Berber Mythology - Ancient Berber Tombs

Ancient Berber Tombs

The tombs of the early people and their ancestors indicate that the Berbers and their ancestors (the Masyle and Capsians) believed in life after death. The prehistoric men of northwest Africa buried bodies in little holes. When they realized that bodies buried in unsecured holes were dug up by wild animals, they began to bury them in deeper ones. Later, they buried the dead in caves, tumuli, tombs in rocks, mounds, and other types of tombs.

These tombs evolved from primitive structures to much more elaborate ones, such as the pyramidal tombs spread throughout Northern Africa. The honor of being buried in such a tomb appears to have been reserved for those who were most important to their communities.

These pyramid tombs have attracted the attention of some scholars, such as Mohammed Chafik who wrote a book discussing the history of several of the tombs that have survived into modern times. He tried to relate the pyramidal Berber tombs with the great Egyptian pyramids on the basis of the etymological and historical data. The best known Berber pyramids are the 19-meter pre-Roman Numidian pyramid of Medracen and the 30-meter ancient Mauretanian pyramid. The Numidian pyramid in Tipaza, is also known as "Kbour-er-Roumia" or "Tomb of Juba and Sypax" mistranslated by the French colonizer as "Tomb of the Christian Woman". was indeed mislabled, as the Tomb held two berber kings and were not of Mauretanian race. The surrounding tombs holding the wife of Juba and many berber warriors.