Scientific publication
North Africa's forgotten writings
« Débuts de l'écriture au Maghreb »
How did North Africans create their own forms of writing out of elaborated rock art? Why do early local Punic characters look so much like elaborate rock art symbols? Could these characters have had a determining influence on Punic characters?
From the ruins of Carthage to the Sahara desert, through strange bricks in the walls in Volubilis, ancient writings can be found across North Africa. Not all of them are very old, given that some date back to the early Middle Ages like those found in Tunisia's haouanet> tombs; others, like the Tuareg people's tifinagh are still in use.
In “Débuts de l'Ecriture au Maghreb” a group of specialists of North African writing presented the results of their research following a colloquium held in January 2002 at the King Abdul Aziz Al Saud Foundation.
The result is this big, rather technical book, in which French and Arabic speaking specialists will be happy to find a series of short, detailed articles divided into two main parts: local scripts and “imported” ones. All the articles contain numerous photos, sketches and references.
Lay men, however, cannot really venture into this book without some knowledge of North African antiquity and a lot of patience. However, if they persevere, they will be rewarded by quite interesting information on early language politics in North Africa such as how Latin spread across the region but remained limited to the local elites, or why the Carthagian senate decided to forbid its people from learning Greek to prevent them from plotting against them.
Title: "Débuts de l'Ecriture au Maghreb"
Author: Exhibition and colloquium coordinated by M'hamed Hassine Fantar and Ahmed Siraj.
Publisher: King Abdul Aziz Al Saud Foundation for Islamic Studies and Human Sciences.
Language: French and Arabic.
Ph: Ancient tombstone in Douar Ouled Saleh (El Gara), Morocco. Ph:"Débuts de l'Ecriture au Maghreb".
Extract
“Linguistic wealth is one of the main characteristics of North Africa. Multilingualism has marked the region since early history, with successive human settlements from Phoenicia, Carthage, Greece, Rome, the Arabian Peninsula, Turkey, and other countries. North Africa always included social groups that spoke at least two languages, more or less perfectly. Despite this, Lybic remained the local language and was used by most of the population. This language was transmitted through a written form, as shown by numerous inscriptions. Of all the ancient scripts used in North Africa, this alphabet is the one still generating a number of questions.
In North Africa, writing did not go through a pre-alphabetic phase as could have been suggested by the classical development process of writing (ideograms, syllabaries). However, from the start of the Cabaline Period**, North African rock art moved to a geometric system that spread throughout North Africa during the proto-historic period. Some researchers confirm that images found in this late period can be considered to have characteristics corresponding to an alphabet.
From image to symbol
The adoption of the alphabet probably came after the use of more simple means of expression (images, signs, and symbols), bearers of significative messages. Even if, in the Maghreb, the invention of writing came later than in the Mediterranean region -especially in the East, elsewhere the use of forms of expression has been found well before the historic era. The number and diversity of rock art images, which spread throughout North Africa, show the willingness of the region's inhabitants to communicate with each other…
Prehistoric rock art
Thousands of rock engravings have been discovered in North Africa, but not all of them date back to prehistoric times. Two series of engraving can generally be distinguished: the first one, called Libyco-Berber, can be found in southern Morocco, western Algeria and the whole Sahara region. It is characterized by small images drawn in dotted or fine lines, associated with Tifinagh writing which can be classified between old Lybic and the Tuaregs' present day Tifinagh. One can find engravings and graffiti of this kind until the middle ages.
The second series, which is older, is characterized by deeper engravings featuring animals many of which disappeared in North Africa. These engravings provide information on ancient fauna, human and even some aspects of their way of life.[…]”
North Africa's forgotten writings
« Débuts de l'écriture au Maghreb »
How did North Africans create their own forms of writing out of elaborated rock art? Why do early local Punic characters look so much like elaborate rock art symbols? Could these characters have had a determining influence on Punic characters?
From the ruins of Carthage to the Sahara desert, through strange bricks in the walls in Volubilis, ancient writings can be found across North Africa. Not all of them are very old, given that some date back to the early Middle Ages like those found in Tunisia's haouanet> tombs; others, like the Tuareg people's tifinagh are still in use.
In “Débuts de l'Ecriture au Maghreb” a group of specialists of North African writing presented the results of their research following a colloquium held in January 2002 at the King Abdul Aziz Al Saud Foundation.
The result is this big, rather technical book, in which French and Arabic speaking specialists will be happy to find a series of short, detailed articles divided into two main parts: local scripts and “imported” ones. All the articles contain numerous photos, sketches and references.
Lay men, however, cannot really venture into this book without some knowledge of North African antiquity and a lot of patience. However, if they persevere, they will be rewarded by quite interesting information on early language politics in North Africa such as how Latin spread across the region but remained limited to the local elites, or why the Carthagian senate decided to forbid its people from learning Greek to prevent them from plotting against them.
Title: "Débuts de l'Ecriture au Maghreb"
Author: Exhibition and colloquium coordinated by M'hamed Hassine Fantar and Ahmed Siraj.
Publisher: King Abdul Aziz Al Saud Foundation for Islamic Studies and Human Sciences.
Language: French and Arabic.
Ph: Ancient tombstone in Douar Ouled Saleh (El Gara), Morocco. Ph:"Débuts de l'Ecriture au Maghreb".
Extract
“Linguistic wealth is one of the main characteristics of North Africa. Multilingualism has marked the region since early history, with successive human settlements from Phoenicia, Carthage, Greece, Rome, the Arabian Peninsula, Turkey, and other countries. North Africa always included social groups that spoke at least two languages, more or less perfectly. Despite this, Lybic remained the local language and was used by most of the population. This language was transmitted through a written form, as shown by numerous inscriptions. Of all the ancient scripts used in North Africa, this alphabet is the one still generating a number of questions.
In North Africa, writing did not go through a pre-alphabetic phase as could have been suggested by the classical development process of writing (ideograms, syllabaries). However, from the start of the Cabaline Period**, North African rock art moved to a geometric system that spread throughout North Africa during the proto-historic period. Some researchers confirm that images found in this late period can be considered to have characteristics corresponding to an alphabet.
From image to symbol
The adoption of the alphabet probably came after the use of more simple means of expression (images, signs, and symbols), bearers of significative messages. Even if, in the Maghreb, the invention of writing came later than in the Mediterranean region -especially in the East, elsewhere the use of forms of expression has been found well before the historic era. The number and diversity of rock art images, which spread throughout North Africa, show the willingness of the region's inhabitants to communicate with each other…
Prehistoric rock art
Thousands of rock engravings have been discovered in North Africa, but not all of them date back to prehistoric times. Two series of engraving can generally be distinguished: the first one, called Libyco-Berber, can be found in southern Morocco, western Algeria and the whole Sahara region. It is characterized by small images drawn in dotted or fine lines, associated with Tifinagh writing which can be classified between old Lybic and the Tuaregs' present day Tifinagh. One can find engravings and graffiti of this kind until the middle ages.
The second series, which is older, is characterized by deeper engravings featuring animals many of which disappeared in North Africa. These engravings provide information on ancient fauna, human and even some aspects of their way of life.[…]”