Tuareg calendar

Tuareg calendar

The she-camel constellation (Ursa Major plus Arcturus), whose appearance in the sky marks the beginning of the Tuareg astronomical year

Tuaregs share many elements with northern Berbers concerning the subdivision of the year. Even they make reference to two different cycles, a solar one similar to the Julian calendar and a lunar one for religious purposes.

However the climatic, biological and socio-cultural differences between the desert and more temperate territories create some differences, especially in the subdivision of seasons.

Computation of the years

The traditional Berber calendar was not linked to an era with respect to which years were calculated. Where traditional ways to compute the years have been preserved (Tuareg civilization), years are not expressed with numbers but each of them has a name characterizing it.

Starting from the 1960s, however, on the initiative of the Académie Berbère of Paris, some Berbers have begun computing the years starting from 950 BC, the approximate date of the rising into power of the first Libyan Pharaoh in Egypt, Shoshenq I, whom they identified as the first prominent Berber in history (he is recorded as being of Libyan origin).^[12] For example, the Gregorian year 2010 corresponds to the year 2960 of the Berber calendar.

This innovation has been adopted with conviction by many supporters of the Berber culture and is now a part of the cultural heritage of this people, fully integrated in the system of traditional customs related the North-African calendar