Berbers of yesterday and today

Amazighs (“free men”, “noble men”) are an ethnic group originating from North Africa to which historiography has often referred to as Berbers. Their area embraced Egypt to the Atlantic (including the Canary Islands) and the Mediterranean to the borders of Sub-Saharan Africa. This location prompted the establishment of relationships with the successive waves of migration coming from the Near East (Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans and Byzantines). With the mid-7th century Arab conquest, the Arabs became the majority group in the south of the Mediterranean.

Today, the most numerous Amazigh groups are found in Morocco and Algeria. In Morocco there are around 12 million people (Rif, the Middle Atlas, the High Atlas, the Anti-Atlas and Sous) while in Algeria there are fewer than 6 million (mainly in Kabylia, the Aures range and the Mzab).

A second large Berber group comprises the Tuaregs, around one million people who live in different countries of the Saharo-Sahelian area (Niger, Mali, Algeria, Libya, Burkina Faso and Nigeria). The rest of the Amazigh population, several thousand people, is located in Tunisia (Djerba, Matmata and Krumiria), Libya (Tripolitan, Djebel Nefussa and Zauara), Egypt (Siwa) and in the south of Mauritania.

There are three important aspects of the Amazigh world: language, common law and kinship.

The linguistic diversity of the Amazighs is notable, which makes the standardisation of the language difficult. Tamazight is a language of Camitic Semitic origin, which has never been written down systematically but has been transmitted orally. Nonetheless, we have proof, with Tifinagh writing, dating back approximately 6,000 years. Today different dialects are spoken in the Amazigh area: Tarifit, Tashelhit, Kabyle, Chaoui, Mozabi and Tuareg, among others.

Fibulas, apart from their aesthetic value, have a specific function: to fasten clothes without seams worn by women. Fibulas are clasps with buckles with a pin at the end, in a style similar to that of the Greeks and Romans, and always in highly varied shapes and sizes. They have received different names depending on the Berber language used, the type of fibula (articulated, round, etc.) and the female group using them (children, single or married women, etc.)

The fibula of Rif is one of the most emblematic pieces of this Moroccan region. It is made of silver, almond shaped, and it symbolises the eye that wards off evil. The central piece is called “turtle” and is characterised by the numerous orifices that it has on the surface. It represents an important symbol of fertility and happiness for the couple and has the function of containing aromatic spices (for example, the clove, also widespread in Algeria). In other cases, the central element is a small box to keep amulets, Koran verses, etc. These fibulas are often not double but single as they are needed to fasten everyday clothes.