| When
Carpets Tell Stories |
Years ago women had more time to create colorful
rugs and carpets, mixing different plants
from the Atlas Mountains to find a special
color. They tried to create a piece of art
better than their neighbor. Rugs and carpets
had many functions within the family. The
rugs were not only used as cover, but as an
element of prestige between the tribes, a
means of communication to express suffer and
harshness of the countryside. While reading
the carpets made throughout Morocco, you can
live the saga of the old generations, their
life style, values, and morals. The geometric
forms, and the choice of color reflect the
mood of the woman-artist who put this combination
together. These enigmatic, geometric forms
will be found in the old jewelries and old
Kasbahs, which remains the clues of unsolved
civilization. The famous carpet of Ait wawzgite
(1) remains one of the best variant of the
Amazigh rugs, though people in power dominated
most the old and unique collection. A lovely
book by Margaret Courtney Clarke, entitled
" Imazighen: The Vanishing Traditions
of Berber Women", depicts Amazigh rugs
and their features.
Nowadays few families live on carpets as before.
The old quality of the rug does not exist
anymore with some exceptions to modernized
styles with artificial raw materials. The
producers have to adapt the new features of
the market apposed by an economy based on
tourism. Year ago, there was a show of carpets
in the famous Jamaa Lafna Place (2) in Marrakesh
to promote this heritage, but it does not
reflect carpets as heritage items created
by Imazighen (3) but as souvenir products
to sell for tourists. Meanwhile the Amazigh
families are not taking any direct benefits
for their hard job, lasting weeks and sometimes
months. The Amazigh Heritage Museum in Agadir
is the only heritage institution bearing the
name of Amazigh, while all other museums do
not have any clue to the mother civilization.
Creating such an institution will give access
to the public to know more about our history,
which will enlighten the future.
Glossary:
1: Amazigh tribe by the same name in the region
of Ouarzazate.
2: A place of artistic performance in Marrakesh.
3: The first inhabitants of North Africa.
Brahim Boussaid
Amazigh Culture Interpreter
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History of Amazigh Flag: |
| The
Amazigh Flag can be viewed in several variations,
but always includes 3 horizontal stripes of
green, blue and yellow as well at the Amazigh
letter z in red. The correct formation of the
stripes should be blue on top, green in the
center and yellow at the bottom.
The
Amazigh Flag represents all Amazigh people regardless
of modern country borders. It does not represent
just one particular group, tribe or country.
One
brief history of the Amazigh flag can be found
at the World
Amazigh Action Coalition and at Proposition
de Solidaridad Canaria pour un embleme qui nous
identifie.
Send
an Amazigh Flag E-card
to your friend!
Get your Amazigh Flag T-Shirt!
Discuss
the Amazigh Flag |
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History of Amazigh Textiles: |
| The
Amazigh people are famous for their textiles.
There is a long history of weaving rugs, cloth,
tents and blankets. The beautiful patterns are
traditional and unique to the Amazigh.
Each
pattern has special symbolic meaning and the
website, "Weaving
- The Thread of Amazigh Life" has a
nice illustration of Amazigh patterns and their
meanings.
Amazigh
Textile Links
Textiles
from the High and Middle Atlas and the Rif
Amazigh
Rugs
TRIBAL
RUGS OF MOROCCO
Oriental
Costumes Their Designs and Colors - Collection
of clothing and textiles of North Arfica.
Moroccan
Rugs, Hambels, Kilims
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History
of the Amazigh People:
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In
1000 B.C. the Imazighen people were already
long established in North Africa (Shafiq, 1989).
In Morocco for instance, they constitute at
least 45% of the population distributed among
three sub-ethnic groups and dialects (Sadiqi,
1997). Owing to their political and geographical
position, the Imazighen have been invaded by
Phoenicians, Romans, Vandals, Byzantines, Arabs,
and Europeans. Eventually, they all left, except
for the Arabs. The Arabs brought Islam, a universalizing
religion, and stayed to become an integral part
of North African population and heritage. Their
language, however, changed and gave rise to
what is known as Darija, Aammia, or Colloquial
Moroccan. North African countries, including
Morocco, are considered today to be an integral
part of the Arab World. Constitutionally, these
countries claim to be Arab-Islamic Nations.
Today, most Moroccans claim Islam as their religion.
Read more...
Where
did the Amazigh People come from? There are
many theories concerning the acent ansestorie
of the Amazigh People of North Africa. Some
theories are more likely than others. One theory
is that the Amazigh are descendants of the Libyan
Amazons. Read more about this theory at Berbers,
Decendents of Lybian Amazons?
History
Links (Note-Amazigh-Voice.com
provides these links for a general information
purpose, and does not endorse the accuracy of
these sometime contradictory historical view points.)
Berbers
Kingdoms and Tribes
North
Africa
History
of Morocco before the arrival of Islam
Numidia
A
Taste of Maghribi History
Mohamed
ben abdelkarim elkhatabi
Discuss
Amazigh History
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History
of Amazigh Script:
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There
are several theories regarding the history of
the Amazigh script. One theory speculates that
ancient Amazigh sprung off the Punic script
roughly around the 6th century BC. The theory
postulates that the script was used throughout
North Africa until the 3rd century AD. Read
more about this theory at History
of Amazigh script.
Amazigh
Script Links
Tifinagh
: l'alphabet berbčre de A ŕ
The
Tamazight (Berber) language profile
Writing
Berber Languages
Tifinagh
Discuss Amazigh Script/Font
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