The Berbers are a North African tribe. With regard to
customs:
Many
Berbers are farmers who grow wheat, barley, fruits, nuts, vegetables and olives for oil
in the lowlands in winter and graze flocks of sheep and goats in the mountains during
the summer. Some are still nomads who migrate with their camels and herds around the
desert plateaus and oases. Their fortified villages are often located high on the
mountain ridges and are composed of houses, a mosque, a fortified threshing floor
(kasbah) and a gathering place for the assembly of elders (Jama'ah) which controls
village life.
What is
interesting to note is that, in spite of numerous conquests, they have tried to maintain
as much as possible of their own identity. We have learned about their past from the
writings of the Phoenecians who indicate that in the distant
past:
Berber
society was made up of many small tribes, who would unite briefly to fight off intruders
and would then return to their independent lifestyle. Fragmentation, fighting against
each other and love of freedom have always characterised Berber
culture.
Originally, the
Berbers had their own strong religious beliefs:
In remote times the Berbers were animists
worshipping rocks, springs, rivers and mountains and venerating the sun, moon and stars.
Their legends, beliefs, and ceremonies still reflect some of this ancient religion.
Later they borrowed the Gods of their Phoenician and Roman
colonisers
As Christianity
began to spread across their region, these Strong-willed people kept their own identity
by making specific religious choices:
The independent Berber spirit expressed itself in
the adoption of sectarian teachings, such as Montanism, Donatism, Pelagianism and
Arianism.
When the Arabs
conquered the area, many of them adopted Islam.
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