Phoenicians (900 BC)
Phoenicians are ancient Semites who used to live on Lebanon coastlines
they also made some colonies reaching the western Mediterranean coastlines. They
were known by maritime trading culture that spread across the nearby region from
1550 BC to 300 BC.
(Above image) map of the Phoenicians trade routs and settlements
Phoenicians called themselves as Kinaani (Canaanites) they also view themselves as a single
ethnicity and nationality. Their civilization was organized in city-states, which
it is similar to ancient Greece civilization each of their cities was a
city-state which was politically an independent state.
(Above Image) Phoenician Galley (Ship)
Phoenician traders arrived on the North African coast around
900 BC and established Carthage (Tunisia) around 8014 BC. During the classical
period, the Amazigh (Berber) civilization was already at a stage in which
agriculture, manufacturing, trade, and political organization supported several
states.
(Above Image) Phoenician Gold Coin
Trade links between Carthage and the Amazigh (Berbers) in the interior
grew rapidly, but territorial expansion also resulted in the enslavement or
military recruitment of some Amazigh (Berbers) and in the extraction of tribute
from other Amazigh (Berber) tribes.
Carthage (650-146
BC)
Carthage is an ancient Semitic civilization which is located
in city-state of Carthage in North Africa it was founded in 8014 BC by Phoenician
settlers. The city-state of Carthage gained independence in 650 BC from the Phoenician
city-state of Tyre (Capital City). Carthage took over all Phoenicians colonies
in North Africa and Southern Spain, Carthage’s political influence extended
over all most of the western Mediterranean and it was one of the major trade
hubs in the region.
(Above Image) Map of the Carthaginian Empire
As Carthaginian power grew; its impact on the indigenous
population increased dramatically. Amazigh (Berber) civilization was already at
a stage in which agriculture, manufacturing, trade, and political organization
supported several states. Trade links between Carthage and the Amazigh (Berbers)
in the interior grew, but territorial expansion also resulted in the
enslavement or military recruitment of some Berbers and in the extraction of tribute
from others. By the early 4th century BC, Amazigh (Berbers) formed one of the
largest units, with Gauls, of the Carthaginian army.
(Above Image) Carthaginians Soldiers in Battle
From their principal centre of power at Carthage, the
Carthaginians expanded and established small settlements (called emporia in Greek) along the North
African coast, these settlements eventually served as market towns as well as ports.
Hippo Regius (Annaba) and Rusicade (Skikda) are among the towns of Carthaginian
origin on the coast of the present-day Algeria.
(Above Image) view of the city of Carthage
Carthage was not they only powerful empire around the Mediterranean,
there other powerful states and empires like Greeks which were settled on
Sicily and Roman Republic further north. This struggle around the Mediterranean
has led to a series of conflicts and wars which is known as Greek-Punic Wars
and the most known one is Punic Wars which lasted 118 years which was fought
between Carthage and Rome. They also had to deal with the volatile Amazighs (Berber)
soldiers, the indigenous population of the entire area where Carthage was built
it was participated from 241 to 238 BC after being unpaid following the defeat
of Carthage in the First Punic War. In 146 BC, after the third and final Punic
War, Carthage was destroyed and then occupied by Roman forces.
(Above Images) Carthage ruins in Tunisia
The Carthaginian state declined because of successive
defeats by the Romans in the Punic Wars, and in 146 BC the city of Carthage was
destroyed. As Carthaginian power waned, the influence of Amazigh (Berber)
leaders in the hinterland grew.
Kingdom of Numidia (202 BC – 46 BC)
Numidia was an ancient Amazigh (Berber) Kingdom which was
emerged after the destruction of Carthage, the influence of the Amazigh (Berber)
leaders on power grew. By the 2nd Century there were two Amazigh (Berber)
Kingdoms had emerged. One of them is established in Numidia which is located in
modern day Algeria and west Tunisia, the other kingdom which is Mauretania
which extended across the Moulouya River in Morocco to the Atlantic Ocean.
Numidia was originally divided between two kingdoms,
Massinissa with his tribe Massyliis in Eastern Numidia and Western Numidia which
was led by King Syphax and his tribe Masaesylis. Massinissa who historically
won over Syphax and took control over west Numidia and unified west and east
Numidia into one Kingdom. The kingdom was bordered by the kingdom of Mauretania
(Morocco) and the Roman Province of Africa (Tunisia) to the east, the
Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Sahara Desert to the south.
(Above Image) Map of Numidia before the unification
Numidia it is considered to be the first major state in the
history of Algeria and the Amazigh (Berber) world. The population of Numidia were
Amazigh (Berber) which they were consisted of two tribes Masaesylii and Massylies, the Amazigh (Berber)
were known for their Numidian cavalry which played a key role in some battles
in the Punic Wars they were used as mercenaries in the Carthaginian army.
(Above Image) Numidian Cavalry
The Numidian Kingdom had many large cities like Cirta (Constantine)
which was the capital city of the Numidian Kingdom, there were also cities
which located in the north coastlines with ports like Rusicada (Skikda) and Hippo
Regius (Annaba), to the south there were Theveste (Tebessa) and Lambaesis
(Lambessa) these cities were connected by roads.
(Above Image) Cirta ruins in Algeria
After when Massinissa unified Numidia he spent 54 years of
his life developing his kingdom and serving the interests of his people, and
also he worked on deploying the Amazigh language in the public administration
of his kingdom and among his nation because the Canaanite language was the main
language when Numidia was part of the Carthaginian Empire. He built a strong
army and a large fleet to defend his kingdom and he also made agriculture as
the main income for the economy, he also bought architects from Greece and
Phoenician colonies in order to build tombs, palaces and temples. Massinissa was
an ally of the Roman Republic.
(Above Image) Massinissa King of Numidia
After the death of Massinissa in 148 BC, he was succeeded by
his son Micipsa. When Micipsa died in 118 BC, he was succeeded by his two sons Hiempsal
and Adherbal jointly and Jugurtha who was Massinissa’s illegitimate grandson (adopted),
who was very popular among the Amazigh (Berber). Hiempsal and Jugurtha disputed
over who is the one who’s going to succeed Micipsa immediately after his death Jugurtha
killed Hiempsal which led to open war with Adherbal.
(Above Image) Tomb of Massinissa
After being defeated by Jugurtha, Adherbal fled to Rome to
ask for help. The Roman officials, allegedly through bribery but perhaps more
probably because of a desire to quickly end conflict in a profitable client
kingdom, settled the fight by dividing the Kingdom of Numidia into two parts;
Jugurtha was assigned the western half.
By 112 BC Jugurtha resumed his war with Adherbal. He
incurred the wrath of Rome in the process by killing some Roman merchants who
were aiding Adherbal. After a brief war
with Rome which lasted 7 years, Jugurtha surrendered and received a highly
favourable peace treaty, which raised suspicions of bribery once more. The
local Roman commander was summoned to Rome to face corruption charges brought
by his political rival Gaius Memmius.
(Above Image) Map of Numidia under the rule of Jugurtha
Jugurtha was also forced to come to Rome to testify against
the Roman commander, where he was completely discredited once his violent and
ruthless past became widely known, and after he had been suspected of murdered
his cousin Massiva.
(Above Image) Jugurtha king of Numidia
War broke out between Numidia and the Roman Republic and
several legions were dispatched to North Africa under the command of the Consul
Quintus Caecilius Metellus Numidicus. The war dragged out into a long and
seemingly endless campaign as the Romans tried to defeat Jugurtha decisively. He
sent his Quaestor Lucius Cornelius Sulla to neighbouring Amazigh Kingdom of Mauretania
in order to eliminate their support for Jugurtha. With the help of Bocchus I of
Mauretania, Sulla captured Jugurtha and brought the war to an end. Jugurtha was
brought to Rome in chains and was placed in the Tullianum. Jugurtha was
executed by the Romans in 104 BC, after being paraded through the streets in
Gaius Marius' Triumph.
(Above Image) Jugurtha captured and chained
After the death of Jugurtha, western Numidia was added to
the Kingdom of Mauretania under the rule of Bocchus, while the remainder
(excluding Cyrene and its locality) continued to be governed by native princes
until the civil war broke out between Caesar and Pompey. After Cato the Younger
was defeated by Caesar, he committed suicide in 46 BC in Utica, and Numidia
became briefly the province of Africa Nova until Augustus restored Juba II (son
of Juba I) after the Battle of Actium.
Roman Algeria (25 BC – 533 AD)
The Roman era began in Algeria in 25 BC when Juba was
transferred to the throne of Mauretania, and Numidia was divided between the kingdom
of Mauretania and the province of Roman Africa Nova. Under Emperor Septimius
Severus (193 AD), Numidia was separated from Africa Vetus (Roman Africa Province),
and governed by a Roman imperial procurator.
(Above Image) Map of the Roman Empire
Under the new organization of the empire by emperor Diocletian,
Numidia was divided in two provinces: the north became Numidia Cirtensis, with capital at Cirta, while the south, which
included the Aurès Mountains and was threatened by raids from Amazigh (Berber)
desert tribes, became Numidia Militiana,
"Military Numidia", with capital at the legionary base of Lambaesis
(southeast Batna).
(Above Image) Roman ruins in Lambessa
(Above Images) Roman ruins in Timgad
Subsequently however, Emperor Constantine the Great reunited
the two provinces in a single province, administered from Cirta, which was now
renamed Constantina (Constantine, Algeria) in his honour. Its governor was
raised to the rank of consularis in 320 AD, and the province remained one of
the seven provinces of the Roman diocese of Africa until the invasion of the
Vandals in 428 AD, which began its slow decay, accompanied by desertification
in North Africa. The province remained under Vandal rule, but was effectively
limited to the coastal areas by Amazigh (Berber) raids. It was restored to
Roman rule after the Vandalic War which lasted a year, when it became part of
the new Praetorian Prefecture of Africa (Byzantine province of Africa).
(Above Image) Constantine the Great Emperor of the Roman Empire
The Roman military presence of North Africa was absolutely
small, consisting of about 28,000 troops and auxiliaries in Numidia and the two
Mauretanian provinces. Starting in the 2nd century, these garrisons were manned
mostly by local inhabitants in North Africa.
(Above Image) Roman Soldiers in North Africa
Aside from Carthage, urbanization in North Africa came in
part with the establishment of settlements of veterans under the Roman emperors
Claudius, Nerva, and Trajan. In Algeria such settlements included Tipasa,
Cuicul or Curculum (Djemila, northeast of Sétif), Thamugadi (Timgad, southeast
of Sétif), and Sitifis (Setif). The prosperity of most towns depended on
agriculture. It was called the "granary of the empire," North Africa
was one of the largest exporters of grain in the Roman empire, which was
exported to the provinces which did not produce cereals, like Italy and Greece.
Other crops included fruit, figs, grapes, and beans. By the 2nd century, olive
oil rivaled cereals as an export item.
(Above Image) Roman Foods
The beginning of the decline was less serious in North
Africa than elsewhere in the Roman Empire. There were uprisings, however. In 238
AD, landowners rebelled unsuccessfully against the emperor's fiscal policies.
Sporadic tribal revolts in the Mauretanian Mountains followed from 253 to 288
AD. The towns also suffered economic difficulties among the Amazigh (Berber)
residents, and building activity almost ceased in the North Africa.
(Above Image) Amazigh (Berber) rebels against the Romans
The decline in trade weakened Roman control in North Africa.
Independent kingdoms emerged in mountainous and desert areas, towns were
overrun, and Amazigh (Berber), who had previously been pushed to the edges of
the Roman Empire, returned to the Roman Province of Africa.
(Above Image) Jewish people traveling to North Africa
The towns of Roman North Africa had a substantial Jewish
population. Some Jews had been deported from Palestine in the 1st and 2nd
centuries for rebelling against Roman rule in Palestine; others had come
earlier with Phoenician settlers. There were a number of Amazigh (Berber)
tribes had converted to Judaism.
(Above Image) Byzantine Soldiers
Belisarius, general of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I
based in Constantinople, landed in North Africa in 533 with 16,000 men and
within a year destroyed the Vandal kingdom in North Africa. Many rural areas
reverted to Amazigh (Berber) rule and the region as whole was lost by the
Byzantine Empire during the Muslim Conquests in North Africa.
No comments:
Post a Comment