The TUAREGS

Doomed genuine Berber civilization

Tuareg woman
A proud Tuareg woman

In the infertile country at the Hoggar mountains deep in the Sahara desert there live the last remains of the Tuareg people.
This is a proud, freedom-loving people, whose social life is dominated by women. It is a matriarchal - that means women dominated - culture.
So it is not the son who inherits but the daughter! Also in politics the influence of the women is very strong. Therefore it is not very astonishing that the Tuaregs were temporarily reigned by women, these queens were called Tamenokalt. The most famous of these queens had been Tin Hinan.
But also the arts are the domain of the Tuareg women, so they are very famous for their poetry.

The beautiful rock engravings and paintings in the Hoggar mountains show that the predominance of women prevailed there since ancient times.
Tuareg women
The painting on the left side comes from Tadjedem in the Tassili n'Ajjer mountain area. It shows two female figures in conversation. The self-confident bearing of these women unveil their important position in social life.
Tuareg women
Both paintings come from Tadjedem. The scene on the left side depicts two women, the left figure carries a spear in her hand - a proof that these women also took part in fights, a conformity with the classic Amazons.
The right painting shows again two talking women, both wear a waisted garment.
talking Tuareg women

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