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78-635: Yennayer is the first month of the Berber calendar . The first day of Yennayer corresponds to the first day of January in the Julian Calendar , which is shifted thirteen days compared to the Gregorian calendar , thus falling on 12 January every year. The Berber calendar was created in 1980 by Ammar Negadi , a Paris-based Algerian scholar. He chose 943 BC, the year in which the Meshwesh Shoshenq I ascended to

156-664: A lunar calendar , is not suited for agriculture because it does not relate to seasonal cycles. In other parts of the Islamic world , either Iranian solar calendars , the Coptic calendar , the Rumi calendar , or other calendars based on the Julian calendar were used before the introduction of the Gregorian calendar . The current Berber calendar is a legacy of the Roman province of Mauretania Caesariensis and

234-452: A Berber calendar. Yennayer is said to be composed of two Berber words: yan, meaning "the number one," and ayyur, meaning "month" with yennayer signifying "the first month". Yennayer has several popular names that can differ by region such as id seggas ( Moroccan Arabic : إيض سڭاس ) or haguza ( Moroccan Arabic : حاڭوزة ) in Morocco. One of the most significant aspects of Yennayer

312-516: A different kind of ritual infanticide than those who were thrown overboard. Child sacrifice has been seen in other cultures, especially in the Mediterranean — Carthage (now Tunisia ), Ugarit in what is now Syria , Cyprus and Crete . The political and social institutions of the Guanches varied. In some islands like Gran Canaria, hereditary autocracy by matrilineality prevailed, in others

390-559: A linguistic taboo , in Djerba these creatures are called imbarken , i.e. "the blessed ones", whence this period takes its name. Jamrat el Ma ( Arabic : جمرة الماء ), "embers of the sea", 27 February, is marked by a rise in sea temperature. Jamrat el Trab ( Arabic : جمرة التراب ), "land embers" in English, is the period from 6 to 10 March and known to be marked by a mixture of heavy rain and sunny weather. The term jamrat (literally 'coal')

468-616: A national holiday – a landmark policy considering how the Amazigh are marginalized in Northern Africa. A characteristic trait of this festivity, which often blurs with the Islamic Day of Ashura , is the presence, in many regions, of ritual invocations with formulas like bennayu , babiyyanu , bu-ini , etc. Such expressions, according to many scholars, may be derived from the ancient bonus annus (happy new year) wishes. A curious aspect of

546-572: A part of the cultural heritage of this people, fully integrated in the system of traditional customs related the North-African calendar. Guanches It is believed that the Guanche may have arrived at the archipelago some time in the first millennium BC . The Guanche were the only indigenous people known to have lived in the Macaronesian archipelago region before the arrival of Europeans . There

624-522: A public holiday in Algeria took place on 12 January 2018. On 3 May 2023, King Mohammed VI of Morocco declared the Berber New Year as a national public holiday in Morocco. The Berber Academy was established with the intention of recognizing Yennayer as the "Amazigh New Year," based on the longstanding tradition of North Africans celebrating the event each year. In 1980, Ammar Negadi proposed the creation of

702-594: A reddish-brown complexion. During the 14th century, the Guanche are presumed to have had other contacts with Balearic seafarers from Spain. This is based on the Balearic artifacts found on several of the Canary Islands. The Castilian conquest of the Canary Islands began in 1402, with the expedition of Jean de Béthencourt and Gadifer de la Salle to the island of Lanzarote. Gadifer invaded Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. The other five islands fought back. El Hierro and

780-514: A syncretic beliefs combining elements of the Guanche religion and Christianity. As in other countries close to the islands (e.g. marabouts from the Maghreb ), the Animeros were considered "persons blessed by God." The Guanches had priests or shamans who were connected with the gods and ordained hierarchically: Gran Canaria Beñesmen or Beñesmer was a festival of the agricultural calendar of

858-428: A vertical rock by the shore 5 km (3 mi) from Santa Cruz on Tenerife are said still to contain remains. The process of embalming seems to have varied. In Tenerife and Gran Canaria, the corpse was simply wrapped up in goat and sheep skins, while in other islands a resinous substance was used to preserve the body, which was then placed in a cave difficult to access, or buried under a tumulus . The work of embalming

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936-505: Is a large stock of vocabulary that does not bear any resemblance to Berber whatsoever. Other strong similarities to the Berber languages are reflected in their counting system, while some authors suggest the Canarian branch would be a sister branch to the surviving continental Berber languages, splitting off during the early development of the language family and before the terminus post quem for

1014-557: Is almost certainly derived from the Julian calendar, introduced in the Roman province of Africa at the time of Roman domination. The names of the months of this calendar are derived from the corresponding Latin names and traces of the Roman calendar denominations of Kalends, Nones and Ides exist: El Qabisi, an Islamic jurisconsult by Kairawan who lived in the 11th century, condemned the custom of celebrating "pagans'" festivals and cited, among traditional habits of North Africa, that of observing

1092-665: Is in reference to the warm state of the earth during this period . Like the strong winter cold, the Dog Days also last 40 days, from 12 yulyuz (25 July) to 20 ghusht (2 September). The apical moment of the period is the first of ghusht "August" (also the name awussu , widespread in Tunisia and Libya , seems to date back to Latin augustus ). On this date, particular rites are performed, which manifestly derive from pre-Islamic, and even pre-Christian, traditions. They consist, in particular, of bonfires (which in many locations take place around

1170-678: Is no accepted evidence that the other Macaronesian archipelagos (the Cape Verde Islands, Madeira and the Azores ) were inhabited. After the commencement of the Spanish conquest of the Canaries , starting in the early 15th century , many natives were outright killed by the Spanish or died of exposure to new pathogens during the social disruption. Eventually, any remaining survivors were assimilated into

1248-534: Is the 17th of (k)tuber , in which one may start ploughing his fields. In Arabic, this period is called ḥertadem , that is " Adam 's ploughing", because in that date the common ancestor of humanity is said to have begun his agricultural works. Following centuries-long contacts with the Arab-Islamic culture , the celebrations linked to the Julian calendar have been sometimes integrated into the Islamic calendar, leading to

1326-486: Is the existing opposition between two 40-day terms, one representing the allegedly coldest part of winter ("The nights", llyali ) and one the hottest period of summer ("The Dog Days ", ssmaym , awussu ). The coldest period is made up by 20 "white nights" (Berber: iḍan imellalen , Arabic: al-lyali al-biḍ ), from 12 to 31 dujamber (Gregorian dates: 25 December - 13 January), and 20 "black nights" (Berber: iḍan tiberkanin/isṭṭafen , Arabic al-lyali al-sud ), beginning on

1404-478: Is the preparation of a special meal, which is hearty and different from everyday ones. The Kabyle people of Algeria, for example, use the meat of the sacrificed animal ( asfel ) to complement couscous . In the Sous region of southern Morocco, participants enjoy dishes such as tagula , made of barley with smen and argan oil , and berkukes, a dish prepared with vegetables and pasta in the form of grains. In addition to

1482-569: The Bimbache population were the next to fall, then La Gomera, Gran Canaria, La Palma and in 1496, Tenerife. In the First Battle of Acentejo (31 May 1494), called La Matanza (the slaughter), Guanche ambushed the Castilians in a valley and killed many. Only one in five of the Castilians survived, including the leader, Alonso Fernandez de Lugo . Lugo later returned to the island with the alliance of

1560-464: The Neolithic culture that would have been encountered by the Spanish, at the time of their conquest. Scholars believe that the original settling by humans on the islands likely resulted in the extinction of uniquely-adapted endemic species , such as reptiles and mammals exhibiting insular gigantism ; one example is believed to be Canariomys bravoi , the extinct giant rat of Tenerife. Pliny

1638-528: The Qalandas ("Kalends") of January ( 1 January , i.e. the Julian New Year's Day ). The length of the year and of the individual months is the same as in the Julian calendar: three years of 365 days followed by a leap year of 366, without exceptions, and 30- and 31-day months, except for the second one that has 28 days. The only slight discrepancy lies in that the extra day in leap years is not usually added at

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1716-615: The Roman province of Africa , as it is a surviving form of the Julian calendar . The latter calendar was used in Europe before the adoption of the Gregorian calendar , with month names derived from Latin. Berber populations previously used various indigenous calendars, such as that of the indigenous Guanches of the Canary Islands . However, relatively little is known of these ancient calendrical systems. The agricultural Berber calendar still in use

1794-544: The Americas. The native Guanche language is now known only through a few sentences and individual words, supplemented by several placenames. Many modern linguists propose that it belongs to the Berber branch of the Afroasiatic languages . However, while there are recognizable Berber words (particularly with regards to agriculture) within the Guanche language, no Berber grammatical inflections have been identified; there

1872-753: The Arab geographer Muhammad al-Idrisi in the Nuzhatul Mushtaq , a book he wrote for King Roger II of Sicily . Al-Idrisi reports a journey in the Atlantic Ocean made by the Mugharrarin ("the adventurers"), a family of Andalusian seafarers from Lisbon . The only surviving version of this book, kept at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France , and first translated by Pierre Amédée Jaubert , reports that, after having reached an area of "sticky and stinking waters,"

1950-453: The Canary Islands were the scene of "Europe's first overseas settler colonial genocide," and that the mass killing and enslavement of natives, along with forced deportation, sexual violence and confiscation of land and children constituted an attempt to "destroy in whole" the Guanche people. The tactics used in the Canary Islands in the 15th century served as a model for the Iberian colonisation of

2028-615: The Canary Islands, the southern kingdoms joined the Castilian invaders on the promise of the richer lands of the north; the Castilians betrayed them after ultimately securing victory at the Battles of Aguere and Acentejo . In Tenerife, the grand Mencey Tinerfe and his father Sunta governed the unified island, which afterwards was divided into nine kingdoms by the children of Tinerfe. Guanches wore garments made from goat skins or woven from plant fibers called Tamarcos, which have been found in

2106-463: The Elder , a Roman author and military officer drawing from the accounts of Juba II (ancient King of Mauretania ), stated that a Mauretanian expedition to the islands, circa 50 BC , found the ruins of great buildings, albeit with no population to speak of. If this account is accurate, it may suggest that the Guanche were not the only inhabitants, or the first ones; alternatively, this could imply that

2184-509: The Guanches (the Guanche new year) to be held after the gathering of crops devoted to Chaxiraxi (on August 15). In this event the Guanches shared milk, gofio , sheep or goat meat. At the present time, this coincides with the pilgrimage to the Basilica of the Virgin of Candelaria (Patron of Canary Islands). Among the cultural events are significant traces of aboriginal traditions at the holidays and in

2262-632: The Mauretanian expedition did not explore the islands thoroughly. Tenerife, specifically the archaeological site of the Cave of the Guanches in Icod de los Vinos , has provided evidence of habitation dating to the 6th century BC . This is based on the analyses of ceramics and pottery artifacts that were found inside the cave. Historically, the Guanche were the first peoples of Tenerife. Their population seems to have lived in relative obscurity and isolation up until

2340-403: The Mugharrarin moved back and first reached an uninhabited Island ( Madeira or Hierro ), where they found "a huge quantity of sheep, which its meat was bitter and inedible". They "continued southward" and reached another island where they were soon surrounded by barks and brought to "a village whose inhabitants were often fair haired with long and flaxen hair and the women of a rare beauty." Among

2418-454: The Yennayer celebrations concerns the date of New Year's Day. Though once this anniversary fell everywhere on 14 January, because of a likely mistake introduced by some Berber cultural associations very active in recovering customs on the verge of extinction, at present in a wide part of Algeria it is common opinion that the date of "Berber New Year's Day" is 12 January and not the 14th. Previously

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2496-503: The approximate date of the rising into power of the first Libyan Pharaoh in Egypt, Shoshenq I , whom they identified as the first prominent Berber in history (he is recorded as being of Libyan origin). For example, the Gregorian year 2024 corresponds to the 2974th year of the Berber calendar. This innovation has been adopted with conviction by many supporters of the Berber culture and is now

2574-535: The arrival of the Europeans, Guanche nobility from Gran Canaria were known to wield large wooden swords (larger than the European two-handed type) called Magido , which were said to be very effective against both infantrymen and cavalry. Weaponry made of wood was hardened with fire. These armaments were commonly complemented with an obsidian knife known as Tabona . Dwellings were situated in natural or artificial caves in

2652-821: The body in various colours. They manufactured rough pottery , mostly without decorations, or ornamented by making fingernail indentations. Guanche weapons adapted to the insular environment (using wood, bone, obsidian and stone as primary materials), with later influences from medieval European weaponry. Basic armaments in several of the islands included javelins of 1 to 2 m in length (known as Banot on Tenerife); round, polished stones; spears; maces (common in Gran Canaria and Tenerife, and known as Magado and Sunta , respectively); and shields (small in Tenerife and human-sized in Gran Canaria, where they were known as Tarja , made of Drago wood and painted with geometric shapes). After

2730-444: The celebration at the 12, two days before the traditional one, it had been explicitly signaled in the city of Oran . El Azara ( Arabic : العزارة ) is the period of the year extending, according to the Berber calendar, from 3 to 13 February and known by a climate sometimes hot, sometimes cold. Before the cold ends completely and spring begins fully, there is a period of the year that is very feared. It consists of ten days straddling

2808-516: The colonizers. Inscriptions, glyphs, rock paintings and carvings are all quite abundant throughout the archipelago. Petroglyphs attributed to other Mediterranean civilizations have also been found on some of the islands. In 1752 , Domingo Vandewalle , a military governor of Las Palmas , ventured to investigate the petroglyphs. Aquilino Padron, a priest at Las Palmas, catalogued inscriptions at El Julan, La Candía and La Caleta, all on El Hierro . In 1878 , Dr. René Verneau discovered rock carvings in

2886-565: The current Romería Relief in Güímar ( Tenerife ) and the lowering of the Rama, in Agaete (Gran Canaria). Mummification was not commonly practiced throughout the islands but was highly developed on Tenerife in particular. In Gran Canaria there is currently a debate on the true nature of the mummies of the ancient inhabitants of the island, as researchers point out that there was no real intention to mummify

2964-550: The deceased and that the good conservation of some of them is due rather to environmental factors. In La Palma they were preserved by these environmental factors and in La Gomera , and El Hierro the existence of mummification is not verified. In Lanzarote and Fuerteventura this practice is ruled out. The Guanches embalmed their dead; many mummies have been found in an extreme state of desiccation, each weighing not more than 3 kg (7 lb). Two almost inaccessible caves in

3042-410: The end of February, but at the end of the year. This means that the beginning of the year (the first day of yennayer ) corresponds to the 14th day of January in the Gregorian calendar, which coincides with the offset accumulated during the centuries between astronomical dates and the Julian calendar. There are standard forms for the names of the Amazigh (Berber) calendar. The table below also provides

3120-494: The ethnic Guanche confirmed a North African origin, genetically being most similar to ancient North African Berber peoples of the mainland African deserts. The native term guanachinet literally translated means "person of Tenerife " (from Guan = person and Achinet = Tenerife). It was modified, according to Juan Núñez de la Peña , by the Castilians into "Guanche". Though etymologically an ancient, Tenerife-specific term,

3198-430: The first day of yennayer , corresponding to the Gregorian 14 January. The first day of the year is celebrated in various ways in the different parts of North Africa. A widespread tradition is a meal with particular foods, which vary from region to region (such as a couscous with seven vegetables). In some regions, it is marked by the sacrifice of an animal (usually a chicken). In January 2018, Algeria declared Yennayer

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3276-509: The first new moon after the Summer solstice ) they celebrated nine festival days for the crop. The same manuscript states (although somewhat obscurely) that graphical-pictorical records of such calendarial events ( tara ) were made on different supports, and on this basis some modern scholars identified alleged descriptions of astronomical events connected to annual cycles in a series of geometric paintings in some caves of Gran Canaria island, but

3354-523: The forms used in Morocco , Algeria , Libya and Tunisia . In addition, some of the month names in Maltese are of Berber origin, specifically January ( jannar ), February ( frar ), May ( mejju ), and August ( awwissu ), with the others deriving from Italian. Berber and Italian month names are different enough that it is possible to easily determine the source language of each Maltese month name. In addition to

3432-414: The future and change, and warmly welcome the invisible forces that Berbers believed in. Berber calendar The Berber calendar ( Berber languages : ⵜⴰⵙⵡⴰⵙⵜ ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵜ , romanized:  taswast tamaziɣt ) is the agricultural calendar traditionally used by Berbers ( Amazigh , plural Imazighen ). The calendar is utilized to regulate the seasonal agricultural works. The Islamic calendar ,

3510-548: The genetics of the Guanche population has led to the conclusion that they share an ancestry with Berber peoples who immigrated from around Western Sahara . The islands were visited by a number of other peoples and representatives of distant civilizations during recorded history; the Numidians , Phoenicians , and Carthaginians all knew of the islands and made frequent visits, including expeditions dispatched from Mogador by Juba . Based on Roman artifacts , found on and near

3588-455: The gods. Bethencourt Alfonso has claimed that goat kids were tied by the legs, alive, to a stake so that they could be heard bleating by the gods. It is likely that animals were also sacrificed on the other islands. As for human sacrifices, in Tenerife it was the custom to throw a living child from the Punta de Rasca at sunrise at the summer solstice. Sometimes these children came from all parts of

3666-408: The government was elective . In Tenerife all the land belonged to the kings who leased it to their subjects. In Gran Canaria, suicide was regarded as honorable, and whenever a new king was installed, one of his subjects willingly honored the occasion by throwing himself over a precipice. In some islands, polyandry was practised; in others they were monogamous . Insult of a woman by an armed man

3744-485: The island of Lanzarote , the Romans visited the Canary Islands during their occupation of mainland North Africa between the 1st and 4th centuries AD ; the artifacts found show that the Romans engaged in trade with the people of the island. However, there is no evidence of them ever settling on or invading the Canaries. Archaeology of the Canaries seems to reflect diverse levels of technology, with items differing widely from

3822-645: The island, even from remote areas of Punta de Rasca . It follows that it was a common custom of the island. On this island sacrificing other human victims associated with the death of the king, where adult men rushed to the sea are also known. Embalmers who produced the Guanche mummies also had a habit of throwing themselves into the sea one year after the king's death. Bones of children mixed with lambs and kids were found in Gran Canaria , and in Tenerife amphorae have been found with remains of children inside. This suggests

3900-562: The islands, including the Idol of Tara ( Museo Canario , Las Palmas de Gran Canaria ) and the Guatimac (Museum Archaeological of Puerto de la Cruz in Tenerife). But many more figures have been found in the rest of the archipelago. Most researchers agree that the Guanches performed their worship in the open, under sacred trees such as pine or drago , or near sacred mountains such as Mount Teide , which

3978-582: The kings of the southern part of the island. He defeated the Guanches in the Battle of Aguere . The northern Menceyatos or provinces fell after the Second Battle of Acentejo with the defeat of the successor of Bencomo , Bentor, Mencey of Taoro—what is now the Orotava Valley—in 1496. Various scholars have used the term "genocide" to describe the conquest of the Canary Islands. Mohamed Adikhari argues that

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4056-451: The meal, Yennayer is also a time for exchanging wishes for prosperity and symbolizes longevity. It is often marked by other significant events such as the first hair cut for little boys, marriage under the good omen of Yennayer, and agricultural initiation rites where Berber children are sent to pick fruits and vegetables from the farm themselves. The rites performed during Yennayer are done in a symbolic manner and aim to eliminate famine, augur

4134-414: The months of furar and mars (the last five of the former and the first five of the latter), and it is characterised by strong winds. It is said that, during this term, one should suspend many activities (agricultural and artisan ), should not marry nor go out during the night, leaving instead full scope to mysterious powers, which in that period are particularly active and celebrate their weddings. Due to

4212-610: The mountains, emerging at night to attack livestock and human beings. In Tenerife , Magec (god of the Sun) and Chaxiraxi (the goddess mother) were also worshipped. In times of drought, the Guanches drove their flocks to consecrated grounds, where the lambs were separated from their mothers in the belief that their plaintive bleating would melt the heart of the Great Spirit. During the religious feasts, hostilities were held in abeyance, from war to personal quarrels. Idols have been found in

4290-426: The mountains. In areas where cave dwellings were not feasible, they built small round houses and, according to the Castilians, practiced crude fortification. Maca-Meyer et al. 2003 extracted 71 samples of mtDNA from Guanches buried at numerous Canary Islands (c. 1000 AD). The examined Guanches were found to have closest genetic affinities to modern Moroccan Berbers , Canary Islanders and Spaniards . They carried

4368-469: The new Spanish population and associated culture. Elements of their original culture survive within Canarian customs and traditions, such as Silbo (the whistled language of La Gomera Island), as well as some lexicon of Canarian Spanish . Some scholars have classified the destruction of the Guanche people and culture as an example of colonial genocide . In 2017, the first genome -wide data analysis of

4446-506: The origin of Proto-Berber. Little is known of the religion of the Guanches. There was a general belief in a supreme being, called Achamán in Tenerife, Acoran in Gran Canaria, Eraoranhan in Hierro, and Abora in La Palma. The women of Hierro worshipped a goddess called Moneiba . According to tradition, the male and female gods lived in mountains, from which they descended to hear the prayers of

4524-436: The people. On other islands, the natives venerated the sun , moon , earth , and stars . A belief in an evil spirit was general. The demon of Tenerife was called Guayota and lived at the peak of Teide volcano, which was the hell called Echeyde ; in Tenerife and Gran Canaria, the minor demons took the form of wild black woolly dogs called Jucanchas in the first and Tibicenas in the latter, which lived in deep caves of

4602-565: The proper names of ancient chieftains, still borne by certain families —exhibits positive similarities with the Berber languages. The first reliable account of the Guanche language was provided by the Genoese explorer Nicoloso da Recco in 1341, with a translation of numbers used by the islanders. According to European chroniclers, the Guanche did not possess a system of writing at the time of conquest; their potential writing system may have fallen into disuse, or aspects of it were simply overlooked by

4680-468: The ravines of Las Balos that resembled Libyan or Numidian script, dating from the time of Roman occupation or earlier. In other locations, Libyco-Berber script has been identified. The geographic accounts of Pliny the Elder and of Strabo mention the Fortunate Isles but do not report anything about their populations. An account of the Guanche population may have been made around AD 1150 by

4758-479: The relationships between the joyful celebration of this holiday in North Africa and the ancient New Year's Day celebrations. Arabic and Berber names of the Islamic months Not much is known about the division of time among the ancient Berbers. Some elements of a pre-Islamic, and almost certainly a pre- Roman calendar, emerge from some medieval writings, analyzed by Nico van den Boogert. Some correspondences with

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4836-567: The results of these studies are for now highly speculative. The name of only one month is known in the native language, handed down as Beñesmet . It seems it was the second month of the year, corresponding to August. Such a name, in case it was made up by something like * wen "that of" + (e)smet (or (e)zmet ?), may correspond, in the list of medieval Berber month names, with the ninth and tenth months, awzimet (properly aw "baby of" + zimet "gazelle"). But data are too scarce for this hypothesis to be deepened. The traditional Berber calendar

4914-511: The situation in the rest of North Africa, may be deduced from what is known about time computation among the Guanches of the Canary Islands . According to a 17th-century manuscript by Tomás Marín de Cubas, they computed their year, called Acano , by lunations of 29 days (suns) beginning from the new moon . It began in summer, when the sun enters in Cancer , on June 21: at the first conjunction (at

4992-408: The south of the island of Tenerife. This cemetery was almost completely looted; it is estimated to have contained between 60 and 74 mummies. Although little is known about this practice among them, it has been shown that they performed both animal sacrifices and human sacrifices . In Tenerife during the summer solstice, the Guanches killed livestock and threw them into a fire as an offering to

5070-480: The subdivision by months, within the traditional agricultural calendar there are other partitions, by "seasons" or by "strong periods", characterized by particular festivals and celebrations. Not all the four seasons have retained a Berber denomination: the words for spring and autumn are used almost everywhere, more sparingly the winter and, among northern Berbers, the Berber name for the autumn has been preserved only in Jebel Nafusa ( Libya ). An interesting element

5148-427: The summer solstice: a custom already condemned as Pagan by St. Augustine ), or water rituals, like those, common in the coastal towns of Tunisia and Tripolitania , that provide to dive in the seawaters for three nights, in order to preserve one's health. In these ceremonies, whole families used to enter the water, bringing with them even their pets. Though the rite has been revisited in an Islamic frame (in those nights,

5226-456: The suppression of some traditional holidays or to the creation of duplicates. The most evident example are the celebrations for the new year, which in many cases have been transferred to the first Islamic month, i.e. Muḥarram , and more precisely to the ʿĀshūrā’ , which falls on the 10th day of that month. This holiday has an important mournful meaning in the Shia Islam , but it is substantially ignored among Sunnis . Many studies have shown

5304-503: The throne of Egypt, as the first year of the Berber calendar. There is some debate about the traditional date of Yennayer, with some cultural associations advocating for its celebration on the evening of 13 January, which is widespread in Morocco , Algeria , Libya , and the Canary Islands . On 27 December 2017, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika officially recognized Yennayer as a public holiday to be celebrated on 12 January every year. The first official celebration of Yennayer as

5382-473: The time of Castilian conquest (ca. the 14th century ); Genoese , Portuguese , and Castilian ships may have visited the archipelago earlier for trade purposes, from the second half of the 8th century onward. The Spanish gradually applied the term "Guanche" to the indigenous populations of all seven Canary Islands, with those living on Tenerife being the most important or powerful. What remains of their language, Guanche—a few expressions, vocabulary words and

5460-413: The tombs of Tenerife. They had a taste for ornaments and necklaces of wood, bone and shells, worked in different designs. Beads of baked earth, cylindrical and of all shapes, with smooth or polished surfaces, mostly colored black and red, were fairly common. Dr. René Verneau suggested that the objects the Castilians referred to as pintaderas , baked clay seal-shaped objects, were used as vessels for painting

5538-519: The traditional Tuareg calendar suggest that in antiquity there existed, with some degree of diffusion, a Berber time computation, organized on native bases. There are not enough elements to reconstruct this calendar fully, but known characteristics include many month names' appearing in couples (in the Tuareg world, even in triplets), which suggests a time division different from the present one, made up of months of about 30 days. Some further information, although difficult to specify and correlate with

5616-419: The villagers, one spoke Arabic and asked them where they came from. Then the king of the village ordered them to bring villagers back to the continent. There they were surprised to be welcomed by Berbers. Apart from the marvelous and fanciful content of this history, this account suggests that the Guanche had sporadic contacts with populations from the mainland. Al-Idrisi described the Guanche men as tall and of

5694-523: The water of the Zamzam Well , in Mecca , would spill over, and in the sea there would be beneficial sweet water waves), many call this celebration "the nights of the error". It was in fact usual that, in order to achieve fertility and prosperity, men and women copulated among the waves. Another important period for the agricultural calendar is that of the ploughing . In this context, a date considered fundamental

5772-529: The word Guanche is now used mostly to refer to the pre-Hispanic Indigenous inhabitants of the entire archipelago. Genetic and linguistic evidence show that North African peoples made a significant contribution to the aboriginal population of the Canaries, notably, following desertification of the Sahara (post- 6000 BC ). There are ties between the Guanche language and the Berber languages of North Africa, particularly when comparing numeral systems . Research into

5850-468: Was allegedly a capital offense. Anyone accused of a crime had to attend a public trial in Tagoror, a public court where those prosecuted were sentenced after a trial. The island of Tenerife was divided into nine small kingdoms ( menceyatos ), each ruled by a king or Mencey . The Mencey was the ultimate ruler of the kingdom, and at times, meetings were held between the various kings. When the Castilians invaded

5928-412: Was believed to be the abode of the devil Guayota . Mount Teide was sacred to the aboriginal Guanches and since 2007 is a World Heritage Site . But sometimes the Guanches also performed worship in caves, as in "Cave of Achbinico" in Tenerife. Until the 20th century, there were in the Canary Islands (especially in northern Tenerife) individuals called "Animeros." They were similar to healers and mystics with

6006-457: Was not linked to an era with respect to which years were calculated. Where traditional ways to compute the years have been preserved (Tuareg civilization), years are not expressed with numbers but each of them has a name characterizing it. Starting from the 1960s, however, on the initiative of the Académie Berbère of Paris, some Berbers have begun computing the years starting from 950 BC,

6084-465: Was reserved for a special class, with women tending to female corpses, and men for the male ones. Embalming seems not to have been universal. In the Museo de la Naturaleza y el Hombre ( Santa Cruz de Tenerife ) mummies of original inhabitants of the Canary Islands are displayed. In 1933, the largest Guanche necropolis of the Canary Islands was found, at Uchova in the municipality of San Miguel de Abona in

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