Français – عربي – ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵜ – English
The indigenous people of North Africa called themselves Amazigh, “free men” in their language. Other people groups around them gave them other names, which we will discover in this article.
The Greeks, the most prominent civilisation of the Mediterranean Basin, called the inhabitants of North Africa by the name of Libu (λιβυ), or Libyans, after the Libu (ⵍⵉⴱⵓ) confederation of Amazigh tribes, who lived in modern-day Libya and played an important role in old Egyptian history.
For the oldest Greek historians like Herodotus, this name seems to designate all the indigenous populations of the lands West of the Nile Delta, that is, all the Amazigh. Later on, its use would be limited to the indigenous people of the regions around Carthage, who were under Carthaginian influence.
After the fall of Carthage, the Romans would use the name Afri for the indigenous populations of the former Carthaginian territories. The origin of this name is unknown.
For the Romans, Libya became the name of the whole continent. Curiously, these two Latin names were reversed later in history: Africa became the modern name of the African continent.
The North African people West of Carthage were called Numidians. This name seems to have originally been used for all the indigenous North Africans who were free from Carthaginian influence, as opposed to the Libyans, the indigenous populations depending on Carthage. Before the reign of Massinissa, the various Numidian tribes, mostly nomadic, did not necessarily consider themselves as belonging to the same people group. Their sense of unity came after Massinissa founded the Kingdom of Numidia and became its first King.
Even further West, facing the Straight of Gibraltar, were the Mauri, or Moors, and their Kingdom of Mauretania. Later on, the name of Moors would be extended to all the Arab-Amazigh populations of North Africa, as well as those who would invade Spain.
And further South? The Saharan Amazigh, who had less contact with other Mediterranean civilisations, are thus less well known than their kinsmen from the coastal regions. The ancient historians mention two peoples : the Getulians, who were living to the South of Numidia, beyond the Atlas mountains; and the Garamantes, in the Fezzan, who could be the ancestors of the modern-day Tuareg.
