Antique Berber Fibulae – Ida Ou Nadif Tribe, Anti-Atlas Mountains, Morocco

19th century. Siver on brass sheet, red glass. Each fibulae is cm 13,1 x cm. 6,5 (5.16″ x 2.56″). Gr. 175,7 (6.20 oz.).

Essential feminine embellishment, the tizerzai are taken in pairs to close the coat.

For more informations:

• “Splendeurs du Maroc”, Africa Museum Tervuren
• “Bijoux du Maroc”, by Jacques and Marie-Rose Rabaté, Edisud / Le Fennec;
• “Africa Adorned” by Angela Fisher.

Berbers are the indigenous ethnic group of North Africa. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River.The name Berber appeared for the first time after the end of the Roman Empire.

Many Berbers call themselves some variant of the word imazighen (singular: Amazigh), possibly meaning “free people” or “free and noble men”. Today, most Berber-speaking people live in Morocco and Algeria.

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