Tafukt

Herodotus wrote in the fifth century BC that the Berbers sacrificed to the sun and moon. In addition, Ibn Khaldun reports that at the time of the Arab invasion of their territory, "those of the Berbers who had not been converted to the Christian faith worshipped the sun and the moon, as well as statues of deities". The name Tafukt appears in several inscriptions left by the Berbers of antiquity. == Mythology ==

In amazigh mythology, the world was founded from the fury of sun goddess Tafukt, when her husband the moon god Ayyur and her children the stars "Itran" were separated from their mother Tafukt to live in farther away skies. A famous little tale talks about how Tafukt was jealous of a small girl who was said to be as pretty as the sun herself. == Association ==

This noun theme -fuk- was very early related to the pan-Berber root F(W), which refers to the notions of "light, day", and "fire", the attestations of which are very numerous and widely distributed. Here are some words in Berber relating to the deity: • ifaw, "to make day". • s-fiw, tifawt, "morning". • tufat, tafat, "light". • afa, "fire" which is a symbol of the deity Tafukt. • asafu "torch", which is associated with the deity Tafukt. == Alternative names ==

Apart from Kabyle, all the Berber languages without exception have a feminine form, the fundamental prototype of which is ta-fuk-t, with very diverse regional realizations, determined by local phonetic tendencies: tafukt, ṯafukṯ [θafuç θ], tafušt, tafuyt, tafuk(k), tfukt, tfuyt, tfušt... == Festival of the spring equinox ==

Thafsuth or Tafsut is a festival very commonly associated with Tafukt, the spring Festival took place every year on a fixed date calculated on the solar calendar at the end of March when the sun enters the sign of Aries. First reported by Herodotus in Libya (IV, 180), these games are found under the name of Caterva, "armed band", in Saint-Augustine in Cherchell (De Doctrina christina, IV, 24, 53), and much later, in Fez, described in detail by Leo Africanus, It had nevertheless withstood two thousand five hundred years of upheaval since Herodotus speaks of a similar festival near Lake Triton. == Prayer ==

This primordial, much-venerated mother deity Tafukt appears in certain prayers still in use at Figuig. During the baptism of a child, on the seventh day after birth, a practice intended to introduce the newborn into the sacred sphere of the World and of society—the mother or the midwife who delivered the baby would take a brazier with embers and incense, and the baby, and then she would go up to the terrace of their house and address the wind, the rain, and the sun in these terms:"Ax as t, a mmiš ay du ! Here, your son, O wind! Ax am, a mmiš a ṭṭisa ! Here, your son, O rain! Ax am, a mmiš a ṭfuyt ! Here, your son, O sun!"Ṭafukt also appears in another prayer, where she is asked for warmth during the cold days of winter when a cloud, tijenwet, veils her. The children protest by saying:"Taxewwant c tislit ! Cheese thief! Manessen ? Who is it? D tijenwet. It is the cloud. Or they pray for the sun to come out by singing: Effeγ dd ! Effeγ dd ! Come out! Come out! A ṭfuyt, e wwar nnen ! O sun for the children! Šra yezzaq, šra yessifif, Some grind, some sift, Šra yettayem dd And others draw water I teqlilin n buxbux. Into the jars." == References ==