CYRENAICA

Jebel Akhdar, Benghazi region, Cyrenaica; courtesy, Trip Advisor

Cyrenaica is an ancient region covering the eastern half of, what is today, Arab-occupied Libya, and named after the ancient Berber (Amazigh) city of Cyrene (modern day Shahat) located on the coast. The Berbers were, of course, the original inhabitants of Cyrenaica founding a number of cities and settlements, both on the coast, and especially in the inland oases such as Kharga, Siwa (today in westernmost Egypt), Jerabub, and Awjila where remnants of their languages are still found. The area was somewhat known to the ancient Egyptians who knew it as a place of pastoral tribes and olive trees. In later antiquity, Cyrenaica came under the control of the Greeks, thus becoming home to many Greek immigrants. Later, it passed to the Romans. Under Roman rule, Cyrenaica became known as Pentapolis or the "Five Cities", for the five major cities of the area – Cyrene, Apollonia (today Mersa Susa), Arsinoe (today Tocra), Berenice (today Benghazi), Balagrae (al Bayda), and Barce (Marj). It formed part of the Roman province of Crete and Cyrenaica, later divided into Libya Pentapolis and Libya Sicca. In modern times, Cyrenaica came under the rule of Italy and later Britain. In 1951, the Europeans left and the area became incorporated into the Arab Kingdom of Libya. The indigenous Berbers were left as second class citizens at which point, they remain to this day.

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 12^th 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.

The deltaic patches at Susa and Derna.

Ras al Hillal Bay. 

FEZ

Fez, courtesy, Berber Dream Tours

Fez is the second largest city in Morocco after Casablanca with a population of 1.4 million (2014). It is located in the northern part of the country (northeast of the Atlas Mountains) and serves as the capital of the Fez-Meknes administrative region. It is also centrally located among most Moroccan population centers. Even though Fez is often described as an “Arab” city, it is, in fact, approximately 33% indigenous Berber, of various tribes. In addition, there are the so-called “Arabized Berbers” who make up approximately 54% of the population. They are either of mixed Arab and Berber ancestry, or Berbers who have taken on Arab culture and identity. Either way, the Arabized Berbers despise their own indigenous Berber identity and identify more with the occupying Arabs. Just as there are self-hating Jews in the world, so there are self-hating Berbers.

The foundation of the city of Fez is said to have been established by the Arab Idrisid dynasty in 789 but named after the Berber banu Fazaz tribe who inhabited the site. Berber emigration to the city occurred from Muslim Spain, a.k.a. Andalusia, in 817–818 after they were expelled after a rebellion against the ruling Arab Umayyad dynasty of Córdoba. They established the Adwat Al Andalus quarter of the city. However, they were followed by 2000 Arab families of colonists from Kairouan (modern Tunisia) after another rebellion in 824 and who established the Adwat Al Qarawiyyin quarter.

In the 10th century, Fez, which at that time, was ruled by the Berber Zenatas, was contested by the Arab Ummayads of Spanish Cordoba and the Idrisids on the one hand, and the Arab Fatimid Caliphate of Tunisia on the other. The Fatimids proved victorious and took the city in 927, expelled the Idrisids, and installed the Berber Miknasa, a branch of the Zenata, over the city. The Miknasa were, in turn, driven out in 980 by the Berber Maghrawa, another branch of the Zenata and ally of Córdoba. It was in this period that the Andalusian ruler Almanzor commissioned the Maghrawa, under their emir Dunas al Maghrawi, to rebuild and refurnish the Al-Kairouan mosque, giving it much of its current appearance.

In 1070, the Berber Almoravid dynasty under ibn Tashfin conquered the city and great Islamic works were initiated throughout the city and their domain. Under Almoravid patronage the largest expansion and renovation of the al-Kairouan Mosque took place (1134-1143) and Fez also acquired a reputation for Maliki legal scholarship; the works of Abu Imran al Fassi were well known. The city also became an important centre of trade. Almoravid impact on the city's structure was such that the second Almoravid ruler, Yusuf ibn Tashfin, is often considered to be the second founder of Fez.

Like many Moroccan cities, Fez was greatly enlarged during the Berber Almohad Caliphate and saw its previously dominating rural aspect lessen. At the start of the 13th century they broke down the Idrisid city walls and constructed new ones, which covered a much wider space. These Almohad walls exist to this day as the outline of Fes el Bali quarter. Under Almohad rule the city grew to become one of the largest in the world with an estimated population of 200,000.

In 1250, Fez became capital of the Berber Marinid Sultanate. In 1276, the Marinid Sultan Abu Yusuf Yacub, who was known as a tolerant ruler who personally intervened to prevent the attempted annihilation of the local Jewish community after a massacre that took place there, established the neighborhood of Fes Jdid which he made the dynasty’s administrative and military center. Fez reached its golden age during this time attracting Berber villagers from the surrounding area. The ruling dynasty initiated numerous building projects in the city, such as the madrasas: the Saffarin (the first), Al Attarine, Mesbahiyya, Sahrij, and the Bou Inania; and mosques: the Great Mosque of Fes Jdid built in 1279, the Abu al Hassan, the Chrabliyine beginning in 1342, the al-Hamra from 1350, the Lala Ghariba in Fes Jdid, and the Bab Guissa from the reign of Abu al-Hassan (1331-1351) (modified in later centuries). Other projects included^, the Dar al Magana water clock. The city also became a major travel destination and throughout this period, was often visited by great Islamic Berber scholars such as Ibn Batuta in the 14^th century. The Marinids also spread the teachings of the former Arab ruler Idris I and encouraged sharifism, financing sharifian families as a way to legitimize their (in essence secular) rule. Soon, hundreds of families throughout Morocco claimed descent from Idris I, especially in Fez and the nearby Rif mountains.

The Moroccan Revolt in 1465 eventually resulted in the overthrow of the last Marinid sultan nine years later. The dynasty was then replaced by their relatives, the Wattasids, who faithfully (but for a large part unsuccessfully) continued Marinid policies. By 1549, the Arab Saadi dynasty overthrew the Wattasids. In 1576, Fez was briefly conquered by the Ottoman Turks with the help of their Arab allies. Fez remained however under Saadi rule til the present day. During this time period, the indigenous Berbers were often relegated to second class citizenship, their practice of Islam notwithstanding. In fact, as relatively recent as 1912, when Morocco had just come under French rule, the student body at the University of Al Qaraouiyyin, founded by Arabs in the 9^th century, were strictly segregated between Arab and Berber students. During the French and Spanish occupation of Morocco in the early 20^th centuries, the Berbers of Fez, as with the rest of Morocco, were at the forefront of the fight for independence. Their contributions to Moroccan independence and society still did not improve their situation and only recently, was the Berber language even recognized.

Indigenous sites in Fez (aside from those mentioned above) include:

The Bab el Amer Gate leading to the Fes Jdid quarter;

The Bab Bou Jeloud Gate built in the 12^th century, gives access to the main street leading to the Al Qarawiyyin;

Nearby is the former Almoravid citadel;

The Chouara Tannery;

The tombs of the Marinids built in the 14^th century;

Coin Berber rug shop in the Medina;

And the Al Batha Museum founded by the Berber writer Ahmed Sefrioui.