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Anigouran
Anigouran or Aligouran, or Arigullan, is a character in the mythology of the Tuaregs. It appears in many stories transmitted by their oral tradition. Anigouran is characterized by his exceptional intelligence and his taste for riddles. He is credited with the invention of Tifinagh "the Tuareg alphabet", and entries using this alphabet engraved on the rocks of the Aïr Mountains; it also made him the mythical inventor of several games. In the Tuareg mythology The stories devoted to Anigouran depict adventures in which his intelligence and cunning allow him to get out of difficult situations. They also portray his rivalry with his Adelasegh nephew, whose great intelligence causes jealousy of Anigouran, who tries to kill him several times, but eventually reconciled with him. At a time when Adelasegh and his sister were captured by bandits and where Anigouran finally decided to reconcile with his nephew, Anigouran can not trace them, So he engraved on the desert rocks a coded tifinagh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oral Tradition
Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication wherein knowledge, art, ideas and cultural material is received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another. Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (1985), reported statements from present generation which "specifies that the message must be oral statements spoken, sung or called out on musical instruments only"; "There must be transmission by word of mouth over at least a generation". He points out, "Our definition is a working definition for the use of historians. Sociologists, linguists or scholars of the verbal arts propose their own, which in, e.g., sociology, stresses common knowledge. In linguistics, features that distinguish the language from common dialogue (linguists), and in the verbal arts features of form and content that define art (folklorists)."Ki-Zerbo, Joseph: "Methodology and African Prehistory", 1990, ''UNESCO International Scientific Committee for the Drafting of a Gener ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tifinagh
Tifinagh ( Tuareg Berber language: or , ) is a script used to write the Berber languages. Tifinagh is descended from the ancient Libyco-Berber alphabet. The traditional Tifinagh, sometimes called Tuareg Tifinagh, is still favored by the Tuareg Berbers of the Sahara desert in southern Algeria, northeastern Mali, northern Niger and northern Burkina Faso for use writing the Tuareg Berber language. Neo-Tifinagh () is an alphabet developed by Berber Academy to adopt Tuareg Tifinagh for use with Kabyle; it has been since modified for use across North Africa. Tifinagh is one of three major competing Berber orthographies alongside the Berber Latin alphabet and the Arabic script. Tifinagh is the official script for Tamazight, an official language of Morocco. However, outside of symbolic cultural uses, Latin remains the dominant script for writing Berber languages both in Morocco and throughout North Africa. The ancient Libyco-Berber script (or the Libyc script) was used by the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aïr Mountains
The Aïr Mountains or Aïr Massif ( tmh, Ayăr; Hausa: Eastern ''Azbin'', Western ''Abzin'') is a triangular massif, located in northern Niger, within the Sahara. Part of the West Saharan montane xeric woodlands ecoregion, they rise to more than and extend over . Lying in the midst of desert north of the 17th parallel, the Aïr plateau, with an average altitude between , forms an island of Sahel climate which supports a wide variety of life, many pastoral and farming communities, and dramatic geological and archaeological sites. There are notable archaeological excavations in the region that illustrate the prehistoric past of this region. The endangered African wild dog (''Lycaon pictus'') once existed in this region, but may now be extirpated due to human population pressures in this region. Geology The Precambrian to Cenozoic Aïr Mountains consist of peralkaline granite intrusions which appear dark in colour (unusual since most granitic masses are lig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tifinagh
Tifinagh ( Tuareg Berber language: or , ) is a script used to write the Berber languages. Tifinagh is descended from the ancient Libyco-Berber alphabet. The traditional Tifinagh, sometimes called Tuareg Tifinagh, is still favored by the Tuareg Berbers of the Sahara desert in southern Algeria, northeastern Mali, northern Niger and northern Burkina Faso for use writing the Tuareg Berber language. Neo-Tifinagh () is an alphabet developed by Berber Academy to adopt Tuareg Tifinagh for use with Kabyle; it has been since modified for use across North Africa. Tifinagh is one of three major competing Berber orthographies alongside the Berber Latin alphabet and the Arabic script. Tifinagh is the official script for Tamazight, an official language of Morocco. However, outside of symbolic cultural uses, Latin remains the dominant script for writing Berber languages both in Morocco and throughout North Africa. The ancient Libyco-Berber script (or the Libyc script) was used by the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Berber Mythology
The traditional Berber religion is the ancient and native set of beliefs and deities adhered to by the Berbers (Amazigh autochthones) of North Africa. Many ancient Amazigh beliefs were developed locally, whereas others were influenced over time through contact with others like ancient Egyptian religion, or borrowed during antiquity from the Punic religion, Judaism, Iberian mythology, and the Hellenistic religion. The most recent influence came from Islam and religion in pre-Islamic Arabia during the medieval period. Some of the ancient Amazigh beliefs still exist today subtly within the Amazigh popular culture and tradition. Syncretic influences from the traditional Amazigh religion can also be found in certain other faiths. Funerary practices Archaeological research on prehistoric tombs in the Maghreb shows that the bodies of the dead were painted with ochre. While this practice was known to the Iberomaurusians, this culture seems to have been primarily a Capsian industry. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tuareg Culture
The Tuareg people (; also spelled Twareg or Touareg; endonym: ''Imuhaɣ/Imušaɣ/Imašeɣăn/Imajeɣăn'') are a large Berbers, Berber ethnic group that principally inhabit the Sahara in a vast area stretching from far southwestern Libya to southern Algeria, Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso. Traditionally nomadic pastoralism, pastoralists, small groups of Tuareg are also found in northern Nigeria. The Tuareg speak Tuareg languages, languages of the same name (also known as ''Tamasheq''), which belong to the Berber languages, Berber branch of the Afroasiatic family. The Tuaregs have been called the "blue people" for the indigo dye coloured clothes they traditionally wear and which stains their skin. They are a semi-nomadic people who practice Islam, and are descended from the indigenous Berber communities of Northern Africa, which have been described as a mosaic of local North Africa, Northern African (Taforalt), Middle Eastern, Genetic history of Europe, European (Early European F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
