Berber

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Berbers
200px
Total population
c. 23 million
Regions with significant populations
Morocco: 19,000,000 Algeria: 9,200,000 Tunisia:    200,000 Libya:    420,000+ Mauritania:    150,000 Egypt:    10,000 France:    1,500,000 Spain:    200,000 Netherlands:    200,000 Belgium:    200,000 Israel:    100,000
Languages
Berber (Tamazight)
Religions
Islam (overwhelming majority), atheism, Christianity, Judaism, Others
Related ethnic groups
Afro-Asiatic   Semitic

The Berbers are an ethnic group indigenous to Northwest Africa, speaking the Berber languages of the Afroasiatic family. The Berbers are the descendents of the pre-Arab populations of North Africa from the Egyptian frontier to the Atlantic and from the Mediterranean coast to the Niger. Originally, Berber was a generic name given to numerous heterogeneous ethnic groups by the Romans that shared similar cultural, political, and economic practices. It was not a term originated by the group itself, and indeed the word may have been derived from the Greek forerunner of the English word 'barbarian'. The Romans followed the Greek custom of designating speakers of languages unknown to them as "barbarians".

Although their origins are unknown, Berber-speaking peoples are thought to have moved into North Africa, probably from the Near East, before 2000 B.C.E. Despite the appearance of two signigicant Berber dynasites, the Almoravids and the Almohads, the Berber tribes could never unite long enough to rid themselves of the numerous conquerors who invaded their lands. As a result, Berber history can only be followed as the history of individual tribes. Some of these ancient tribes were; Gaetulians, Maures, Massyli Garamantes, Augilae, and Nasamones.

While Berbers are stereotyped as nomads, and indeed some tribes are, the majority are typically farmers. It's difficult to estimate the number of Berbers in the world today, because many don't define themselves as Berber. However the Berber language is spoken by an estimated 14 to 25 million people.

Origin

The Berbers have lived in North Africa for thousands of years and their presence has been recorded as early as 3000 B.C.E. Greeks, Romans, and ancient Egyptians have indicated the presence of Berbers in their records. There is no complete certitude about the origin of the Berbers; however, various disciplines shed light on the matter.

Genetic evidence

Young Berber girl in Algeria, 1888

While population genetics is a young science still full of controversy, in general the genetic evidence appears to indicate that most northwest Africans (whether they consider themselves Berber or Arab) are predominantly of Berber origin, and that populations ancestral to the Berbers have been in the area since the Upper Paleolithic era. The genetically predominant ancestors of the Berbers appear to have come from East Africa, the Middle East, or both - but the details of this remain unclear. However, significant proportions of both the Berber and Arabized Berber gene pools derive from more recent human migration of various Italic, Semitic, Germanic, and sub-Saharan African peoples, all of whom have left their genetic footprints in the region.

Archaeological

The Neolithic Capsian culture appeared in North Africa around 9,500 B.C.E. and lasted until possibly 2700 B.C.E. Linguists and population geneticists alike have identified this culture as a probable period for the spread of an Afro-Asiatic language (ancestral to the modern Berber languages) to the area. The origins of the Capsian culture, however, are archeologically unclear. Some have regarded this culture's population as simply a continuation of the earlier Mesolithic Ibero-Maurusian culture, which appeared around 22,000 B.C.E., while others argue for a population change; the former view seems to be supported by dental evidence.

History

A Berber family crossing a ford - scene in Algeria

The Berbers have lived in North Africa between western Egypt and the Atlantic Ocean for as far back as records of the area go. The earliest inhabitants of the region are found on the rock art across the Sahara. References to them also occur frequently in Ancient Egyptian, Greek, and Roman sources. Berber groups are first mentioned in writing by the ancient Egyptians during the Predynastic Period, and during the New Kingdom the Egyptians later fought against the Meshwesh and Lebu (Libyans) tribes on their western borders. Many Egyptologists think that from about 945 B.C.E. the Egyptians were ruled by Meshwesh immigrants who founded the Twenty-second Dynasty of Egypt under Shoshenq I, beginning a long period of Berber rule in Egypt, although others posit different origins for these dynasties, including Nubian. They long remained the main population of the Western Desert - the Byzantine chroniclers often complained of the Mazikes (Amazigh) raiding outlying monasteries there.

For many centuries the Berbers inhabited the coast of North Africa from Egypt to the Atlantic Ocean. Over time, the coastal regions of North Africa saw a long parade of invaders and colonists including Saharans, Phoenicians (who founded Carthage), Greeks (mainly in Libya), Romans, Vandals and Alans, Byzantines, Arabs, Ottomans, and the French and Spanish. Most, if not all, of these invaders have left some imprint upon the modern Berbers as have slaves brought from throughout Europe (some estimates place the number of Europeans brought to North Africa during the Ottoman period as high as 1.25 million) . Interactions with neighboring Sudanic empires, sub-Saharan Africans, and nomads from East Africa also left vast impressions upon the Berber peoples.

In historical times, the Berbers expanded south into the Sahara, displacing earlier populations such as the Azer and Bafour, and have in turn been mainly culturally assimilated in much of North Africa by Arabs, particularly following the incursion of the Banu Hilal in the 11th century.

The areas of North Africa which retained the Berber language and traditions have, in general, been those least exposed to foreign rule—in particular, the highlands of Kabylie and Morocco, most of which even in Roman and Ottoman times remained largely independent, and where the Phoenicians never penetrated beyond the coast. However, even these areas have been affected by some of the many invasions of North Africa, most recently including the French. Another major source of foreign influence, particularly in the Sahara, was the Trans-Atlantic Slave trade route from West Africa, operated in part by the European commercial powers.

Berbers and the Islamic conquest

Unlike the conquests of previous religions and cultures, the coming of Islam, which was spread by Arabs, was to have pervasive and long-lasting effects on the Maghreb. The new faith, in its various forms, would penetrate nearly all segments of society, bringing with it armies, learned men, and fervent mystics, and in large part replacing tribal practices and loyalties with new social norms and political idioms.

Nonetheless, the Islamization and Arabization of the region were complicated and lengthy processes. Whereas nomadic Berbers were quick to convert and assist the Arab conquerors, not until the twelfth century, under the Almohad Dynasty, did the Christian and Jewish communities become totally marginalized.

Amazigh & Berber

Historically, it is not clear how the name "Berber" evolved, supposedly from the word "barbarian". The Berbers were known as "Libyans" to the ancient Greeks, and they were known under many names, such as "Numidians" and "Moors", to the Romans.

Due to the fact that the Berbers were called "El-Barbar" by the Arabs, it is very probable that the modern European languages adopted it from the Arabic language. The Arabs didn't use the name "El-Barbar" as a negative, not being aware of the origin of that name; they supposedly created some myths or stories about the name. The most notorious myth considers "Barbar" as an ancestor of the Berbers. According to that myth, the Berbers were the descendants of Ham, the son of Noah, the son of Barbar, the son of Tamalla, the son of Mazigh, the son of Canon... ([Ibn Khaldun]/ The History of Ibn Khaldun - Chapter III).

File:Lybian.jpg

A Libyan drawn by ancient egyptians

The fact that the name "Berber" is a strange name to the Berbers leads to confusion. Some sources claim that the Berbers are several ethnic groups who are not related to each other. That is not accurate, because the Berbers refer to themselves as "Imazighen" in Morocco, as well as in Libya, Egypt (Siwa) and other areas of North Africa.

Not only is the origin of the name "Berber" unclear, but also is the name "Amazigh". The most common explanation is that the name goes back to the Egyptian period when the Ancient Egyptians mentioned an ancient Libyan tribe called Meshwesh. The Meshwesh are supposed by some scholars to be the same ancient Libyan tribe that was mentioned as "Maxyans" by the Greek Historian Herodotus.

Libyans & Numidians

Both names, "Amazigh" and "Berber", are relatively recent names in historical sources, since the name "Berber" appeared first in Arab-islamic sources, and the name "Amazigh" was never used in ancient sources. It is no less important to keep in mind that the Berbers were known by various names in different periods.

The first reference to the Ancient Berbers goes back to a very ancient Egyptian period. They were mentioned in the pre-dynastic period, on the so-called " Stele of Tehenou" which is still preserved in the Cairo museum in Egypt. That tablet is considered to be the oldest source wherein the Berbers have been mentioned. The second source is known as The Stele of King Narmer. This tablet is newer than the first source, and it depicted the Tehenou as captives.

The second oldest name is Tamahou. This name was mentioned for the first time in the period of the first king of the "Sixth Dynasty" and was referred to in other sources after that period. According to Oric Bates, those people were white-skinned, with blond hair and blue eyes.

In the Greek period the Berbers were mainly known as "The Libyans" and their lands as "Libya" that extended from modern Morocco to the western borders of ancient Egypt. Modern Egypt contains Siwa, part of historical Libya, that still speaks the Berber language.

During the Roman period, the Berbers would become known as Numidians, Maures and Getulians, according to their tribes or kingdoms. The Numidians founded complicated and organized tribes, and thereafter began to build a stronger kingdom. Most scholars believe that "Alyamas" was the first king of the Numidian kingdom. Massinissa was the most famous Numidian king, who made Numidia a strong and civilized kingdom.

Modern-day Berbers

Distribution of Berbers in Northwest Africa

Demographics

The Berbers live mainly in Morocco (between 35 percent-60 percent of the population) and in Algeria (about 15 percent -33 percent of the population), as well as Libya and Tunisia, though exact statistics are unavailable. Most North Africans who consider themselves Arab also have significant Berber ancestry. Prominent Berber groups include the Kabyles of northern Algeria, who number approximately four million and have kept, to a large degree, their original language and culture; and the Chleuh (francophone plural of Arabic "Shalh") and Tashelhiyt of south Morocco, numbering about eight million. Other groups include the Riffians of north Morocco, the Chaouia of Algeria, and the Tuareg of the Sahara. There are approximately three million Berber immigrants in Europe, especially the Riffians and the Kabyles in the Netherlands and France. Some proportion of the inhabitants of the Canary Islands are descended from the aboriginal Guanches—usually considered to have been Berber—among whom a few Canary Islander customs, such as the eating of gofio, originated.

Relationships

Berbers, just as most other peoples in the world, easily blend in with other people. There are visible differences between Berbers reflecting a surprising past – European slaves and war prisoners were transported and sold to North Africa, and with them blond hair and red hair as well as green and blue eyes were introduced into the Berber face. Estimates go as high as one million Europeans arriving in North Africa this way, but many returned to Europe and how many actually reproduced and had children that would live among the Berbers is impossible to assess.

Berber communities are scattered around in the North African countries. They often live in the mountains and in smaller settlements. There are around three hundred local dialects among the Berbers. Of major cities in North Africa, only Marrakech has a population with a Berber identity. The Berber dominance in the mountains can be traced to the days of Arab conquest, when the Arabs took control over the cities, but left the countryside to itself, the number of Arabs being too small for a more profound occupation. Berbers in those days had the choice between living in the mountains, resisting Arab dominance, or moving into the Arab community, where Arab language and culture were dominant.

Berber village in the high Atlas in Morocco (Imlil valley)

Until the middle of the twentieth century, being Berber was considered to be second class (similar to many societies in the West: Indians in America, Aboriginals in Australia, Lapps in Norway). Still, in the most modernized society in North Africa, Tunisia, being Berber has been, and still is to some extent, synonymous with being an illiterate peasant dressed in traditional garments.

As with other indigenous peoples in the world, Berbers are now protesting against the undervaluation of their culture and identity, and specifically about the absence of a written language and the lack of political influence. This has been most clear in Algeria but also quite evident in Morocco. In Algeria the situation had been so tense during the 1990's, that foreign commentators had speculated about the prospects for a civil war and a partition of the country.

More than any other country the differences between Arabs and Berbers is clearest in Algeria. The Berbers today are the most educated group, and hold many leading positions in society. During the colonial period, the French tried to weaken the Arab aspects of Algerian culture by preferring Berbers in education and administration. Algeria has, therefore, the strongest Berber culture of all countries with a Berber population, and Berber language lives on, but only as an everyday language (French is the administrative and cultural language for them, and many Berbers don't know very much Arabic).

The dividing line between the two cultures has some influence on today's conflict between Islamists and the government, in which most Islamists consider themselves Arabs. But on the governmental side one finds both Arabs and Berbers. Between them, one finds a large group of people less politically active, which in many cases are Berbers.

Although stereotyped in the West as nomads, most Berbers were in fact traditionally farmers, living in the mountains relatively close to the Mediterranean coast, or oasis dwellers; the Tuareg and Zenaga of the southern Sahara, however, were nomadic. Some groups, such as the Chaouis, practiced transhumance.

Political tensions have arisen between some Berber groups, especially the Kabyle, and North African governments over the past few decades, partly over linguistic and cultural issues; for instance, in Morocco, giving children Berber names was banned.

The Berbers and their languages

The Berber languages are a group of closely related languages belonging to the Afro-Asiatic languages phylum. There is a strong movement among Berbers to unify the closely related northern Berber languages into a single standard, Tamazight, which is a frequently used generic name for all Berber languages.

The exact population of Berber speakers is hard to ascertain, since most Maghreb countries do not record language data in their censuses. Early colonial censuses may provide documented figures for some countries; however, these are also very much out of date. It is estimated that there are between 14 and 25 million speakers of Berber languages in North Africa, principally concentrated in Morocco and Algeria but with smaller communities as far east as Egypt and as far south as Burkina Faso.

Among the Berber languages are Tarifit or Riffi in northern Morocco, Kabyle in Algeria and Tashelhiyt in central Morocco. Tamazight has been a written language, on and off, for almost 3,000 years; however, this tradition has been frequently disrupted by various invasions. It was first written in the Tifinagh alphabet, still used by the Tuareg; the oldest dated inscription is from about 200 B.CE.. Later, between about 1000 C.E. and 1500 C.E., it was written in the Arabic alphabet, particularly by the Shilha of Morocco; since the beginning of the 20th century, it has often been written in the Latin alphabet, especially among the Kabyle. A variant of the Tifinagh alphabet was recently made official in Morocco, while the Latin alphabet is official in Algeria, Mali, and Niger; however, both Tifinagh and Arabic are still widely used in Mali and Niger, while Latin and Arabic are still widely used in Morocco.

After independence, all the Maghreb countries, to varying degrees, pursued a policy of "Arabization", aimed primarily at displacing French from its colonial position as the dominant language of education and literacy. But under this policy the use of both Berber languages and Maghrebi Arabic have been suppressed as well. This state of affairs has been contested by Berbers in Morocco and Algeria, especially Kabylie, and is now being addressed in both countries by introducing Berber language education and by recognizing Berber as a "national language", though not necessarily an official one. No such measures have been taken in the other Maghreb countries, whose Berber populations are much smaller. In Mali and Niger, there are a few schools that teach partially in the Tamasheq language.

Religions and beliefs

Berbers are mainly Sunni Muslim, but there are many traditional practices found among them. Since Berbers typically outnumber Arabs in rural areas, traditional practices tend to predominate there. The Berbers converted to Islam slowly, over the course of centuries, and was not dominant until the 16th century. The result is that within Berber Islam are preserved traces of former religious practices, making it a somewhat atypical sect.

Most belonging to the Maliki madhhab, while the Mozabites, Djerbans, and Nafusis of the northern Sahara are Ibadi Muslim. Sufi tariqas are common in the western areas, but rarer in the east; marabout cults were traditionally important in most areas.

Before their conversion to Islam, some Berber groups had converted to Christianity (often Donatist) or Judaism, while others had continued to practise traditional polytheism. Under the influence of Islamic culture, some syncretic religions briefly emerged, as among the Berghouata, only to be replaced by Islam.

Berber Jews

Berber Jews inhabit the region coinciding with the Atlas Mountains in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. Between 1950 and 1960 most immigrated to Israel. Some 2,000 of them, all elderly, still speak Judeo-Berber. Their garb and culture was similar to neighboring Muslim Berbers.

It would be difficult to determine whether these Jewish Berber tribes were originally of Jewish descent and had become assimilated with the Berbers in language, habits, mode of life — in short, in everything except religion — or whether they were native Berbers who in the course of centuries had been converted by Jewish settlers. It is the second option which is considered as more likely by most researchers (such as André Goldenberg or Simon Levy).

The question on the origins of the Berber Jews is also further complicated by the likelihood of intermarriage. However this may have been, they at any rate shared much with their non-Jewish brethren in the Berber territory, and, like them, fought against the Arab conquerors.

Further Reading

• Brett, Michael; & Fentress, Elizabeth, The Berbers. Oxford, England & Cambridge, USA, Blackwell Publishing, 1996, ISBN 0631168524 OCLC: 31077775
• Ehret, Christopher, The Civilizations of Africa: A History to 1800, Charlottesville, Va, University Press of Virginia, 2002, ISBN 0813920841 OCLC: 48176919
• Celenko, Theodore, Egypt in Africa, Indianapolis, Ind. Indianapolis Museum of Art, 1996, ISBN 0936260645
• Briggs, Lloyd Cabot, The stone age races of northwest Africa Cambridge, Mass., Peabody Museum, 1955, OCLC: 757768
• Hiernaux,Jean, The people of Africa (People of the world series), Scribner, New York, 1975, ISBN 0684140403 OCLC: 0684140438
• Britannica 2004
• Encarta 2005
• Blanc, Saint Hiliaire, Grammaire de la Langue Basque (d'apres celle de Larramendi), Lyons & Paris, 1854, OCLC: 15031883
• Entwistle, W. J. The Spanish Language, (as cited in Michael Harrison's work, 1974.) London, 1936
• Gans, Eric Lawrence, The origin of language : a formal theory of representation Univ. of California Press, Berkeley, 1981, ISBN 0520042026 OCLC: 6603145
• Geze, Louis, Elements de Grammaire Basque, Beyonne, 1873, OCLC: 5087230
• Hachid, Malika, Les premiers Berbères : entre Méditerranée, Tassili et Nil, Edisud, 2001, ISBN 2744902276 OCLC: 45647361
• Hagan, Helene E., The Shining Ones: an Etymological Essay on the Amazigh Roots of Ancient Egyptian Civilisation. XLibris, US, 2001, ISBN 1401024122 0738825670 OCLC: 50084510
• Hagan, Helene E. Tuareg Jewelry: Traditional Patterns and Symbols, XLibris, 2006
• Harrison, Michael,The Roots of Witchcraft, Citadel Press, Secaucus, N.J., 1974
• Hualde, J. I., Basque Phonology, Routledge, London & New York, 1991, ISBN 0415056551 OCLC: 22767008
• Martins, J. P. de Oliveira, A History of Iberian Civilization, New York, Cooper Square Publishers, 1969 (©1930), ISBN 0815403003 OCLC: 26165
• Osborn, Henry Fairfield, Men of the old stone age, their environment, life and art, New York, C. Scribner, 1916 (1915), OCLC: 869341
• Renan, Ernest, De l'Origine du Langage, Paris, France-Expansion, 1973, OCLC: 56270302
• Ripley, W. Z., The Races of Europe, D. Appleton & Co., New York, 1899, OCLC: 871780
• Ryan, William & Pitman, Walter, Noah's Flood: The new scientific discoveries about the event that changed history, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1998, ISBN 0684810522 OCLC: 40076603
• Saltarelli, Mario, Basque, London, New York, Croom Helm, 1988, ISBN 0709933533 OCLC: 17441710
• Silverstein, Paul A., Algeria in France: Transpolitics, Race, and Nation, Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 2004, ISBN 0253344514 0253217121 OCLC: 54392646

External links

• Richard L. Smith, Ferrum College, What Happened to the Ancient Libyans? Chasing Sources across the Sahara from Herodotus to Ibn Khaldun Journal of World History, vol. 14, no. 4, 2003 Online article. retrieved 01/01/2007
• Amazigh Startkabel Links to Amazigh Sites. retreived 01/01/2007
• Amar Almasude, The New Mass Media and the Shaping of Amazigh Identity Revitalizing Indigenous Languages, retrieved 01/01/2007
• Jose Barrios Garca, Sept 1997 Number Systems and Calendars of the Berber Populations of Grand Canary and Tenerife Archaeoastronomy & Ethnoastronomy News, retrieved 01/01/2007
• Encyclopedia of the Orient — Berbers, retrieved 01/01/2007
• Ivan Sache, February 2004 Flags of the World — Berbers/Imazighen, retrieved 01/01/2007
• Berber World Online www.mondeberbère.com retrieved 01/01/2007
• Mark Hannaford Photo Gallery Photo Gallery of Berbers and Touregs from Erg Chebbi area of Moroccan Sahara retrieved 01/01/2007

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