FOOTNOTES:
[181] Prichard, vol. ii. p. 174.
E.
THE AMAZIRGH ATLANTIDÆ.
The Amazirgh, a native name of one of the Cabyle tribes of Algiers, is here used in a general sense, instead of the more usual term Berber; a term which is nowhere recognized by any Amazirgh population, and which, under a modified form, is recognized by portions of the non-Amazirgh Nubians.
AMAZIRGH NATIONS AND TRIBES.
Physical conformation.—Sometimes a modification of the Negro, sometimes of the Arab type.
Languages.—With a vocabulary generally considered to be peculiar, but with a grammatical structure considered to be (if not absolutely Semitic) sub-Semitic.
Distribution.—Speaking roughly, the whole north-western quarter of Africa plus a narrow strip along the Mediterranean from about 15° east latitude to the confines of Ægypt.
Descent.—From the ancient Gætulians, Numidians, Mauritanians, and Cyrenæans.
Area.—Encroached upon along the coast of the Mediterranean—
1. In ancient times by—a. Phœnicians. b. Greeks. c. Romans.
2. In modern times by—Mahometan Arabs.
Physical conditions.—Occupants of—a. The mountain range of Atlas. b. The Sahara. c. The Canary Isles.
Chief Divisions.—1. Siwans, of the Oasis of Siwah, the ancient Ammonium. 2. Cabyles, of the range of Atlas. 3. Tuaricks, of the Sahara. 4. Guauches, of the Canary Islands. These last either extinct or incorporated.
Dialects as known from specimens.—1. Of Siwah. 2. Augila. 3. Fezzan. 4. Ghadamis. 5. Algeria (numerous). 6. Morocco. 7. The Sahara. 8. The Canaries.
Alphabets.—1. Arabic. 2. Tuarick.
Antiquities.—The Bilingual inscription, Carthaginian and Berber(?) of Dugga, known as the Inscriptio Tuggensis.
The aboriginal character of the Amazirgh tribes, taken with the likelihood of their representing the tributaries of Carthage, and the subjects of Masinissa, Syphax, Juba, Jugurtha, and Bocchus, has commanded the attention of scholars, and has led to important results.
That its grammatical structure is Semitic (or at least sub-Semitic) has been shown by Mr. F. Newman, who has also shown that the Haussa has Amazirgh elements. The fact, however, of its vocabulary having fewer Semitic forms than its grammar has complicated the philology. Nevertheless it does contain numerous Semitic words; whilst its isolation from the other tongues of Africa has been most gratuitous. So far from such being the case, it supplies a long list of words with miscellaneous affinities.[182]
With the Guanches of the Canaries we find the Ægyptian habit of desiccating the bodies of the dead into mummies.
With the Tuaricks of Wadreag, Mr. Hodgson found hair so crisp and skin so black, as to look like Negroes. There was, however, no suspicion of Negro intermixture.
On the other band, so light-complexioned are the Amazirghs of the ancient Mons Aurasius, that the hypothesis of an intermixture of Vandalic blood from the subjects of Genseric has been entertained.