Rise to Glory: North Africa

Maghrib and the Berbers

North Africa has been inhabited since paleolithic times by the ancestors of what were to become the Berbers (from the Latin word barbar, or barbarian) and is was also known as the Barbary Coast. The ancient Numidians of Libya who had dealings with the Phoenecians in Carthage were also Berbers.

Most are sedentary people who live off the land, moving to the mountains in summer with their flocks, but some, such as the Tuaregs, are nomadic. They grow wheat, barley, fruit, vegetables, nuts and olives, and keep animals such as cattle, sheep, goats and camels.

They live in stone houses or in tents made of goats hair. While some have adopted Arabic as their language, others still speak Berbero-Libyan languages which include Tamashek or Tuareg. These dialects are spoken all over North Africa, from the Niger river to the Mediterranean and from the Atlantic to Egypt.