The Evolution of the Berber Origin Myth: Historical and Social Aspects

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[...] [Second phase.] It is thus that we reach the second phase which will extend from the 12th century with the Almohads until the Ottoman conquest and the rise of the Sa'adis in Morocco. The historians of the 14th century are part of this phase. It begins with the Almohads by attributing an Alid ancestry to the ruling family. The genealogy of the races becomes the family genealogy. This modification of the origin myth motif has more of a character of legitimizing the regime as the rebellion against a legitimate regime was considered a crime. [...]

[...] This is why the study of the Berber origin myth is of great interest. In fact, the Berber testimonies of the medieval Maghreb being non-existent, many questions about the motif of the Berber origin myth remained unanswered. Maya Shatzmiller wishes, through this article, to provide a more precise vision of Maghrebian society, as well as its social and mental structures. [Two major phases in the chronological and thematic development of the origin myth. In the first place, Maya Shatzmiller distinguishes two major phases in the chronological and thematic development of the origin myth through the examination of existing sources and known sources through citations. [...]

[...] The Berber origin myth (historical and social aspects). In : Review of the Muslim Occident and the Mediterranean, n° pp. 145-156 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3406/remmm.1983.1986 https://www.persee.fr/doc/remmm_0035-1474_1983_num_35_1_1986 [Introduction. Maya Shatzmiller was born in Israel. She received a Bachelor of Arts in political science and medieval history from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1968 as well as a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Provence in Aix-en-Provence in 1974 with a specialization in Islamic history. She will then be a lecturer at the University of Toronto until 1985 to become and this until today Professor at the Department of History at the Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.1 A historian passionate about medieval Islamic economic and social history, Maya Shatzmiller is the author of monographs, articles, book reviews, critical essays as well as books mostly concerning her field of predilection, in particular Maghrebi society and consequently the myth of Berber origin. [...]

[...] The founder of the Zenata dynasty, 'Yaghmorasen', had a Berber name and only spoke the language of his tribe. The Zenata had taken control of Fes and had maintained a connection to the Prophet for generations. The Almohads did the same with the goal of creating and preserving an Arab ancestry in order to be more respected and considered by the outside world. Then, it was the growing Berberophobia in Muslim Spain that gave full scope to the genesis and mutations of the Berber origin myth. [...]

[...] http://hoggar.org/2012/08/17/la-religion-des-berberes-avant-lislam/ , « The Religion of the Berbers Before Islam.", Abu Al-Atahiya, 2012." Mohammed Yaala, « Remarks on the Amazigh tribes of the Western Muslim through a Moroccan medieval manuscript », Journal « African Antiquities », n°37, pages 71 - 77, 2001. Yves Modéran, \"Myth and History in the Last Times of Ancient Africa: On a Text by Ibn-Khaldun.\"", Presses Universitaires de France, \"Historical Review\", n°618, pages 315 - 341, 2001. [...]