Social and Cultural Anthropologist and contributor Scherin Barlow-Massay
Community news. Traditionally, the African concept of beauty was different to that of Europeans. Different cultures within African societies had different concepts of beauty.
Scarification and body modification were normal practices that identified family groups or showed religious affiliations.
Neolithic paintings found in caves at Tassili, between the borders of Libya and Algeria, depict women in armed combat with bows and arrows; each female warrior has only one breast displayed.
Therefore, it is quite plausible for Amazon women to practice what we would now regard as breast mutilation, but what they would have regarded as an artistic and practical body modification.
The worship of female deities was prevalent in the early development of human history and many customs originating in Mesopotamia arose out of the custom of mother worship.
Matriarchy became a well-developed social system and many African societies were organised on principles that enabled women to excerpt power and autonomy.
Through religious and cultural ideology, matriarchy, matrilineality and matrilocality also influenced other cultures, including some of those in Libya. The worship of goddesses such as Isis, the goddess of fertility, motherhood and magic, Libya, and Afri, the goddess of fortune and fertility helped to solidify women’s positions within their societies.
Medusa (meaning, sovereign female wisdom), the Gorgon, described as having a hideous face with snakes for hair, was imported into Greece from Libya, where she was worshipped along with other gods and goddesses. The snake cult stemmed from the abundance of snakes found in the Libyan Desert and the Amazons worshipped Medusa as their serpent goddess; however, she appeared in earlier religious history where she represented earth and birth.
Amazons also worshipped Neith, the goddess of war and hunting. Female Amazon communities consisted of two main groups of women: those who left their villages to serve their goddesses for a limited period and those who preferred to live in an all female society of warrior-priestesses.
Siculus informs us that although Amazon women fulfilled their female responsibilities as child bearers, they did not relinquish their rights of power and authority over state affairs. Amazon women, it would appear, formulated the quintessential matriarchal society!
Typical Tuareg woman. Photo courtesy www.forumbiodiversity.com
Amazons, who called themselves, Amazigh, were one of the many clans occupying the land of Libya. Later during the rule of the Roman Empire, Romans named them Berbers, meaning, “savage and uncivilised”, a name that is still in use. The Amazigh inhabited Libya and some other North African countries before the Arabs settled there in 642 CE. Today, they are also known by the Arabic word Tuareg, meaning “paths taken”.
The Amazigh (Amazons) were the only Libyan tribe with a matrilineal kinship system. Women benefitted from high status privileges and inheritance rights, while men carried their mother’s name and had to cover their faces. Although the names by which the people are known and recognised have changed with each dominating culture, much of those ancient traditions continue today within Tuareg society. The Tuareg, who number about 3,000,000, are semi nomadic and inhabit areas of Libya, Mali, Chad, Niger, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Algeria.
They still practice their traditional beliefs, although nominal Muslims and the structure of the Tuareg society is still matrilineal, meaning that the family traces its bloodlines through women. Tuareg women have powerful roles in comparison to those of men, whose main roles are to provide subsistence and parent.
Women can choose their husbands and initiate divorce proceedings. In cases of divorce, the man has to financially support their children and leave the marital home. Women inherit property, own livestock and have an important role in family and communal decision-making.
Traditionally, the African concept of beauty was different to that of Europeans. Different cultures within African societies had different concepts of beauty. Scarification and body modification were normal practices that identified family groups or showed religious affiliations. Neolithic paintings found in caves at Tassili, between the borders of Libya and Algeria, depict women in armed combat with bows and arrows; each female warrior has only one breast displayed. Therefore, it is quite plausible for Amazon women to practice what we would now regard as breast mutilation, but what they would have regarded as an artistic and practical body modification.
The worship of female deities was prevalent in the early development of human history and many customs originating in Mesopotamia arose out of the custom of mother worship. Matriarchy became a well-developed social system and many African societies were organised on principles that enabled women to excerpt power and autonomy. Through religious and cultural ideology, matriarchy, matrilineality and matrilocality also influenced other cultures, including some of those in Libya. The worship of goddesses such as Isis, the goddess of fertility, motherhood and magic, Libya, and Afri, the goddess of fortune and fertility helped to solidify women’s positions within their societies. Medusa (meaning, sovereign female wisdom), the Gorgon, described as having a hideous face with snakes for hair, was imported into Greece from Libya, where she was worshipped along with other gods and goddesses. The snake cult stemmed from the abundance of snakes found in the Libyan Desert and the Amazons worshipped Medusa as their serpent goddess; however, she appeared in earlier religious history where she represented earth and birth.
Amazons also worshipped Neith, the goddess of war and hunting. Female Amazon communities consisted of two main groups of women: those who left their villages to serve their goddesses for a limited period and those who preferred to live in an all female society of warrior-priestesses.
Siculus informs us that although Amazon women fulfilled their female responsibilities as child bearers, they did not relinquish their rights of power and authority over state affairs. Amazon women, it would appear, formulated the quintessential matriarchal society!
Amazons, who called themselves, Amazigh, were one of the many clans occupying the land of Libya. Later during the rule of the Roman Empire, Romans named them Berbers, meaning, “savage and uncivilised”, a name that is still in use. The Amazigh inhabited Libya and some other North African countries before the Arabs settled there in 642 CE. Today, they are also known by the Arabic word Tuareg, meaning “paths taken”.
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They still practice their traditional beliefs, although nominal Muslims and the structure of the Tuareg society is still matrilineal, meaning that the family traces its bloodlines through women. Tuareg women have powerful roles in comparison to those of men, whose main roles are to provide subsistence and parent. Women can choose their husbands and initiate divorce proceedings. In cases of divorce, the man has to financially support their children and leave the marital home. Women inherit property, own livestock and have an important role in family and communal decision-making.
