Berber heritage

Tattoos in a tribal environment serve both to communicate and aesthetically. They can be interpreted as the innate talent for expression that each one possesses, as signs of social or religious belonging or also to calm the ills of physical or spiritual illnesses. Always, tattoos are a means of personal identity representation, strongly marked by the idiosyncrasy of each one. Historically, in the Amazigh or Berber culture, women had the custom of tattooing their faces. Before Islam appeared in North Africa, this was a very common practice of the Berber tribes, even with permanent tattoos. However, these covenants were lost as the faith of Islam penetrated Amazigh societies, since modifying the divine creation is something forbidden or haram in Arabic language. In the past, body tattoos often served to decorate the openings of the body: eyes, mouth, nose, belly button and vagina. or on the most sensitive or vulnerable body surfaces, such as the hands or feet. Currently, for the most ...

Colors , during the history of humanity, have always had connotations and meanings that artisans from different cultures have used to convey sensations and emotions. Most of the colors are associated in positive aspects and have a psychological dimension, linked to the personality and psyche of each individual. At the beginning, the Berber culture developed the decorative arts using mainly six colors: black, white, green, blue, red and yellow, which are the basic colors. However, nowadays rugs craftsmen have a wider color palette, in order to satisfy the most demanding tastes. The symbolism of colors in the Amazigh or Berber culture has Islamic influences. White is associated with wisdom, purity, creativity, and honor. White represents the inner light and the divine. Thus, the Berbers wear white in their ceremonies to celebrate the most loved. Instead, black is often related to the dark, the satanic. In fact, in North Africa, some families do not want to use it, both in their dresses ...

The symbolism of the Berber signs has its origin several thousand years ago. Therefore, analyzing these codes cannot be done in a few lines. In addition, it must be taken into account that all this symbolism varies from one region to another and according to countries and both the colors and the shapes or the belonging of each tribe incorporates its unique idiosyncrasy. The tattoos represented in the Berber culture are positioned as the oldest practice of their civilization. This custom probably comes from the importance that women have in the Berber tribe, historically representative of the land and all its symbolism. Berber women often apply tattoos to their face, chin, forehead, and cheeks, and to the body on their hands, belly, thighs, and legs. The drawings that are usually used are usually quite simple, in the form of a point or a series of points, straight lines, curved lines, V-shaped, straight or curved geometric shapes, shapes of flowers and plants, animals, etc. Tattoos, m...

One of the most important aspects of the North African cultures of Amazigh nature is the importance they place on the language. Observing the Amazigh culture, the connection between the transcendence of the language and the preservation of the culture throughout history to the present is remarkable. Thanks to the oral and written preservation of the Amazigh people, history and their belief system were preserved over time, leaving one generation to go down in history, while the wisdom and knowledge of the laws passed to another. That is why despite the existence of several different dialects of its language, its history and its laws managed to remain synchronized and thus survive countless cultural invasions. All thanks to his native language. When Arab culture conquered the African continent, they brought a very similar sensitivity to the importance of language and the role that the elderly must play in order to preserve their culture. In addition, it must be taken into account that b...

According to the hieroglyphs found in the temple of Amun, the Amazighs are the oldest inhabitants of the North African continent. They are also known as berbebers, a Greco-Roman name that means "barbarians", since they were located outside the Roman axis. But they feel like Amazhigs , which means "noble free men" and prefer to be called that way.The Amazhigh people have existed for more than five thousand years, covering North Africa, from the border of Egypt and Libya to the Atlantic Ocean bordering the Mediterranean Sea and to the borders with Nigeria and Mali. It has been a culture historically despised by the dominant governments of North African countries, but with the recent crisis of Arab ideology (Arab Spring, Islamic radicalism, etc.) the recognition of minority ethnic groups and cultures was favored, especially in Morocco and Algeria. Within the Amazigh culture there are three main elements that are defined as "trinity", easily recognizable in Mo...

The Berber culture and tradition is located in North Africa, with a strong presence in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. The typical berber community is made up of diverse ethnic groups or tribes connected with similar customs. Although these tribes are commonly known as nomads, some of them are rather sedentary, living off their crops in the Atlas Mountains . These tribes have developed by living off the crafts they produce, which today is well known around the world. Small sheep graze in the Atlas Mountains that produce high quality wool, from which the base material is extracted for making the well-known Berber rugs. That is why these ancient tribes have developed a refined technique with a manual washing process; dyed with natural dyes and woven with a small weft of knots to increase its density. Among the ethnic groups that make this type of rugs we find the Beni Ourain tribe and the Azilal tribe, located in Morocco. In Tunisia these carpets are known as Margoum . More information a...