Berbers

In this contribution, the author compares the Amazigh movement in Tunisia with that of Libya. It seems clear that the fall of Ben Ali’s regime allowed the emergence of Amazighity in Tunisia. On several occasions, the Amazigh have had to express the latter and remind the Tunisian political class that Tunisia is also Amazigh. The irruption of Libyan neighbours and the way in which they performed Amazighity was not without its influence on the awakening of the Amazigh in Tunisia. The author hypothesizes that the direct contact with the refugees in Tunisia could play an additional, important role for Libyan Amazigh.

The Almoravids (al-Murābiṭūn 434-530/1042-1147) were a Saharan Berber tribal federation who conquered the western Maghrib and most of al-Andalus in the second half of the fifth/eleventh century. They were the first indigenous group to unify this part of the Maghrib and the first Maghrib-based empire to conquer al-Andalus. They revolutionized the political structures of both regions through a novel combination of local elements with others adopted from the broader Islamic world. Their strategies for political legitimation, which included the concept of ʿAbbāsid investitutre, illustrate this novel combination.

Before the Arabs conquered northwest Africa in the seventh century, Ramzi Rouighi asserts, there were no Berbers. There were Moors (Mauri), Mauretanians, Africans, and many tribes and tribal federations such as the Leuathae or Musulami; and before the Arabs, no one thought that these groups shared a common ancestry, culture, or language. Certainly, there were groups considered barbarians by the Romans, but "Barbarian," or its cognate, "Berber" was not an ethnonym, nor was it exclusive to North Africa. Yet today, it is common to see studies of the Christianization or Romanization of the Berbers, or of their resistance to foreign conquerors like the Carthaginians, Vandals, or Arabs. Archaeologists and linguists routinely describe proto-Berber groups and languages in even more ancient times, while biologists look for Berber DNA markers that go back thousands of years. Taking the pervasiveness of such anachronisms as a point of departure, Inventing the Berbers examines the emergence of the Berbers as a distinct category in early Arabic texts and probes the ways in which later Arabic sources, shaped by contemporary events, imagined the Berbers as a people and the Maghrib as their home.

Key both to Rouighi's understanding of the medieval phenomenon of the "berberization" of North Africa and its reverberations in the modern world is the Kitāb al-'ibar of Ibn Khaldūn (d. 1406), the third book of which purports to provide the history of the Berbers and the dynasties that ruled in the Maghrib. As translated into French in 1858, Rouighi argues, the book served to establish a racialized conception of Berber indigenousness for the French colonial powers who erected a fundamental opposition between the two groups thought to constitute the native populations of North Africa, Arabs and Berbers. Inventing the Berbers thus demonstrates the ways in which the nineteenth-century interpretation of a medieval text has not only served as the basis for modern historical scholarship but also has had an effect on colonial and postcolonial policies and communal identities throughout Europe and North Africa.

La obra Kitáb a!-'lbar del gran historiador árabe del siglo XIV, de origen andalusí, Ibn Jaldún; el cual describe al fundador del movimiento almohade como «un jurista versado en la ciencia, que daba consejos y practicaba la enseñanza». Mientras que, desde el punto de vista externo, ofrece este sobrio retrato del fundador almohade: «Llevaba un vestido de lana remendada, se dedicaba con frecuencia a ejercicios ascéticos y a prácticas piadosas».

New means of communication and networking have intensified the
contact among the Amazigh (Berber) communities in North Africa
and diasporic locations, reinforcing pre-existent forms of
transnationalism and deterritorialisation. The Internet, however,
reinforces local identities as well. This article claims that historical
memory and visual and verbal art interact with the social and
political discourses on Amazigh/Berber websites, producing local,
transregional, and transnational forms of identity. The issue is
explored by examining Berber websites’ production of ‘heritage’
and artistic innovation linked to the criticism of national historical
constructions and of ‘globalising’ approaches to the Maghreb. The
online reactions to the label ‘Arab Spring’ and the artistic and
political discourses of the online project ‘New World Embassy of
Azawad’ are appraised as examples of interrelating political,
artistic and identity dynamics. A second issue concerns the
interpretation of Amazigh cultural and political discourse. The
question is whether Amazigh websites create contradictory
discourses to be interpreted in terms of new ‘mythologies’ or of
‘strategic essentialism’.

Longtemps restées dans l'ombre, les origines des Imazighen (dénomination berbère propre à la langue tamazight signifiant 'homme libre'), ont pris une nouvelle direction dans la dernière décennie. Les revendications politico-indépendantistes ont laissé la place à des recherches scientifiques approfondies qui éclairent l'histoire d'un jour nouveau et de façon irrévocable. Comment d'ailleurs pourrait-il en être autrement ? Depuis la Préhistoire jusqu'à nos jours, les Berbères ont réussi à garder une identité culturelle malgré les aléas de l'histoire, des religions et de la politique. De l'oasis de Siwa en Egypte jusqu'aux Canaries, et en couvrant une partie du Sahara jusqu'aux rives du Niger, le peuple berbère est la souche maîtresse du nord de l'Afrique. Sans compter que le nom même du continent africain nous vient des Berbères. En effet, lorsque les Romains ont pris possession des terres après la chute de Carthage, le continent n'avait pas encore été baptisé. Or les Berbères de l'actuelle Tunisie vivaient dans des grottes (c'est toujours le cas dans la région de Matmata). 'Ifrî' est le mot berbère pour grotte. Les Romains l'ont changé phonétiquement en 'afri'. Voilà comment le continent s'appellera désormais 'Africa'-la terre des Afris. En arabe, le mot est linguistiquement plus proche : 'Ifriquiya'. Les dernières recherches sur les Imazighen touchent trois domaines des sciences humaines : l'anthropologie, la génétique et la linguistique. Il paraît donc intéressant d'avoir un bref aperçu sur l'état actuel de ces investigations. Poursuivant leurs recherches sur le terrain, les anthropologues – grâce au carbone 14 – ont pu accumuler un certain nombre d'évidences. Charles-André Julien (1891-1991), journaliste et historien, fut un précurseur dans ce domaine. Gabriel Camps (1927-2002) entreprit des travaux sur la Protohistoire notamment. Auteur de nombreux ouvrages sur les Berbères, membre du CNRS, il fut également le fondateur du LAPMO 1 d'Aix-en-Provence et de l'Encyclopédie Berbère 2 dont l' oeuvre aujourd'hui est poursuivie par Salem Chaker. On peut résumer ainsi l'évolution des recherches dans ce domaine :  Le site de Taforalt (grotte du Maroc) a laissé les traces d'un Homo Sapiens du Paléolithique supérieur qui y aurait vécu entre 21 900 et 10 800 av.J-C.  Le site d'Afalou (en Algérie) semble prouver que ce sont des héritiers de Taforalt qui y vivaient entre 10 000 et 8 000 av.J-C.  Le Capsien, homme de l'Épipaléolithique, a vécu de 8500 à 5400 av. J-C. Découvert sur un site proche de la ville tunisienne de Gafsa (l'ancienne Capsa romaine), son territoire allait de la Tunisie du sud au massif des Aurès à l'ouest (aujourd'hui en Algérie). Cette culture avait coutume de graver des oeufs d'autruche.  Le Tassili N'Ajjer en Algérie, (dont le nom berbère signifie « le plateau des rivières ») est maintenant un site classé par l'UNESCO au patrimoine mondial de l'humanité. L'ethnologue Henri Lhote (1903-1991) fut l'un des premiers à répertorier les quelques 15000 gravures et peintures rupestres qu'on y trouve. Ce site du Néolithique fut peuplé à partir de 6000 av. J-C jusqu'aux premiers siècles de notre ère avant les changements climatiques du Sahara. Ces quelques sites ne sont que des jalons historiques. Le Fezzan, en Libye, est le prolongement du Tassili N'Ajjer mais d'autres sites ont permis également de compléter les connaissances : dans le sud-Oranais, dans le Constantinois, à Bou Sâada, à Djelfa comme à Figuig, Aïn Sefra, Aflou ou Tiaret, pour ne nommer que les principaux. En définitive, il y aurait deux origines : celle attribuée à l'homme de Mechta el-Arbi, ibéromaurisien du Paléolithique supérieur et celle du Capsien, protoméditerranéen , arrivé plus tardivement de l'Est. Dans un ouvrage intitulé 1 LAPMO : Laboratoire d'anthropologie et de préhistoire de la Méditerranée occidentale. 2 http://encyclopedieberbere.revues.org

Since times immemorial, tattoos have constituted some of the more extreme and expressive forms of body modification, their purpose being oftentimes much more complex than some might expect, going far beyond the trivial intent of adorning one's body, into deeper levels of significance. Whether they were used as a form of artistic expression; religious submission or as part of a ritual; as an indicator of the social (tribal) affiliation; as a manner of displaying one's marital status; therapeutically, as to alleviate the physical or spiritual sufferings; or as a talisman, meant to protect from evil and prevent disease or misfortune, tattoos served nevertheless, primarily as a fundamental marker of identity.

Rachik, Hassan, Sacré et sacrifice dans le Haut-Atlas marocain, Casablanca, Afrique Orient, [1990], 2016.

Dans les sociétés rurales où l'essentiel du savoir local n'est pas conservé ni transmis par écrit, le rituel constituent une source d'information considérable sur les groupes sociaux célébrons et leur culture. Approché d'abord comme un système de symboles, le ma’rouf, repas sacrifié est consommé en commun, renseigne sur les conceptions locales du monde et de la société. Égorger avec la main droite, dédier aux jnouns, avec la main gauche, une nourriture crue et fade, consommer individuellement un repas à moitié cuit, vendre aux enchères les restes des sacrifices etc.,  Ce rites et d'autres informent sur les représentations locales de ces êtres invisibles et anonymes sur les idées relatives au sacré, à l’impur, au foyer  au groupe, à la femme.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhj3cIH2NmQ

The process of claiming and constructing the consciousness of a Berber identity began to be widely articulated in the national frame of the North African nation states at the beginning of the 80s. However, the nature and the limits inherent to the ideological choices of the governance systems already installed in the North African countries since their independence would quickly reveal their incapacity to take on a plural linguistic and cultural reality. The answer to these demands was a policy of exclusion and persecution of Berber activists who reacted to this repression with a strategic repositioning of human rights. The inclusion of their action within the overall framework of contemporary global processes allowed the Berber movement to redefine its symbolic values and objectives in a transnational space. In this work, I attempt to follow the evolution and transformations of Kabyle identity and of the national movement since the events of April 1980 in Kabylia. For that purpose, this work will be limited to the Kabyle geographical space (Algeria) including, of course, its diasporic spaces in France, which, later on, will extend towards other countries of the western world, in Europe or North America. I will cover both the period of the main Kabyle mass movements (1980-2001) and of the birth of a Kabyle autonomist then sovereigntist movement, with particular focus on its structuring phases (2001-2010). 1. Introduction Dans ce travail, on tentera de suivre l'évolution et les transformations du mouvement identitaire et national kabyle depuis le déclenchement des événements d'avril 1980 en Kabylie. À cet effet, et du fait de ce titre, la localisation du sujet de ce travail se limitera à l'espace géographique kabyle (Algérie) incluant, bien entendu, les espaces diasporiques des populations kabyles qui connaissent depuis la fin du XIX e siècle un mouvement migratoire, fondamentalement vers la France, mais qui s'étendra plus tard vers d'autres pays du monde occidental, aussi bien en Europe qu'en Amérique du Nord.

Fake Term "Nubian" – Why?

To clarify that the non-Egyptian antiquities of the Egyptian South and the Sudanese North cannot be called Nubian, I initiated a series of articles, presenting the historical interaction among the Hamitic – Kushitic Egyptians, the Kushitic Ethiopians (ancestors to today´s Arabic-speaking Sudanese, Oromos, Sidamas, and other Eastern African Kushites), and the Medjay – Nubians, who are ancestors to the modern Nubians.

The latter may now well be the quasi-exclusive inhabitants of a vast part of the territory of Upper Egypt (Kemet) and of North Sudan (Kush - Ethiopia), namely south of Luxor to Wadi Halfa and thence further to Debba, but in the Antiquity, their ancestors were only a minority among the Egyptians and the Kushites (Ethiopians) who inhabited the said territory (and the rest of Egypt and North Sudan).

More importantly, the Ancient Nubians never formed a state of their own in the pre-Christian times. So, the royal monuments, temples, palaces, military camps and outposts, administrative buildings and private homes that have been unearthed in the land where today's Nubians live were not built by their ancestors and consequently, they are not their own historical heritage, but mainly the heritage of today's Egyptians, Arabic speaking Sudanese, Oromos, Sidamas and eventually other, minor, Kushitic nations.

Today's Nubians therefore cannot be considered as either the only or the primary heir to either the Egyptian Past or the Kushitic / Ethiopian Antiquity, History, monuments, and Heritage. In other words, the Egyptian temple of Isis at Philae cannot be characterized as a Nubian temple, and the Kushitic / Ethiopian temple of Amun of Napata (in today´s Karima, North Sudan) cannot be labeled "Nubian temple"; the latter is valid for even one more reason, namely that there is no Nubian population living there today as well.

The term "Nubian" cannot be given to the kings of Kerma, Napata and Meroe – the three most important capitals of Pre-Christian Kush / Ethiopia – because these kings were not Nubians but Kushites / Ethiopians. Considering both, the ethnic and the linguistic levels, the Nubians were as different from the Egyptians and the Sudanese Kushites / Ethiopians as the Ancient Greeks from the Ancient Babylonians.

The fake term "Nubian" has been introduced in order to effectively detach the Arabic-speaking Sudanese from the search for their identity, prevent them from properly assessing their tremendous historical heritage, further engulf them into the Pan-Arabist fallacy, and definitely disconnect them from their brethren, namely the tyrannized Oromos, Sidamas, and the other subjugated Kushitic nations. These Kushitic nations have been comprised within the non-Kushitic, non-African, Semitic colonial state of the racist Amhara and Tigray Abyssinians, who are totally unrelated to the Oromos, the Sidamas, and the other subjugated Kushitic nations of Abyssinia. 

For the above reason, the Amhara and Tigray Abyssinians are absolutely irrelevant of the historical name of Ethiopia, which belongs only to he Arabic-speaking Sudanese, the Oromos, the Sidamas, and the other subjugated Kushitic nations of Abyssinia. The criminal colonial state of Abyssinia has to be forced - by any means - not to use the fair name of Ethiopia anymore in the future.
First published in AfroArticles, Buzzle and American Chronicle on 24th March 2010
Republished in the portal of the Oromo Parliamentarians:
https://www.oromoparliamentarians.org/English/Facts%20about%20Oromo/Kushatic%20_%20Oromo%20Nation%20Part%20VI.htm

Revista ARQUEOHISTORIA. Por una Arqueología Sin Fronteras - Época Segunda - nº 8 - Septiembre de 2015 - ISSN: 1137-5221 - Versión a Todo Color.

Revista fundada en 1997, especializada en Enigmas de las Antiguas Civilizaciones y los Orígenes de la Humanidad, la Cultura y el Pensamiento Filosófico.

Edita: ArqueoHistoria & Sociedad Epigráfica
Depósito legal: M-9882/1997

CONTENIDO:

¿Las más antiguas pruebas de navegación del Occidente?......................5

El amuleto libio-egipcio del Halcón y la Serpiente de Cuba......................31

Una inscripción líbico-bereber en la Cueva del Jagüey, Punta de Maisí, Guantánamo, Cuba......................36

John Toland (1670-1722)......................41

Las olvidadas pirámides japonesas......................44

REVIEWS......................51

¿Inscripciones en las supuestas ruinas submarinas de Yonagani?......................51

ESPACIO SOLIDARIO......................60

International Dostoevsky Society (IDS)......................66

AGON. Grupo de Estudios Filosóficos......................67

Research Interests: Phoenicians, Epigraphy (Archaeology), Greek Epigraphy, Paleography, Greek Paleography, Latin Epigraphy, Cuban History, Archaeology of the Iberian Peninsula, Petroglyphs and Pictographs, Anthropology of Cuba, Phoenician Punic Archaeology, Arqueology, Libyan archaeology, Arqueología, Ancient Greek Epigraphy, Pyramid Texts, Coffin Texts, Book of the Dead, Libya, Arqueología histórica, Greek and Latin Epigraphy, Paleografia, Arte Rupestre, North-West Semitic Epigraphy, Fenicios, Epigraphy, Phoenician & Punic Epigraphy, Arqueología Subacuática, Archeologia Fenicio-Punica, Arqueología romana / Roman archeology, Lengua ibérica, Epigrafia, PYRAMID, and Revistas de artes y humanidades.

In questo elaborato ci occuperemo prevalentemente dei berberi del Marocco e del loro processo di rivendicazione in quanto minoranza nazionale all'interno di una società araba. Dedicheremo attenzione anche all'identità berbera considerata nella sua dimensione transnazionale delineando le principali caratteristiche che contraddistinguono i berberi in quanto popolo del Nord Africa. Nella parte centrale dell'elaborato ci occuperemo nello specifico dei berberi del Marocco la cui storia può essere ripercorsa seguendo tre principali fasi della storia marocchina: l'occupazione francese, l'indipendenza e gli sviluppi conseguenti alle proteste del 2011.

La présente contribution présente une stèle inédite déposée près de l’entrée principale de la casbah qui domine la ville d’El Kef, l’antique Sicca Veneria, en Tunisie centrale occidentale. Il s’agit d’une stèle punique tardive, datable entre le ier s. av. J.-C. et la première moitié du suivant, caractérisée par une scène de banquet entre deux personnages assis, probablement divins ; son iconographie constitue un unicum dans l’Occident punique et punique tardif, tant par ses thèmes que par son exécution, et renvoie à des éléments et des concepts de lointaine origine proche-orientale

Il contributo è dedicato alla presentazione di una stele inedita deposta accanto all’ingresso principale della kasbah che domina la città di El Kef, antica Sicca Veneria, in Tunisia centro-occidentale. Si tratta di una stele tardo punica databile tra il I secolo a.C. e la prima metà del secolo successivo caratterizzata da una scena di banchetto tra due personaggi seduti, solo probabilmente divini; tale iconografia costituisce un unicum nell’Occidente punico e tardo punico tanto per la tematica quanto per la resa e rimanda a elementi e concezioni di antica origine vicino orientale.

This article analyzes the morphological oppositions and the semantic distinctions that originate from transformation processes of which the imperfective in Berber has been the subject. The synchronic and diachronic phenomena studied in this contribution offer examples of how language is continually modulated through innovations that emerge in structurally layered and causal formations dictated by system-based properties.

ESPAÑOL: En este artículo se aborda someramente lo que consideramos el primer problema de la lingüística guanche: la correcta lectura de los guanchismos en las fuentes etnohistóricas románicas.
Los principales trabajos de lingüística histórica española y el análisis comparativo de algunos guanchismos de significado conocido con el bereber parecen probar que las grafías "ge", "gi", "j" y "x" conservaron su valor sibilante en Canarias hasta, aproximadamente, la primera mitad del s. XVII. A partir de esta fecha, todas ellas comienzan a representar un único fonema aspirado: /h/, correspondiente, en ocasiones, al valor de las antiguas "f" y "h", también tratadas aquí. Los resultados nos permiten establecer nuevas etimologías y algunas hipótesis sobre el consonantismo histórico del guanche de las distintas islas.

ENGLISH: This paper aims to approach the first problem of Guanche linguistics: how to read correctly the Guanche words in the Romance historical sources. The study of the main works about Spanish historical linguistics and the analysis of some true meaning Guanche words seem to prove that the graphemes "g" (before "i", "e"), "j" and "x" conserved their medieval sibilant value up to mid-17th century. After this moment, they represented the same value as the ancient "f" and "h": /h/, also discussed here. The results allow us to establish some new etymologies and propose some hypotheses about the Guanche historical consonantism, perceiving differences between the islands.

Historical evidence pertinent for the study of Mediterranean regions of Africa comes in texts written in a number of languages (Arabic, Latin and vernacular) and uses categories such as Maghrib and Barbaria but in very distinct ways. In the past, historians have addressed this question by trying to “solve” these discrepancies rather than by historicising the relation between geographical imaginations and the social practices that sustained them on both sides of the sea. Showing that this approach has created its own entanglements and difficulties, this article argues that a return to the sources offers firmer ground for reclaiming the historicity of categories and regions and allows for a more productive way of situating the Maghrib in the Mediterranean and vice versa.

Es difícil pensar que la Historia, como disciplina, llegue a ser nunca asimilada a una Ciencia, aunque se intente englobar dentro de las llamadas humanas. ¿Qué profesionales de la Historia pueden surgir cuando la objetividad se sacrifica en pro de la finalidad política, de la política departamental o de una corriente historiográfica excluyente? ¿Qué historiadores podemos tener si se buscan acólitos en lugar de librepensadores?

At first sight, North African Ibāḍism emerged during the Berber uprisings against Umayyad and ʿAbbāsid rule and stayed at the margins of the empire. The imamate of Tāhart even stood, in the posthumous memory of the school, as an ideal counter-model of the caliphate. In fact, during the 8 th and 9 th centuries western Ibāḍism remained under the influence of its eastern strongholds , in particular Baṣra where the sectarian elite was well integrated into ʿAb-bāsid culture. Intense scholarly exchange linked west and east thanks to intermediary meeting points like Mecca and Fusṭāṭ. The Ibāḍī political opposition of 'Berber' and 'Arab' ethnicity certainly worked against the imperial discourse, but the Persian shuʿūbiyya shaped it. The Rustamid imamate came to be the symbol of a Persian state in a Berber milieu and its capital and state apparatus underwent a gradual orientalization. Trade also played a key role in connecting the Ibāḍī network with the empire. Baṣra was a notorious emporium and Ibāḍī merchants circulated widely between the ʿAbbāsid realm and its western fringes. The Maghribīs owned stores in Fusṭāṭ and traveled as far as Baghdad and Sāmarrāʾ. Trans-Saharan trade, including slaves and gold, also presumably saw its first development thanks to imperial demand.

¡Otra vez aquí! Después de tres números de la revista, innumerables entradas tanto en la web como en facebook, comentarios en el twitter y un sinfín de desvelos, seguimos en la brecha sin desfallecer gracias a vuestra fidelidad que nos insufla, día a día, moral y fuerzas para seguir adelante.

[Himcherrefth] Collection privée@Mme JV Cette analyse est faite en parallèle avec celle sur la symbolique de l'anneau de pied (Ardif ou Khelkal). La grande boucle d'oreille aurasienne, appelée himcherrefth, est un élément particulièrement significatif de l'orfèvrerie chaouïe. D'une part, parce qu'il s'agit d'une caractéristique régionale et d'autre part parce qu'elle vient parfaire l'image de la parure féminine de l'Aurès. La complémentarité des deux éléments, que sont l'anneau de pied et l'anneau d'oreille, confère une dimension supplémentaire aux héritières de la Kahéna mythique. L 'himcherrefth fait figure de pendant supérieur à l'ardif. De telle sorte que l'anneau d'oreille s'aligne sur l'axe du corps féminin, reliant ainsi la tête aux pieds. Afin de mieux cerner les éléments symboliques de cette parure, l'étude suivante se propose de faire une analyse détaillée à partir d'une première pièce (photo de référence). L'himcherrefth offre une approche identique, même si en réalité elle peut avoir une certaine diversité décorative. Seuls quelques détails contribuent à lui apporter une originalité spécifique. C'est le cas du motif central, tel qu'il apparaît sur d'autres conceptions ornementales. Il existe effectivement plusieurs variantes au modèle originel. Le bijou présenté sur la photo du titre est typique d'un usage usuel. Certaines pièces ont des motifs plus originaux-pas nécessairement géométriques-tandis que d'autres sont pourvues de fines chaînettes venant s'ajouter à la partie inférieure de la boucle. Ce dernier type d'ornement semble être destiné aux festivités. 1.Description des éléments. La grande boucle d'oreille en argent de la photo comporte trois sections:-Un grand anneau, lisse dans la moitié supérieure,-Une double rangée de "dentelures" dans la moitié inférieure, composée de triangles opposés, pointes vers le haut (à l'intérieur de l'anneau), pointes vers le bas (à l'extérieur),-Un motif intérieur, dont la forme varie, conférant la caractéristique de chaque pièce. Avant d'entamer une étude plus approfondie des éléments figuratifs, on note que

Internationalement reconnu comme le plus grand linguiste berbérisant de la seconde moitié du
XX' siècle, Lionel Galand a disparu en 20171. Son parcours et sa production scientifique sont retracés dans plusieurs notices étoffées rédigées par des témoins directs, auxquels
nous faisons ici de nombreux emprunts.
sa fille Perrine \Willemen-Galand, ses anciens élèves Fatima Boukhris, Salem Chaker et Amina Mettouchi,  en y joignant quelques souvenirs personnels

The history of the Berber languages has always been linked to that of other languages and cultures. It is a fact that, throughout history, the Berber peoples have handed down very few written documents in their own language. Even in ancient times, despite the widespread use of the Berber alphabet in North Africa, the Numidian kings preferred to employ in their inscriptions the language and script of the Phoenician settlers of Carthage alongside their own. Consequently, in those times and thereafter, the main historical sources regarding Berber have been written in the languages of those foreign peoples who have shared this area with the natives. As Mouloud Mammeri (1989) has pointed out,

Compte rendu critique du livre de Hassan Rachik,  Le sultan des autres : Rituel et politique dans le Haut-Atlas. Le second ouvrage d'Hassan Rachik propose une lecture du rituel partiellement inspirée de l'individualisme sociologique et des théories de l'action collective. L'
auteur étudie le culte rendu à sidi Chamharouch
dont le sanctuaire est situé chez les Aït Mizane, une
tribu  du Haut Atlas proche de Marrakech.

The term Arabia refers not only to the Arabian Peninsula and its people who speak the Arabian language (that is, the Bedouins), but also to the people who were “Arabized,” such as the Egyptians and the Sudanese who live along the Lower and Upper Nile River, respectively, and the Berbers (a.k.a., the Moors) of the Maghrib region of North Africa. They share in common the Muslim religion with its three holy cities: Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem. However, the Muslim religion has spread far beyond the Arab ethnic group to the Turkish, Persian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and Indonesian people.

One of the most misunderstood Muslim concepts today is that of jihad, which originates in the Muslim holy book The Qu’ran. It means “struggle” in both a spiritual and military context. While Islam recognizes both Old and New Testament prophets, it is a monotheistic religion that teaches that Allah is the one and only true god and that “Unbelievers” must come to recognize this truth. This was the basis for the expansion of Arabia into North Africa and even the Ibernian Peninsula of Europe. But its Christian equivalent, St. Augustine’s concept of “the Just War” was the basis for the Crusades.

Trade in the Arabian World began with the transportation of incense from the southern sections of the Arabian Peninsula. It soon was supplemented by the slave trade, conducted both by the Berbers in North Africa, who obtained slaves from Sub-Sahara Africa, and the Omani in the southern Arabian Peninsula, who obtained their slaves from East Africa by way of Zanzibar. The Swahilis, whose language was a combination of Bantu and Arabic and whose religion was Islam, acted as middle men in the East African slave trade. When British explorers sought to discover the source of the Nile River, they followed the routes of the slave trade. Efforts by Britain to secure their jewel colony of India necessitated their control of the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. British colonization also involved their forcing Oman to abolish the slave trade and their eventual take-over of Zanzibar. Despite the ban on the slave trade pirates and smugglers found ways to circumvent it, and piracy in the region continues to the present day. As European expansion gradually diminished the Arab World, Muslim religious revivals took the form of madhism in the Sudan and Wahhabism on the Arabian Peninsula. The latter was the tradition out of which the Arabian House of Saud (as well as Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda) arose.

Hz. Peygamber döneminden itibaren İslam Tarihi içinde birçok isyan
faaliyeti meydana gelmiştir. Dinî, iktisadî, siyasî ve içtimaî çerçevede gerçekleşen bu
isyanlar, gerçekleştiği bölgede var olan devleti ve toplumu derinden etkilemiştir. Bu
makalede incelenen isyan hareketleri ise, 94/715 – 138/756 yılları arasında
Endülüs’te gerçekleşmiş olan Berberî isyan hareketleridir. Valiler dönemi olarak da
isimlendirilen bu dönem içerisinde gerçekleşen isyanlarından ilki Mûnise isyanı
olmuştur. Emevîlerin Mağrib Berberîlerine uygulamış oldukları sert politikalardan
dolayı ortaya çıkan bu hareket, kuzey bölgelerinde Müslüman hâkimiyetinin
zayıflamasına sebep olmuştur. Bu bölgelerinde hâkimiyet elde etme çabası içinde
olan Hıristiyanlar, Endülüs’ü Müslümanlardan geri alma idealini ifade eden
Reconquista’nın temelini bu dönemde atmaya başlamıştır. Valiler döneminde
gerçekleşen diğer isyan hareketi ise Büyük Berberî İsyanı olmuştur. Bu hareket başta
oryantalistler olmak üzere, birçok araştırmacı tarafından incelenmiştir.
Gerçekleştirilen bu çalışmada ise, ana kaynaklardan hareketle adı geçen isyan
hareketi incelenerek, ilgili görüş ve yorumlar bu kaynaklar çerçevesinde tetkik
edilmeye çalışılmıştır. Endülüs’te taht kavgaları, iç savaşlar, kıtlık, toprak kayıpları
ve askerî faaliyetlerin durması gibi olaylarla sebep olan Büyük Berberî İsyanı, ilgili
dönem içerisinde Endülüs’teki Müslüman hâkimiyetinin kökten sarsılmasına yol
açmıştır.
Anahtar Kelimeler: İslam Tarihi, Endülüs, Berberîler, Valiler Dönemi,
İsyanlar