Imazighen in North Africa Research

Source 1:
https://www.temehu.com/imazighen/berbers.htm

History of the Term Berber – vs Mazigh & Etymology of

Imazighen:
- Term “Berber” perplexed – Matriarchal name “Tamazight” –
more popular in its recent masculine and patriarchal form
Amazigh
- Term = mistakenly associated with Greek – barbarous +
negative connotation it conveys – etymology of the name
‘Berber’ – although the Romans used it to describe Ancient
Egyptians – as ‘barbaric’ or ‘savage’ – agreed Ancient
Egyptians = more advanced and civilised than both Romans
and Greeks – term used by the Ancient Egyptians and the
Berbers long before the Greeks.

- “Berbers” = used by foreigners to describe native

inhabitants of North Africa – Berbers call themselves
Imazighen; etymology of which, likewise “Berber”.
- No etymological nor historical foundation = merely
superstitious conjuncture – somehow gained widespread
popularity amongst both Berberists + European scholars.
- Leo Africanus – Berber – bizarre etymology “Freemen”
- “Freedom starts in the mind, then magically manifests in
the real world”.
- The Imazighen of Algeria (Amazigh is masculine singular
of Mazigh)
- Tamazgha = ‘land of the Imazighen’ – invented by activists
to describe what the Berbers have always prescribed as
Thamorth (‘land, town, country’).
- Berbers mentality – cheerful attitude to life – customary
egalitarian justice and tribal council of the elders (of
both female and male transparent members of society who
lead by example).
- To take away from indigenous people – price = deprive
them of values at heart of existence rather than preserve
their priceless world heritage – goes against all human
ideals allegedly – reverberating across the moral world.
- Modern scientists now seek for new insights, insures
cultural continuation and inspires new inventions of
material types, smart tools and even new human societies
altogether
- The unique elements that distinguish Tamazight society
from the ‘warring’ ideals thriving in neighbouring and far
distant countries = may become affected by = new
 cultureless direction towards which the Berber society
may one day find itself led to
- If the Berbers lose their sense of identity, as a Berber,
one may no longer wish to remain a Berber? Weird
- The Berber Taureg of the Sahara – brought under the
hammer in recent decades when they were forced to perform
some patriarchal con-sessions to abandon a number of
Tamazight matriarchal institutions including the “sacred
matrilineal naming system”.
- Estimated number of Berbers in North Africa: 38 million –
conglomerate tribes known under the generic term of
Berbers or Imazighen = indigenous inhabitants of North
Africa – currently distributed across a wide extent of
country including Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria,
Morocco, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Mali, and Burkina
Faso.
- Many political and other regimes still perceive Berber
speech as a threat to their (presumed) national unity –
albeit in conflict with the lost unity of the
aforementioned conquered countries.
- The Tuareg tribes of the Sahara are also Berbers, whose
language Tamasheght = considered least corrupted out of
all Berber languages. – due to geographical isalocation
from the turbulent north;
- The Tuareg themselves reckon year 1894 = year French
first seized Azawad. After long history of resistance +
rebellions, totally ignored by the rest of the world, the
Tuareg = “lured” into liberating their occupied homeland
Azawad in 2012 – later hijacked by planted infiltrators –
to provide catalyst for it to be destroyed in 2013 –
perhaps to lure Algeria too into conflict with its
neighbours in name of chaos.
- In pre-Dynastic Egypt – Berbers = dominant population of
Egypt (before its invasion by the Pharoahs) (alternative
views of the history – subjective basis) – Siwans like
all other berbers across the region still are neglected
by the ruling authority – some Siwans say they were
forced to adopt the Arab identity.
- Ancient “gods” included the Berber God Amon, adopted by
Ancient Egyptians as Amen-Ra, by the Greeks as Zeus-Amon
and by the Pheonicians as Baal-Amon.

The Massacre of the Berber Guanches of the Canaries:

- The indigenous Guanche inhabitants of the Canary Islands

(West of Morocco in the Atlantic Ocean = also Berbers
right down to the 16th Century – probably the most
disastrous event in Berber history in relations to
European conquests = Massacred of the Guanche tribes of
 the Canaries – reportedly had no contact with the outside
world until Spanish conquerors invaded – brutal job that
took nearly 90 years of savage slaughter to complete.
- Berbers hid in the sacred caves of the mountains + were
slowly hunted to extinction / other captured survivors =
sold as “first-class slaves” in Europe’s aristocratic
markets.
- Unfortunately, in the case of the Spanish conquests of
the 16th Century – nation appears never to have considered
it a duty to hand down to posterity any detailed
description of the singularly interesting races they had
vanquished” Elsdon Best.

The Berber Language:

- Scientists estimate that 50% f othe 7,000 language still

spoken today will disappear by the year 2100. Main
reasons for the language massacred = ‘oppression’ and
‘injustice’. Unprotected constitutionally a language may
eventually die.
- On average, one language goes extinct every week in this
modern age (of technology and enlightenment) – often due
to the democratic and dictatorial conquerors’ open
neglect.
- Berber language = one of the oldest languages on the
surface of the earth.
- To this day Berber language remains persecuted,
unofficial and expensively neglected, as much as
“recorded history”.

Berber friends, personalities and north-African explorers:

- Eratosthenes of Cryene (c. 276 BC) a mathematician,
geographer, poet, astronomer, and music theorist who
entered history for being the first man to measure the
diameter of the planet Earth.
o + the first person to calculate the circumference of
the Earth
o Frist person to calculate the tilt of the Earth’s
axis. Being a man of learning he became chief
librarian at Library of Alexandria.
o Calculating the distance between Earth + Sun
o Creating first map of world
- Al-Idrisi (12th century)
o North African Al-idrisi said to have had discovered
the river Nile flowers from Africa’s equatorial takes
long before European explorers eventually claimed
the discovery and names It Lake Victoria.
- Hanno (ca 500-450 BC)
o Navigator Hanno was among the first to explore west
African coast
- Ibn Batuta (1325 and 1354 Berber Moroccan Ibn Batuta –
explored western portions of the Sahara, along the
northern coast of the continent he reached east Africa,
before continuing quest into Arabia.
- Leo Africanus (1485 – 1554) –
o North African Berber geographer, explorer and
traveller – wrote geographical history of Africa +
description of Berber kingdoms and Timbuktu (Mali)
o Leo wrote his book in 1526 – not published until
1550 – when the book came into hands of Jean-
Baptiste Ramusio – said to may have rewrote entire
book – original work never survived.
- Saint Augustine (!3 Nov 354-28 August 430) – one most
known of Africa’s 100 bishops – berber bishop Algerian
Hippo St. Augustine – one of the first Christian
philosophers whose contribution to Christian thought =
detailed in book: “The City of God”.
- Saint Mark (1st century AD) – first bible written by Saint
Mark – Berber native of Cyrene – in Libya’s Green Mountain
– author of “Gospel of Mark” – founder of Christianity in
Africa – arrival in Egypt – founded the Church of
Alexandria + began spreading new religions – the religion
which Berber Arius Ammonius deplored for being freely
mixed with pagan philosophy
- Arius Ammonius (AD 250/256 – 336 AD): Berber leader of
the movement of reform and modernization in Christianity
in North Africa, emphasized the Father’s divinity over the
Son.
o Ascetic Christian presbyter and priest of the church
of Baucalis in Alexandria, Egypt.
- Sextus Julius Africanus (c. 160 – c. 240) – Berber
scholar + historian Sextus = known for choosing the date
on which to celebrate birth of Jesus Christ.
o Christian Bible does not provide info about date –
but after a few hundred years Christian theologians
agreed on the date chosen by Berber scholar – 25 the
of December. http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zwnsbk7
o 25th of December = date where three stars of Orion’s
belt (the so-called 3 kings) align with both the
Sirius star + rising sun. thus Son is the Sun.
- Dihya Kahina: the Berber Queen, Priestess and War
General; fiercest Berber leader who defended her nationa
to death – according to Arab generals themselves – she
defeated them like no other general had done before her,
 and that whenever a Berber tribe is slaughtered, another
emerged from the mirage like the jinn of the desert.

Famous Modern Berber Personalities:

 Solaiman al-Barouni: Berber from Jado, Nafousa Mountain,

Libya: creator of the first republic in the North Africa and
the Middle East: the Tripolitanian Republic.
 Taos Amrouche: powerful Algerian writer and singer (1913-
1976).
 Mohammed Bessaoud: Algerian spiritual father of
Berberism.
 Salem Chaker: Algerian Berberist, writer, linguist,
cultural and political activist.
 Khalida Toumi: Algerian feminist and secularist.
 Lalla Fatma n Soumer: female warrior (Amazon) who led
western Kabylie in battle against the French.
 Kateb Yacine: writer founder of the “berberiste
mouvement”.
 Tahar Djaout: writer and journalist assassinated by the
GIA in 1993.
 Fidel Castro: (Cuba: his mother was said a Berber from
the Canary Islands).
 Morocco's King Mohammed VI (the monarchy's mother was a
Berber).

Berber Flag = adopted by Berber

activists – most commonly by Kabyles in
Algeria when flag appeared in websites /
political demonstrations.

Said that flag was designed by Mohammed

Bessaoud – spiritual father of Berberism
in Algeria – fought during independence
wars between 1954 + 1962.

The original Berber calendar = agricultural calendar – the

course of the stars and the constellations = pinned in heavens
to reflect +regulate seasonal changes + activities on earth –
ploughing, sowing and harvest – ensure maximum + benefit for
whole community – not just 1%

Berbers still celebrate festival with feasting on traditional

foods – thank mother for her gifts.

Cultural Euphoria:

- During early 1970s – kind of cultural euphoria amongst Berberist to revive their
persecuted, undocumented culture

“What good is it to have

Freemen who sleep in this world of suffering
Wake up, my people
Straighten up, my people
Confront the difficulties of your current situation
A long road awaits you
What good is it to have
Freemen who sleep in this world of suffering

I remember this girl

Whom I left under the stars
Amongst those who invaded me
When I returned, she was alone
Abandoned on this barren and deserted earth
Her memory haunts me day and night

My friends, my friends
Never forget what
We learned from our parents
My friends, my friends
Let us not forget this heritage
That our parents have left us
Let us keep it fondly
This heritage is our identiy…” – Berber Bombino – Nomad, 2013 Albumn
Dancing toward “La mixite”: Berber Associations and Cultural Change in Algeria –
Jane Goodman – Middle East Report – Minorities in the Middle East: Power and the
Politics of Difference.

Reinterpreting the Berber Spring: From Rite of Reversal to Site of Convergence – Jane
Goodman:

- The Berber Spring = Tafsut Imazighen or simply Tafsut

– ‘Chronology of the Contemporary Berber Struggle’ - from Tafrara Cultural Association:
- 20 April 1980 – 1 O’clock in the morning – Operation Mizrana = launched, forces of
repression invade all the sites that are being occupied.
 - Students surprised in their sleep = assaulted in their begs; dogs are let loose on those
who flee.
- Students leave their dormitory rooms in their underwear.
- Professors = arrested in their homes
- All the personnel of the hospital (doctors and nurses) are arrested and replaced by
military doctors.
- A spontaneous general strike = begun by the population of Tizi-Ouzou.
- Kabylia is cut off from the world; access is forbidden to everyone and in particular to
journalists.

- Chronology begins 10 March – Kabyle intellectual Mouloud Mammeri – supposed to

give a public lecture on the role of poetry in traditional Kabyle society – the subject of
his newly published book Poèmes kabyles anciens (Old Kabyle poems). – talk was
supposed to take Hasnaoua University in city of Tizi- Ouzou – intellectual and
commercial centre of Algeria’s Kabyle Berber region.
- Crowd of more than a thousand had gathered – Mammeri never arrived = he was
stopped at a police roadblack + brought before region\s governor + informed event
cancelled. – reason = ‘rise of disturbing public order’.
- Cancellation sparked demonstrations and strikes at schools, universities, and
businesses = would rock Kabyle region for two months.
- 20 April = moment of reversal when a repressed population rose up against an
absolutist, dictatorial state.
o Headlines during the time:
 ‘In the spring of 1980, following a series of provocations and
aggressions on the part of the authorities, the demands for Berber
culture burst open in full daylight’
 ‘The suffocation of popular cultures and the repeated attacks on
democracy led during 1980 to the emergence of a mass movement’
 Amar Ouerdane – ‘rupture with the central government was
consumated’
 Said Sadi – ‘inverted the order of things’
- 1949 clash between Berberists and Arabo-Islamists over question of national
language = construed by one scholar as ‘the first.

Nadio Marzouki, Conversion as Statelessness: A Study of Contemporary Algerian

Conversions to Evangelical Christianity 2012