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92-505: Established in 1496, Tindirma was once a Jewish community founded by Iberian Sephardi Jews who had been expelled from Spain and Portugal . Jewish graves and structures still remain in Tindirma. Tindirma quickly became an important trade and administrative town within the Songhai Empire , becoming the capital of the western provinces and the seat of the powerful Kurmina-fari . The town

184-506: A minyan and establish a synagogue. They were: Manuel I in 1496, decided to exile thousands of Jews to São Tomé , Príncipe , and Cape Verde . The numbers expelled at this time were so great that the term "Portuguese" almost implied those of Jewish origin. Those who were not expelled were converted by force or executed. During the early 19th century, Jews also came to settle in Santo Antão where there are still traces of their influx in

276-699: A belief in the power of demons and saints . When the Muslims swept across the North of Africa, Jews and Berbers jointly defied them. Across the Atlas Mountains, the legendary Queen Kahina led a tribe of seventh-century Berbers, Jews, and other North African ethnic groups in battle against encroaching Islamic warriors. In the 10th century, as the social and political environment in Baghdad became increasingly hostile to Jews, many Jewish traders who lived and worked there moved to

368-709: A client state of the Roman empire in 33 BC, after the death of king Bocchus II , then a full Roman province in AD 40, after the death of its last king, Ptolemy of Mauretania , a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty . According to historians of the Middle Ages, the Berbers were divided into two branches, Butr and Baranis (known also as Botr and Barnès), descended from Mazigh ancestors, who were themselves divided into tribes and subtribes. Each region of

460-482: A desire to quickly end conflict in a profitable client kingdom, sought to settle the quarrel by dividing Numidia into two parts. Jugurtha was assigned the western half. However, soon after, conflict broke out again, leading to the Jugurthine War between Rome and Numidia. In antiquity, Mauretania (3rd century BC – 44 BC) was an ancient Mauri Berber kingdom in modern Morocco and part of Algeria. It became

552-635: A few Jews are said still to dwell there. Victor J. Horowitz also speaks of many free tribes in the desert regions who are Jews by origin, but who have gradually thrown off Jewish customs and have apparently accepted Islam . Among these tribes, he says, are the Daggatun, numbering several thousands and scattered over several oases in the Sahara, even as far as the River Dialiva (Djoliba?) or Niger . He says, also, that they are very warlike and in constant conflict with

644-729: A grant from the Mellon Foundation. The trading documents referred to three families in particular: the Kehath family (Ka'ti) that came from southern Morocco and converted with the rest of the population in 1492; the Cohen family descended from the Moroccan Jewish trader al-Hajj Abd al-Salam al Kuhin , who arrived in the Timbuktu area in the 18th century; and the Abana family, which came in the first half of

736-446: A historian from Timbuktu, possesses old Arabic and Hebrew texts among the city's historical records. He has also researched his own past and discovered that he is descended from the Moroccan Jewish traders of the Abana family. As he interviewed elders in the villages of his relatives, he has discovered that knowledge of the family's Jewish identity has been preserved, in secret, out of fear of persecution. Recently there has come to light

828-638: A long time of the Jewish religion, especially in Amès ; and to-day, even, we see among the Hanensha of Sukahras (Algeria) a semi-nomad tribe of Israelites devoted entirely to agriculture". In addition, it may be noticed that Jews are to be found in the Berber " ksurs " (fortified villages) all along southern Morocco and in the adjacent Sahara. Thus, at Outat near Tafilalt there is a mellah with about 500 Jews; and at Figuig ,

920-412: A mellah with 100 Jews. Going farther south to Tuat , there is a large community of Jews in the oasis of Alhamada ; and at Tamentit , a two weeks' journey from Tafilalt, the 6,000 or 8,000 inhabitants are said to be descendants of Jews converted to Islam. Even much farther to the west, in the province of Sus, there is Ogulmin with 3,000 inhabitants, of whom 100 are said to be Jews. The Daggatuns were

1012-560: A more recent intrusion being associated with the Neolithic Revolution . The proto-Berber tribes evolved from these prehistoric communities during the late Bronze - and early Iron ages. Uniparental DNA analysis has established ties between Berbers and other Afroasiatic speakers in Africa. Most of these populations belong to the E1b1b paternal haplogroup, with Berber speakers having among

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1104-486: A nomadic tribe of Jewish origin living in the neighborhood of Tamentit, in the oasis of Tuat in the Algerian Sahara . An account of the Daggatun was first given by Rabbi Mordechai Abi Serour of Akka (Morocco), who in 1857 journeyed through the Sahara to Timbuctu, and whose account of his travels was published in the "Bulletin de la Société de Géographie". According to Rabbi Sarur, the Daggatun lived in tents and resembled

1196-553: A period, the Berbers were in constant revolt, and in 396 there was a great uprising. Thousands of rebels streamed down from the mountains and invaded Punic territory, carrying the serfs of the countryside along with them. The Carthaginians were obliged to withdraw within their walls and were besieged. Yet the Berbers lacked cohesion; and although 200,000 strong at one point, they succumbed to hunger, their leaders were offered bribes, and "they gradually broke up and returned to their homes". Thereafter, "a series of revolts took place among

1288-476: A point of view fundamentally foreign to the Berbers. A population of mixed ancestry, Berber and Punic, evolved there, and there would develop recognized niches in which Berbers had proven their utility. For example, the Punic state began to field Berber–Numidian cavalry under their commanders on a regular basis. The Berbers eventually were required to provide soldiers (at first "unlikely" paid "except in booty"), which by

1380-520: A result of changing social conditions, persecution, migration, and assimilation. Today only a few thousand retained the identity. According to most accounts, the earliest Jewish settlements in Africa were in places such as Egypt , Tunisia , Libya , and Morocco . Jews had settled along the Upper Nile on the island of Elephantine in Egypt . These communities were augmented by subsequent arrivals of Jews after

1472-461: A single cultural or linguistic unit, nor was there a greater "Berber community", due to their differing cultures. They also did not refer to themselves as Berbers/Amazigh but had their own terms to refer to their own groups and communities. They started being referred to collectively as Berbers after the Arab conquests of the 7th century and this distinction was revived by French colonial administrators in

1564-615: A trading center in the city, from which a network of trading routes were created through the desert. Manuscript C of the Tarikh al-fattash describes a community called the Bani Israeel that in 1402 CE existed in Tindirma , possessed 333 wells, and had seven leaders: It is also stated that they had an army of 1500 men. Other sources say that other Jewish communities in the region were formed by migrations from Morocco, Egypt, and Portugal. When

1656-534: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Jews of Bilad el-Sudan Sahelian Jews historically known as Jews of the Bilad al-Sudan ( Judeo-Arabic : אַהַל יַהוּדּ בִּלַדּ אַל סוּדָּן , romanized:  ʾahal yahūd bilad al-sūdān ) describes West African Jewish communities connected to known Jewish communities who migrated to West Africa as merchants for trading opportunities. Various historical records state that at one time, they were present in

1748-539: Is a declared enemy of the Jews. He will not allow any to live in the city. If he hears it said that a Berber merchant frequents them or does business with them, he confiscates his goods. There seems to be little doubt that Jews have largely been mixed with Berbers living in the Moroccan and Algerian Sahara . It is believed that some Berber clans may have been at one time Jews and according to another tradition they are descended from

1840-636: Is currently in the possession of two branches of the Kati clan in the village of Kirshamba about 160 kilometres (100 mi) to the west of Timbuktu. Up to 1,700 out of an estimated 2,000 manuscripts in the library have been examined and evaluated by Abdul Kader Haïdara, the Timbuktu-based expert in Arabic manuscripts and guardian of the Mamma Haidara Memorial Library currently being rehabilitated through

1932-596: Is sometimes also used in English. While Berber is more widely known among English-speakers, its usage is a subject of debate, due to its historical background as an exonym and present equivalence with the Arabic word for " barbarian ". Historically, Berbers did not refer to themselves as Berbers/Amazigh but had their own terms to refer to themselves. For example, the Kabyles use the term "Leqbayel" to refer to their own people, while

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2024-898: The Byzantines , the Vandals and the Ottoman Turks . Even after the Arab conquest of North Africa , the Kabyle people still maintained possession of their mountains. According to the Roman historian Gaius Sallustius Crispus , the original people of North Africa are the Gaetulians and the Libyans, they were the prehistoric peoples that crossed to Africa from Iberia , then much later, Hercules and his army crossed from Iberia to North Africa where his army intermarried with

2116-560: The Donatist doctrine and being a Berber, ascribed to the doctrine matching their culture, as well as their being alienated from the dominant Roman culture of the Catholic church), some perhaps Jewish , and some adhered to their traditional polytheist religion . The Roman-era authors Apuleius and St. Augustine were born in Numidia, as were three popes , one of whom, Pope Victor I , served during

2208-697: The Ghana Empire , the Mali Empire , the Mossi Kingdoms and the Songhai Empire , which was then called the Bilad al-Sudan "Land of the Blacks ". In later years, Jews who were expelled from Spain and from Portugal , as well as Moroccan Jews , migrated to communities off the coast of Senegal and on the islands of Cape Verde . These Jewish communities continued to exist for hundreds of years but eventually disappeared as

2300-578: The Hafsids – continued to rule until the 16th century. From the 16th century onward, the process continued in the absence of Berber dynasties; in Morocco, they were replaced by Arabs claiming descent from the Islamic prophet Muhammad . Berbers are divided into several diverse ethnic groups and Berber languages, such as Kabyles , Chaouis and Rifians . Historically, Berbers across the region did not see themselves as

2392-566: The Holocene . In 2013, Iberomaurusian skeletons from the prehistoric sites of Taforalt and Afalou in the Maghreb were also analyzed for ancient DNA . All of the specimens belonged to maternal clades associated with either North Africa or the northern and southern Mediterranean littoral , indicating gene flow between these areas since the Epipaleolithic . The ancient Taforalt individuals carried

2484-598: The Maghreb region of North Africa are collectively known as Berbers or Amazigh in English. Tribal titles such as Barabara and Beraberata appear in Egyptian inscriptions of 1700 and 1300 B.C, and the Berbers were probably intimately related with the Egyptians in very early times. Thus the true ethnical name may have become confused with Barbari , the designation naturally used by classical conquerors. The plural form Imazighen

2576-662: The Maghreb region of North Africa, where they live in scattered communities across parts of Morocco , Algeria , Libya , and to a lesser extent Tunisia , Mauritania , northern Mali and northern Niger . Smaller Berber communities are also found in Burkina Faso and Egypt 's Siwa Oasis . Descended from Stone Age tribes of North Africa, accounts of the Imazighen were first mentioned in Ancient Egyptian writings . From about 2000 BCE, Berber languages spread westward from

2668-587: The Maghreb , particularly to Tunisia . Over the following two to three centuries, a distinctive social group of traders who were active throughout the Mediterranean world became known as the Maghrebi , passing this term of identification on from father to son. According to certain local Malian history, an account in the Tarikh al-Sudan may have recorded the first Jewish presence in West Africa which coincided with

2760-511: The Nile Valley across the northern Sahara into the Maghreb. A series of Berber peoples such as the Mauri , Masaesyli , Massyli , Musulamii , Gaetuli , and Garamantes gave rise to Berber kingdoms, such as Numidia and Mauretania . Other kingdoms appeared in late antiquity, such as Altava , Aurès , Ouarsenis , and Hodna . Berber kingdoms were eventually suppressed by the Arab conquests of

2852-510: The Philistines driven out of Canaan. There is a tradition that Moses was buried in Tlemçen , and the presence of a large number of Jews in that part of Africa is attested to, not only by the many sacred places and shrines bearing Biblical names which are holy to Muslims as well as to Jews, but also by the presence there of a large number of Jewish sagas. L. Rinn says: "Certain Berber tribes were for

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2944-527: The Roman era . Byzantine authors mention the Mazikes (Amazigh) as tribal people raiding the monasteries of Cyrenaica . Garamantia was a notable Berber kingdom that flourished in the Fezzan area of modern-day Libya in the Sahara desert between 400 BC and 600 AD. Roman-era Cyrenaica became a center of early Christianity . Some pre-Islamic Berbers were Christians (there is a strong correlation between adherence to

3036-403: The early Berbers . Hence, the interactions between Berbers and Phoenicians were often asymmetrical. The Phoenicians worked to keep their cultural cohesion and ethnic solidarity, and continuously refreshed their close connection with Tyre , the mother city. The earliest Phoenician coastal outposts were probably meant merely to resupply and service ships bound for the lucrative metals trade with

3128-606: The 17th century accelerated this process. Berber tribes remained powerful political forces and founded new ruling dynasties in the 10th and 11th centuries, such as the Zirids , Hammadids , various Zenata principalities in the western Maghreb, and several Taifa kingdoms in al-Andalus , and empires of the Almoravids and Almohads . Their Berber successors – the Marinids , the Zayyanids , and

3220-552: The 19th century. Berbers Berbers , or the Berber peoples , also known as Amazigh or Imazighen , are a diverse grouping of distinct ethnic groups indigenous to North Africa who predate the arrival of Arabs in the Maghreb . Their main connections are identified by their usage of Berber languages , most of them mutually unintelligible, which are part of the Afroasiatic language family . They are indigenous to

3312-518: The 19th century. Today, the term "Berber" is viewed as pejorative by many who prefer the term "Amazigh". Since the late 20th century, a trans-national movement – known as Berberism or the Berber Culture Movement – has emerged among various parts of the Berber populations of North Africa to promote a collective Amazigh ethnic identity and to militate for greater linguistic rights and cultural recognition. The indigenous populations of

3404-488: The 5th century BC, Carthage expanded its territory, acquiring Cape Bon and the fertile Wadi Majardah , later establishing control over productive farmlands for several hundred kilometres. Appropriation of such wealth in land by the Phoenicians would surely provoke some resistance from the Berbers; although in warfare, too, the technical training, social organization, and weaponry of the Phoenicians would seem to work against

3496-402: The 7th and 8th centuries CE. This started a process of cultural and linguistic assimilation known as Arabization , which influenced the Berber population. Arabization involved the spread of Arabic language and Arab culture among the Berbers, leading to the adoption of Arabic as the primary language and conversion to Islam . Notably, the Arab migrations to the Maghreb from the 7th century to

3588-534: The Berber Kel Tamesheq (Tuareg), among whom they live, in language, religion, and general customs. They are subject to the Tuaregs, who do not intermarry with them. Rabbi Sarur also states that their settlement in the Sahara dates from the end of the 7th century (Muslim chronology) when 'Abd al-Malik ascended the throne and conquered as far as Morocco. At Tamentit he tried to convert the inhabitants to Islam; and as

3680-714: The Berber language and traditions best have been, in general, Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia. Much of Berber culture is still celebrated among the cultural elite in Morocco and Algeria, especially in the Kabylia , the Aurès and the Atlas Mountains . The Kabyles were one of the few peoples in North Africa who remained independent during successive rule by the Carthaginians , the Romans ,

3772-454: The Berber peoples also formed quasi-independent satellite societies along the steppes of the frontier and beyond, where a minority continued as free 'tribal republics'. While benefiting from Punic material culture and political-military institutions, these peripheral Berbers (also called Libyans)—while maintaining their own identity, culture, and traditions—continued to develop their own agricultural skills and village societies, while living with

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3864-501: The Berbers continued throughout the life of Carthage. The unequal development of material culture and social organization perhaps fated the relationship to be an uneasy one. A long-term cause of Punic instability, there was no melding of the peoples. It remained a source of stress and a point of weakness for Carthage. Yet there were degrees of convergence on several particulars, discoveries of mutual advantage, occasions of friendship, and family. The Berbers gain historicity gradually during

3956-493: The Berbers who advanced their interests following the Roman victory. Carthage was faulted by her ancient rivals for the "harsh treatment of her subjects" as well as for "greed and cruelty". Her Libyan Berber sharecroppers, for example, were required to pay half of their crops as tribute to the city-state during the emergency of the First Punic War . The normal exaction taken by Carthage was likely "an extremely burdensome" one-quarter. Carthage once famously attempted to reduce

4048-445: The Berbers. Nonetheless, a modern criticism is that the Carthaginians "did themselves a disservice" by failing to promote the common, shared quality of "life in a properly organized city" that inspires loyalty, particularly with regard to the Berbers. Again, the tribute demanded by Carthage was onerous. [T]he most ruinous tribute was imposed and exacted with unsparing rigour from the subject native states, and no slight one either from

4140-438: The Chaouis identified themselves as "Ishawiyen" instead of Berber/Amazigh. Stéphane Gsell proposed the translation "noble/free" for the term Amazigh based on Leo Africanus 's translation of "awal amazigh" as "noble language" referring to Berber languages , this definition remains disputed and is largely seen as an undue extrapolation. The term Amazigh also has a cognate in the Tuareg "Amajegh", meaning noble. "Mazigh"

4232-644: The Iberians, and perhaps at first regarded trade with the Berbers as unprofitable. However, the Phoenicians eventually established strategic colonial cities in many Berber areas, including sites outside of present-day Tunisia, such as the settlements at Oea , Leptis Magna , Sabratha (in Libya), Volubilis , Chellah , and Mogador (now in Morocco). As in Tunisia, these centres were trading hubs, and later offered support for resource development, such as processing olive oil at Volubilis and Tyrian purple dye at Mogador. For their part, most Berbers maintained their independence as farmers or semi-pastorals, although, due to

4324-512: The Islamic invasions into North Africa. In the 14th century, many Moors and Jews, who were fleeing persecution in Spain, migrated south to the Timbuktu area, which was part of the Songhai Empire at that time. Among them was the Kehath (Ka'ti) family, which was descended from Ismael Jan Kot Al-yahudi of Scheida , Morocco. The sons of this prominent family founded three villages which still exist near Timbuktu -- Kirshamba , Haybomo , and Kongougara . In 1492, Askia Muhammad I came to power in

4416-442: The Jews in placing their land in Africa. As early as Roman times, Moroccan Jews had begun to travel inland in order to trade with groups of Berbers , most of whom were nomads who dwelt in remote areas of the Atlas Mountains . Jews lived side by side with Berbers, forging both economic and cultural ties; some Berbers even began to practice Judaism . In response, the Berbers' spirituality transformed Jewish rituals, painting it with

4508-418: The Jews offered great resistance he exiled them to the desert of Ajaj, as he did also the Tuaregs, who had only partially accepted Islam. Cut off from any connection with their brethren, these Jews in the Sahara gradually lost their Jewish practises and became nominally Muslims . Other accounts place a group of "Arabs" driven to Ajaj as being identified with the Mechagra mentioned by Erwin von Bary, among whom

4600-433: The Libyans [Berbers] from the fourth century onwards". The Berbers had become involuntary 'hosts' to the settlers from the east, and were obliged to accept the dominance of Carthage for centuries. Nonetheless, therein they persisted largely unassimilated, as a separate, submerged entity, as a culture of mostly passive urban and rural poor within the civil structures created by Punic rule. In addition, and most importantly,

4692-530: The Maghreb contained several fully independent tribes (e.g., Sanhaja , Houaras, Zenata , Masmuda , Kutama , Awraba, Barghawata , etc.). The Mauro-Roman Kingdom was an independent Christian Berber kingdom centred in the capital city of Altava (present-day Algeria) which controlled much of the ancient Roman province of Mauretania Caesariensis . Berber Christian communities within the Maghreb all but disappeared under Islamic rule. The indigenous Christian population in some Nefzaoua villages persisted until

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4784-430: The Massylii, Masinissa, allied himself with Rome, and Syphax, of the Masaesyli, switched his allegiance to the Carthaginian side. At the end of the war, the victorious Romans gave all of Numidia to Masinissa. At the time of his death in 148 BC, Masinissa's territory extended from Mauretania to the boundary of Carthaginian territory, and southeast as far as Cyrenaica, so that Numidia entirely surrounded Carthage except towards

4876-414: The Mauri, the Numidians near Carthage , and the Gaetulians . The Mauri inhabited the far west (ancient Mauretania , now Morocco and central Algeria). The Numidians occupied the regions between the Mauri and the city-state of Carthage. Both the Mauri and the Numidians had significant sedentary populations living in villages, and their peoples both tilled the land and tended herds. The Gaetulians lived to

4968-434: The Roman province of Mauretania (in modern Algeria and Morocco) to the west, the Roman province of Africa (modern Tunisia) to the east, the Mediterranean to the north, and the Sahara Desert to the south. Its people were the Numidians. The name Numidia was first applied by Polybius and other historians during the third century BC to indicate the territory west of Carthage, including the entire north of Algeria as far as

5060-498: The Sahara by bejaoui . The term, bejaoui , refers to single or small groups of camels that carried travelers sometimes without merchandise or baggage, and were accompanied by indigenous guides. As a Jew, he couldn't set up his trading business, so he appealed to the regional ruler, who at that time was a Fulani Emir, and negotiated dhimmi , or protected people status. Between 1860 and 1862 Rabbi Serour and his brother Yitzhaq were able to become successful and they became well known in

5152-444: The Scottish explorer Mungo Park traveled through West Africa in the late 18th century he was informed by an Arab he met near Walata of there being many Arabic speaking Jews in Timbuktu whose prayers were similar to the Moors . Some communities are said to have been populated by certain Berber Jews like a group of Kal Tamasheq known as Iddao Ishaak that traveled from North Africa into West Africa for trade, as well as those escaping

5244-453: The Tassili n'Ajjer paintings, developed and predominated in the Saharan and Mediterranean region (the Maghreb) of northern Africa between 6000 and 2000 BC (until the classical period). Prehistoric Tifinagh inscriptions were found in the Oran region. During the pre-Roman era, several successive independent states (Massylii) existed before King Masinissa unified the people of Numidia . The areas of North Africa that have retained

5336-410: The Tuareg. According to Horowitz, the Mechagra mentioned above are also to be reckoned as one of these Jewish tribes. Horowitz had never been to Africa, but relied mainly on rumours spread in the European Jewish community. Rabbi Mordechai Abi Serour, with his brother Yitzhaq, came from Morocco in 1859 to be a trader in Timbuktu . At the time of Rabbi Serour's bold enterprise, direct trade relations with

5428-400: The area. After earning a small fortune, Rabbi Serour returned to Morocco in 1863. He gave his father a large sum of money and talked his other brothers into joining him on his next venture to Timbuktu. In 1864, the Jewish colony in Timbuktu had reason to rejoice since by the end of the year they had eleven adult male Jews in residence. This was significant since it meant that they could form

5520-420: The arrival of the first Zuwa ruler of Koukiya and his brother, who settled near the Niger River . He was only known as Za/Zuwa Alyaman (which means that "He comes from Yemen"). Local traditions state that Zuwa Alyaman was a member of one of the Yemenite Jewish communities which were either transported or voluntarily moved from the Himyarite Kingdom by the Ethiopian Kingdom of Axum in the sixth century after

5612-414: The cognate Phoenician states. ... Hence arose that universal disaffection, or rather that deadly hatred, on the part of her foreign subjects, and even of the Phoenician dependencies, toward Carthage, on which every invader of Africa could safely count as his surest support. ... This was the fundamental, the ineradicable weakness of the Carthaginian Empire ... The Punic relationship with the majority of

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5704-450: The complexity of the politics involved. Eventually, the Phoenician trading stations would evolve into permanent settlements, and later into small towns, which would presumably require a wide variety of goods as well as sources of food, which could be satisfied through trade with the Berbers. Yet, here too, the Phoenicians probably would be drawn into organizing and directing such local trade, and also into managing agricultural production. In

5796-432: The defeat of Dhu Nuwas . The Tarikh al-Sudan states that there were 14 Zuwa rulers of Kukiya after Zuwa Alyaman before the rise of Islam in the region. There is debate on whether or not the Tarikh al-Sudan can be understood in this manner. The Jewish history of Mali begins in the 8th century, when multilingual African-Jewish Radhanites first settled in Timbuktu in the Songhai Empire. These medieval merchants established

5888-412: The destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE, when 30,000 Jewish slaves were settled throughout Carthage by the Roman emperor Titus . Africa is identified in various Jewish sources in connection with Tarshish and Ophir . The Septuagint , and Jerome , who was taught by Jews, and very often the Aramaic Targum on the Prophets , identify the Biblical Tarshish with Carthage, which

5980-434: The elegant Libyan pharaohs on the Nile). Correspondingly, in early Carthage, careful attention was given to securing the most favourable treaties with the Berber chieftains, "which included intermarriage between them and the Punic aristocracy". In this regard, perhaps the legend about Dido , the foundress of Carthage, as related by Trogus is apposite. Her refusal to wed the Mauritani chieftain Hiarbus might be indicative of

6072-488: The example of Carthage, their organized politics increased in scope and sophistication. In fact, for a time their numerical and military superiority (the best horse riders of that time) enabled some Berber kingdoms to impose a tribute on Carthage, a condition that continued into the 5th century BC. Also, due to the Berbero-Libyan Meshwesh dynasty 's rule of Egypt (945–715 BC), the Berbers near Carthage commanded significant respect (yet probably appearing more rustic than

6164-481: The fourth century BC became "the largest single element in the Carthaginian army". Yet in times of stress at Carthage, when a foreign force might be pushing against the city-state, some Berbers would see it as an opportunity to advance their interests, given their otherwise low status in Punic society. Thus, when the Greeks under Agathocles (361–289 BC) of Sicily landed at Cape Bon and threatened Carthage (in 310 BC), there were Berbers, under Ailymas, who went over to

6256-399: The highest frequencies of this lineage. Additionally, genomic analysis found that Berber and other Maghreb communities have a high frequency of an ancestral component that originated in the Near East. This Maghrebi element peaks among Tunisian Berbers. This ancestry is related to the Coptic/Ethio-Somali component, which diverged from these and other West Eurasian-affiliated components before

6348-459: The historian Leo Africanus wrote in 1526: In Garura (Gourara oasis in Algeria , see Tuat ) there were some very rich Jews. The intervention of the preacher (Muhammid al-Maghili) of Tlemcen set up the pillage of their goods, and most of them have been killed by the population. This event took place during the same year when the Jews had been expelled from Spain and Sicily by the Catholic King . Leo Africanus further wrote: The king (Askia)

6440-566: The interior of west Africa (then known to them as Sudan) were monopolized by Muslim merchants. Non-Muslims were precluded from this trade because Arab merchants were determined to forestall encroachments upon their lucrative business. As a man of cosmopolitan experience, he was well suited to be a merchant in that time and place. He was clever, shrewd, articulate, audacious, and most important he knew Koranic law as well as most learned Muslims. Throughout his travels to Timbuktu Rabbi Serour preferred to have most of his merchandise transported across

6532-516: The invading Greeks. During the long Second Punic War (218–201 BC) with Rome (see below), the Berber King Masinissa ( c.  240  – c.  148 BC) joined with the invading Roman general Scipio, resulting in the war-ending defeat of Carthage at Zama, despite the presence of their renowned general Hannibal; on the other hand, the Berber King Syphax (d. 202 BC) had supported Carthage. The Romans, too, read these cues, so that they cultivated their Berber alliances and, subsequently, favored

6624-792: The local populace and settled the region permanently, the Medes of his army that married the Libyans formed the Maur people, while the other part of his Army formed the Nomadas or as they are today known as the Numidians which later on united all of Berber tribes of North Africa under the rule of Massinissa . According to the Al-Fiḥrist , the Barber (i.e. Berbers) comprised one of seven principal races in Africa. The medieval Tunisian scholar Ibn Khaldun (1332–1406), recounting

6716-701: The maternal haplogroups K1 , T2 and X2 , the latter of which were common mtDNA lineages in Neolithic Europe and Anatolia . These ancient individuals likewise bore the Berber-associated Maghrebi genomic component. This altogether indicates that the late-Neolithic Kehf el Baroud inhabitants were ancestral to contemporary populations in the area, but also likely experienced gene flow from Europe . The late-Neolithic Kehf el Baroud inhabitants were modelled as being of about 50% local North African ancestry and 50% Early European Farmer (EEF) ancestry. It

6808-497: The maternal haplogroups U6a and M1 , all of which are frequent among present-day communities in the Maghreb. These ancient individuals also bore an autochthonous Maghrebi genomic component that peaks among modern Berbers, indicating that they were ancestral to populations in the area. Additionally, fossils excavated at the Kelif el Boroud site near Rabat were found to carry the broadly-distributed paternal haplogroup T-M184 as well as

6900-646: The mtDNA haplogroups U6 , H , JT , and V , which points to population continuity in the region dating from the Iberomaurusian period. Human fossils excavated at the Ifri n'Amr ou Moussa site in Morocco have been radiocarbon dated to the Early Neolithic period, c.  5,000 BC. Ancient DNA analysis of these specimens indicates that they carried paternal haplotypes related to the E1b1b1b1a (E-M81) subclade and

6992-587: The name of the village of Sinagoga, located on the north coast between Ribeira Grande and Janela, and in the Jewish cemetery at the town of Ponta da Sol. A final chapter of Jewish history in Cape Verde took place in the 1850s when Moroccan Jews arrived, especially in Boa Vista and Maio for the hide trade. Records of the Jewish history of Mali can still be found in the Kati Andalusi library. Ismael Diadie Haidara ,

7084-628: The near south, on the northern margins of the Sahara , and were less settled, with predominantly pastoral elements. For their part, the Phoenicians ( Semitic-speaking Canaanites ) came from perhaps the most advanced multicultural sphere then existing, the western coast of the Fertile Crescent region of West Asia . Accordingly, the material culture of Phoenicia was likely more functional and efficient, and their knowledge more advanced, than that of

7176-409: The newcomers from the east in an asymmetric symbiosis. As the centuries passed, a society of Punic people of Phoenician descent but born in Africa, called Libyphoenicians emerged there. This term later came to be applied also to Berbers acculturated to urban Phoenician culture. Yet the whole notion of a Berber apprenticeship to the Punic civilization has been called an exaggeration sustained by

7268-522: The number of its Libyan and foreign soldiers, leading to the Mercenary War (240–237 BC). The city-state also seemed to reward those leaders known to deal ruthlessly with its subject peoples, hence the frequent Berber insurrections. Moderns fault Carthage for failure "to bind her subjects to herself, as Rome did [her Italians]", yet Rome and the Italians held far more in common perhaps than did Carthage and

7360-460: The oral traditions prevalent in his day, sets down two popular opinions as to the origin of the Berbers: according to one opinion, they are descended from Canaan, son of Ham , and have for ancestors Berber, son of Temla, son of Mazîgh, son of Canaan, son of Ham, a son of Noah; alternatively, Abou-Bekr Mohammed es-Souli (947 CE) held that they are descended from Berber, the son of Keloudjm ( Casluhim ),

7452-410: The personal library of the first Mahmoud Kati , which was handed down through his descendants and added to through at least the mid-17th century. This extraordinary "discovery" was made a by a young Malian historian, Ismaël Diadié Haïdara, a member of the Kati clan, and author of several books, including L'Espagne musulmane et l'Afrique subsaharienne (1997), and Les Juifs de Tombouctou (1999). The library

7544-710: The previously tolerant region of Timbuktu and decreed that Jews must convert to Islam or leave; Judaism became illegal in Mali, as it did in Catholic Spain that same year. This was based on the advice of Muhammad al-Maghili . This would lead to many of these Jews to assimilate into West African tribes which many of them lived amongst. Such as the Fulani , Wolof , & Soninke ethnic groups in particular. This would also conclude to mass conversion to Islam since these native populations which they lived amongst were predominately Muslim. As

7636-402: The reign of Roman emperor Septimius Severus , who was a North African of Roman/Punic ancestry (perhaps with some Berber blood). Numidia (202 – 46 BC) was an ancient Berber kingdom in modern Algeria and part of Tunisia. It later alternated between being a Roman province and being a Roman client state . The kingdom was located on the eastern border of modern Algeria, bordered by

7728-572: The river Mulucha ( Muluya ), about 160 kilometres (100 mi) west of Oran. The Numidians were conceived of as two great groups: the Massylii in eastern Numidia, and the Masaesyli in the west. During the first part of the Second Punic War, the eastern Massylii, under King Gala , were allied with Carthage, while the western Masaesyli, under King Syphax, were allied with Rome. In 206 BC, the new king of

7820-591: The same population as modern Berbers. The Maghreb region in northwestern Africa is believed to have been inhabited by Berbers from at least 10,000 BC. Cave paintings , which have been dated to twelve millennia before present, have been found in the Tassili n'Ajjer region of southeastern Algeria. Other rock art has been discovered at Tadrart Acacus in the Libyan desert. A Neolithic society, marked by domestication and subsistence agriculture and richly depicted in

7912-611: The sea. Masinissa was succeeded by his son Micipsa . When Micipsa died in 118 BC, he was succeeded jointly by his two sons Hiempsal I and Adherbal and Masinissa's illegitimate grandson, Jugurtha , of Berber origin, who was very popular among the Numidians. Hiempsal and Jugurtha quarreled immediately after the death of Micipsa. Jugurtha had Hiempsal killed, which led to open war with Adherbal. After Jugurtha defeated him in open battle, Adherbal fled to Rome for help. The Roman officials, allegedly due to bribes but perhaps more likely out of

8004-698: The son of Mesraim , the son of Ham. They belong to a powerful, formidable, brave and numerous people; a true people like so many others the world has seen – like the Arabs, the Persians, the Greeks and the Romans. The men who belong to this family of peoples have inhabited the Maghreb since the beginning. As of about 5000 BC, the populations of North Africa were descended primarily from the Iberomaurusian and Capsian cultures, with

8096-519: The tribal Berbers. This social-cultural interaction in early Carthage has been summarily described: Lack of contemporary written records makes the drawing of conclusions here uncertain, which can only be based on inference and reasonable conjecture about matters of social nuance. Yet it appears that the Phoenicians generally did not interact with the Berbers as economic equals, but employed their agricultural labour, and their household services, whether by hire or indenture; many became sharecroppers . For

8188-440: Was destroyed by Askia Ishaq II in 1588 after a rebellion. In 1963, the ethnic consciousness of Jewish descendants living in Tindirma was revived after local fishermen wanted to built a village on top of the remains of Al Yahudi Cemetery , causing local Jews to rise up in strong opposition. 16°08′N 3°38′W  /  16.133°N 3.633°W  / 16.133; -3.633 This Tombouctou Region location article

8280-706: Was suggested that EEF ancestry had entered North Africa through Cardial Ware colonists from Iberia sometime between 5000 and 3000 BC. They were found to be closely related to the Guanches of the Canary Islands . The authors of the study suggested that the Berbers of Morocco carried a substantial amount of EEF ancestry before the establishment of Roman colonies in Berber Africa . The great tribes of Berbers in classical antiquity (when they were often known as ancient Libyans) were said to be three (roughly, from west to east):

8372-602: Was the birthplace of a number of rabbis who are mentioned in the Talmud . Africa , in a broader sense, is clearly indicated where mention is made of the Ten Tribes who were driven into exile by the Assyrians and journeyed into Africa. Connected with this is the idea that the river Sambation is in Africa. The Arabs, who also know the legend of the Banū Mūsā ("Sons of Moses"), agree with

8464-590: Was used as a tribal surname in Roman Mauretania Caesariensis . Abraham Isaac Laredo proposes that the term Amazigh could be derived from "Mezeg", which is the name of Dedan of Sheba in the Targum . Ibn Khaldun says the Berbers were descendants of Barbar, the son of Tamalla, son of Mazigh, son of Canaan , son of Ham , son of Noah . The Numidian , Mauri , and Libu populations of antiquity are typically understood to refer to approximately

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