The Berbers of Tunisia

Berbers, The First People of North Africa

There have been many people from all over the world coming to Tunisia since it was first discovered all those years ago. However, the very first people to enter the country were the Berbers.

Some evidence tells us that they were definitely present in some parts of Tunisia, but they were especially more prominent in certain areas. Carthage was the place where this clan mostly settled. Writings that were found there, tell us more about their culture, religion and society.
The Berbers can be found all over North Africa and make up most of the population. This is a massive race, where 50 million of them can be found in Egypt alone. There are also 4 million found in Europe, so you can see that it is not a small sector of the population.

 

You can do the Berber Track Tour for 3 days starting and ending on the island of Djerba. Here you visit the different villages, learn of their culture and history, visit their troglodyte homes for a traditional cup of mint tea with home baked bread.

The Berber community was spread throughout Tunisia at one point, which was known to be the leading region where they could be found, during the Punic era. They stayed here during the Roman period as well as the early parts of the Islamic times. Evidence from burial sites and a variety of artefacts as well as many writings tells us about their culture as well as their social organization. Some of this culture can be seen in the people all over Tunisia today, which are displayed in an extremely positive light.
Although you don’t see many true Berbers in the country these days, as more families have started to raise their children, using Arab traditions, there are still some traditional clans in small villages. The Berbers are known to be a close community, with the women marrying inside the race.

Berbers from other countries, will normally end up settling with Berbers in the smaller villages dotted around Tunisia. Traditional Berber villages are found the in south of Tunisia from Guellala on the island of Djerba to Tozeur close to the border of Algeria. The Berber language is still used in many homes, but Tunisian Arabic is spoken in public. Berber script is different from Arabic but consistent throughout the 5 major Berber divisions.

Whether the Berber race will survive in Tunisia is debatable. As some Berbers have claimed, the language does not help kids get ahead in the world. It does not help you put bread on the table either. However, one can always remember and be proud of your heritage and the fact that it was the Berbers that first stepped onto the land that has been through so much development and transformation for the better.