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Tannit
There is no doubt that the Athena of Herodotus, whom the Amazon
worshipped around Lake Tritonis, was none other than the Libyan
Goddess Tannit, as shown by the two spears she carries in various depictions, and sometimes by the weaving shuttle.
The Libyan Goddess Tannit (Neith)
at Assaraya Alhamra Museum, Tripoli, Libya.
The Arabic text, displayed under the stone,
describes the above symbol of Tannit:
Temehu.com's translation of the Arabic text at the
Museum:
"The Goddess Tannit. Tannit is regarded as one of
the most famous and important Punic goddesses in
Tripolitania. She is the wife of the Punic god Bal Hamon. She was the
goddess of sowing, harvest and fertility, and a sky goddess essentially
associated with the moon. Her symbol, known as the symbol of Tannit, is
a triangle representing the human body, surmounted by a circle representing
the head, and separated by a horizontal line which represents the hands.
The worship of the goddess Tannit emerged after the 5th century BC. She
appears to be of Libyan origin. This piece is from the 2nd century BC.
"
[End of translation.]
Neith (Athena), Tolmeita Musium, Cyrenaica, Libya.
A commanding statue of
the Goddess Athena, the Libyan Goddess Neith, the Egyptian Nit.
The Libyan Amazons:
According to several historical records, the Libyan birthplace
of the Goddess Neith was also the traditional homeland of the warrior
women known as the Libyan Amazons, in the western parts
of Libya, particularly around the legendary Lake Tritonis (southern Tunisia today). The etymology of the name "Amazon" is still undecided, with European enthusiasts deriving the name from Greek Muse, and Berberists linking it with Amazigh and Tamezyant.
The purely matriarchal world of the Amazons was ruled by women warrior-priestesses, in which they followed a manner of life
unlike those that which prevailed among other races at the time or those that followed. There were a number of fake tales about removing one of their breasts in order to be able to shoot better (using the arrow & bow) and about abandoning their sons, without presenting any evidence; leading to careful mythographers to suggest that these were no more than mere patriarchal allegations to discredit matriarchy; and hence the whole existence of the Amazons itself was dismissed as "myth".
The Libyan Gorgon Medusa, who often led the Libyans
of Lake Tritonis in battle, against her enemies, was said
to have once been a beautiful maiden until Poseidon lay with her
and incurred the enmity of the goddess Athena, who turned
Medusa's lovely hair into serpents and made her face so
hideous that a glimpse of it would instantly turn man into stone. Jealous Athena
helped brave Perseus, who was coming from Argos with an army,
to behead Medusa; and the drops of blood that fell from Medusa's severed head
onto the Libyan sand were transformed into snakes.
A sarcophagus fragment showing the Libyan Amazons in
action.
It was found in Wadi (Valley) Khamish, west of Tolmeita, Cyrenaica, Libya.
From the 2nd century AD.
Libyan Antaeus:
In Greek mythology, Antaeus was said to be a Libyan giant,
son of Poseidon and mother-earth Gaia, and the husband of Tinga, a name often
linked with Tangier in Morocco. According to Oric Bates, the above painting
was not then recognised as a representation of Libyan Antaeus, who was depicted
with typical Berber characters, such as the aquiline nose, dark long hair (projecting
over the brow), strongly marked supra-orbital ridges, and the pointed beard.
The savage-like teeth were meant to stress the nature of Antaeus, in contrast
to the usual soft profile given to Greek characters. The above reproduction (drawn
by Oric Bates) does not show the hair detail of Heracles, which he says is darker
than the hair of Antaeus. The story goes that during the fight between Antaeus
and Heracles, Antaeus draws his energy from the earth on which he stands, and
so to defeat him Heracles lifted Antaeus from the ground and held him high above
it as to deprive him of recharging his strength, until Antaeus lost all his energy
and thus the flame of his life was starved of its motherly source.
Gurzil:
Libyan god of the Laguatans on the Syrtes (Sirte), one of the nomadic tribes of Tripolitania. He was said to be the son of the Berber Siwan God Ammon. The Laguatans personified Gurzil in a magical bull (taurus), which they let loose in battle, and thus he was associated with "War". This same god is taken by Dihya (the Berber Kahina of the Auras Mountains) in her battles against the Arabs of the 7th Century.
Libya:
The Goddess "Libya" had three
sons by the Libyan Sea-God Poseidon: Belus, Agenor and Lelex. King Belus ruled at Chemmis or Chamesis of Leo Africanus, Agenor migrated to Cana'an (the Middle East), and Lelex became king of Megara. The myth relates an interesting "deception tale" in
which Danaus was sent to rule Libya where he had fifty daughters, and
Aegyptus, who had fifty sons, ruled over Egypt.
Belus:
King Belus, who ruled at Chemmis, was the son of the Goddess
Libya by Poseidon, and the twin brother of Agenor and Lelex. His
wife Anchinoe, daughter of the Nile-god, Nilus, bore him the twins Aegyptus and
Danaus and a third son Cepheus, and one daughter: Lamia,
the Libyan Snake-goddess. See Robert Graves (The Greek
Myths: I, 200 - 202.
Poseidon:
According to the Greek historian Herodotus, the Greeks obtained
their knowledge of the Sea-God Poseidon from the Libyans (meaning the
Berbers), whose cult was in high repute among the coastwise Libyans, and was
especially worshipped about Lake Tritonis; while Plato says Poseidon was the
chief God of Atlantis; arguably located near the Atlas Mountain in North
Africa. Poseidon's son Triton was also worshipped around the Lake, and, according
to Ibid, his
female counterpart "Tritonis" bore the Goddess "Athena". Poseidon's
wife, Libya, was made the daughter of Zeus's son Epaphus, the divine bull, the
Libyan Gurzil.
Awessu:
Awessu was originally a sea ceremony held in the town of Zuwarah,
in west Libya, during the period between the end of July
and the beginning of August - a name which some linguists
mistakenly see as the source of the name Awessu itself. The
name could have been a name of a sea deity of some sort, since the associated
rite is clearly a religious ceremony to attract the good and banish
the bad. The Berbers of Zuwarah take
into the sea before sunrise, during the hot summer mornings, purify themselves
and their animals too, their wool garments and blankets, obtain the blessing
of the sea, and release some of the accumulated sins into the salt. Then they
leave the sea and feast by the beach for the remaining of the day. The rite
was practiced until the 1980s, after which it began to slowly disappear after
the Libyan government and government scholars declared it a pagan festival during
which people take to the sea beneath the full moon (of Berber
St. Augustine - one of the founding theologians of Christian
thought). The festival nowadays is no more than a commercial festivity and
musical propaganda, as was the fate of so many feats the Berbers created
at the dawn of time. By all means
the festival of Awessu is still alive today, not in Libya, but in nearby Tunisia
where the inhabitants of Sousa (cf. Awessu) take to the sacred sea only once
a year: in the Awessu day, the only magical day of the whole year
where the sea takes the shape of a black mirror reflecting the dazzling stars
of the Sky.
Libyan Mythology Books & Resources:
- Herodotus,Histories.
- Il Berbero Nefusi di Fassato, by Francesco Beguinot, Roma: a collection of Libyan Berber myths and tales in Berber, with Italian translation.
- Kitab as-Siar, by ash-Shamakhi, Cairo.
- Essai sur la religion des Libyens, by L. Bertholon (in Revue Tunisienne), 1909.
- Triton und Euphemos, by Vater, St. Petersburg, 1849.
- L’Afrique Chretienne, by H. Leclercq, 1904: vol. I (paganism).
- Poesies Populaires de la Kabylie du Jurjura: Texte Kabyle et Traduction, by Louis Adolphe Hanoteau, 1867.
- Les Religions de l’Afrique Antique, by Gilbert Charles-Picard, 1954.
- Spirit Possession And Personhood Among The Kel Ewey Tuareg, by Susan J. Rasmussen.
- Folklore Twareg, by F. Nicolas, (Bull. Inst. Fr. d'Afrique Noire, t. 6, p. 463, 1944).
- Poesies Touaregues, by Charles Eugene de Foucauld, ed. Andre basset, 1925.
- Hoggar: Chants, Fables, Legends, by Angele Maraval Berthoin, 1954.
- Ritual And Belief In Morocco, by Westermarck.
- Moorish Literature, the Colonial Press, introduction by Rene Basset: Berber
ballads, Poems and Popular Tales.
- The Folklore of Morocco, by Francoise Legey, translated from French by
Lucy Hotz.
- An Anthology of Tashelhiyt Berber Folktales, by Harry Stroomer, 2001.
- Amthal wa-Hikayat Amazighiyah Muarrabah, by Muhammad Mistawi, 1985.
- Chants Berberes de Kabylie, by Jean Amrouche, 1947.
- The Unwritten Song, by Willard R. Trask, vol. 1:
- Merrakech, by Edmond Doutte, 1905.
- Magie et religion dans l’Afrique du Nord, by E. Doutte, 1909.
- Antiguedades de las Islas Afortunadas, by Viana, 1883.
- The History of the Canary Islands, by Glas, 1764.
- The Guanches of Tenerife, by Alonso de Espinosa.
- L’Ennair chez les Beni Snous, by Destaing, Algiers, 1905.
- Les fetes saisonnieres chez les Beni Snous, Algiers, 1907.
- Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, vol. ii, 1909: a study of Berber religion and mythology, by R. Basset.
- Loqman Berbere, by R. Basset, Paris, 1890.
- Les Sanctuaires du Djebel Nefousa, by R. Basset, Paris, 1897.
- Recherches sur la religion des Berbers, by R. Basset,1910.
- The Eastern Libyans, by Oric Bates, 1914.
- A Desert God, by Oric Bates, (in CSJ, vol. iv. No. 51).
- Siwan Superstitions, by Oric Bates, (in CSJ, vol. v. No. 55). [CSJ: Cairo Scientific Journal.
- The Golden Bough, by J.G. Frazer: an enjoyable 12 volumes to read.
- Folk and fairy-tales, by P.C. Asbjornsen, trans. By H. L. Braekstad, New York, 1883.
- Die Religion der afrikanischen Naturvolker, by W. Schneider,1891.
Berber Nesmenser, Zuwarah, Libya.
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