Editing Berbers (section)

== Architecture ==
{{See also|Architecture of Tunisia|Architecture of Algeria|Moroccan architecture}}

=== Antiquity ===
Some of the earliest evidence of original Amazigh culture in North Africa has been found in the highlands of the Sahara and dates from the second millennium BC, when the region was much less arid than it is today and when the Amazigh population was most likely in the process of spreading across North Africa.<ref name="Brett-1996">{{Cite book|last1=Brett|first1=Michael|title=The Berbers|last2=Fentress|first2=Elizabeth|publisher=Blackwell|year=1996|isbn=9780631207672|language=en}}</ref>{{Rp|pages=15–22}} Numerous archaeological sites associated with the [[Garamantes]] have been found in the Fezzan (in present-day Libya), attesting to the existence of small villages, towns, and tombs. At least one settlement dates from as early as 1000 BC. The structures were initially built in [[dry stone]], but around the middle of the millennium ({{Circa|500 BC}}) they began to be built with [[mudbrick]] instead.<ref name="Brett-1996" />{{Rp|page=23}} By the second century AD there is evidence of large [[villa]]s and more sophisticated tombs associated with the aristocracy of this society, in particular at [[Germa]].<ref name="Brett-1996" />{{Rp|page=24}}

Further west, the kingdom of Numidia was contemporary with the Phoenician civilization of Carthage and the [[Roman Republic]]. Among other things, the Numidians have left thousands of pre-Christian tombs. The oldest of these is [[Madghacen|Medracen]] in present-day Algeria, believed to date from the time of [[Masinissa]] (202–148 BC). Possibly influenced by [[Ancient Greek architecture|Greek architecture]] further east, or built with the help of Greek craftsmen, the tomb consists of a large [[tumulus]] constructed in well-cut [[ashlar]] masonry and featuring sixty [[Doric order|Doric]] columns and an Egyptian-style [[cornice]].<ref name="Brett-1996" />{{Rp|pages=27–29}} Another famous example is the [[Royal Mausoleum of Mauretania|Tomb of the Christian Woman]] in western Algeria. This structure consists of columns, a dome, and spiral pathways that lead to a single chamber.<ref>{{cite book|last=Davidson|first=Basil|title=Africa in History|year=1995|isbn=978-0-684-82667-7|page=50|publisher=Simon & Schuster }}</ref> A number of "tower tombs" from the Numidian period can also be found in sites from Algeria to Libya. Despite their wide geographic range, they often share a similar style: a three-story structure topped by a convex pyramid. They may have initially been inspired by Greek monuments but they constitute an original type of structure associated with Numidian culture. Examples of these are found at [[Siga]], Soumaa d'el Khroub, [[Libyco-Punic Mausoleum of Dougga|Dougga]], and [[Sabratha]].<ref name="Brett-1996" />{{Rp|pages=29–31}}

Mediterranean empires of [[Ancient Carthage|Carthage]] and [[Ancient Rome|Rome]] left their mark in the material culture of North Africa as well. Phoenician and [[Punic people|Punic]] (Carthaginian) remains can be found at [[Carthage]] itself and at [[Lixus (ancient city)|Lixus]]. Numerous remains of [[Ancient Roman architecture|Roman architecture]] can be found across the region, such as the [[amphitheatre of El Jem]] and the archaeological sites of [[Sabratha]], [[Timgad]], and [[Volubilis]], among others.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Ennabli|first=Abdelmajid|date=2000|title=North Africa's Roman art. Its future.|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/documents/6056/|url-status=live|access-date=11 January 2022|website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140912130852/http://whc.unesco.org/en/documents/6056 |archive-date=12 September 2014 }}</ref><gallery>
File:Garma (Garama) - Ruinen der antiken Stadt Garma 02.jpg|Remains of [[Germa]], a capital of the [[Garamantes]] (first millennium BC)
File:Mausolée medghassen.jpg|[[Numidia]]n tomb of [[Madghacen|Medracen]] ({{circa|200}}–150 BC)
File:TUNISIA DOUGGA MAUSOLEE LIBYCO PUNIQUE 001.jpg|[[Libyco-Punic Mausoleum of Dougga|Numidian mausoleum of Dougga]], example of a "tower tomb" (2nd century BC)
</gallery>

=== After the Muslim conquest ===
{{Further|Moorish architecture}}
After the [[Muslim conquest of the Maghreb|Arab-Muslim conquest of the Maghreb]] in the 7th and early 8th centuries, [[Islamic architecture]] developed in the region. Various dynasties, either based in North Africa or beyond it, contributed to the architecture of the region, including the Aghlabids, the Fatimids, and the [[Caliphate of Córdoba|Umayyads of Cordoba]]. In addition to the general [[Moorish architecture|"Moorish" style]] prevalent in North Africa during the [[History of Islam|Islamic period]], some architectural styles and structures in North Africa are distinctively associated with areas that have maintained strong Berber populations and cultures, including but not limited to the [[Atlas Mountains|Atlas Mountain]] regions of Morocco, the Aurès and M'zab regions of Algeria, and southern Tunisia.<ref name="Golvin-1989">L. Golvin, « Architecture berbère », ''Encyclopédie berbère'' [online], 6 (1989), document A264, published online on 1 December 2012, accessed on 10 April 2020. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/encyclopedieberbere/2582</ref> They do not form one single architectural style but rather a diverse variety of local vernacular styles.<ref name="Golvin-1989" /> Berber ruling dynasties also contributed to the formation and patronage of western Islamic art and architecture through their political domination of the region between the 11th and 16th centuries (during the rule of the Almoravids, Almohads, Marinids and Hafsids, among others).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bennison|first=Amira K.|title=The Almoravid and Almohad Empires|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|year=2016|isbn=9780748646821}}</ref><ref name="Golvin-1989" /><ref>{{Cite book|last=Marçais|first=Georges|title=L'architecture musulmane d'Occident|publisher=Arts et métiers graphiques|year=1954|isbn=|location=Paris|pages=}}</ref>

In Morocco, the largely Berber-inhabited [[Rural area|rural]] valleys and oases of the Atlas and the south are marked by numerous [[kasbah]]s (fortresses) and ''[[Ksar|ksour]]'' (fortified villages), typically flat-roofed structures made of [[rammed earth]] and decorated with local geometric motifs, as with the famous example of [[Aït Benhaddou|Ait Benhaddou]].<ref name="Golvin-1989" /><ref>{{Cite book|last=Naji|first=Salima|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=00k3iCkYYEQC&q=Art+et+Architectures+berb%C3%A8res+du+Maroc&pg=PP1|title=Art et Architectures berbères du Maroc|publisher=Editions la Croisée des Chemins|year=2009|isbn=9782352700579|location=|pages=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddou|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/444/|access-date=16 April 2020|website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre|language=en}}</ref> Likewise, southern Tunisia is dotted with hilltop ''ksour'' and multi-story fortified [[Granary|granaries]] (''[[ghorfa]]''), such as the examples in [[Medenine]] and [[Ksar Ouled Soltane]], which are typically built with loose stone bound by a [[Mortar (masonry)|mortar]] of [[clay]].<ref name="Golvin-1989" /> [[Fortified Granaries of Aures|Fortified granaries]] also exist in the [[Aurès Mountains|Aures]] region of Algeria,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ould-Braham |first=Ouahmi |date=1999 |title=Mission scientifique de Masqueray dans l'Aurès et ses dépendances (1875-1878) |url=https://www.cairn.info/revue-etudes-et-documents-berberes-1999-1-page-19.htm |journal=Études et Documents Berbères |language=fr |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=19–129 |doi=10.3917/edb.017.0019 |issn=0295-5245}}</ref> or in the form of ''[[Agadir (granary)|agadir]]''s of which numerous examples can be found in Morocco.<ref name="Golvin-1989" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Strebe|first=Matthew|date=12 May 2018|title=Collective Granaries, Morocco|url=https://globalheritagefund.org/places/sacred-granaries-morocco/|access-date=11 January 2022|website=Global Heritage Fund|language=en-US|archive-date=11 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220111204933/https://globalheritagefund.org/places/sacred-granaries-morocco/|url-status=dead}}</ref> The island of [[Djerba|Jerba]] in Tunisia, traditionally dominated by Ibadi Berbers,<ref name="Oxford University Press-2009">{{Cite book|last=|first=|title=The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2009|isbn=9780195309911|editor-last=M. Bloom|editor-first=Jonathan|location=|pages=|chapter=Berber|editor-last2=S. Blair|editor-first2=Sheila}}</ref> has a traditional style of mosque architecture that consists of low-lying structures built in stone and covered in [[whitewash]]. Their prayer halls are domed and they have short, often round [[minaret]]s.<ref name="Oxford University Press-2009" /><ref name="Golvin-1989" /> The mosques are often described as "fortified mosques" because the island's flat topography made it vulnerable to attacks and as a result the mosques were designed in part to act as watch posts along the coast or in the countryside.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Polimeni|first=Beniamino|title=International Symposium on New Metropolitan Perspectives|publisher=Springer|year=2018|isbn=978-3-319-92101-3|editor-last=Calabrò|editor-first=F.|pages=416–425|chapter=Describing a Unique Urban Culture: Ibadi Settlements of North Africa|editor-last2=Della Spina|editor-first2=L.|editor-last3=Bevilacqua|editor-first3=C.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Sites and monuments|url=http://www.djerbamuseum.tn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=75&Itemid=86&lang=en|url-status=live|access-date=7 June 2021|website=Djerba Museum|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210607063435/http://www.djerbamuseum.tn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=75&Itemid=86&lang=en |archive-date=7 June 2021 }}</ref> The M'zab region of Algeria (e.g. [[Ghardaïa]]) also has distinctive mosques and houses that are completely whitewashed, but built in rammed earth. The structures here also make frequent use of domes and barrel vaults. Unlike in Jerba, the distinctive minarets in this region are tall and have a square base, tapering towards the end and crowned with "horn"-like corners.<ref name="Oxford University Press-2009" /><ref name="Golvin-1989" /><gallery>
File:Koutoubia minaret DSCF8275.jpg|The [[Kutubiyya Mosque]] in [[Marrakesh]], built by the [[Almohad Caliphate|Almohads]] in the 12th century
File:Ait Benhaddou Qsar (588071549).jpg|The ''[[ksar]]'' of [[Aït Benhaddou]] in Morocco
File:Ksar ouledsoltane04.jpg|[[Ksar Ouled Soltane]], an example of a multi-level ''[[ghorfa]]'' in southern Tunisia
File:Berber house cave Matmata - panoramio.jpg|Subterranean house in [[Matmata, Tunisia|Matmata]] (Tunisia)
File:Tunisie Jemaâ Fadhloun 5.jpg|The Fadhloun Mosque in [[Djerba]] (Tunisia), an example of a traditional "fortified mosque"
File:Bounora Mosque .jpg|The central mosque in [[Ghardaïa]], an example of local architecture in the [[M'zab]] region (Algeria) 
</gallery>