Berbers (LIBYANS)

Original inhabitants of n. Africa, mainly the Sahara region. Their origin is obscure, may be descended from the Iberians, with admixture of European, Egyptian (Coptic), and in the south also Soudanese (Negroid) blood. In the north Bedouin or Arabian elements have been added, resulting in the Moors; in the mountains their blood is tolerably pure. They differ from their conquerors, the Arabs, in having a lighter complexion, and even blue eyes in some cases, and in the fact that they build substantial dwellings, and are not roving tent-dwellers, though, like the Arabs, they are herdsmen. They clothe themselves with a single cloth, and the men, but not the women, wear veils. Monogamy is the rule; the girls sometimes choose their husbands; frequently property descends in the female line. The religion is Mohammedan, but modified and liberalized. Some of the tribes are robbers. In east Sahara they are called Tuaregs. In Algeria and Tunis are the Kabyles (Numidians), in Morocco the Moors.