Barbarian

The term Barbarian was originally used to denote any foreigner of a different culture and language background. While it did not originally have a pejorative connotation, it was used by those of relatively advanced civilizations and thus came to refer to people from more primitive cultures, whose people usually relied on physical strength more than intellect. Today, "barbarian" is used to mean someone violent, primitive, uncouth, or generally uncivilized. Although intellectual advances have been the most valued, there are historical examples in which barbarian cultures and actions contributed to societal progress.

Origin of the term

The term "barbarian" is not derived from the name of any tribe or cultural group; there is no country called "barbar." Instead, the Berbers, a group of whom were originally known as Numidians, received the name "Berber" from the Roman term barbara or barbarian.

The word "barbarian" comes from the Greek language, and was used to connote any foreigner not sharing a recognized culture or language with the speaker or writer employing the term. The word was probably formed by imitation of the incomprehensible sounds of a foreign language (“bar-bar”). Originally, it was not a derogatory term; it simply meant anything that was not Greek, including language, people or customs. Later, as the Greeks encountered more foreigners, some of whom learned Greek but spoke with a strange accent, the term took on the connotation of uncivilized.

Historical perspective

Throughout history, any tribe referred to as barbaric was automatically regarded as primitive, violent, and uncivilized. Such a stigma was mostly due to Greek views on those who threatened Greek civilization and culture (e.g. Persian or Gothic tribes). The Romans inherited this view from the Greeks, and in their encounters with different tribes across Europe usually called those tribes “barbarian.” However, being war- and conquest-oriented, the Romans admired barbarians as fearless and brave warriors. Attila the Hun is among the best known leader of such barbarians. In the latter stages of the Roman Empire, around the 4th and 5th centuries CE, the Romans even started to recruit young barbarian males to serve in the Roman army, a practice known as the barbarization of the Roman Empire. Gothic and Vandal soldiers were employed to protect the empire's outer borders. However, this encouraged barbarians to attack the Romans more, due to the perceived weakness that barbarization produced, and, in the long run, aided in the final breakdown of the empire.

Berbers

The Berbers (also called Imazighen, "free men", singular Amazigh) are an ethnic group indigenous to Northwest Africa, speaking the Berber languages of the Afroasiatic family. There are between 14 and 25 million speakers of Berber languages in North Africa (see population estimation), principally concentrated in Morocco and Algeria but with smaller communities as far east as Egypt and as far south as Burkina Faso.

Their languages, the Berber languages, form a branch of the Afroasiatic linguistic family comprising many closely related varieties, including Kabyle, Tashelhiyt, and Central Atlas Tamazight, with a total of roughly 14-25 million speakers.

Origin

There is no complete certitude about the origin of the Berbers; however, various disciplines shed light on the matter.

Genetic evidence

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 the east - 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 migration of various Italic, Semitic, Germanic, and black sub-Saharan African peoples, all of whom have left their genetic footprints in the region.

The Y chromosome is passed exclusively through the paternal line. According to Bosch et al. 2001, "the historical origins of the NW African Y-chromosome pool may be summarized as follows: 75% NW African Upper Paleolithic (H35, H36, and H38), 13% Neolithic (H58 and H71), 4% historic European gene flow (group IX, H50, H52), and 8% recent sub-Saharan African (H22 and H28)". They identify the "75% NW African Upper Paleolithic" component as "an Upper Paleolithic colonization that probably had its origin in eastern Africa."

The interpretation of the second most frequent "Neolithic" haplotype is debated: Arredi et al. 2004, like Semino et al. 2000 and Bosch et al. 2001, argue that the H71 haplogroup and North African Y-chromosomal diversity indicate a Neolithic-era "demic diffusion of Afro-Asiatic-speaking pastoralists from the Middle East", while Nebel et al. 2002 argue that H71 rather reflects "recent gene flow caused by the migration of Arabian tribes in the first millennium of the Common Era." Bosch et al. also find little genetic distinction between Arabic and Berber-speaking populations in North Africa, which they take to support the interpretation of the Arabization and Islamization of northwestern Africa, starting during the 7th century C.E., as cultural phenomena without extensive genetic replacement. Cruciani et al. 2004 note that the E-M81 haplogroup on the Y-chromosome correlates closely with Berber populations.

The mtDNA, by contrast, is inherited only from the mother. According to Macaulay et al. 1999, "one-third of Mozabite Berber mtDNAs have a Near Eastern ancestry, probably having arrived in North Africa ∼50,000 years ago, and one-eighth have an origin in sub-Saharan Africa. Europe appears to be the source of many of the remaining sequences, with the rest having arisen either in Europe or in the Near East." [Maca-Meyer et al. 2003] analyze the "autochthonous North African lineage U6" in mtDNA, concluding that:

The most probable origin of the proto-U6 lineage was the Near East. Around 30,000 years ago it spread to North Africa where it represents a signature of regional continuity. Subgroup U6a reflects the first African expansion from the Maghrib returning to the east in Paleolithic times. Derivative clade U6a1 signals a posterior movement from East Africa back to the Maghrib and the Near East. This migration coincides with the probable Afroasiatic linguistic expansion.

A genetic study by Fadhlaoui-Zid et al. 2004 argues concerning certain exclusively North African haplotypes that "expansion of this group of lineages took place around 10500 years ago in North Africa, and spread to neighbouring population", and apparently that a specific Northwestern African haplotype, U6, probably originated in the Near East 30,000 years ago but has not been highly preserved and accounts for 6-8% in southern Moroccan Berbers, 18% in Kabyles and 28% in Mozabites. Rando et al. 1998 (as cited by [[1]]) "detected female-mediated gene flow from sub-Saharan Africa to NW Africa" amounting to as much as 21.5% of the mtDNA sequences in a sample of NW African populations; the amount varied from 82% (Touaregs) to 4% (Rifains). This north-south gradient in the sub-Saharan contribution to the gene pool is supported by Esteban et al.

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 Afroasiatic 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[2]

Linguistic

The Berber languages form a branch of Afro-Asiatic, and thus descended from the proto-Afro-Asiatic language; on the basis of linguistic migration theory, this is most commonly believed by historical linguists (notably Igor Diakonoff and Christopher Ehret) to have originated in east Africa no earlier than 12,000 years ago, although Alexander Militarev argues instead for an origin in the Middle East. Ehret specifically suggests identifying the Capsian culture with speakers of languages ancestral to Berber and/or Chadic, and sees the Capsian culture as having been brought there from the African coast of the Red Sea. It is still disputed which branches of Afro-Asiatic are most closely related to Berber, but most linguists accept at least one of Semitic and Chadic as among its closest relatives within the family (see Afro-Asiatic languages#Classification history.)

The Nobiin variety of Nubian contains several Berber loanwords, according to Bechhaus-Gerst, suggesting a former geographical distribution extending further southeast than the present.

Phenotype and genotype by region

The appearance and the genetic make-up of Berbers is best examined together with that of their fellow Arabic-speaking inhabitants of North Africa; both share a predominant Berber ancestry.

Coastal Northwest Africans

File:Kabyles.jpg

Berber Kabyles in an MCB meeting

About 75% of Northwest Africans live on the coast. Berber groups such as the Rifains and Kabyles have the least sub-Saharan admixture (~2%) and the highest European admixture (~15%); Arabic-speaking groups have about 7% sub-Saharan admixture overall. Berber groups in this zone include:

• Kabyles
• Chawis
• Rifains
• Amazighs
• Chenwas

Northwest Africans of the interior

File:Mozabites.jpg

Berber Mozabites in a Zaouia

About 20% of Northwest Africans live between the Atlas Mountains and the Sahara; these groups have a moderate sub-Saharan admixture (~20%), including:

• Mozabites.
• Shleuhs.

Saharan Northwest Africans

File:Touaregs.jpg

Berber Touaregs in Mali

About 5% of Northwest Africans live in the Sahara; these groups have the highest West African admixture, sometimes reaching 80-90% among the Tuaregs. They include:

• Touaregs
• Saharan Berbers, Oasis Berbers.

Religions and beliefs

Berbers are predominantly Sunni Muslim, 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 practice traditional polytheism. Under the influence of Islamic culture, some syncretic religions briefly emerged, as among the Berghouata, only to be replaced by Islam.

History

The Berbers have lived in North Africa for as far back as records of the area go. References to them 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 under Shoshenq I, beginning a long period of Berber rule in Egypt, although others posit different origins for these dynasties, including Nubian ones. The Byzantine chroniclers often complain of the Mazikes (Amazigh) raiding outlying monasteries, and berbers long remained the main population of the Western Desert well into the Nineteenth century.

For many centuries the Berbers inhabited the coast of North Africa from Egypt to the Atlantic Ocean. In historical times, they have expanded south into the Sahara (displacing earlier black African 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.

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 Maghrib. 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.

The first Arab military expeditions into the Maghrib, between 642 and 669, resulted in the spread of Islam. These early forays from a base in Egypt occurred under local initiative rather than under orders from the central caliphate. When the seat of the caliphate moved from Medina to Damascus, however, the Umayyads (a Muslim dynasty ruling from 661 to 750) recognized that the strategic necessity of dominating the Mediterranean dictated a concerted military effort on the North African front. In 670, therefore, an Arab army under Uqba ibn Nafi established the town of Al Qayrawan about 160 kilometers south of present-day Tunis and used it as a base for further operations.

Abu al Muhajir Dinar, Uqba's successor, pushed westward into Algeria and eventually worked out a modus vivendi with Kusayla, the ruler of an extensive confederation of Christian Berbers. Kusayla, who had been based in Tilimsan (Tlemcen), became a Muslim and moved his headquarters to Takirwan, near Al Qayrawan.

This harmony was short-lived, however. Arab and Berber forces controlled the region in turn until 697. By 711 Umayyad forces helped by Berber converts to Islam had conquered all of North Africa. Governors appointed by the Umayyad caliphs ruled from Al Qayrawan, capital the new wilaya (province) of Ifriqiya, which covered Tripolitania (the western part of present-day Libya), Tunisia, and eastern Algeria.

Paradoxically, the spread of Islam among the Berbers did not guarantee their support for the Arab-dominated caliphate. The ruling Arabs alienated the Berbers by taxing them heavily; treating converts as second-class Muslims; and, at worst, by enslaving them. As a result, widespread opposition took the form of open revolt in 739-40 under the banner of Kharijite Islam. The Kharijites objected to Ali, the fourth caliph, making peace with the Umayyads in 657 and left Ali's camp (khariji means "those who leave"). The Kharijites had been fighting Umayyad rule in the East, and many Berbers were attracted by the sect's egalitarian precepts. For example, according to Kharijism, any suitable Muslim candidate could be elected caliph without regard to race, station, or descent from the Prophet Muhammad.

After the revolt, Kharijites established a number of theocratic tribal kingdoms, most of which had short and troubled histories. Others, however, like Sijilmasa and Tilimsan, which straddled the principal trade routes, proved more viable and prospered. In 750 the Abbasids, who succeeded the Umayyads as Muslim rulers, moved the caliphate to Baghdad and reestablished caliphal authority in Ifriqiya, appointing Ibrahim ibn al Aghlab as governor in Al Qayrawan. Although nominally serving at the caliph's pleasure, Al Aghlab and his successors, the Aghlabids, ruled independently until 909, presiding over a court that became a center for learning and culture.

Just to the west of Aghlabid lands, Abd ar Rahman ibn Rustam ruled most of the central Maghrib from Tahert, southwest of Algiers. The rulers of the Rustamid imamate, which lasted from 761 to 909, each an Ibadi Kharijite imam, were elected by leading citizens. The imams gained a reputation for honesty, piety, and justice. The court at Tahert was noted for its support of scholarship in mathematics, astronomy, and astrology, as well as theology and law. The Rustamid imams, however, failed, by choice or by neglect, to organize a reliable standing army. This important factor, accompanied by the dynasty's eventual collapse into decadence, opened the way for Tahert's demise under the assault of the Fatimids.

Berbers in Al-Andalus

The Muslims who entered Iberia in 711 were mainly Berbers, and were led by a Berber, Tariq ibn Ziyad, though under the suzerainty of the Arab Caliph of Damascus Abd al-Malik and his North African Viceroy, Musa ibn Nusayr. A second mixed army of Arabs and Berbers came in 712 under Ibn Nusayr himself, and are claimed to have formed approximately 66% of the Islamic population in Iberia, and supposedly that is the reason why they helped the Umayyad caliph Abd ar-Rahman I in Al-Andalus, because his mother was a Berber woman. During the Taifa era, the petty kings came from a variety of ethnic groups; some - for instance the Zirid kings of Granada - were of Berber origin. The Taifa period ended when a Berber dynasty - the Almoravids from modern-day Western Sahara and Mauritania - took over Al-Andalus; they were succeeded by the Almohad dynasty from Morocco, during which time al-Andalus flourished.

In the power hierarchy, Berbers were situated between the Arabic aristocracy and the Muladi populace. Ethnic rivalries were one of the factors of Andalusi politics.

Initially they settled the Cantabric Mounts, the Central System and the Andalusian mountains.

After the fall of the Caliphate, the taifa kingdoms of Toledo, Badajoz, Málaga and Granada had Berber rulers.

Modern-day Berbers

Disribution of Berbers in Northwest Africa

The Berbers live mainly in Morocco (between 35%- 80% of the population) and in Algeria (about 15%-33% of the population), as well as Libya and Tunisia, though exact statistics are unavailable[3]; see Berber languages#Population. Most North Africans who consider themselves Arab also have significant Berber ancestry[4]. Prominent Berber groups include the Kabyles of northern Algeria, who number approximately 4 million and have kept, to a large degree, their original language and culture; and the Cleuh (francophone plural of Arabic "Shalh" and Tashelhiyt "ašəlḥi") of south Morocco, numbering about 8 million. Other groups include the Riffians of north Morocco, the Chaouia of Algeria, and the Tuareg of the Sahara. There are approximately 3 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.

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 Arabization of Northwest Africa

Before the 9th century, most of Northwest Africa was a Berber-speaking area. The process of Arabization only became a major factor with the arrival of the Banu Hilal, a tribe sent by the Fatimids of Egypt to punish the Berber Zirid dynasty for having abandoned Shiism. The Banu Hilal reduced the Zirids to a few coastal towns, and took over much of the plains; their influx was a major factor in the Arabization of the region, and in the spread of nomadism in areas where agriculture had previously been dominant.

Soon after independence, the countries of North Africa established Arabic as their official language, replacing French (except in Libya), although the shift from French to Arabic for official purposes continues even to this day. As a result, most Berbers had to study and know Arabic, and had no opportunities to use their mother tongue at school or university. This may have accelerated the existing process of Arabization of Berbers, especially in already bilingual areas, such as among the Chaouis.

Berberism had its roots before the independance of these countries but was limited to some Berber elite. It only began to gain success when North African states replaced the colonial language with Arabic and identified exclusively as Arab nations, downplaying or ignoring the existence and the cultural specificity of Berbers. However, its distribution remains highly uneven. In response to its demands, Morocco and Algeria have both modified their policies, with Algeria redefining itself constitutionally as an "Arab, Berber, Muslim nation".

Currently, Berber is a "national" language in Algeria and is taught in some Berber speaking areas as a non-compulsory language. In Morocco, Berber has no official status, but is now taught as a compulsory language regardless of the area or the ethnicity.

File:Liamine zeroual.jpg

Liamine Zeroual, Former President of Algeria

File:Khalida toumi.jpg

Khalida Toumi

Berbers are not discriminated based on their Ethnic or mother tongue. As long as they share the reigning ideology they can reach high positions in the social hierarchy; good examples are the former president of Algeria, Liamine Zeroual, and the current prime minister of Morocco, Driss Jettou. In Algeria, furthermore, Chaoui Berbers are over-represented in the Army for historical reasons.

Berberists who openly show their political orientations rarely reach high hierarchical positions. However, Khalida Toumi, a feminist and Berberist militant, has been nominated as head of the Ministry of Communication in Algeria.

Famous Berbers

In ancient times

• Shoshenq I, (Egyptian Pharaoh of Libyan origin)
• Masinissa, King of Numidia, North Africa, present day Algeria and Tunisia
• Jugurtha, King of Numidia
• Juba II, King of Numidia
• Terence, (full name Publius Terentius Afer), Roman writer
• Apuleius, Roman writer ("half-Numidian, half-Gaetulian")
• Tacfarinas, who fought the Romans in the Aures Mountains
• Saint Augustine of Hippo, (from Tagaste, was Berber, although he grew up speaking Punic)
• Saint Monica of Hippo, Saint Augustine's mother
• Arius, (who proposed the doctrine of Arianism)
• Donatus Magnus, (leader of the Donatist schism)
• Macrinus

In medieval times

• Dihya or al-Kahina
• Aksil or Kusayla
• Salih ibn Tarif of the Berghouata
• Tariq ibn Ziyad, one of the leaders of the Moorish conquest of Iberia in 711.
• Ibn Tumart, founder of the Almohad dynasty
• Yusuf ibn Tashfin, founder of the Almoravid dynasty
• Ibn Battuta (1304 - 1377), Moroccan traveller and explorer
• al-Ajurrumi (famous grammarian of Arabic)
• Fodhil al-Warthilani, traveler and religious scholar of the 1700's
• Abu Yaqub Yusuf I, who had the Giralda in Seville built.
• Abu Yaqub Yusuf II, who had the Torre del Oro in Seville built.
• Ziri ibn Manad founder of the Zirid dynasty
• Sidi Mahrez Tunisian saint
• Ibn Al Djazzar famous doctor of Kairouan, 980.
• Muhammad Awzal (ca. 1680-1749), prolific Sous Berber poet (see also Ocean of Tears)
• Muhammad al-Jazuli, author of the Dala'il ul Khairat, Sufi

In modern times

Kabyles

Politicians

• Saïd Sadi, secularist politician.
• Hocine Aït Ahmed, Algerian revolutionary fighter and secularist politician.
• Sidi Said, Leader of the Algerian syndicat of workers : UGTA.
• Khalida Toumi, Algerian feminist and secularist, currently spokesman of the Algerian goverment.
• Ahmed Ouyahia, Prime Minister of Algeria
• Belaïd Abrika, one of the spokesmen of the Arouch.
• Ferhat Mehenni, politician and singer who militates for the autonomy of Kabylie.
• Nordine Ait Hamouda, secularist politician and son of Colonel Amirouche.

Figures of the Algerian resistance and revolution

• Abane Ramdane, Algerian revolutionary fighter, assassinated in 1957.
• Krim Belkacem, Algerian revolutionary fighter, assassinated in 1970.
• Colonel Amirouche, Algerian revolutionary fighter, killed by french troops in 1959.
• Lalla Fatma n Soumer, woman who led western Kabylie in battle against French colonizers.

Artists

• Takfarinas - Kabyle singer
• Ait Menguellet - Kabyle singer
• Khalid Izri - Singer from Rif
• Lounes Matoub, Berberist and secularist singer assassinated in 1998.
• Idir - Kabyle singer
• Sliman Azem - singer
• Si Mohand, Kabyle folk poet.
• Aît Ouarab Mohamed Idir Halo (Al Anka), Chaabi Singer in Both Kabyle and Algerian Arabic.
• Karim Ziad - singer
• El Hachemi Guerouabi, Chaabi Singer from Mostaghanem, North of algéria.

Writers

• Mouloud Feraoun, writer assassinated by the OAS.
• Tahar Djaout, writer and journalist assassinated by the GIA in 1993.
• Salem Chaker, Berberist, linguist, cultural and political activist, writer, and director of Berber at the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales in Paris

Sport

• Zinedine Zidane (1972 - ), French football superstar.
• Rabah Madjer, Algerian football superstar, Winner of the European Champion's League in 1987 with Porto FC

Others

• Abd el-Krim, leader of the Rif guerrillas against the Spanish and French colonizers.
• Walid Mimoun - Protest Singer from Rif
• Ali Lmrabet, Moroccan journalist.
• Kateb Yacine, Algerian Writer.
• Mohamed Choukri (famous writer)
• Liamine Zeroual, President of Algeria between 1994-1999.
• Mohamed Chafik
• Abdallah Oualline Berber Warrior & freedom fighter. Fought against the Spanish occupation in Ait Baamrane, south of Agadir.
• Driss Jettou, Prime Minister of Morocco
• Didouche Mourad
• Cherif Khedam - composer
• Cheikh El Hasnaoui - singer
• Abdallah Nihrane -Scientific Investigator, Assistant Professor, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York USA
• Tinariwen - critically acclaimed band of Tuareg musicians

Famous people who were either Berber or Punic

• Septimus Severus (Roman emperor from the mainly Punic Libyan city of Lepcis Magna, founded by Phoenicians)
• Caracalla, his son
• Tertullian, an early Christian theologian (born in the highly multiethnic, Phoenician-founded city of Carthage)
• Vibia Perpetua (early Christian martyr, also born in Carthage)
• Cyprian (also born in Carthage)

Famous people who may have had some Berber ancestors

Nearly all North Africans - and many Andalusi Moors - fall and fell into this category, but do not in general identify themselves as Berber. For lists of them, look under the respective countries.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Brett, Michael; & Fentress, Elizabeth (1997). The Berbers (The Peoples of Africa). ISBN 0631168524. ISBN 0631207678 (Pbk).
• The Civilizations of Africa: A History to 1800 by Christopher Ehret
• Egypt In Africa by Celenko
• Stone Age Races of Northwest Africa by L. Cabot-Briggs
• The people of Africa (People of the world series) by Jean Hiernaux
• Britannica 2004
• Encarta 2005

External links

• Imazighen Pictures of Berbers, Genetics and History.
• Amazigh Startkabel interesting
• Amazigh links some of which are in English
• North African Kingdom of Numidia (Warning: Popup trap, tries to install spyware)
• Tawalt
• Tamazight
• http://berber.startkabel.nl/
• Rachid Aadnani on the problem with the term "Berber"

Goths

File:800px-Illus0381.jpg

Invasion of the Goths: a late 19th century painting by O. Fritsche portrays the Goths as cavalrymen.

The Goths were an East Germanic tribe which according to their own traditions originated in Scandinavia (specifically Gotland and Götaland). They migrated southwards and conquered parts of the Roman empire.

History

Our only source for early Gothic history is Jordanes' Getica, (published 551), a condensation of the lost twelve-volume history of the Goths written in Italy by Cassiodorus. Jordanes may not even have had the work at hand to consult from, and this early information should be treated with caution. Cassiodorus was well placed to write of Goths, for he was an essential minister of Theodoric the Great, who apparently had heard some of the Gothic songs that told of their traditional origins, related in turn by Jordanes with the remark "for so the story is generally told in their early songs, in almost historic fashion." The Gothic bards accompanied themselves on a stringed instrument that Latin writers associated with the cithara, which was more familiar to them.

They were settled for some time in the Vistula Basin (called Gothiscandza by Jordanes), whence they migrated towards the south-east. They battled with, and temporarily subjugated, the ancestors of the Slavs (there were many Gothic loanwords in proto-Slavic), who lived between the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea and ultimately settled in 'Scythia' a vast undefined region that includes modern Ukraine and Belarus (called Oium by Jordanes). A united tribe until the third century, it was during that period that they split into the eastern Goths or Ostrogoths and the western Goths or Visigoths.

Though many of the fighting nomads who followed them were to prove more bloody, the Goths were feared because the captives they took in battle were sacrificed to their god of war, Tyz [5](the one-Handed Tyr), and the captured arms hung in trees as a token-offering. Their kings and priests came from a separate aristocracy, according to Cassiodorus/Jordanes, and their mythic kings of ancient times were honored as gods. Their mythic lawgiver, named Deceneus, traditionally dated about the 1st century B.C.E., ordered their laws, which they possessed by the 6th century in written form and called belagines.

A force of Goths launched one of the first major "barbarian" invasions of the Roman Empire in 267 (Hermannus Contractus, quoting Eusebius, has "263: Macedonia, Graecia, Pontus, Asia et aliae provinciae depopulantur per Gothos"). A year later, they suffered a devastating defeat at the Battle of Naissus and were driven back across the Danube River by 271. This group then settled on the other side of the Danube from Roman territory and established an independent kingdom centered on the abandoned Roman province of Dacia, as the Visigoths. In the meantime, the Goths still in Ukraine established a vast and powerful kingdom along the Black Sea. This group became known as the Ostrogoths.

The Goths were briefly reunited under one crown in the early sixth century under the Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great, who became regent of the Visigothic kingdom for nearly two decades.

For the later history of the Goths, see Visigoths and Ostrogoths.

Origins

Explaining the origins of the Goths, Jordanes recounted:

The same mighty sea has also in its arctic region, that is in the north, a great island named Scandza, from which my tale (by God's grace) shall take its beginning. For the race whose origin you ask to know burst forth like a swarm of bees from the midst of this island and came into the land of Europe. [...] Now from this island of Scandza, as from a hive of races or a womb of nations, the Goths are said to have come forth long ago under their king, Berig by name. As soon as they disembarked from their ships and set foot on the land, they straightway gave their name to the place. And even to-day it is said to be called Gothiscandza. Soon they moved from here to the abodes of the Ulmerugi [ Rugians ], who then dwelt on the shores of Ocean, where they pitched camp, joined battle with them and drove them from their homes.

In the 1st century, Tacitus (Germania, 43) located the Gothones in Northern Poland:

Beyond the Lygians dwell the Gothones, under the rule of a king; and thence held in subjection somewhat stricter than the other German[ic] nations, yet not so strict as to extinguish all their liberty. Immediately adjoining are the Rugians and Lemovians upon the coast of the ocean, and of these several nations the characteristics are a round shield, a short sword and kingly government.

Pliny the Elder calls them the Gutones. According to him, they were a major Germanic people, being one of five (Natural History, Book 4, Chapter 28). He also states (Op. Cit. Book 37, Chapter 11) that the explorer, Pytheas of Massilia (4th century B.C.E.) encountered them in his northern expedition to an "estuary" we know to have been the Baltic from Pliny's reference to amber washed up on the beaches. A date earlier than the 1st century is thus supported. Strabo also (Geography, Book 7, Chapter 1, Section 3) mentions that Marbod, after a pleasant sojourn with Augustus, took command of nearly all the tribes in Germania, including the Boutones (attested as Boutonas in the accusative case, and Latinized to Butones), which are generally interpreted as an error for Goutones, Latinized to Gutones. For the Scandinavian Goths, we have Ptolemy, who mentions the Goutai as living in the south of the island of Skandia.

Due to the central role that the Goths have played in history, their origins have been discussed for a long time. Although no alternative theory has been proposed for the appearance of Germanic tribes in northern Poland, some historians have expressed doubts that the Goths originated in Scandinavia. This is due to the fact that, disregarding Jordanes, the earliest unambiguous literary evidence for the Goths (Tacitus and Pliny the Elder) puts them at the Vistula in 1st century.

On the other hand, the German scholar Wenskus has pointed out that if Jordanes had wanted to invent a fictive past for the Goths, he would have claimed that they were descended from a prestigious location such as Troy or Rome. He would not have placed their origins in the barbaric North. Moreover, he was writing for fellow Goths who were familiar with their traditions. Besides Jordanes' account, there is both linguistic and archaeological support for the Scandinavian origin.

Archaeology

The green area is the traditional extent of Götaland and the dark pink area is the island of Gotland. The red area is the extent of the Wielbark Culture in the early 3rd century, and the orange area is the Chernyakhov Culture, in the early 4th century. The dark blue area is the Roman Empire

In Poland, the earliest material culture identified with the Goths is the Wielbark Culture [6], which replaced the local Oksywie culture in the 1st century. However, as early as the late Nordic Bronze Age and early Pre-Roman Iron Age (ca 1300 B.C.E. - ca 300 B.C.E.), this area had influences from southern Scandinavia [7]. In fact, the Scandinavian influence on Pomerania and northern Poland from ca 1300 B.C.E. (period III) and onwards was so considerable that this region is sometimes included in the Nordic Bronze Age culture (Dabrowski 1989:73).

During the period ca 600 B.C.E. - ca 300 B.C.E. the warm and dry climate of southern Scandinavia (2-3 degrees warmer than today) deteriorated considerably, which not only dramatically changed the flora, but forced people to change their way of living and to leave settlements.

The Goths are believed to have crossed the Baltic Sea sometime between the end of this period, ca 300 B.C.E., and 100, and in the traditional province of Ostrogothia, in Sweden, archaeological evidence shows that there was a general depopulation during this period. The settlement in Poland probably corresponds to the introduction of Scandinavian burial traditions, such as the stone circles and the stelae, which indicates that the early Goths preferred to bury their dead according to Scandinavian traditions. The Polish archaeologist Tomasz Skorupka states that a migration from Scandinavia is regarded as a matter of certainty:

File:Stonecircle.JPG

The stone circle was one of the Scandinavian burial traditions used by the Goths in Pomerania

Despite many controversial hypotheses regarding the location of Scandia (for example, in the island of Gotlandia and the provinces of Västergotland and Östergotland), the fact that the Goths arrived on Polish land from the North after crossing the Baltic Sea by boats is certain.[8]

However, the Gothic culture also appears to have had continuity from earlier cultures in the area[9], suggesting that the immigrants mixed with earlier populations, perhaps providing their separate aristocracy. The Oxford scholar Heather suggests that it was a relatively small migration from Scandinavia (1996:25). This scenario would make their migration across the Baltic similar to many other population movements in history, such as the Anglo-Saxon Invasion, where migrants have imposed their own culture and language on an indigenous one. The Wielbark culture shifted south-eastwards towards the Black Sea area from the mid-2nd century, and interestingly it was oldest part of the Wielbark culture, located west of the Vistula and which had Scandinavian burial traditions, that pulled up its stakes and moved[10]. In the Ukraine, they imposed themselves as the rulers of the local, probably Slavic, Zarubintsy culture forming the new Chernyakhov Culture (ca 200 - ca 400).

There is archaeological and historical evidence of continued contacts between the Goths and the Scandinavians during their migrations.

Linguistics

According to at least one theory, there are closer linguistic connections between Gothic and Old Norse than between Gothic and the West Germanic languages (see East Germanic languages and Gothic). Moreover, there were two tribes that probably are closely related to the Goths and remained in Scandinavia, the Gotlanders and the Geats, and these tribes were considered to be Goths by Jordanes (see Scandza).

The names Geats, Goths and Gutar (Gotlanders) are three versions of the same tribal name. Geat was originally Proto-Germanic *Gautoz and Goths and Gutar were *Gutaniz. According to Andersson (1996), *Gautoz and *Gutaniz are two ablaut grades of a Proto-Germanic word (*geutan) with the meaning "to pour" (modern Swedish gjuta, modern German giessen) designating the tribes as "pourers of semen", i.e. "men, people". Interestingly, Gapt, the earliest Gothic hero, recorded by Jordanes, is generally regarded as a corruption of Gaut.

A compound name, Gut-þiuda, the "Gothic people", appears in the Gothic Calendar (aikklesjons fullaizos ana gutþiudai gabrannidai). Besides the Goths, this way of naming a tribe is only found in Sweden (see Suiones and Suiþioð).

Etymologically, the name of the Goths identical to that of the Gutar, the inhabitants of Gotland, and island in the Baltic Sea. The number of similarities that existed between the Gothic language and Old Gutnish, made the prominent linguist Elias Wessén consider Old Gutnish to be a form of Gothic. The most famous example is that both Gutnish and Gothic used the word lamb for both young and adult sheep. Still, some claim that Gutnish is not closer to Gothic than any other Germanic dialect.

The fact is that virtually all of those phonetic and grammatical features that characterize the North Germanic languages as a separate branch of the Germanic language family (not to mention the features that distinguish various Norse dialects) seem to have evolved at a later stage than the one preserved in Gothic. Gothic in turn, while being an extremely archaic form of Germanic in most respects, has nevertheless developed a certain number of unique features that it shares with no other Germanic language (see Gothic language).

However, this does not exclude the possibility of the Goths, the Gotlanders and the Geats being related as tribes. Similarly, the Saxon dialects of Germany are hardly closer to Anglo-Saxon than any other West Germanic language that hasn't undergone the High German consonant shift (see Grimm's law), but the tribes themselves are definitely identical. The Jutes (Dan. jyder) of Jutland (Dan. Jylland, in Western Danmark) are at least etymologically identical to the Jutes that came from that region and invaded Britain together with the Angles and the Saxons in the 5th century AD. Nevertheless, there are no remaining written sources to associate the Jutes of Jutlandia with anything but North Germanic dialects, or the Jutes of Britain with anything but West Germanic dialects. Thus, language is not always the best criterion for tribal or ethnic tradition and continuity.

Interestingly, the Gotlanders (Gutar) did have oral traditions of a mass migration towards southern Europe written down in the Gutasaga. If the facts are related, that would be a unique case of a tradition that survived in more than a thousand years and that actually pre-dates most of the major splits in the Germanic language family.

Symbolic meaning

In Medieval and Modern Spain, the Visigoths were thought to be the origin of the Spanish nobility (compare Gobineau for a similar French idea). Somebody acting with arrogance would be said to be "haciéndose de los godos" ("making himself to come from the Goths"). Because of this, in Chile, Argentina and the Canary Islands, godo is an ethnic slur used against European Spaniards, who in the early colony period would feel superior to the Creoles.

This claim of Gothic origins led to a clash with the Swedish delegation at the Council of Basel, 1434. Before the assembled cardinals and delegations could undertake the theological discussions, they had to decide how to sit during the proceedings. The delegations from the more prominent nations were to sit closest to the Pope, and there were also disputes about who was to have the finest chairs and who was to have their chairs on mats. In some cases they compromised so that some would have half a chair leg on the rim of a mat. In this infected conflict, the bishop of Växjö, Nicolaus Ragnvaldi claimed that the Swedes were the descendants of the great Goths, and that the people of Västergötland (Westrogothia in Latin) were the Visigoths and the people of Östergötland (Ostrogothia in Latin) were the Ostrogoths. The Spanish delegation then retorted that it was only the lazy and unenterprising Goths who had remained in Sweden, whereas the heroic Goths, on the other hand, had left Sweden, invaded the Roman empire and settled in Spain (Ergo 12-1996).

The Goths' relationship with Sweden became an important part of Swedish nationalism, and until the 19th century the view that the Swedes were the direct descendants of the Goths was common. Today Swedish scholars identify this as a cultural movement called Gothicismus, which included an enthusiasm for things Old Norse. In Scandinavia, both Old Norse matters and the Goths' relationship to Sweden are ideologically very infected, and the stance that historians take in the issue is an ideological symbol.

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Positive contributions by barbarians

It should be noted, though, that many scholars believe that it was not barbarians or their culture (or lack of culture) that destroyed the Roman Empire. Rather, Roman culture was already in decline. Immorality, social indulgency, and greed destroyed the empire. Barbarians simply hastened the collapse. (For further reading see Edward Gibbon's The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.) Also, the sacking of Rome by barbarians in 410 C.E. stimulated Augustine to write the City of God. In this work he established God's heavenly city as the true and permanent home to be sought by Christians, compared to the "City of Man," such as Rome, which was clearly vulnerable to attack and without a secure future.

Moreover, there are several aspects of barbarian culture that have contributed to modern culture and civilization. Many modern holidays are based on barbarian traditions and pagan rituals. Santa Claus and the Christmas tree, the Easter bunny and Easter eggs all have their roots in different barbarian festivals. Teutonic, Celtic, and other tribes introduced goldworking techniques, making beautiful jewelry and other ornamentations in styles very different from the classic tradition. Teutonic tribes brought strong iron plows that succeeding in farming the forested lowlands of northern and western Europe. There is also a claim that Celtic and Teutonic tribes developed a 12-based mathematical system (as opposed to the 10-based decimal system), which continues to be the basis of certain units of measurement in the United States to this day (see Francis Owen, The Germanic people: Their origin, expansion, and culture, New York: Bookman Associates, 1960). Barbarian stories such as Beowulf, Kalevala, Der Ring des Nibelungen, and the tales of King Arthur provided great contributions to classic literature. Many famous fairy tales (e.g. tales of the Brothers Grimm) are also based on barbarian legends and myths.

Biblical perspective

In the New Testament the term "barbarian" is used in its Hellenic sense–to describe non-Greeks or those who merely speak a different language. For example, in Acts 28:2 and Acts 28:4 the author, probably from the Greek-Roman standpoint, refers to the inhabitants of Malta (formerly a Carthaginian colony) as “barbarians.” Similarly, in Colossians 3:11 the word is used for those nations of the Roman Empire that did not speak Greek. The writer of Romans 1:14 suggests that Greeks together with non-Greeks (i.e. “barbarians”) compose the whole human race. The term here, therefore, merely indicates a separation of Greek-speaking cultures from the non-Greek-speaking ones, the term itself not bearing any deprecatory value. However, elsewhere in the Bible this is not the case. In 1 Corinthians 14:11 Paul uses the term in its derogatory sense–to describe someone who speaks an unintelligible language. "If then I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be to him that spoke a barbarian, and he that spoke will be a barbarian unto me." Paul here denounces the speaking in tongues, comparing it with the barbarian (i.e. foreign) language, which is useless if it cannot be understood, therefore not being able to convey the message from God. Philo and Josephus, together other Roman writers, used this term to separate Greco-Roman culture from other cultures, implying the supremacy of the former.

Cross-cultural perspective

From the cross-cultural perspective, the term “barbarian” is used in the context of the encounter of two different cultures. Many peoples have regarded alien or rival cultures as "barbarian," because they were unrecognizably strange. Thus, from this perspective the term has a rather pejorative meaning. For example, the Greeks admired Scythian and Eastern Gauls as heroic individuals, but considered their culture to be barbaric. Similarly, Romans saw various Germanic, Gaul, and Hun tribes as essentially barbaric. The Chinese (Han Chinese) regarded the Xiongnu, Tatars, Turks, Mongols, Jurchen, Manchu, and even Europeans as barbaric. The Chinese used different terms for barbarians from different directions of the compass. Those in the east were called Dongyi (东夷), those in the west were called Xirong (西戎), those in the south were called Nanman (南蛮), and those in the north were called Beidi (北狄).

This way of describing foreigners was adopted by the Japanese when Europeans first came to Japan. They were called nanbanjin (南蛮人), literally "Barbarians from the South," because the Portuguese ships appeared to sail from the South. Today, Japanese use gaikokujin (外国人 literally translated as "outside country person") to refer politely to foreigners. The term gaijin (外人 literally translated as "outside person") is also used today to refer to foreigners, with somewhat mixed connotations since this term was originally used to refer to someone as an "outsider" or "enemy." However, the term gaijin does not include any reference to whether the person is a "barbarian," in the sense of being uncivlized.

Sociological perspective

From the sociological viewpoint, the concept of “barbarian” is connected with, and depends upon, a carefully defined use of the term civilization. Civilization denotes a settled (city/urban) way of life that is organized on principles broader than the extended family or tribe. Surpluses of necessities can be stored and redistributed and division of labor produces some luxury goods (even if only for the elite, priesthood, or kings). The barbarian is not an integrated part of the civilization, but depends on settlements as a source of slaves, surpluses and portable luxuries: booty, loot and plunder.

A distinction, however, needs to be made between the concepts of “culture” and “civilization.” Rich, deep, authentic human culture exists even without civilization, as the German writers of the early Romantic generation first defined the opposing terms, though they used them as polarities in a way that a modern writer might not. "Culture" should not simply connote "civilization". In this sense, barbarians are those of a different culture, who depend on the civilization dominant in the geographical area where they live.

Barbarian culture should not be confused with that of the nomad. Nomadic societies subsist on what they can hunt and gather, or on the products of their livestock. They follow food supplies for themselves and/or their animals. The nomad may barter for necessities, like metalwork, but does not depend on civilization for plunder, as the barbarian does.

Psychological perspective

From the psychological perspective, the term “barbarian” can be associated with a stereotypical image of someone who is not a member of one's own group. As Bouris, Turner, and Gagnon (1997) put it, “Stereotypes function to represent inter-group realities–creating images of the out-group (and the in-group) that explain, rationalize, and justify the inter-group relationship” (p. 273). Accordingly, group-thinking creates a specific context for inter- and intra-group relationships, which use stereotypes as a means of group interaction. For social psychologists, inter-group relationships (cooperation-competition, in-group status) are closely associated with intra-group relationships. Sentiments and behavior of the in-group members, usually seen in a positive and morally correct light, are created in opposition to members of other groups. Positive and moral self-image is attributed to all members of the in-group, while on the other hand, out-group membership is regarded as less valued. Stereotypes and negative images of the out-group are thus constructed to serve the function of degrading the out-group and keeping the balance between in- and out-group membership.

The barbarian image serves to demean the members of the other group, creating a morally justified reason for separation from that group. Out-group barbarians are usually depicted as extremely strong but irrational, evil without moral judgment, destructive and violent, whose leaders rely more on emotion than intelligence. This is contrasted with in-group members, who are gentle, moral, and of superior intelligence. Thus, in- and out-group members cannot/should not be mixed together. In this way the intra-group balance is established. (For further reading see Cottam (1986) and Herrmann (1985)).

Current use

In modern times, fantasy novels and role-playing video games often feature barbarians (such as Conan the Barbarian and Asterix), who are depicted as brave uncivilized warriors, often able to attack with a crazed fury.

See also

• Michael Wall's 1989 play Amongst Barbarians
• Wikipedia:List of words meaning outsider, foreigner or "not one of us"

References

• Bouris, R. Y., Turner, J. C. & Gagnon, A. (1997). Interdependence, Social Identity, and Discrimination. In R. Spears, P. Oakes, N. Ellemers, & S. A. Haslam (Eds.), The Social Psychology of Stereotyping and Group Life (pp. 273–295). Oxford, UK: Blackwell.

• Boulding, K. (1959). National Images and International Systems. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 3, 120-131.

• Cottam, M. (1986). Foreign Policy Decision Making: The Influence of Cognition. Boulder : Westview Press

• Gibbon, E. (1983). Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, (R.E. Williams, Ed.). Smithmark Publishers; Abrdg&Illu edition

• Hall, E. (1989). Inventing the Barbarian: Greek Self-Definition through Tragedy. Oxford/New york

• Heider, F. (1958). The Psychology of Interpersonal Relations. New York: Wiley.

• Herrmann, R. K. (1985). Perceptions and Behavior in Soviet Foreign Policy. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press.

• Owen, Francis, (1960). The Germanic people: Their Origin, Expansion, and Culture, New York: Bookman Associates.

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New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

• Barbarian  ^history

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