Berber calendar December - 13 January), and 20 "black nights" (Berber: "iḍan tiberkanin/isṭṭafen", Arabic "al-lyali al-sud"), beginning on the first day of "yennayer", corresponding to the Gregorian 14 January. The first day of the year is celebrated in various ways in the different parts of North Africa. A widespread tradition is a meal with particular foods, which vary from region to region (such as a couscous with seven vegetables). In some regions, it is marked by the sacrifice of an animal (usually a chicken). In Algeria, such a holiday is celebrated even by many people who don't use the Berber calendar in
Berber Revolt Egyptian army westwards and reached Kairouan around April 742, just as Oqasha was returning to try his luck again. Handhala's forces pushed Oqasha back again. When Oqasha was reassembling his forces once more in the Zab, he came across a large Berber army coming from the west, under the command of the Hawwara Berber chieftain Abd al-Wahid ibn Yazid al-Hawwari (possibly dispatched by the Berber caliph Khalid ibn Hamid al-Zanati, although he is not mentioned in the chronicles). Abd al-Wahid's army was composed of some 300,000 Berber troops, ostensibly the largest Berber army ever seen. After a quick consultation, Oqasha