Berber mythology
Encyclopedia
The traditional Berber mythology is the ancient and native set of beliefs and deities developed by the Berber people
in their historical land of North Africa
. Many of Berber ancient beliefs were developed locally while some other ones were imported or influenced over time by contact with African mythology, the Egyptian religion
, Phoenician mythology, Judaism
, Iberian mythology
, and the Hellenistic religion
during antiquity. The most recent influence came from Islam
, and its Arab mythology components, during the medieval period. Some of the Berber ancient beliefs still exist today subtly within the Berber popular cultural and tradition.
research on pre-historic tombs in Northwestern Africa shows that the body of the dead were painted with red ochre. While this practice was known to the Ibero-maurussians, this culture seems to have been primarily a Capsian culture
. The dead were also sometimes buried with shells of ostrich
eggs, jewelry, and weapon
s. Bodies were sometimes placed on one side and folder, while others where buried in a fetal position.
Unlike the Berbers, the Guanches
mummified the dead. Additionally, Fabrizio Mori discovered a Libyan mummy
older than any comparable Ancient Egyptian mummy in 1958.
reported that the Augelae (Modern Awjila
in Libya
) considered the spirits of their ancestors to be gods. They swore by them and consulted them. After making requests, they slept in their tombs to await responses in dreams.
Herodotus
(484 BC–ca.425 BC) noted the same practice among the Nasamones who inhabited the deserts around Siwa
and Augila. He wrote:
The worship of saint
s still exists among the modern Berbers in the form of Marabout
ism, which is widespread in northwest Africa, especially in Morocco
. The Berbers worshipped their kings, too. The tombs of the Numidian kings are among the most notable monuments left by the Classical Berbers.
s of the early people and their ancestors indicate that the Berbers and their ancestors (the Ibero-Mauresians and Capsians
) believed in life after death
. The prehistoric men of northwest Africa buried bodies in little holes. When they realized that bodies buried in unsecured holes were dug up by wild animals, they began to bury them in deeper ones. Later, they buried the dead in caves, tumuli, tombs in rocks, mounds, and other types of tombs.
These tombs evolved from primitive structures to much more elaborate ones, such as the pyramid
al tombs spread throughout Northern Africa. The honor of being buried in such a tomb appears to have been reserved for those who were most important to their communities.
These pyramid tombs have attracted the attention of some scholars, such as Mohammed Chafik who wrote a book discussing the history of several of the tombs that have survived into modern times. He tried to relate the pyramidal Berber tombs with the great Egyptian pyramids on the basis of the etymological and historical data. The best known Berber pyramids are the 19-meter pre-Roman Numidian pyramid of Medracen and the 30-meter ancient Mauretanian
pyramid. The Mauretanian pyramid is also known as "Kbour-er-Roumia"
or "Tomb of the Roman Woman" mistranslated by the French colonizer as "Tomb of the Christian Woman".
ns worshipped the rocks.
Apuleius
stated as well that rocks were worshipped in the second century A.D. The megalithic culture may have been part of a cult of the dead or of star-worship.
The monument of Mzora
(also spelled as Msoura) is the best known megalithic monument in northwest Africa. It is composed of a circle of megaliths surrounding a tumulus
. The highest megalith is longer than 5 meters. According to legend, it is the sepulchre of the mythic Libyan king Antaeus
. Another megalithic monument was discovered in 1926 to south of Casablanca
. The monument was engraved with funerary inscriptions in the Libyco-Berber script known as Tifinagh
.
Herodotus
mentioned that the ancient Berbers (known to him as Libyans) worshipped the moon
and sun
and sacrificed to them. He reported:
Tullius Cicero
(105-43 BCE) also reported the same cult in On the Republic (Scipio's Dream):
There were some Latin inscriptions found in Northwest Africa dedicated to the sun-god. An example is the inscription found in Souk Ahras
(the birthplace of Saint Augustine; Tagaste in Algeria
) written as: Solo Deo Invicto.
Samuel the Confessor
appears to have suffered from the sun-worshiping Berbers who tried unsuccessfully to obligate him worshiping the sun.
In Awelimmiden Tuareg, the name Amanai is believed to have the meaning of "God
". The Ancient Libya
ns may have worshipped the setting sun, which was impersonated by Amon, who was represented by the ram's horn
s.
The sun was worshipped besides the mountains (e.g.: Atlas), rocks, caves, and rivers.
and Set
. That was reported by Herodotus when saying:
Those Berbers supposedly did not eat the swine's flesh, because it was associated with Set
, while they did not eat the cow's flesh, because it was associated with Isis.
Osiris
was among the Egyptian deities who were venetrated in Libya. However, Dr. Budge (in addition to a few other scholars) believed that Osiris was originally a Libyan god saying of him that "Everything which the texts of all periods recorded concerning him goes to show that he was an indigenous god of North-east Africa, and that his home and origin were possibly Libyan."
origin, such as Neith
who has been considered, by Egyptians, to have emigrated from Libya
to establish her temple at Sais
in the Nile Delta. Some legends tell that Neith was born around Lake Tritons (In modern Tunisia
).
It is also notable that some Egyptian deities were depicted with Berber (ancient Libyan) characters, such as "Ament" who was depicted with two feathers which were the normal ornaments of the Ancient Libyans as they were depicted by the Ancient Egyptians.
. This god is hard to attribute to only one pantheon. Although most modern sources ignore the existence of Amun in Berber mythology, he was maybe the greatest ancient Berber god. He was honored by the Ancient Greeks in Cyrenaica, and was united with the Phoenician god Baal
due to Libyan influence. Some depictions of the ram across North Africa belong to the lythic period which is situated between 9600 BC
and 7500 BC.
The most famous temple of Amun in Ancient Libya was the temple at the oasis of Siwa
.
The name of the ancient Berber tribes: Garamantes
and Nasamonians are believed by some scholars to be related to the name Amon.
ns were originally a Semitic people that once inhabited the coasts of modern Lebanon
. They were seafarers and they founded Carthage
in 814 BC. They later gave birth to the so-called Punic culture which had its roots in the Berber and Phoenician cultures. Some scholars distinguish the relationships between the Phoenicians and the Berbers in two phases:
and Astarte
.
, in which the Carthaginians were defeated by the Greeks. In addition to political changes, the Carthaginians imported some of the Berber deities.
Baal was the primary god worshipped in Carthage. Later, Baal was united with the Libyan god Amon to become Baal-Hammon. Depictions of this deity are found in several sites across northwest Africa. The goddess Astarte
was replaced by a native goddess, Tanit
, which is thought to be of Berber origin. The name itself, Tanit, has a Berber (Tamazight) linguistic structure. Feminine names begin and end with "T" in the Berber language.
Some scholars believe that the Egyptian goddess Neith
was related to the Libyan goddess Tanit (Ta-neith). There are also Numidian and Phoenician names that apparently contain roots from the god Baal, such as Adherbal
and Hannibal.
. The Greeks influenced the eastern Berber pantheon, but they were also influenced by Berber culture and beliefs.
Generally, the Libyan-Greek relationships can be divided into two different periods. In the first period, the Greeks had peaceful relationships with the Libyans. Later, there were wars between them. These social relationships were mirrored in their beliefs.
. The emigrating Greeks made her their protector besides their Greek god Apollo
.
The Greeks of Cyrenaica seemed also to have adopted some Berber customs and intermarried with the Berber women. Herodotus (Book IV 120) reported that the Libyans taught the Greeks how to yoke four horses to a chariot. The Cyrenaican Greeks built temples for the Libyan god Amon instead of their original god Zeus
. They later identified their supreme god Zeus
with the Libyan Amon. Some of them continued worshipping Amon himself.
Amon's cult was so widespread among the Greeks that even Alexander the Great decided to be declared as the son of Zeus in the Siwa
n temple by the Libyan priests of Amon.
The ancient historians mentioned that some Greek deities were of Libyan origin. The daughter of Zeus Athena
was considered by some ancient historians, like Herodotus, to have been of Libyan origin. Those ancient historians stated that she was originally honored by the Berbers around Lake Tritonis
where she has been born from the god Poseidon
and Lake Tritonis, according to the Libyan legend
. Herodotus wrote that the Aegis
and the clothes of Athena are typical for Libyan woman.
Herodotus also stated that Poseidon (an important Greek sea god
) was adopted from the Libyans by the Greeks. He emphasized that no other people worshipped Poseidon from early times apart from the Libyans who spread his cult:
Some other Greek deities were related to Libya
. The goddess Lamia
was believed to have originated in Libya, like Medusa
and the Gorgons. The Greeks seem also to have met the god Triton
in Libya.
The Greeks may have believed that the Hesperides
was situated in modern Morocco. Some scholars situate it in Tangier where Antaeus lived, according to some myths. The Hesperides were believed to be the daughters of Atlas
a god that is associated with the Atlas mountains
by Herodotus. The Atlas mountain was worshipped by the Berbers.
Some historians believe that the myth of Antaeus
was a reflection of those wars between the Libyans and Greeks.
The legend tells that Antaeus was the undefeatable protector of the Libyans. He was the son of the god Poseidon and Gaia
. He was the husband of the Berber goddess Tinjis
. He used to protect the lands of the Berbers until he was slain by the Greek hero Heracles
who married Tingis and fathered the son Sufax
(Berber-Greek son). Some Libyan kings, like Juba I, claimed to be the descendants of Sufax.
While some sources described Antaeus as the king of Irassa, Plutarch
reported that the Libyans buried him in Tangier
:
In Greek iconography
, Antaeus was clearly distinguished as being different from the Greeks in appearance. He was depicted with long hair and a beard that was typical for the Eastern Libyans.
.
and Ifri
.
They honored the war goddess Ifri
or Ifru who was considered to be the protector of her worshipers and was depicted on the Berber coins, and seemed to have been an influential goddess in North Africa. Pliny the Elder
mentioned that nobody in Africa decided to do anything before prior invocation of Africa (The Latin name of Ifri). This goddess was represented in diverse ways on Numidian coins from the first century BCE.
When the Romans conquered Northwest Africa, she appeared on the coin
s of the Roman states in North Africa.
Gurzil was a bull-shaped war god who is identified with the son of Ammon. He was taken by the Berbers to their battles against the Romans. Corippus mentioned that the chef Laguatan's (Or Luwata as it was known to the Arabs) Iarna took his god Gurzil into his battle against the Byzantine
s. Iarna was a Moorish ruler and a high priest of Gurzil. He was killed by the Byzantines. After the Moors where defeated he fled with the sacred image of Gurzil. But he was caught and killed and the image destroyed.
There was among the ruins of Ghirza in Libya a temple, which may have been dedicated to Gurzil, and the name of the town itself may even be related to his name.
who was known as Mastiman. Jupiter was also identified with the Libyan Ammon
Another feared god was Saturn
. He was said to have communicated with believers in dreams, and Northwestern Africans venerated him with human sacrifices. Tertullian
wrote that children were openly sacrificed to Saturn in Africa. Historians believe his cult was closer to that of Baal-Hammon than that of the Roman Saturn.
When a native Libyan called Septimus Severus became Emperor, the cult of Tanit was introduced to Rome.
Berber people
Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...
in their historical land of North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
. Many of Berber ancient beliefs were developed locally while some other ones were imported or influenced over time by contact with African mythology, the Egyptian religion
Egyptian religion
Egyptian religion may refer to:* Modern Religion in Egypt* Ancient Egyptian religion...
, Phoenician mythology, Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
, Iberian mythology
Spanish mythology
Spanish mythology would encompass all the sacred myths of the cultures in the region of Spain. They include Galician mythology, Asturian mythology, Cantabrian mythology, Catalan mythology and Basque mythology...
, and the Hellenistic religion
Hellenistic religion
Hellenistic religion is any of the various systems of beliefs and practices of the people who lived under the influence of ancient Greek culture during the Hellenistic period and the Roman Empire . There was much continuity in Hellenistic religion: the Greek gods continued to be worshiped, and the...
during antiquity. The most recent influence came from Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
, and its Arab mythology components, during the medieval period. Some of the Berber ancient beliefs still exist today subtly within the Berber popular cultural and tradition.
Funerary practices
ArchaeologicalArchaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
research on pre-historic tombs in Northwestern Africa shows that the body of the dead were painted with red ochre. While this practice was known to the Ibero-maurussians, this culture seems to have been primarily a Capsian culture
Capsian culture
The Capsian culture was a Mesolithic culture of the Maghreb, which lasted from about 10,000 to 6,000 BCE.It was concentrated mainly in modern Tunisia, and Algeria, with some sites attested in southern Spain to Sicily....
. The dead were also sometimes buried with shells of ostrich
Ostrich
The Ostrich is one or two species of large flightless birds native to Africa, the only living member of the genus Struthio. Some analyses indicate that the Somali Ostrich may be better considered a full species apart from the Common Ostrich, but most taxonomists consider it to be a...
eggs, jewelry, and weapon
Weapon
A weapon, arm, or armament is a tool or instrument used with the aim of causing damage or harm to living beings or artificial structures or systems...
s. Bodies were sometimes placed on one side and folder, while others where buried in a fetal position.
Unlike the Berbers, the Guanches
Guanches
Guanches is the name given to the aboriginal Berber inhabitants of the Canary Islands. It is believed that they migrated to the archipelago sometime between 1000 BCE and 100 BCE or perhaps earlier...
mummified the dead. Additionally, Fabrizio Mori discovered a Libyan mummy
Mummy
A mummy is a body, human or animal, whose skin and organs have been preserved by either intentional or incidental exposure to chemicals, extreme coldness , very low humidity, or lack of air when bodies are submerged in bogs, so that the recovered body will not decay further if kept in cool and dry...
older than any comparable Ancient Egyptian mummy in 1958.
Cult of the dead
The authors of the book The Berbers stated that the cult of the dead was one of the distinguishing characteristics of the Berbers in antiquity. Pomponius MelaPomponius Mela
Pomponius Mela, who wrote around AD 43, was the earliest Roman geographer. He was born in Tingentera and died c. AD 45.His short work occupies less than one hundred pages of ordinary print. It is laconic in style and deficient in method, but of pure Latinity, and occasionally relieved by pleasing...
reported that the Augelae (Modern Awjila
Awjila
Awjila is a Berber-speaking oasis town in the Al Wahat District in the Cyrenaica region of northeastern Libya. It is the place after which the Awgila-Berber language, an Eastern Berber language, is named...
in Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
) considered the spirits of their ancestors to be gods. They swore by them and consulted them. After making requests, they slept in their tombs to await responses in dreams.
Herodotus
Herodotus
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
(484 BC–ca.425 BC) noted the same practice among the Nasamones who inhabited the deserts around Siwa
Siwa
Siwa may refer to:* 140 Siwa, an asteroid* Siwa, Indonesian pronunciation of the Hindu god Shiva* Siwa , spider genus in the Araneidae family* Siwa Oasis, an oasis in Egypt* Siwa, Panchthar, a Village Development Committee in Nepal...
and Augila. He wrote:
[..]They swear by the men among themselves who are reported to have been the most righteous and brave, by these, I say, laying hands upon their tombs; and they divine by visiting the sepulchral mounds of their ancestors and lying down to sleep upon them after having prayed; and whatsoever thing the man sees in his dream, this he accepts.
The worship of saint
Saint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
s still exists among the modern Berbers in the form of Marabout
Marabout
A marabout is a Muslim religious leader and teacher in West Africa, and in the Maghreb. The marabout is often a scholar of the Qur'an, or religious teacher. Others may be wandering holy men who survive on alms, Sufi Murshids , or leaders of religious communities...
ism, which is widespread in northwest Africa, especially in Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
. The Berbers worshipped their kings, too. The tombs of the Numidian kings are among the most notable monuments left by the Classical Berbers.
Ancient Berber tombs
The tombTomb
A tomb is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes...
s of the early people and their ancestors indicate that the Berbers and their ancestors (the Ibero-Mauresians and Capsians
Capsian culture
The Capsian culture was a Mesolithic culture of the Maghreb, which lasted from about 10,000 to 6,000 BCE.It was concentrated mainly in modern Tunisia, and Algeria, with some sites attested in southern Spain to Sicily....
) believed in life after death
Death
Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....
. The prehistoric men of northwest Africa buried bodies in little holes. When they realized that bodies buried in unsecured holes were dug up by wild animals, they began to bury them in deeper ones. Later, they buried the dead in caves, tumuli, tombs in rocks, mounds, and other types of tombs.
These tombs evolved from primitive structures to much more elaborate ones, such as the pyramid
Pyramid
A pyramid is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge at a single point. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilateral, or any polygon shape, meaning that a pyramid has at least three triangular surfaces...
al tombs spread throughout Northern Africa. The honor of being buried in such a tomb appears to have been reserved for those who were most important to their communities.
Mauretania
Mauretania is a part of the historical Ancient Libyan land in North Africa. It corresponds to present day Morocco and a part of western Algeria...
pyramid. The Mauretanian pyramid is also known as "Kbour-er-Roumia"
Royal Mausoleum of Mauretania
The Royal Mausoleum of Mauretania is a funerary monument on the road between Cherchell and Algiers, in Algeria. The Mausoleum is the tomb where the Roman clients Juba II and Cleopatra Selene II, king and queen of Mauretania, are buried.-History:...
or "Tomb of the Roman Woman" mistranslated by the French colonizer as "Tomb of the Christian Woman".
Megalithic culture
Saint Augustine mentioned that the polytheistic AfricaAfrica
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
ns worshipped the rocks.
Apuleius
Apuleius
Apuleius was a Latin prose writer. He was a Berber, from Madaurus . He studied Platonist philosophy in Athens; travelled to Italy, Asia Minor and Egypt; and was an initiate in several cults or mysteries. The most famous incident in his life was when he was accused of using magic to gain the...
stated as well that rocks were worshipped in the second century A.D. The megalithic culture may have been part of a cult of the dead or of star-worship.
The monument of Mzora
Msoura
Msoura is the site of a stone circle of northern Morocco. It is located 25 kilometres south of Asilah and consists of 167 monoliths surrounding a tumulus of almost 55 metres of diameter...
(also spelled as Msoura) is the best known megalithic monument in northwest Africa. It is composed of a circle of megaliths surrounding a tumulus
Tumulus
A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world. A tumulus composed largely or entirely of stones is usually referred to as a cairn...
. The highest megalith is longer than 5 meters. According to legend, it is the sepulchre of the mythic Libyan king Antaeus
Antaeus
Antaeus in Greek and Berber mythology was a half-giant, the son of Poseidon and Gaia, whose wife was Tinjis. Antaeus had a daughter named Alceis or Barce.-Mythology:...
. Another megalithic monument was discovered in 1926 to south of Casablanca
Casablanca
Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...
. The monument was engraved with funerary inscriptions in the Libyco-Berber script known as Tifinagh
Tifinagh
Tifinagh is a series of abjad and alphabetic scripts used by some Berber peoples, notably the Tuareg, to write their language.A modern derivate of the traditional script, known as Neo-Tifinagh, was introduced in the 20th century...
.
Herodotus
Herodotus
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
mentioned that the ancient Berbers (known to him as Libyans) worshipped the moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
and sun
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
and sacrificed to them. He reported:
They begin with the ear of the victim, which they cut off and throw over their house: this done, they kill the animal by twisting the neck. They sacrifice to the Sun and Moon, but not to any other god. This worship is common to all the Libyans.
Tullius Cicero
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...
(105-43 BCE) also reported the same cult in On the Republic (Scipio's Dream):
When I (ScipioScipio-Classical:* Scipio, a representation of the Cornelii Scipiones, branch of the illustrious Cornelii family from Ancient Rome.* Scipio Africanus, Roman general who defeated Hannibal at Zama, the final battle of the Second Punic War....
) was introduced to him, the old man (Massinissa, king of NumidiaNumidiaNumidia was an ancient Berber kingdom in part of present-day Eastern Algeria and Western Tunisia in North Africa. It is known today as the Chawi-land, the land of the Chawi people , the direct descendants of the historical Numidians or the Massyles The kingdom began as a sovereign state and later...
) embraced me, shed tears, and then, looking up to heaven, exclaimed I thank thee, O supreme Sun, and you also, you other celestial beings, that before I departed from this life I behold in my kingdom, and in my palace, Publius Cornelius Scipio ....
There were some Latin inscriptions found in Northwest Africa dedicated to the sun-god. An example is the inscription found in Souk Ahras
Souk Ahras
Souk Ahras is a province in Algeria, named after its capital, Souk Ahras. It stands on the border between Algeria and Tunisia.- Geography :Souk Ahras is situated in the extreme north east of Algeria, it is 4360 km²....
(the birthplace of Saint Augustine; Tagaste in Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
) written as: Solo Deo Invicto.
Samuel the Confessor
Samuel the Confessor
Saint Samuel the Confessor is a Coptic Orthodox saint, venerated in all Oriental Orthodox Churches...
appears to have suffered from the sun-worshiping Berbers who tried unsuccessfully to obligate him worshiping the sun.
In Awelimmiden Tuareg, the name Amanai is believed to have the meaning of "God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
". The Ancient Libya
Ancient Libya
The Latin name Libya referred to the region west of the Nile Valley, generally corresponding to modern Northwest Africa. Climate changes affected the locations of the settlements....
ns may have worshipped the setting sun, which was impersonated by Amon, who was represented by the ram's horn
Horn (anatomy)
A horn is a pointed projection of the skin on the head of various animals, consisting of a covering of horn surrounding a core of living bone. True horns are found mainly among the ruminant artiodactyls, in the families Antilocapridae and Bovidae...
s.
The sun was worshipped besides the mountains (e.g.: Atlas), rocks, caves, and rivers.
Egyptian-Berber beliefs
The Ancient Egyptians were the neighbors of the Berbers. They may even have had an ancient common central saharan origin. Therefore, it is sometimes supposed that some deities were originally worshipped by the Ancient Egyptians, and the Ancient Libyans (Berbers) as well. The Egyptian-Berber deities can be distinguished according to their origin.Egyptian deities
The Eastern ancient Berbers worshipped IsisIsis
Isis or in original more likely Aset is a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs, whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. She was worshipped as the ideal mother and wife as well as the matron of nature and magic...
and Set
Set (mythology)
Set was in Ancient Egyptian religion, a god of the desert, storms, and foreigners. In later myths he was also the god of darkness, and chaos...
. That was reported by Herodotus when saying:
Cow's flesh, however, none of these tribes (Libyan Tribes) ever taste, but abstain from it for the same reason as the Egyptians, neither do they any of them breed swine. Even at Cyrene, the women think it wrong to eat the flesh of the cow, honoring in this Isis, the Egyptian goddess, whom they worship both with fasts and festivals. The Barcaean women abstain, not from cow's flesh only, but also from the flesh of swine.
Those Berbers supposedly did not eat the swine's flesh, because it was associated with Set
Set (mythology)
Set was in Ancient Egyptian religion, a god of the desert, storms, and foreigners. In later myths he was also the god of darkness, and chaos...
, while they did not eat the cow's flesh, because it was associated with Isis.
Osiris
Osiris
Osiris is an Egyptian god, usually identified as the god of the afterlife, the underworld and the dead. He is classically depicted as a green-skinned man with a pharaoh's beard, partially mummy-wrapped at the legs, wearing a distinctive crown with two large ostrich feathers at either side, and...
was among the Egyptian deities who were venetrated in Libya. However, Dr. Budge (in addition to a few other scholars) believed that Osiris was originally a Libyan god saying of him that "Everything which the texts of all periods recorded concerning him goes to show that he was an indigenous god of North-east Africa, and that his home and origin were possibly Libyan."
Berber deities
The Egyptians considered some Egyptian deities to have had a LibyanAncient Libya
The Latin name Libya referred to the region west of the Nile Valley, generally corresponding to modern Northwest Africa. Climate changes affected the locations of the settlements....
origin, such as Neith
Neith
In Egyptian mythology, Neith was an early goddess in the Egyptian pantheon. She was the patron deity of Sais, where her cult was centered in the Western Nile Delta of Egypt and attested as early as the First Dynasty...
who has been considered, by Egyptians, to have emigrated from Libya
Ancient Libya
The Latin name Libya referred to the region west of the Nile Valley, generally corresponding to modern Northwest Africa. Climate changes affected the locations of the settlements....
to establish her temple at Sais
Sais, Egypt
Sais or Sa el-Hagar was an ancient Egyptian town in the Western Nile Delta on the Canopic branch of the Nile. It was the provincial capital of Sap-Meh, the fifth nome of Lower Egypt and became the seat of power during the Twenty-fourth dynasty of Egypt and the Saite Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt ...
in the Nile Delta. Some legends tell that Neith was born around Lake Tritons (In modern Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
).
It is also notable that some Egyptian deities were depicted with Berber (ancient Libyan) characters, such as "Ament" who was depicted with two feathers which were the normal ornaments of the Ancient Libyans as they were depicted by the Ancient Egyptians.
Amun as a common deity
The most remarkable common god of the Berbers and the Egyptians was AmunAmun
Amun, reconstructed Egyptian Yamānu , was a god in Egyptian mythology who in the form of Amun-Ra became the focus of the most complex system of theology in Ancient Egypt...
. This god is hard to attribute to only one pantheon. Although most modern sources ignore the existence of Amun in Berber mythology, he was maybe the greatest ancient Berber god. He was honored by the Ancient Greeks in Cyrenaica, and was united with the Phoenician god Baal
Baal
Baʿal is a Northwest Semitic title and honorific meaning "master" or "lord" that is used for various gods who were patrons of cities in the Levant and Asia Minor, cognate to Akkadian Bēlu...
due to Libyan influence. Some depictions of the ram across North Africa belong to the lythic period which is situated between 9600 BC
9th millennium BC
The 9th millennium BC marks the beginning of the Neolithic period.Agriculture spread throughout the Fertile Crescent and use of pottery became more widespread. Larger settlements like Jericho arose along salt and flint trade routes. Northern Eurasia was resettled as the glaciers of the last glacial...
and 7500 BC.
The most famous temple of Amun in Ancient Libya was the temple at the oasis of Siwa
Siwa
Siwa may refer to:* 140 Siwa, an asteroid* Siwa, Indonesian pronunciation of the Hindu god Shiva* Siwa , spider genus in the Araneidae family* Siwa Oasis, an oasis in Egypt* Siwa, Panchthar, a Village Development Committee in Nepal...
.
The name of the ancient Berber tribes: Garamantes
Garamantes
The Garamantes were a Saharan people who used an elaborate underground irrigation system, and founded a prosperous Berber kingdom in the Fezzan area of modern-day Libya, in the Sahara desert. They were a local power in the Sahara between 500 BC and 700 AD.There is little textual information about...
and Nasamonians are believed by some scholars to be related to the name Amon.
Phoenician-Berber beliefs
The PhoeniciaPhoenicia
Phoenicia , was an ancient civilization in Canaan which covered most of the western, coastal part of the Fertile Crescent. Several major Phoenician cities were built on the coastline of the Mediterranean. It was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean from 1550...
ns were originally a Semitic people that once inhabited the coasts of modern Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
. They were seafarers and they founded Carthage
Carthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
in 814 BC. They later gave birth to the so-called Punic culture which had its roots in the Berber and Phoenician cultures. Some scholars distinguish the relationships between the Phoenicians and the Berbers in two phases:
Before the Battle of Himera (480 BC)
When the Phoenicians established in Northwest Africa, they stayed in the coastal regions to avoid wars with the Berbers. They maintained their deities which they brought from their homelands. The early Carthaginians had two important deities, BaalBaal
Baʿal is a Northwest Semitic title and honorific meaning "master" or "lord" that is used for various gods who were patrons of cities in the Levant and Asia Minor, cognate to Akkadian Bēlu...
and Astarte
Astarte
Astarte is the Greek name of a goddess known throughout the Eastern Mediterranean from the Bronze Age to Classical times...
.
After the Battle of Himera
Carthage began to ally with the Berber tribes after the battle of HimeraBattle of Himera (480 BC)
The Battle of Himera , supposedly fought on the same day as the more famous Battle of Salamis, or on the same day as the Battle of Thermopylae, saw the Greek forces of Gelon, King of Syracuse, and Theron, tyrant of Agrigentum, defeat the Carthaginian force of Hamilcar the Magonid, ending a...
, in which the Carthaginians were defeated by the Greeks. In addition to political changes, the Carthaginians imported some of the Berber deities.
Baal was the primary god worshipped in Carthage. Later, Baal was united with the Libyan god Amon to become Baal-Hammon. Depictions of this deity are found in several sites across northwest Africa. The goddess Astarte
Astarte
Astarte is the Greek name of a goddess known throughout the Eastern Mediterranean from the Bronze Age to Classical times...
was replaced by a native goddess, Tanit
Tanit
Tanit was a Phoenician lunar goddess, worshipped as the patron goddess at Carthage. Tanit was worshiped in Punic contexts in the Western Mediterranean, from Malta to Gades into Hellenistic times. From the fifth century BCE onwards Tanit is associated with that of Baal Hammon...
, which is thought to be of Berber origin. The name itself, Tanit, has a Berber (Tamazight) linguistic structure. Feminine names begin and end with "T" in the Berber language.
Some scholars believe that the Egyptian goddess Neith
Neith
In Egyptian mythology, Neith was an early goddess in the Egyptian pantheon. She was the patron deity of Sais, where her cult was centered in the Western Nile Delta of Egypt and attested as early as the First Dynasty...
was related to the Libyan goddess Tanit (Ta-neith). There are also Numidian and Phoenician names that apparently contain roots from the god Baal, such as Adherbal
Adherbal
Adherbal, son of Micipsa and grandson of Masinissa, was a king of Numidia between 118 BC and 112 BC. He inherited the throne after the death of his father, and ruled jointly with his younger brother Hiempsal, and Jugurtha, the nephew of Masinissa...
and Hannibal.
Greek-Berber beliefs
The ancient Greeks established colonies in CyrenaicaCyrenaica
Cyrenaica is the eastern coastal region of Libya.Also known as Pentapolis in antiquity, it was part of the Creta et Cyrenaica province during the Roman period, later divided in Libia Pentapolis and Libia Sicca...
. The Greeks influenced the eastern Berber pantheon, but they were also influenced by Berber culture and beliefs.
Generally, the Libyan-Greek relationships can be divided into two different periods. In the first period, the Greeks had peaceful relationships with the Libyans. Later, there were wars between them. These social relationships were mirrored in their beliefs.
Before the battle of Irassa (570 BC)
The first notable appearance of Libyan influence on the Cyrenaican-Greek beliefs is the name Cyrenaica itself. This name was originally the name of a legendary (mythic) Berber woman warrior who was known as Cyre. Cyre was, according to the legend, a courageous lion-hunting woman. She gave her name to the city CyrenaicaCyrenaica
Cyrenaica is the eastern coastal region of Libya.Also known as Pentapolis in antiquity, it was part of the Creta et Cyrenaica province during the Roman period, later divided in Libia Pentapolis and Libia Sicca...
. The emigrating Greeks made her their protector besides their Greek god Apollo
Apollo
Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
.
The Greeks of Cyrenaica seemed also to have adopted some Berber customs and intermarried with the Berber women. Herodotus (Book IV 120) reported that the Libyans taught the Greeks how to yoke four horses to a chariot. The Cyrenaican Greeks built temples for the Libyan god Amon instead of their original god Zeus
Zeus
In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...
. They later identified their supreme god Zeus
Zeus
In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...
with the Libyan Amon. Some of them continued worshipping Amon himself.
Amon's cult was so widespread among the Greeks that even Alexander the Great decided to be declared as the son of Zeus in the Siwa
Siwa
Siwa may refer to:* 140 Siwa, an asteroid* Siwa, Indonesian pronunciation of the Hindu god Shiva* Siwa , spider genus in the Araneidae family* Siwa Oasis, an oasis in Egypt* Siwa, Panchthar, a Village Development Committee in Nepal...
n temple by the Libyan priests of Amon.
The ancient historians mentioned that some Greek deities were of Libyan origin. The daughter of Zeus Athena
Athena
In Greek mythology, Athena, Athenê, or Athene , also referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene , is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, warfare, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, justice, and skill. Minerva, Athena's Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is...
was considered by some ancient historians, like Herodotus, to have been of Libyan origin. Those ancient historians stated that she was originally honored by the Berbers around Lake Tritonis
Lake Tritonis
Lake Tritonis was a large body of fresh water in northern Africa that was described in many ancient texts. Classical-era Greek writers placed the lake in what today is southern Tunisia. In details of the late myths and personal observations related by these historians, the lake was said to be named...
where she has been born from the god Poseidon
Poseidon
Poseidon was the god of the sea, and, as "Earth-Shaker," of the earthquakes in Greek mythology. The name of the sea-god Nethuns in Etruscan was adopted in Latin for Neptune in Roman mythology: both were sea gods analogous to Poseidon...
and Lake Tritonis, according to the Libyan legend
Legend
A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude...
. Herodotus wrote that the Aegis
Aegis
An aegis is a large collar or cape worn in ancient times to display the protection provided by a high religious authority or the holder of a protective shield signifying the same, such as a bag-like garment that contained a shield. Sometimes the garment and the shield are merged, with a small...
and the clothes of Athena are typical for Libyan woman.
Herodotus also stated that Poseidon (an important Greek sea god
Water deity
A water deity is a deity in mythology associated with water or various bodies of water. Water deities are common in mythology and were usually more important among civilizations in which the sea or ocean, or a great river was more important...
) was adopted from the Libyans by the Greeks. He emphasized that no other people worshipped Poseidon from early times apart from the Libyans who spread his cult:
[..]these I think received their naming from the Pelasgians, except Poseidon; but about this god the Hellenes learnt from the Libyans, for no people except the Libyans have had the name of Poseidon from the first and have paid honour to this god always.
Some other Greek deities were related to Libya
Ancient Libya
The Latin name Libya referred to the region west of the Nile Valley, generally corresponding to modern Northwest Africa. Climate changes affected the locations of the settlements....
. The goddess Lamia
Lamia (mythology)
In ancient Greek mythology, Lamia was a beautiful queen of Libya who became a child-eating daemon. Aristophanes claimed her name derived from the Greek word for gullet , referring to her habit of devouring children....
was believed to have originated in Libya, like Medusa
Medusa
In Greek mythology Medusa , " guardian, protectress") was a Gorgon, a chthonic monster, and a daughter of Phorcys and Ceto. The author Hyginus, interposes a generation and gives Medusa another chthonic pair as parents. Gazing directly upon her would turn onlookers to stone...
and the Gorgons. The Greeks seem also to have met the god Triton
Triton (mythology)
Triton is a mythological Greek god, the messenger of the big sea. He is the son of Poseidon, god of the sea, and Amphitrite, goddess of the sea, whose herald he is...
in Libya.
The Greeks may have believed that the Hesperides
Hesperides
In Greek mythology, the Hesperides are nymphs who tend a blissful garden in a far western corner of the world, located near the Atlas mountains in North Africa at the edge of the encircling Oceanus, the world-ocean....
was situated in modern Morocco. Some scholars situate it in Tangier where Antaeus lived, according to some myths. The Hesperides were believed to be the daughters of Atlas
Atlas (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Atlas was the primordial Titan who supported the heavens. Although associated with various places, he became commonly identified with the Atlas Mountains in north-west Africa...
a god that is associated with the Atlas mountains
Atlas Mountains
The Atlas Mountains is a mountain range across a northern stretch of Africa extending about through Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. The highest peak is Toubkal, with an elevation of in southwestern Morocco. The Atlas ranges separate the Mediterranean and Atlantic coastlines from the Sahara Desert...
by Herodotus. The Atlas mountain was worshipped by the Berbers.
After the Battle of Irassa
The Greeks and the Libyans began to break their harmony in the period of Battus II. Battus II began secretly to invite other Greek groups to Libya. The Libyans considered that as a danger that had to be stopped. The Berbers began to fight against the Greeks, sometimes in alliance with the Egyptians and other times with the Carthaginians. Nevertheless, the Greeks were the victors.Some historians believe that the myth of Antaeus
Antaeus
Antaeus in Greek and Berber mythology was a half-giant, the son of Poseidon and Gaia, whose wife was Tinjis. Antaeus had a daughter named Alceis or Barce.-Mythology:...
was a reflection of those wars between the Libyans and Greeks.
The legend tells that Antaeus was the undefeatable protector of the Libyans. He was the son of the god Poseidon and Gaia
Gaia (mythology)
Gaia was the primordial Earth-goddess in ancient Greek religion. Gaia was the great mother of all: the heavenly gods and Titans were descended from her union with Uranus , the sea-gods from her union with Pontus , the Giants from her mating with Tartarus and mortal creatures were sprung or born...
. He was the husband of the Berber goddess Tinjis
Tinjis
Tinjis was in Berber and Greek Mythology the wife of Antaeus, son of Poseidon and Gaia....
. He used to protect the lands of the Berbers until he was slain by the Greek hero Heracles
Heracles
Heracles ,born Alcaeus or Alcides , was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, foster son of Amphitryon and great-grandson of Perseus...
who married Tingis and fathered the son Sufax
Sufax
Sufax was a hero from the Berber and Greek mythologies....
(Berber-Greek son). Some Libyan kings, like Juba I, claimed to be the descendants of Sufax.
While some sources described Antaeus as the king of Irassa, Plutarch
Plutarch
Plutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
reported that the Libyans buried him in Tangier
Tangier
Tangier, also Tangiers is a city in northern Morocco with a population of about 700,000 . It lies on the North African coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel...
:
In this city (TangierTangierTangier, also Tangiers is a city in northern Morocco with a population of about 700,000 . It lies on the North African coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel...
) the Libyans say that Antaeus is buried; and Sertorius had his tomb dug open, the great size of which made him disbelieve the Barbarians...(Plutarch, The Parallel Lives)
In Greek iconography
Iconography
Iconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing", and comes from the Greek "image" and "to write". A secondary meaning is the painting of icons in the...
, Antaeus was clearly distinguished as being different from the Greeks in appearance. He was depicted with long hair and a beard that was typical for the Eastern Libyans.
Roman-Berber beliefs
The Romans allied firstly with the Numidians against Carthage. They defeated Carthage in 146 BCE. But later, they also annexed Numidia to the Roman EmpireRoman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
.
Before Romanization
The Berbers fought against the Romans and Byzantines. They had war deities such as GurzilGurzil
Gurzil — or Agurzil — was a war deity of the ancient Berbers.In Berber mythology, Gurzil was a bull-shaped war god who became identified with the son of Amun...
and Ifri
IFRI
IFRI may refer to:* International Forestry Resources and Institutions* Institut Français de Recherche en Iran* Institut français des relations internationales...
.
They honored the war goddess Ifri
IFRI
IFRI may refer to:* International Forestry Resources and Institutions* Institut Français de Recherche en Iran* Institut français des relations internationales...
or Ifru who was considered to be the protector of her worshipers and was depicted on the Berber coins, and seemed to have been an influential goddess in North Africa. Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
mentioned that nobody in Africa decided to do anything before prior invocation of Africa (The Latin name of Ifri). This goddess was represented in diverse ways on Numidian coins from the first century BCE.
When the Romans conquered Northwest Africa, she appeared on the coin
Coin
A coin is a piece of hard material that is standardized in weight, is produced in large quantities in order to facilitate trade, and primarily can be used as a legal tender token for commerce in the designated country, region, or territory....
s of the Roman states in North Africa.
Gurzil was a bull-shaped war god who is identified with the son of Ammon. He was taken by the Berbers to their battles against the Romans. Corippus mentioned that the chef Laguatan's (Or Luwata as it was known to the Arabs) Iarna took his god Gurzil into his battle against the Byzantine
Byzantine
Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...
s. Iarna was a Moorish ruler and a high priest of Gurzil. He was killed by the Byzantines. After the Moors where defeated he fled with the sacred image of Gurzil. But he was caught and killed and the image destroyed.
There was among the ruins of Ghirza in Libya a temple, which may have been dedicated to Gurzil, and the name of the town itself may even be related to his name.
Roman influence
When Northwest Africa was annexed to the Roman Empire, the Berber began to worship the Roman deities like JupiterJupiter (mythology)
In ancient Roman religion and myth, Jupiter or Jove is the king of the gods, and the god of the sky and thunder. He is the equivalent of Zeus in the Greek pantheon....
who was known as Mastiman. Jupiter was also identified with the Libyan Ammon
Another feared god was Saturn
Saturn (mythology)
In ancient Roman religion and myth, Saturn was a major god presiding over agriculture and the harvest time. His reign was depicted as a Golden Age of abundance and peace by many Roman authors. In medieval times he was known as the Roman god of agriculture, justice and strength. He held a sickle in...
. He was said to have communicated with believers in dreams, and Northwestern Africans venerated him with human sacrifices. Tertullian
Tertullian
Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, anglicised as Tertullian , was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He is the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of Latin Christian literature. He also was a notable early Christian apologist and...
wrote that children were openly sacrificed to Saturn in Africa. Historians believe his cult was closer to that of Baal-Hammon than that of the Roman Saturn.
When a native Libyan called Septimus Severus became Emperor, the cult of Tanit was introduced to Rome.