The religion of the Amazigh (colloquially known as Berbers) consists of a set of indigenous beliefs, practices and traditions dating back to prehistoric times. Most of the ancient beliefs that Berbers practiced and deities they followed are indigenous in origin. However, as foreign occupiers such as the Greeks and Romans brought their own beliefs to the Libyan region with them, these indigenous religious beliefs and practices were strongly influenced.

Archaeological research, based primarily on the analysis of discovered inscriptions on rocks, although difficult to interpret, allow us to piece together certain details of the emergence of religion among the Berbers. In particular, the tombs and pyramids of ancient Berbers suggest that they had diverse beliefs relating to death as burial practices varied greatly across different Berber groups.

A defining characteristic of ancient Berber religion was the practice of ancestor veneration, and the development of a body of religious teachings and practices relating to the veneration of their dead. Certain Berber tribes, such as the Awjila tribe from the Al Wahat region of Cyrenaica, Libya, worshipped the spirits of their dead ancestors and considered them to be gods. They believed the dead possessed the ability to influence and protect the lives of the living. They consulted with their spirits, and would often sleep in their tombs in order to have divination dreams, which they believed allowed them to predict their futures¹.

The tombs of the early Berbers provide insight into the development of burial customs amongst the Berbers. Archeological evidence indicates that, initially, the ancient Berbers buried their dead in small holes, but upon realising that the bodies were not safe and could be unearthed by wild animals, they began the practice of interring them in caves, tombs and under mounds of rocks². The tombs’ structures evolved through time to the elaborate pyramids structures discovered throughout North Africa³. One such example is the Garamante tombs in Garama, Fezzan. The archeological research suggests that these monuments were structured to serve those that the Berbers felt had great importance, including tribal chiefs and warriors⁴.

Rocks, caves and mountains were considered sacred by the ancient Berbers and rock worshipping, or Megalithic culture (Megalithic meaning “relating to or denoting prehistoric monuments made of or containing large stones”) was common in the Berbers communities⁵. It is thought that the Monolithic culture may have been associated with the veneration of the dead or star worshipping practices. The rock monument of Msoura, Northern Morocco, is the most famous of these monolithic monuments, it is composed of a circle of megaliths surrounding a tumulus, with the highest megalith being over 5 metres⁶. The Senam Samida is another such site in the hills outside of Tripoli, which has various megaliths of unknown age.

The practice of nature worship among the Berbers continued even in modern times. Both the ancient Greek historian Herodotus and later the Arab scholar Ibn Khuldun noted that the Berbers worshipped the sun and the moon. Herodotus, in Book IV.42-43 of the Histories, c. 430 BCE, described one of their sacrificial practices; “They begin with the ear of the victim, which they cut off and throw over their house, this done, they kill the animal by twisting the neck. They sacrifice to the Sun and Moon, but not to any other god. This worship is common to all the Libyans”⁷. There is little in the way of evidence, however, to corroborate Herodotus’ accounts.

As the Ancient Egyptians and Libyan Berbers were neighbours and connected to each other in many ways, they held certain deities in common.

The Berbers of Eastern Libya worshipped the Egyptian Gods Isis and Osiris. It was reported by Herodotus, that the flesh of a cow (which was closely associated with Isis, who was often depicted wearing cow horns) or sheep would never be eaten by any of the tribes, nor would they breed swine. He stated that even in Cyrene, women thought it wrong to eat the flesh of a cow, and by abstaining, honoured Isis, the Egyptian goddess, whom they worshipped both with fasts and festivals. Women from the Barcean tribes abstain, not only from cow's flesh, but also from the flesh of swine⁸.

Two further deities worshipped by the Libyan Berbers with Egyptian origin are Ha and As. Ha was a guardian god. An early deity of the western Sahara, referred to as warding off enemies (possibly Libyan) from the West. Ha is depicted in anthropomorphic form crowned by the symbol of desert dunes. As is depicted as a local fertility god, known from the Early Dynastic Period of Egypt , commencing in 3100 BCE. As has been interpreted, by inference, as a benign god of oases and other fertile areas of the desert⁹.

In contrast, some of the deities which the Egyptians worshipped had their origins in Libya. For example, Neith, identified as an early Egyptian predecessor of the Greek worshipped goddess Athena, and was stated by her Egyptian worshippers to have migrated from Libya to build her temple at Sais in the Nile Delta¹⁰. They believed that Neith/Athena was born at Lake Tritonis, which is mentioned as being in Libya. Some historians are inclined to place Lake Tritonis at the modern day southeastern Gulf of Sirte, while others have identified its possible location at the mouth of the Triton River in modern day Tunisia, near the Gulf of Gabes¹¹.

The modern day people of Lebanon are the descendants of the ancients Canaanite, otherwise known as the Phoenicians.The Phoenicians established a powerful economy based primarily on sailing and trade; they founded Carthage in 814 BC and eventually formed coastal trading posts across modern day Tripolitania between the 7th and 5th centuries BC. The Phoenicians brought their Punic culture to North Africa, and this greatly influenced local Berber beliefs.

Phoenician interaction and influence on Berber culture can be separated into two phases: before and after the Battle of Himera in 480 BC, in which the Greeks defeated the Carthaginians in an attempted invasion of Sicily.

Prior to the Battle of Himera, the Phoenicians settled in northwestern Africa, founding Carthage and generally restricting themselves to the coastal regions, where they avoided skirmishes with the native Berbers. They maintained their own deities, amongst which Baal and Astarte were the two primary deities. Baal was a deity of Levantine origin, particularly worshipped in Canaan, and revered as a god of weather, with power over storms, lighting, wind rain and fertility. Astarte, the Levantine version of Mesoptamian goddess Ishtar, was connected with fertility, sexuality and war.

After the Battle of Himera was lost to the Greeks, the Phoenicians of Carthage were forced to move further inland and allied themselves with the native Berbers. Besides bringing political changes to the region, the Phoenicians imparted the worship of the Levantine deity Baal to the Berbers who merged Baal with Ammun, and commenced worshipping ‘Baal-Hammon’. They also worshipped the goddess Tannit, who was a Phoenician goddess who appears to have originated in Carthage as one of the chief deities and consort of Baal-Hamon, and viewed as equivalent to Astarte, in an act of syncretism. Tannit was later worshiped by the Amazigh.

In 631BC, a group of emigrants from the island of Thera in the Aegean, founded the city of Cyrenaica, in Libya¹². Their Greek culture infiltrated Berber religion, and vice versa. The relationship between Greeks and ancient Berbers can be separated into two phases: before and after the Battle of Irassa in 570 BCE which erupted between the newly established Greek colonies and the pre-existing communities of the Berbers¹³.

Before the battle of Irassa (570 BCE)

The name Cyrenaica itself signifies the Berber influence on Greek beliefs. The name Cyrene originated with the Berber/Amazigh water spirit, Kura, guardian of a spring in Cyrene, modern day Cyrenaica, all of which have their origins in the name Kura or Kyrene. The Greeks who came to Cyrenaica first adopted the customs of ancient Berbers, and intermarried with Berber women. They made Cyrene a goddess protector along with their Greek god Apollo¹⁴, who they believed had abducted Cyrene from the hill where she watched her father’s cattle, and took her to Libya.The Greeks also commenced veneration of the God Ammun, but also commenced identifying him with their supreme god Zeus in another act of syncretism¹⁵.

After the Battle of Irassa

During the reign of Battus II of Cyrenaica (583 to 560 BC) the third Greek king of Cyrenaica, the Cyrenaican administration began to invite Greeks from Tunisia and Algeria into Cyrenaica, which the Berbers thought to be a danger to their security and status. This led to fighting in 570 BC at the Well of Thestis in Irassa. The Berbers had allied themselves with Egyptians and Carthagians during the course of the war, which the Cyrenaicans eventually won, defeating the Egyptian army¹⁶.

Antaeus and Hercules

The myth of Antaeus is considered to be a reflection of these wars between the Berbers and the Greeks¹⁷. Antaeus, known to the Berbers of the interior of Libya as ‘Anti’, was considered by the Berbers to be a giant human, and protector of Libyan land. He was known to be the husband of Tinjis, a Libyan Berber goddess. In Greek mythology, Antaeus was held to be the son of Poseidon and Gaea, the personification of the Earth, who would Antaeus would challenge passer-bys to wrestling matches. Antaueus, who obtained his strength by remaining in contact with the Earth, his mother, would win each round. He was eventually defeated by Heracles in an iconic battle in which Heracles was said to have cleverly held him above the ground and crushed Antaeus to death with his arms. This iconic battle, came to represent the Greek colonization of Libya in Greek mythology, and is depicted in numerous archeological pieces of art from the period. In Greek iconography, Antaeus is depicted as being of Eastern Libyan appearance, with long hair and a beard¹⁸.

The Romans also influenced the Berber's beliefs and customs during their colonization of Libya, at which time the Berbers adopted certain Romans gods and commenced worship of these deities. Jupiter is the prime example and is also identified with the Libyan god Ammon¹⁹. Saturn was yet another Roman god who was adopted by certain Berber tribes, who held that Saturn communicated with their worshippers during their divinatory dreams and was venerated with human sacrifices similar to those made to Baal Hammon²⁰.

Both Egyptians and Libyan Berbers considered Amun as a common god. He is considered the most significant of the ancient Berber gods. Known as ‘King of the Gods’ Amun was considered a god of weather and of the fertility of vegetation. He is usually depicted with the horns of a ram, and was initially worshipped by the ancient Libyan Berber tribes, before becoming revered by the Egyptians²¹. The Greeks in Cyrenaica venerated him as well and synecretised him with the god Baal. When united the two became known as Baal Hammon, The most famous temple of Amun was the augural temple at Siwa in Egypt, an oasis still inhabited by Berbers²².

Amonet was the Goddess of the underworld and consort of Amun. She greeted all dead people to the land of the dead with bread and water. If they ate and drank, they could not return to the land of the living. Amonet was portrayed adorned with two feathers, which were common adornments of the ancient libyans, when drawn by the Egyptians²³.

Anqet was the Water Goddess of the Nile cataracts: the shallow lengths of the Nile river between Khartoum and Aswan. Her symbol was the cowrie shell and she was depicted as a woman donning a tall plumed crown, and also as having four arms. She was the producer and giver of life and water²⁴.

The Acephali, while not strictly gods, are a mythological race of people, reported by ancient Greek writers to have lived in Libya. It is written that they were at one time ordinary humans, but after a terrible encounter with the gods, they had their heads severed and their faces were placed on their chests²⁵.

Gurzil was a Libyan war god of the Laguatan Berber tribe of Sirte. The Laguatans personified Gurzil as a magical bull-like figure, which they let loose in battle. Corippus mentioned that the chief of the Laguatans and high priest of Gurzil, Iarna, took his god Gurzil into his battle against the Byzantines. After the Berbers were defeated by the Byzantines, he fled with the sacred image of Gurzil. But he was later caught and killed and the image destroyed. There was a temple in the ruins of Ghirza, Libya and it is assumed that the temple and the town itself may have been dedicated to Gurzil²⁶.

Ifri was an important war goddess of the Berbers, who was influential across North Africa. Her name is tied to the etymology of ‘Africa’. Ifri was believed to be a protector of those who worshipped her. When the Romans conquered Numidia, the goddess appeared on coins of Roman states as well as in North Africa²⁷. ‘Dea Africa’ is the romanised version of Ifri.

Last, but certainly not least, is Libya; daughter of Epaphus, King of Egypt, in both Greek and Roman mythology. She personified the land of Ancient Libya in North Africa, and it is believed that the name of the country of Libya originated from her²⁸.