ORIGIN of the BERBER / IMUHAR SOCIETY

And Etymology of the term IMUHAR

Myth TIN HINAN

One myth about the Imuhar society and their origin says that they descend from a woman called Tin Hinan and her younger sister Takama. They both came riding from Morocco, probably from the Tafilalet region, to the Ahaggar Mountains. The women are said to be the mothers of all Imuhar.
There are several other variations of this myth. One version says that Takama safes Tin Hinan from starvation by collecting grains from an anthill.
There are different opinions on whether Takama was the sister or the servant of Tin Hinan. However, the Kel Ahaggar trace the difference between Ihaggaren (Descendants of Tin Hinan) and Kel Ulli (descendancs of Takama) back to the myth. (Nicolaisen 1997: 528f).

It is assumed, that their grave is located near Abalessa / Algeria.

Youtube-video about Tin Hinan Link

Historical RESEARCH

Sudan
When searching for the origin of the Imuhar society, one can find a hint when considering the origin of the language. The languages of the Imuhar – Tamahaq – and of the Amaziren – Tamazirt – belong to the Afro-asiatic language family.
Their origin can be traced back to the upper Nil region more than 8.000 to 14.000 years ago (Sudlow 2001). It is assumed that the language of the Imaziren (Berber) was already spoken 4.000 BC at the North African coast in the West of Egypt (Sudlow 2001: 4).

Communities: Tm.hw - M^sw^s – mzr (Imazieren) – mhr (Imuhar)

Etymological connection

Egypt
The community of the Tm.hw was first mentioned in the 23^th century before Christ (Böhm 2002: 49). At the beginning of the 2^nd millennium the community lived in the West of lower Egypt and were believed to be enemies of the Egyptians (ib.: 49). On the “dogstele” of an upper-Egypt monarch (reign 2118-2069 BC) five terms were mentioned, which can be connected with the Tamazirt language like Abaikur (beastly dog).
The community of the Tm.hw was described as light-skinned, blond and blue-eyed (Böhm 2002:55). There is a description of the clothing of the TM.HW from the Ramesside Period: men wore long capes which were knotted above the left shoulder and left the left arm uncovered. They had a braid on one side of his head, a moustache and a goatee. His arms and legs were tattooed with patterns of rectangles, crosses and lines. The women wore a skirt with fringes at the seam (Böhm 2002: 58).

Libya
The community of the Tm.hw lived in Cyrenaica 500 BC (ib.: 64). The community members sustained themselves with extensive livestock breeding. One part of the community wore capes, while the other part wore clothing made out of animal skin (ib.: 74). They showed matrilineal tendencies (ib.: 76).
During the Ramesside period the old name TM.HW soon meant Libyan in general and so the old proper name vanished. The community ^Sw^s, who also resided on the North African coast, came into the famous heritage of the Tm.hw’s traditions, the meaning of both terms are unrecorded. They soon were identified as Imaziren (“Berber“) (id.: 64).
Böhm (2002: 187) recognizes a clear linguistic origin of Amazir/Imaziren (Imazighen) and Amahar/Imuhar from the term M^Sw^s = ma^su^s.

Hence, the meaning of the term Imaziren/ Imuhar is unrecorded.

Summary

CONTINUATION on page “HISTORY Settlement”

Böhm, Gerhard 2002: "Lybyer"? Sprache und Geschichte zwischen Nil und Altlas: Von der Reichseinigung in Ägypten bis zum Jugurthinischen Krieg (Beiträge zur Afrikanistik), Wien.