Jebel Akhdar, Benghazi region, Cyrenaica; courtesy, Trip Advisor |
After the Arabs completed the conquest of Egypt in 642, they started to raid the indigenous Amazigh territory of Cyrenaica as a starting point for the rest of North Africa which they called Bilād al-Maghrib (“Lands of the West”) or simply the Maghrib. In 705 this region became a province of the Muslim empire then ruled from Damascus by the Arab Umayyad caliphs (661–750) but it managed to retain its indigenous Berber character. But slowly but surely, they became Islamized and in part also Arabized. They were neither forcibly converted to Islam nor systematically missionized by their conquerors. Largely because its teachings became an ideology through which they justified both their rebellions against the caliphs and their support of rulers who rejected caliphal authority, Islam gained wide appeal and spread rapidly.
One of the
major cities in Cyrenaica, Benghazi, has historically been indigenous and was
one of the centers of Berber civilization. However, in the 11th century,
the Arab Sa'ada tribe
from the Bani Salim invaded
and occupied Cyrenaica, including Benghazi, resulting in its control by various
branches of the tribe. Benghazi and its surrounding areas were controlled
by the Barghathi tribe.
In the 12th
century, the area around the town of Ajdabiya
was described by the Arab geographer Muhammad al-Idrisi as a place where “tribes
of the Berber wander about in great numbers”.
A
short-lived Berber state existed in Cyrenaica between 1911 and 1912. During the
1980s, substantial Berber minorities continued to play important economic and
political roles, their second class status notwithstanding. After the
revolution that overthrew Qaddafi, the political structure was reorganized –
with great difficulty but with the occupying Arabs still in charge. In the
Cyrenaican parliament, the Amazigh were supposed to get two
seats as were the Tibu and Tuareg minorities, which registered candidates. Six seats
were reserved for women. The Amazigh demanded from the Arabs equal rights. The
General National Congress (GNC) assembly, Libya's new parliament, debated
Amazigh demands but reached no agreement.
Today, the people of the area are mainly of
mixed Berber and Arab descent. So much so, that many, if not a majority, of the
indigenous Cyrenaicans, would often scorn their Berber identities. However, no one
can change their ancestry and the people of Cyrenaica are still Berber even if in
name only.
Indigenous sites in the area, aside from those mentioned above, include:
The Slontha
Temple, a small, ancient, temple dating to the period before the
Greek occupation; it was partially damaged during flooding due to heavy rain,
but was restored in 1993. Located in the village of Aslanta Lasamisis, approximately 15 miles south of al-Bayda, the
temple is hidden high in the Green
Mountain's groves. It was first mentioned by G. Haimann in 1886. J. W.
Gregory, Professor of Geology at the University of Glasgow, came across the
site when he was studying the area in 1911. The temple is rich in carvings of
human faces, unusual human figures and animals, disembodied heads, and slender
bodies engraved directly onto the rocks, in a style totally unique to the
temple. Some of these figures, unlike other ancient representations of the
surrounding cultures, are in a seated position, in what appears to be a deeply
religious gathering, probably in association with the worship of the dead. Burials
and statues in seating position, are characteristic of several Berber
cemeteries of the time.
The Jebel Akhdar mountain range extends
parallel to the coast from the Gulf of Sidra to
the Gulf of Bomba and
reaches an elevation of 2860 feet. The southward slopes of the Jebel Akhdar are
occupied by the Mediterranean dry woodlands and
steppes, a transitional ecoregion lying between the Mediterranean
climate regions of North Africa and the hyper-arid Sahara Desert. The lower Jebel el-Akabah lies to the south and
east of the Jebel Akhdar. The two highlands are separated by a depression. This
eastern region, known in ancient times as Marmarica,
is much drier than the Jebel Akhdar and here the Sahara extends to the coast.
Historically, salt-collecting and sponge fishing in the Jebel were more
important than agriculture.
The Libyan Desert, located south of the coastal highlands of Cyrenaica is a
large east-west running depression, extending eastward from the Gulf of Sidra
into Egypt. This region includes the Great Sand
Sea and the Calanshio Sand Sea.
The Marj Plain is a level plateau that is
separated from the coastal plain by a steep escarpment.
The Garrigue shrublands occupy the
non-agricultural portions of the coastal plain.
Ras al Hillal Bay.
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