Substance and Origins: Since the dawn of history, Imazighen have been the indigenous inhabitants of North Africa, their territory stretching from Egypt to Mauritania and from the Mediterranean to the boundaries of historic sub-Saharan Black Africa. Various empires and peoples have conquered portions of historic Tamazgha , beginning with the Phoenicians and Greeks and continuing through the Romans, Vandals, Byzantines, Arabs, Turks, French, British, Spanish, and Italians. Imazighen have been subjected to various religious beliefs: their own early pantheistic concepts; the polytheistic dogmas of the Phoenicians, Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans; and monotheistic Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Since the 13th century, most Imazighen have professed the Islamic faith and Islam has sunk most deeply into their psyches. Throughout their history, the Imazighen have always had their heroes or heroines who have defended their ancestral homeland but then succumbed to the superior "civilization" might of their conquerors. In 814 B.C., for example, Amazigh chief Larbas negotiated a deal to marry Princess Dido, daughter of the King of Tyre, in return for a small piece of real estate that eventually became Qart Hadasht (i.e., the New City, or Carthage). King Juba and king Massinissa intrigued with the Romans against the Carthaginians. Royal prince Jugurtha learned Roman fighting techniques and then led a formidable rebellion from 106 to 104 B.C. according to the Roman historian Sallust's account of the Jugurthine War. | |
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