Berber Tattoo Meaning: Cultural Significance and Symbolism Explained - Part 1
According to Moroccan religious scholars interviewed in the 1920s, getting a tattoo was strictly “forbidden” because the process caused injury; the pigment, impregnated with blood, remained under the skin, thus rendering the body imperfect in the eyes of Allah. Furthermore, they claimed that tattoos created obstacles preventing water from penetrating the skin during ritual ablutions, one of the five fundamental precepts of Islam.
However, Moroccan women considered certain tattoos legitimate. The popular religious doctrine of Hadith, a collection of sayings of the Prophet Mohammad, claims that ghemaza (a tattoo between the eyebrows) and siyâla (a tattoo on the chin) are traditional. For example, early 20th-century literature records that tattoos existed in Arabia during the time of the Prophet Mohammed: “women living today sometimes say, ‘Fatima gave this [siyâla] to us,’ or ‘Tasnida D-Lalla Fatima Zahra,’ this tattoo is ‘dedicated to Lady Fatima Zahra.’”
Within the Amazigh communities of North Africa, the practice of tattooing dates back to pre-Islamic times, with techniques existing since the Neolithic era. Tattoos were far more than mere body adornment; they held deeper levels of significance varying from tribe to tribe. While the most visible tattoos are on the cheeks or chin, indicating marital status or tribal affiliation, tattooing was not restricted to the face. As protective talismans, tattoos retained elements of atavistic animism: a belief that supernatural energy (baraka) resides in all things. Amazigh tattoo designs held the sacred energy of baraka, used to counter darker forces, cure illnesses, and protect against spirits called jnoun (singular: jinn). Often, Amazigh tattoos were placed near body orifices (eyes, mouth, nose, navel, vagina) or surfaces believed to be vulnerable to evil. For example, tattoos usually marked the feet to protect women from jnoun entering through the earth. Other designs on the ankles, hands, and face were believed to protect individuals from the evil eye. Thus, many Amazigh tattoos are considered jedwel, or “talismans.”
It is widely believed that one can escape the power of jnoun by plunging an iron knife into the ground. The use of an iron needle in tattooing is thought to have a similar protective effect.
The most common Amazigh term for tattoo is oucham (“to mark”). Tattoos were traditional or l-qayda (“custom”), with some motifs rooted in the ancient Amazigh alphabet known as Tifinagh. The Tifinagh is a figurative alphabet derived from tools used in agriculture, sea products, and constellations. More than a dozen Amazigh tattoo motifs are common to the alphabet, and these symbols generally appear on the chins of Amazigh women as siyâla.
Amazigh tattoo motifs are divided into categories, including vegetal motifs like the olive tree (representing strength), wheat (symbolizing life and death), and seeds (representing masculinity, life, and fertility). Metal objects, such as the hammer (symbolizing power and creative force), the anchor (symbolizing solidity and faithfulness), the axe (representing protection against evil forces), and the arrow (representing male energy and fertility), also feature prominently.
Not all Amazigh tattoos were literal. In the early 20th century, Rif Amazigh women in Morocco practiced tattooing as a prerequisite for marriage. When a girl was certain she was to be married, an expert old woman from the same awar (sociological family) or an external tattooist was called to perform the art. If the tattooist was related to the client, no fee was paid.
The tattooist prepared her liquid pigment from lamp-black and juice from broad (fava) beans. According to Amazigh scholar Pierre Bourdieu, broad beans (ajedjig) symbolized multiple aspects: male symbols akin to human bones and the concept of resurrection, as they swell and grow after burial in the damp soil.
This transition marked a significant transformation, as the girl would become a woman, a sexual being with a new social status through motherhood. Amazigh women, as the center of the family’s sacred identity and guardians of honor, held significant socio-moral roles. They were responsible for magical practices safeguarding life and the generative powers they bore.
