Traditional Berber religion Traditional Berber religion The traditional Berber religion is the ancient and native set of beliefs and deities adhered to by the Berber autochthones of North Africa. Many ancient Berber beliefs were developed locally, whereas others were influenced over time through contact with other traditional African religions (such as the Ancient Egyptian religion), or borrowed during antiquity from the Punic religion, Judaism, Iberian mythology, and the Hellenistic religion. The most recent influence came from Islam and pre-Islamic Arab religion during the medieval period. Some of the ancient Berber beliefs still exist today subtly within the Berber popular culture and tradition. Syncretic
Berber languages today. It was borrowed from Latin "barbari". The Latin word is also found in the Arabic designation for these populations, البربر ("al-Barbar"); see Names of the Berber people. Etymologically, the Berber root "M-Z-Ɣ" ("Mazigh") (singular noun: "Amazigh", feminine: "Tamazight") means "free man", "noble man", or "defender". The feminine "Tamazight" traditionally referred specifically to the Riffian and Central Atlas Tamazight languages. Many Berber linguists prefer to consider the term "Tamazight" as a pure Berber word to be used only in Berber text while using the European word "Berber/"Berbero"/"Berbère"" in European texts to follow the traditions of European writings about the Berbers.