were built on the coastline of the Mediterranean. It was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean from 1550...
- History of Punic era Tunisia
- History of Roman era TunisiaHistory of Roman era TunisiaHistory of Roman-era Tunisia describes first the Roman Africa Province. Rome took control of Carthage after the Third Punic War . There was a period of Berber kings allied with Rome . Lands surrounding Carthage were annexed and reorganized, and the city of Carthage rebuilt, becoming the third city...
- History of early Islamic TunisiaHistory of early Islamic TunisiaThe History of early Islamic Tunisia opens with the arrival of the Arabs who brought their language and the religion of Islam, and its calendar. The Arab conquest followed strategy designed by the Umayyad Caliphate regarding ist long-term conflict with the Byzantine Empire...
- History of medieval TunisiaHistory of medieval TunisiaThe medieval era opens with the commencement of a process that would return Ifriqiya, i.e., Tunisia, and the entire Maghrib to local Berber rule. The precipitating cause was the departure of the Shia Fatimid Caliphate to their newly conquered territories in Egypt. To govern Ifriqiya in their stead,...
- History of Ottoman era Tunisia
- History of French era TunisiaHistory of French era TunisiaThe History of French-era Tunisia commenced in 1881 with the French protectorate and ended in 1956 with Tunisian independence. The French presence in Tunisia came five decades after their occupation of neighboring Algeria. Both of these lands had been possessions of the Ottoman Empire for three...
- History of modern TunisiaHistory of modern TunisiaIn its modern history, Tunisia has become a sovereign republic, called the al-Jumhuriyyah at-Tunisiyyah. Tunisia has over ten million citizens, almost all of Arab-Berber descent. The Mediterranean Sea is to the north and east, Libya to the southeast, and Algeria to the west. Tunis is the capital...