CHAPTER THREE
LA VRAIE LANGUE CELTIQUE
ET LE CROMLECH DE RENNES-LES-BAINS
Henri Boudet
Translated by Gay Roberts
THE PUNIC LANGUAGE
I
AFRICA – PHUTH – NUMIDIANS AND MOORS
This is the chapter devoted to the Punic language, i.e. the language of puns and word games so intrinsic to the Rennes mystery. Maybe, without wishing to send anyone off on a false trail, if this book contains such a vital key, perhaps we should be looking at the examples Boudet gives and see what logic, if any, there might be here. At the end of this chapter there are some landmarks - bees, heirs to thrones, abdication, serpents, salt. In fact it would be an interesting exercise to take all the words Boudet gives in this book and see if anything can be made of them. If anyone has already done so and is willing to share their results, I am sure the editor would be only too willing to provide space in Rhedesium. GR.
Among the descendants of Cham, we will only remember Phut, his third son, who is thought by the commentators on the Holy Scriptures to be the stock of the first inhabitants of North Africa. The African continent presents the most striking contrasts. In the parts crossed by
water courses of considerable size, the heat together with the humidity of the ground produces in the trees and plants a vegetation of admirable vigour and strength, but in the regions where the rivers have a scanty volume of water, the freshness and fertility disappears under the action of a burning sun, and the desert appears in its terrible aridity. In the most extensive of these deserts, the Sahara, immense plains of burning sand unfold before the eye. The dangers there are extreme, because at the violent gust of a sandstorm, the heaving sands roll like the waves of an angry sea. Bad luck to the travellers that the sandstorm meets in its fast moving course, stuck in these deadly parts! The heaving sand surrounds them, grips them, buries them under the weight of its
drifting masses – Afer, south-westerly wind, Rick,heap.
While it may seem essential to occupy ourselves with the Egyptians when speaking of Africa, nevertheless we will leave aside both their monuments and the long list of their kings, pausing for just a moment with the Egyptian labyrinth and Mesraïm, the first king of the country. Mesraïm, Cham’s second son, provides us with proof of the soundness and truth of Moses’affirmations in the list of the heads of the peoples issuing from the three sons of Noah and in the establishment that he attributes to them, affirmations which have a firm scientific foundation. Mesraïm is famous for being the first king of Egypt; and yet, he deserves be noted far more for an architectural fantasy left by him to future centuries and which these, in their ingratitude, have forgotten the creator.
The ancients in different lands had built certain monuments called labyrinths, and the most famous were the one in Crete, attributed to Daedalus, and the one in Egypt, whose masterly architect remains unknown. According to Herodotus, the Egyptian labyrinth was the work of twelve kings, while Pliny thought that Tithoes alone should have claimed the glory for it. According to Herodotus’ description of this edifice, twelve palaces were contained within a single enclosure. Fifteen hundred apartments, interspersed with the terraces, were set around twelve main rooms, and communications were organised in such a way that those who were entered into the palace were unable to find the way out again. There were another fifteen hundred apartments underground. Was this construction a monument dedicated to the sun,
as Pliny seemed to think, or was it to be used as a tomb for the kings? Was it not rather a caprice, a fantasy of skilful architect the memory of whom had been lost by the men? Mesraïm alone could put us on the way and show us the way out of this labyrinth of hypotheses, by acknowledging that he was indeed the creator of this strange edifice, formed of a long range of apartments, the result of a fantasy, a caprice of his mind – Maze, labyrinth, or (to) Maze, to lose one’s way, to puzzle,
Row,Whim.
If Misraïm delivers up his secret without difficulty, it is not the same with Phuth, the third son of Cham. This strange name, in its monosyllabic form, does not present in itself any satisfactory meaning. It needs to be divided into two syllables, then it offers a sensible meaning, relating faithfully to the character and clothes of the Libyan and Gaetules peoples of whom Phuth was the father.
Avowed enemies of the Egyptians, from whim they differed in a very obvious manner, the Libyans and the Gaetules led a nomadic life, wandering across the prairies – Lea,prairie, field, By, across – and noted for the particular style of their cloaks, - (to) Get, Hull, an exterior covering, a coat. The distinctive sign of the Gaetules cloak lay with the hood, and the Algerian burnoose seems to us to be a traditional part of the clothing worn by Phuth and his descendants. Only by way of their hooded cloaks have the Gaetules allowed us to grasp the composition of the name of Phuth, their ancestor – Foe, (to) Hood.
In his writing on the war waged by Jurgurtha against the Romans, Sallust gives certain very interesting details about the first inhabitants of North Africa. According to this writer, Africa was first occupied by the Gaetules and the Libyans. They were, he said of a rough and uncompromising nature, feeding on the fruits growing spontaneously from the soil and on the flesh of wild beasts. Laws, chiefs, civilisation were unknown to them; wandering here and there, they stopped in the place where they were when night fell. But, Sallust continued, according to the beliefs of the Africans, after the death of Hercules, having
arrived in Spain, his army, which was composed of a variety of peoples and lacking its head, spread out in all directions. The Medes, the Persians and the Armenians, who made up part of his army, crossed the water in vessels and seized control of the shoreline of our sea. The Persians especially headed in the direction of the Ocean: not finding the necessary materials in the fields for the construction of their houses, they used the upturned keels of their boats for the purposes of habitation. Bit by bit, they mixed with the Gaetules by marriage and as they often went from place to place following the fertility of the countryside in which they found themselves, they called themselves Numidians (Numides, pronounced new meads in French. Trans.). What is more, the Numidians call their buildings in the countryside, which were oblong and covered with curved bricks (drainage tiles), “mapalia”.
The Numidians allied by marriage with the Medes and the Armenians: they occupied the land washed by the African sea, while the Gaetules lived further inland, in the country scorched by a burning sun. The
Libyans were lucky enough to have towns, and separated from Spain by a simple channel, they bartered there. Little by little, the Libyans altered their name and, in their barbaric language, called themselves Moors instead of Medes.
The Persians soon became prosperous in business; and not long after, moving away from their fathers because their numbers were too great, under the name of Numidians, they occupied the countryside around
Carthage and which is called Numidia. Because the Gaetules were more warlike than the Libyans, subjugating their neighbours bit by bit, they made a name for themselves that was full of glory. Finally, the lower part of Africa fell under Numidian domination, and all those that they had conquered joined together and took their name.
All this information given by Sallust is very valuable and sheds some light on the origins of these Africans, but we are surprised that, with no grounds to do so, he denies them laws, chiefs and civilisation. They might well not have written laws; however, it is difficult to deny them traditions that certainly formed the basis of their legislation. Moreover, one can hardly see what difference of note was introduced into the life of these people after they inhabited the land of Africa. Still wearing their hooded cloaks, continually on the look-out for pastures new with which to provide their flocks with plenty of food, keeping their nomadic habits across the centuries, we find them again, almost as Sallust described them. The dwellings they constructed, that the Latin writer called
mapalia,- (to) Map, Hall – could not persuade the greater part of the population to renounce their travelling across the country, in every sense of the word, in order to lead their flocks into new and fresher fields – New, Mead, field.
The Numidians were the possessors of magnificent horses, and it is known with what meticulous care the Africans raised them in order to bring out all the nervous energy and the spirit that they wanted to see in them. Nevertheless, in spite of the vigour of these excellent beasts, the Numidians were incapable of crossing the immense deserts of Africa; only the camel was suitable to travel these vaste wildernesses, because of its extreme abstemiousness and the singular disposition of its stomach which contained a pouch full of water, (1) constituting a wonderful reserve which allowed it to spend several days without
drinking. There were a great many camels in West Africa and the Moors rightly regarded them as a family’s principal wealth. The ancient Libyans and Gaetules knew very well why the camel was abstemious and how easy it was for it to make journeys of several days without stopping at a spring to quench its thirst; so they preferred to use them rather than the horse when venturing into the middle of the desert. This everyday use of the camel in their journeys, and their undoubted knowledge of the pouch full of water contained in the stomach of this animal was the reason for the name of the Moors, which was given to the Libyans who had mixed with the Armenians and the Medes of West Africa - Maw,paunch, rumen, crop (of a bird), (to) Wear, to use. The wordmaw is a good pointer to the camel since, in the language of the Tectosages, cloth made from the hair of a camel is called mohair.
Sallust, who accepted the belief of the Africans that Hercules died in Spain, claimed that his warriors abandoned Iberia and travelled to the land of Africa. For ourselves, we will endeavour to rely on certain facts recounted in mythology, and even though this approach seems like
lunacy, it will shed some light on this historical point. In mythology,
Mauritania was the garden of the Hesperides, containing the trees with the golden apples. A dragon with a hundred heads was set there to guard them, and with his eyes always open on the precious fruits, he hissed horribly. Hercules had promised Eurystheus, king of Mycenae, to bring him the golden apples from the garden of the Hesperides. He went to Mauritania, killed the dragon and, seizing the golden apples, he returned in triumph to offer them to Eurystheus.
By changing the name of the hero of this story, Sallust’s account becomes quite clear in the light of the faithful truth. The Gaulish nation is represented here by Hercules and the mythology itself gives us the guiding thread, saying that Galates, a warrior renowned for his exploits and his virtues, and also king of the Gauls, was the son of Hercules.
Thus it implies that Hercules, that is to say, the heroic family of the Gauls, acting in a similar way to an encroaching flood, after having inundated Europe, reached the heart of Spain, but saw its huge crowd of people die off as the result of the long and stubborn resistance of the Iberians. Only a part of the huge army crossed the sea and took over the magnificent dales situated at the foot of the Atlas mountains, where the orange and lemon trees grew in abundance, bearing their splendid golden apples. The Atlantids, the Libyans and the Gaetules lived with the conquerors and became the Moors and the powerful Numidians whose cavalry was so dreaded by the Romans.
II
THE GENERALS OF CARTHAGE - THE NUMIDIAN KINGS
Later on the Numidians saw a colony of Phoenicians land on their shores and found settlements. The city of Carthage was built, 888 years before Jesus Christ, by Dido, princess of Tyre. Dedicated to trade, Carthage became wealthy, grew rapidly and extended its possessions on
the African shore and on the coasts of Spain, attracted above all by its gold and silver mines. It had to become warlike in order to maintain trade, so it raised armies made up of mercenary soldiers on whom it could scarcely rely. There were a great many Numidians, Iberians and Gaetules, but these borrowed soldiers only remained in its service, when there was an able general who knew how to lead them to victory and pillage. A lost battle put these foreign soldiers into a fury, and they massacred the unfortunate generals who did not know how to lead their hotheaded charge. This necessity to win perhaps contains in itself the whole secret of the ability of the brilliant and intrepid Carthaginian generals.
The Phoenicians, founders of Carthage, spoke the language of Canaan, and this language, in spite of numerous differences, must have shown a close relationship with that of the Numidians. But is it really the language of the Carthaginians to which the name of Punic should be attributed, and did this name not belong rather to that of the Numidians and the Moors? We think that the Numidian language could easily claim it, and in examining the real language of the Kabyles at close quarters, it is certain that it is made of a game of words and as a result, the only Punic – (to) Pun, to make word games.*
This assertion does not seem to be without foundation, if we compare the names of the most illustrious Carthaginian generals mentioned by history with those of the Numidian kings; in fact one could sense a certain resistance to the interpretation in the proper
names of the Carthaginians, while the proper names of the Numidians are very willing to surrender the monosyllables that formed them.
In Sicily, against the Romans, Amilcar, Hannibal's father had given incontestable proof of military skill. Pursuing with an unrelenting enthusiasm the prosperity and extension of the Carthaginian empire -
Aim, Weal (prosperity), Care - he subjugated the shore of Africa as far as the Great Ocean, and crossing into Spain, he took over the western coast of this country. He brought the young Hannibal with him on many of his campaigns, to initiate him in the leading of an army and in the science of warfare. Amilcar also had with him, said Cornelius Nepos, a handsome young man, Hasdrubal, who was reproached for loving him much more than he should have done. As a result the inquisitor of morals forbade him to keep Hasdrubal in his house. So Amilcar decided to give his daughter in marriage to this young man: according to their customs, that one could not forbid a son-in-law to live with his father-in-law. We report this fact, adds Cornelius Nepos, because after the death of Amilcar in a fight, Hasdrubal became head of the army. Hannibal did not take command until after the death of Hasdrubal, who was assassinated by the slave of a Lusitanian chief.
The fact recounted by Cornelius Nepos give the logic behind the formation of the name of Hasdrubal. Pressed as he was by the inquisitor of morals, Amilcar wanted to put an end to the angry noises but still keep Hasdrubal with him, and so he hastened to give him his daughter in marriage - Haste, Row, Pall(kill, weaken).
The presence of Hasdrubal in the house of his father and his elevation to the head of the army after the death of Amilcar must have been a source of annoyance for Hannibal; in fact submitting to the command of his brother-in-law, he found the development of his military genius continually compromised. Thus Hannibal was rightly named, that is to say, annoyed to lead the insipid life of a subaltern officer - Annoy,
Pall.
We have not talked about the exploits of this great captain; they are well known enough and anyway, are not useful for our purpose.
The difficulty of interpretation presented by the proper names of these Carthaginian generals no longer exists in those of the Numidian kings and the Celtic expressions providing explanations with the
greatest of ease.
After the second Punic war, Carthage had last everything, its empire, its wealth, its commerce: hardly any of its former life remained. This it was that Massinissa, chief of Numidia and Roman ally, looked to raise it. This Numidian, who lived for a century, at the age of ninety years spent night and day on the back of his horse, harassing the unfortunate Carthaginian generals without respite or mercy. An indomitable horseman, Massinissa knew no rest either in house or hostelry
which he professed to mock - Mass(to gather), Inn, Hiss (mock).
"After the victories over the Carthaginians and the taking of Syphax -
See, (to) Face - whose empire extended far into Africa, the Roman people gave to the king Massinissa all the towns and lands that he had taken by his hand." 2
The old Numidian always remained the faithful ally of the Romans and left his kingdom to his son Micipsa; his two other sons, Mastanabal and Gulussa, had been carried off by sickness. Sallust remains silent on their life, content to name them and merely establish that Mastanabal was the father of Jugurtha. There is no doubt that Mastanabal did not possess the wild energy of his father Massinissa, since his name states that he was appalled at becoming the head of such a considerable
nation - Mass (gathering), Thane, Appal. As for Gulussa, his name clearly denotes his habits of deceit - (to) Gull, Use.
Micipsa, who became chief of the Numidians, is only known by the weakness of his character, missing and allowing to slip by, all favourable occasions to increase even more the huge territory left to him by his fathers - Miss, Heap, Say.
This prince had adopted his nephew Jugurtha and had him share the kingdom with his two sons, Adherbal and Hiempsal. The darling of the Romans because of the warlike qualities which he had proved at the siege of Numance, where Micipsa had sent him with the secret hope that he might be killed, and admired as the most enthusiatic lion hunter and hardiest horseman in the whole of Africa, Jugurtha was consumed by the ambition to be the sole possessor of Numidia. Counting on
the venality of the Romans, first of all he had Hiempsal assassinated - (to) Eye, Aim, Sale - the youngest of his rivals.
Adherbal was still in his way; because the Senate had shared Numidia between him and Adherbal. Jugurtha added another crime: in spite of opposition from the Romans, he besieged Adherbal in a town where he had taken refuge, seized this last heir of Micispa and killed him by torture - Add, Heir, (to)Pall (kill).
Thus, by two frightful crimes, Jugurtha was raised to the throne of Numidia, and it was quite right that it should be mentioned in his name for future generations - (to) juke, (to raise), hurt.
Handed over to the Romans by the treachery of Bocchus - (to)Balk - his
father-in-law, the king of Mauritania - Maw, Wear, Hit, Hand - gurtha
was thrown into a dark dungeon where he was killed, tortured by hunger.
After the conquest of Numidia by the Romans, schools were established in the big African towns for the study of Greek and Roman literature: nevertheless, the Punic language continued to be spoken in its integrity; and what proves it is the Punic name given towards the end of the fourth century AD to the greatest genius that Africa has produced, Saint Augustine. At scarcely twenty eight years of age, possessing all human knowledge taught at this period, he was a brilliant teacher of rhetoric first at Carthage and then several years after at Milan, where he was baptised by Saint Ambrose in 387. Of high intelligence, avid for
all knowledge and especially for truth, with a subtle and penetrating mind, having been trained to speak with reason and an unshakeable logic, Saint Augustine certainly deserved the fair and well-chosen name of Eagle of the assemblies -Hawk, Hustings.
III
KABYLE LANGUAGE
History acknowledges that the Carthaginians were distinguished from other peoples by finesse and cunning. Put into the service of their business, this spirit of cunning had produced a dark deceitfulness, and
this vice was so well known that, to express the worst kind of bad faith, one used the phrase, a Punic or Carthaginian faith. However, bad faith not the exclusive property of the Carthaginians and Guissa, son of Massinissa, shed enough light for us on the habitual deception of his customs and also those of the Numidians.
The Kabyles were the undisputed descendants of the Numidians and under a different name, the petty quibbling customs of this people are seen more pronouncedly in the broad light of day in the formation of the name of Kabyle - (to) Cavil. The Moors, in relation to petty quibbling have reason to be jealous of the inhabitants of Grand Kabylia of the Southern Atlas.
They each took every opportunity to prove how great was their bad faith and their treachery. However, the kabyles of the Algerian mountains do in fact deserve the name of Berbers, which was attributed to them with good reason. Surprisingly simple in their habits, some dry figs and a bit of bread was enough for their food, and their dwelling places of an extreme destitution marked in the customs of this people the habit of poverty and energy to put up with the lack of all well-being -Bear,
Bare.
The Berbers show a great honesty in their relationships. It proves without a doubt that, for several centuries, Christianity had flourished in their country; and this reason is more than sufficient for the customs of a people to emphasis of the profound change implemented by the correct practice of evangelical teachings. Despite the muslim
despotism, which had steeped them in Mohammedanism, the Berbers did not lose the memory of the Christian religion, and they showed with pride the tattooed cross that they wore on their hand or on their arm. Traditions occupied a big place in the customs of the Algerian Kabyles, this similarity with the Celtic family witnesses is firm witness to the truth of Sallust’s assertions. One can see still flourishing in their midst, the constitution that once ruled Gaul and such that Cæsar described it:
"It has been said several times", said General Daumas, in his book La
Kabylie, "that Kabylia is the Switzerland of Algeria. If this comparison is right from the geographic point of view, it is no less so from the political point of view. Considered in its entirety, Kabylia is a conglomeration of tribes that govern themselves according to principles that tradition and usage have introduced into their customs.
"But what principally distinguishes the federal organisation of Switzerland from that of Kabylia is the former's characteristic of permanence. The federation, being only accidental with the latter, is reduced to the proportions of an alliance born from the necessities of the moment and which ceases with them. The dominant characteristic of the Kabyle constitution is thus the absolute independence of the tribe vis-à-vis other tribes. In a word, each tribe forms a separate state."
This singular organisation of the Algerian Kabyles obviously comes from the Gaulish influence in the environment of the Gaetules and the Libyans, and it is not just their facial features which confirm the presence of the Celts in North Africa, since, as General Daumas says once more, "many of the Kabyles have blue eyes and red hair." These natural characteristics could be attributed to the mix of Vandal invaders; but as this latter people also belonged to the family of Gomer, it must have reproduced more strongly the characteristics imprinted in the Berbers by the first mixing of Gaulish blood. We have noted the ease with which the Punic language, by its word games knew how to create the right names for men. The common names also offered similar combinations and depict, in several associated monosyllables, entire
phrases with a rigorous and exact meaning. We will choose, some of these expressions from the Kabyle language, so that we may note with what admirable care the word, nouns or verbs, have been composed.
The ancient inhabitants of North Africa probably did not raise bees, whose swarms propagate themselves in freedom in the hollows of tree trunks or the cracks of rocks. These bees, being little used to the proximity of men and animals, cruelly tormented travellers who
passed too close to their dwelling place and by their stings, upset the
tranquillity of their walk. Such is the meaning of the word for bee in Kabyle, which is “thizizouith”,the plural being “thizizoua” - Tease, Tease, Way.
We use the plural for this interpretation; however, in looking at the proper endings in the singular and the plural, the meaning of “thizizouith”becomes even clearer since then it is the buzzing of the insect which bothers and troubles rest - Tease, Ease, Whiz. The word for honey, “tament” in Kabyle, reproduces this idea that sweetness always finishes by bringing out and taming - Tame, End.
The Punic words definitely have the right expression for the habits of these peoples, and the strength of this truth is obvious in the verb to slither, in Kab.“mour;edh”, for us to slither is to move forward in the manner of a snake, but for a Numidian it is to go into in the high grass of a moor and to move forward without being seen - Moor, Head.
The verb to be overwhelmed, in Kab. “r'ot”, tells us what these people think of a man who lets himself be taken by surprise by the heat - Raw(new, without experience), Hot (burning) – in effect, one must be without experience of the burning sun to expose oneself to its heat at certain hours of the day.
When Sallust tells us that the Libyans and the Gaetules lived like nomads, he forgets to tell us that the bare earth was hardly pleasant for them to take their rest; it really was too painful a bed; so they took care to remedy it by stretching out their weary limbs on a good "mat", in Kab. “aguer'thil” - Ache, Earth, Heal.
We might believe that, because of their mettlesome nature, the Numidians took pleasure in noise and quarrelling; but their language contradicts this thought; because a man who gives himself to making a lot of noise is an "abject" man, “amekrouh” - Make, Row.
There are many monosyllabic expressions in the Kabyle language; in these words and their Celtic correspondences there is still a striking correlation of ideas. Thus to grind, n Kab.“zed”, is reported as Sate,
to set ablaze, in Kab. “serr”, derives from Sear, to burn; night in Kab. “idh”, comes from to Heed; to revile or vilify, in Kab. “simes”, “tsames”, corresponds to Shame.
This warlike people knew a good fighting sword, and carried in the strong hand of its warriors, this sharpened blade was brought down on the head of the enemy with a sharp whistle; in Kab. the word for sword is “iskin”- Hiss, Keen(sharp).
The verb to abdicate retains a perfect meaning in the Numidian language: for us this expression, taken as it is, has the significance of a voluntary renunciation of sovereign power: the Numidians see in it an heir to the throne, sometimes chosen completely freely, and in a great many circumstances accepted by force, that is to say, imposed: abdicate is translated into Kab. as “tekher” - Take, Heir.
Now we come to the ordinary salt cellar, in Kab. “thaqsouit”, which has the honour of being a composite word - Take, Salt.
We could add other Kabyle words with their deconstruction and compare their meaning; but the examples mentioned are quite enough to show in the Punic language a perfect derivation of the language which preceded Babel.**
Meanwhile, we should not, terminate this short survey without interpreting the word “aroumi” applied by the Kabyle to the French. Taken collectively, the French are known, in Kabyle, under the name of Afransis; but for the Berber, the Frenchman, taken as it is,the man who
has tamed him, who has surpassed him in warlike valour, before whom he has to bow, as one bows before superiority, and for whom he contains all his admiration in a single word, the Frenchman is "the Grand" – “aroumi” – Roomy (grand).
REFERENCES
(1) Daubenton. Cuvier
2. Salluste, bell. Jug.
* Kabyle - Kabbalah, Very ancient system of Hebraic philosophy.
** For those who may not know, Babel refers to the event in the Bible when God, and apparently his companions, decided mankind was getting too clever by half when they tried to build a tower at Babel, known later as Babylon in modern day Iraq. Since they all spoke the
same language, he decided to spike this project by causing them all to speak in different languages and thus prevent their efforts at co-operation. GR.
ET LE CROMLECH DE RENNES-LES-BAINS
Henri Boudet
Translated by Gay Roberts
THE PUNIC LANGUAGE
I
AFRICA – PHUTH – NUMIDIANS AND MOORS
This is the chapter devoted to the Punic language, i.e. the language of puns and word games so intrinsic to the Rennes mystery. Maybe, without wishing to send anyone off on a false trail, if this book contains such a vital key, perhaps we should be looking at the examples Boudet gives and see what logic, if any, there might be here. At the end of this chapter there are some landmarks - bees, heirs to thrones, abdication, serpents, salt. In fact it would be an interesting exercise to take all the words Boudet gives in this book and see if anything can be made of them. If anyone has already done so and is willing to share their results, I am sure the editor would be only too willing to provide space in Rhedesium. GR.
Among the descendants of Cham, we will only remember Phut, his third son, who is thought by the commentators on the Holy Scriptures to be the stock of the first inhabitants of North Africa. The African continent presents the most striking contrasts. In the parts crossed by
water courses of considerable size, the heat together with the humidity of the ground produces in the trees and plants a vegetation of admirable vigour and strength, but in the regions where the rivers have a scanty volume of water, the freshness and fertility disappears under the action of a burning sun, and the desert appears in its terrible aridity. In the most extensive of these deserts, the Sahara, immense plains of burning sand unfold before the eye. The dangers there are extreme, because at the violent gust of a sandstorm, the heaving sands roll like the waves of an angry sea. Bad luck to the travellers that the sandstorm meets in its fast moving course, stuck in these deadly parts! The heaving sand surrounds them, grips them, buries them under the weight of its
drifting masses – Afer, south-westerly wind, Rick,heap.
While it may seem essential to occupy ourselves with the Egyptians when speaking of Africa, nevertheless we will leave aside both their monuments and the long list of their kings, pausing for just a moment with the Egyptian labyrinth and Mesraïm, the first king of the country. Mesraïm, Cham’s second son, provides us with proof of the soundness and truth of Moses’affirmations in the list of the heads of the peoples issuing from the three sons of Noah and in the establishment that he attributes to them, affirmations which have a firm scientific foundation. Mesraïm is famous for being the first king of Egypt; and yet, he deserves be noted far more for an architectural fantasy left by him to future centuries and which these, in their ingratitude, have forgotten the creator.
The ancients in different lands had built certain monuments called labyrinths, and the most famous were the one in Crete, attributed to Daedalus, and the one in Egypt, whose masterly architect remains unknown. According to Herodotus, the Egyptian labyrinth was the work of twelve kings, while Pliny thought that Tithoes alone should have claimed the glory for it. According to Herodotus’ description of this edifice, twelve palaces were contained within a single enclosure. Fifteen hundred apartments, interspersed with the terraces, were set around twelve main rooms, and communications were organised in such a way that those who were entered into the palace were unable to find the way out again. There were another fifteen hundred apartments underground. Was this construction a monument dedicated to the sun,
as Pliny seemed to think, or was it to be used as a tomb for the kings? Was it not rather a caprice, a fantasy of skilful architect the memory of whom had been lost by the men? Mesraïm alone could put us on the way and show us the way out of this labyrinth of hypotheses, by acknowledging that he was indeed the creator of this strange edifice, formed of a long range of apartments, the result of a fantasy, a caprice of his mind – Maze, labyrinth, or (to) Maze, to lose one’s way, to puzzle,
Row,Whim.
If Misraïm delivers up his secret without difficulty, it is not the same with Phuth, the third son of Cham. This strange name, in its monosyllabic form, does not present in itself any satisfactory meaning. It needs to be divided into two syllables, then it offers a sensible meaning, relating faithfully to the character and clothes of the Libyan and Gaetules peoples of whom Phuth was the father.
Avowed enemies of the Egyptians, from whim they differed in a very obvious manner, the Libyans and the Gaetules led a nomadic life, wandering across the prairies – Lea,prairie, field, By, across – and noted for the particular style of their cloaks, - (to) Get, Hull, an exterior covering, a coat. The distinctive sign of the Gaetules cloak lay with the hood, and the Algerian burnoose seems to us to be a traditional part of the clothing worn by Phuth and his descendants. Only by way of their hooded cloaks have the Gaetules allowed us to grasp the composition of the name of Phuth, their ancestor – Foe, (to) Hood.
In his writing on the war waged by Jurgurtha against the Romans, Sallust gives certain very interesting details about the first inhabitants of North Africa. According to this writer, Africa was first occupied by the Gaetules and the Libyans. They were, he said of a rough and uncompromising nature, feeding on the fruits growing spontaneously from the soil and on the flesh of wild beasts. Laws, chiefs, civilisation were unknown to them; wandering here and there, they stopped in the place where they were when night fell. But, Sallust continued, according to the beliefs of the Africans, after the death of Hercules, having
arrived in Spain, his army, which was composed of a variety of peoples and lacking its head, spread out in all directions. The Medes, the Persians and the Armenians, who made up part of his army, crossed the water in vessels and seized control of the shoreline of our sea. The Persians especially headed in the direction of the Ocean: not finding the necessary materials in the fields for the construction of their houses, they used the upturned keels of their boats for the purposes of habitation. Bit by bit, they mixed with the Gaetules by marriage and as they often went from place to place following the fertility of the countryside in which they found themselves, they called themselves Numidians (Numides, pronounced new meads in French. Trans.). What is more, the Numidians call their buildings in the countryside, which were oblong and covered with curved bricks (drainage tiles), “mapalia”.
The Numidians allied by marriage with the Medes and the Armenians: they occupied the land washed by the African sea, while the Gaetules lived further inland, in the country scorched by a burning sun. The
Libyans were lucky enough to have towns, and separated from Spain by a simple channel, they bartered there. Little by little, the Libyans altered their name and, in their barbaric language, called themselves Moors instead of Medes.
The Persians soon became prosperous in business; and not long after, moving away from their fathers because their numbers were too great, under the name of Numidians, they occupied the countryside around
Carthage and which is called Numidia. Because the Gaetules were more warlike than the Libyans, subjugating their neighbours bit by bit, they made a name for themselves that was full of glory. Finally, the lower part of Africa fell under Numidian domination, and all those that they had conquered joined together and took their name.
All this information given by Sallust is very valuable and sheds some light on the origins of these Africans, but we are surprised that, with no grounds to do so, he denies them laws, chiefs and civilisation. They might well not have written laws; however, it is difficult to deny them traditions that certainly formed the basis of their legislation. Moreover, one can hardly see what difference of note was introduced into the life of these people after they inhabited the land of Africa. Still wearing their hooded cloaks, continually on the look-out for pastures new with which to provide their flocks with plenty of food, keeping their nomadic habits across the centuries, we find them again, almost as Sallust described them. The dwellings they constructed, that the Latin writer called
mapalia,- (to) Map, Hall – could not persuade the greater part of the population to renounce their travelling across the country, in every sense of the word, in order to lead their flocks into new and fresher fields – New, Mead, field.
The Numidians were the possessors of magnificent horses, and it is known with what meticulous care the Africans raised them in order to bring out all the nervous energy and the spirit that they wanted to see in them. Nevertheless, in spite of the vigour of these excellent beasts, the Numidians were incapable of crossing the immense deserts of Africa; only the camel was suitable to travel these vaste wildernesses, because of its extreme abstemiousness and the singular disposition of its stomach which contained a pouch full of water, (1) constituting a wonderful reserve which allowed it to spend several days without
drinking. There were a great many camels in West Africa and the Moors rightly regarded them as a family’s principal wealth. The ancient Libyans and Gaetules knew very well why the camel was abstemious and how easy it was for it to make journeys of several days without stopping at a spring to quench its thirst; so they preferred to use them rather than the horse when venturing into the middle of the desert. This everyday use of the camel in their journeys, and their undoubted knowledge of the pouch full of water contained in the stomach of this animal was the reason for the name of the Moors, which was given to the Libyans who had mixed with the Armenians and the Medes of West Africa - Maw,paunch, rumen, crop (of a bird), (to) Wear, to use. The wordmaw is a good pointer to the camel since, in the language of the Tectosages, cloth made from the hair of a camel is called mohair.
Sallust, who accepted the belief of the Africans that Hercules died in Spain, claimed that his warriors abandoned Iberia and travelled to the land of Africa. For ourselves, we will endeavour to rely on certain facts recounted in mythology, and even though this approach seems like
lunacy, it will shed some light on this historical point. In mythology,
Mauritania was the garden of the Hesperides, containing the trees with the golden apples. A dragon with a hundred heads was set there to guard them, and with his eyes always open on the precious fruits, he hissed horribly. Hercules had promised Eurystheus, king of Mycenae, to bring him the golden apples from the garden of the Hesperides. He went to Mauritania, killed the dragon and, seizing the golden apples, he returned in triumph to offer them to Eurystheus.
By changing the name of the hero of this story, Sallust’s account becomes quite clear in the light of the faithful truth. The Gaulish nation is represented here by Hercules and the mythology itself gives us the guiding thread, saying that Galates, a warrior renowned for his exploits and his virtues, and also king of the Gauls, was the son of Hercules.
Thus it implies that Hercules, that is to say, the heroic family of the Gauls, acting in a similar way to an encroaching flood, after having inundated Europe, reached the heart of Spain, but saw its huge crowd of people die off as the result of the long and stubborn resistance of the Iberians. Only a part of the huge army crossed the sea and took over the magnificent dales situated at the foot of the Atlas mountains, where the orange and lemon trees grew in abundance, bearing their splendid golden apples. The Atlantids, the Libyans and the Gaetules lived with the conquerors and became the Moors and the powerful Numidians whose cavalry was so dreaded by the Romans.
II
THE GENERALS OF CARTHAGE - THE NUMIDIAN KINGS
Later on the Numidians saw a colony of Phoenicians land on their shores and found settlements. The city of Carthage was built, 888 years before Jesus Christ, by Dido, princess of Tyre. Dedicated to trade, Carthage became wealthy, grew rapidly and extended its possessions on
the African shore and on the coasts of Spain, attracted above all by its gold and silver mines. It had to become warlike in order to maintain trade, so it raised armies made up of mercenary soldiers on whom it could scarcely rely. There were a great many Numidians, Iberians and Gaetules, but these borrowed soldiers only remained in its service, when there was an able general who knew how to lead them to victory and pillage. A lost battle put these foreign soldiers into a fury, and they massacred the unfortunate generals who did not know how to lead their hotheaded charge. This necessity to win perhaps contains in itself the whole secret of the ability of the brilliant and intrepid Carthaginian generals.
The Phoenicians, founders of Carthage, spoke the language of Canaan, and this language, in spite of numerous differences, must have shown a close relationship with that of the Numidians. But is it really the language of the Carthaginians to which the name of Punic should be attributed, and did this name not belong rather to that of the Numidians and the Moors? We think that the Numidian language could easily claim it, and in examining the real language of the Kabyles at close quarters, it is certain that it is made of a game of words and as a result, the only Punic – (to) Pun, to make word games.*
This assertion does not seem to be without foundation, if we compare the names of the most illustrious Carthaginian generals mentioned by history with those of the Numidian kings; in fact one could sense a certain resistance to the interpretation in the proper
names of the Carthaginians, while the proper names of the Numidians are very willing to surrender the monosyllables that formed them.
In Sicily, against the Romans, Amilcar, Hannibal's father had given incontestable proof of military skill. Pursuing with an unrelenting enthusiasm the prosperity and extension of the Carthaginian empire -
Aim, Weal (prosperity), Care - he subjugated the shore of Africa as far as the Great Ocean, and crossing into Spain, he took over the western coast of this country. He brought the young Hannibal with him on many of his campaigns, to initiate him in the leading of an army and in the science of warfare. Amilcar also had with him, said Cornelius Nepos, a handsome young man, Hasdrubal, who was reproached for loving him much more than he should have done. As a result the inquisitor of morals forbade him to keep Hasdrubal in his house. So Amilcar decided to give his daughter in marriage to this young man: according to their customs, that one could not forbid a son-in-law to live with his father-in-law. We report this fact, adds Cornelius Nepos, because after the death of Amilcar in a fight, Hasdrubal became head of the army. Hannibal did not take command until after the death of Hasdrubal, who was assassinated by the slave of a Lusitanian chief.
The fact recounted by Cornelius Nepos give the logic behind the formation of the name of Hasdrubal. Pressed as he was by the inquisitor of morals, Amilcar wanted to put an end to the angry noises but still keep Hasdrubal with him, and so he hastened to give him his daughter in marriage - Haste, Row, Pall(kill, weaken).
The presence of Hasdrubal in the house of his father and his elevation to the head of the army after the death of Amilcar must have been a source of annoyance for Hannibal; in fact submitting to the command of his brother-in-law, he found the development of his military genius continually compromised. Thus Hannibal was rightly named, that is to say, annoyed to lead the insipid life of a subaltern officer - Annoy,
Pall.
We have not talked about the exploits of this great captain; they are well known enough and anyway, are not useful for our purpose.
The difficulty of interpretation presented by the proper names of these Carthaginian generals no longer exists in those of the Numidian kings and the Celtic expressions providing explanations with the
greatest of ease.
After the second Punic war, Carthage had last everything, its empire, its wealth, its commerce: hardly any of its former life remained. This it was that Massinissa, chief of Numidia and Roman ally, looked to raise it. This Numidian, who lived for a century, at the age of ninety years spent night and day on the back of his horse, harassing the unfortunate Carthaginian generals without respite or mercy. An indomitable horseman, Massinissa knew no rest either in house or hostelry
which he professed to mock - Mass(to gather), Inn, Hiss (mock).
"After the victories over the Carthaginians and the taking of Syphax -
See, (to) Face - whose empire extended far into Africa, the Roman people gave to the king Massinissa all the towns and lands that he had taken by his hand." 2
The old Numidian always remained the faithful ally of the Romans and left his kingdom to his son Micipsa; his two other sons, Mastanabal and Gulussa, had been carried off by sickness. Sallust remains silent on their life, content to name them and merely establish that Mastanabal was the father of Jugurtha. There is no doubt that Mastanabal did not possess the wild energy of his father Massinissa, since his name states that he was appalled at becoming the head of such a considerable
nation - Mass (gathering), Thane, Appal. As for Gulussa, his name clearly denotes his habits of deceit - (to) Gull, Use.
Micipsa, who became chief of the Numidians, is only known by the weakness of his character, missing and allowing to slip by, all favourable occasions to increase even more the huge territory left to him by his fathers - Miss, Heap, Say.
This prince had adopted his nephew Jugurtha and had him share the kingdom with his two sons, Adherbal and Hiempsal. The darling of the Romans because of the warlike qualities which he had proved at the siege of Numance, where Micipsa had sent him with the secret hope that he might be killed, and admired as the most enthusiatic lion hunter and hardiest horseman in the whole of Africa, Jugurtha was consumed by the ambition to be the sole possessor of Numidia. Counting on
the venality of the Romans, first of all he had Hiempsal assassinated - (to) Eye, Aim, Sale - the youngest of his rivals.
Adherbal was still in his way; because the Senate had shared Numidia between him and Adherbal. Jugurtha added another crime: in spite of opposition from the Romans, he besieged Adherbal in a town where he had taken refuge, seized this last heir of Micispa and killed him by torture - Add, Heir, (to)Pall (kill).
Thus, by two frightful crimes, Jugurtha was raised to the throne of Numidia, and it was quite right that it should be mentioned in his name for future generations - (to) juke, (to raise), hurt.
Handed over to the Romans by the treachery of Bocchus - (to)Balk - his
father-in-law, the king of Mauritania - Maw, Wear, Hit, Hand - gurtha
was thrown into a dark dungeon where he was killed, tortured by hunger.
After the conquest of Numidia by the Romans, schools were established in the big African towns for the study of Greek and Roman literature: nevertheless, the Punic language continued to be spoken in its integrity; and what proves it is the Punic name given towards the end of the fourth century AD to the greatest genius that Africa has produced, Saint Augustine. At scarcely twenty eight years of age, possessing all human knowledge taught at this period, he was a brilliant teacher of rhetoric first at Carthage and then several years after at Milan, where he was baptised by Saint Ambrose in 387. Of high intelligence, avid for
all knowledge and especially for truth, with a subtle and penetrating mind, having been trained to speak with reason and an unshakeable logic, Saint Augustine certainly deserved the fair and well-chosen name of Eagle of the assemblies -Hawk, Hustings.
III
KABYLE LANGUAGE
History acknowledges that the Carthaginians were distinguished from other peoples by finesse and cunning. Put into the service of their business, this spirit of cunning had produced a dark deceitfulness, and
this vice was so well known that, to express the worst kind of bad faith, one used the phrase, a Punic or Carthaginian faith. However, bad faith not the exclusive property of the Carthaginians and Guissa, son of Massinissa, shed enough light for us on the habitual deception of his customs and also those of the Numidians.
The Kabyles were the undisputed descendants of the Numidians and under a different name, the petty quibbling customs of this people are seen more pronouncedly in the broad light of day in the formation of the name of Kabyle - (to) Cavil. The Moors, in relation to petty quibbling have reason to be jealous of the inhabitants of Grand Kabylia of the Southern Atlas.
They each took every opportunity to prove how great was their bad faith and their treachery. However, the kabyles of the Algerian mountains do in fact deserve the name of Berbers, which was attributed to them with good reason. Surprisingly simple in their habits, some dry figs and a bit of bread was enough for their food, and their dwelling places of an extreme destitution marked in the customs of this people the habit of poverty and energy to put up with the lack of all well-being -Bear,
Bare.
The Berbers show a great honesty in their relationships. It proves without a doubt that, for several centuries, Christianity had flourished in their country; and this reason is more than sufficient for the customs of a people to emphasis of the profound change implemented by the correct practice of evangelical teachings. Despite the muslim
despotism, which had steeped them in Mohammedanism, the Berbers did not lose the memory of the Christian religion, and they showed with pride the tattooed cross that they wore on their hand or on their arm. Traditions occupied a big place in the customs of the Algerian Kabyles, this similarity with the Celtic family witnesses is firm witness to the truth of Sallust’s assertions. One can see still flourishing in their midst, the constitution that once ruled Gaul and such that Cæsar described it:
"It has been said several times", said General Daumas, in his book La
Kabylie, "that Kabylia is the Switzerland of Algeria. If this comparison is right from the geographic point of view, it is no less so from the political point of view. Considered in its entirety, Kabylia is a conglomeration of tribes that govern themselves according to principles that tradition and usage have introduced into their customs.
"But what principally distinguishes the federal organisation of Switzerland from that of Kabylia is the former's characteristic of permanence. The federation, being only accidental with the latter, is reduced to the proportions of an alliance born from the necessities of the moment and which ceases with them. The dominant characteristic of the Kabyle constitution is thus the absolute independence of the tribe vis-à-vis other tribes. In a word, each tribe forms a separate state."
This singular organisation of the Algerian Kabyles obviously comes from the Gaulish influence in the environment of the Gaetules and the Libyans, and it is not just their facial features which confirm the presence of the Celts in North Africa, since, as General Daumas says once more, "many of the Kabyles have blue eyes and red hair." These natural characteristics could be attributed to the mix of Vandal invaders; but as this latter people also belonged to the family of Gomer, it must have reproduced more strongly the characteristics imprinted in the Berbers by the first mixing of Gaulish blood. We have noted the ease with which the Punic language, by its word games knew how to create the right names for men. The common names also offered similar combinations and depict, in several associated monosyllables, entire
phrases with a rigorous and exact meaning. We will choose, some of these expressions from the Kabyle language, so that we may note with what admirable care the word, nouns or verbs, have been composed.
The ancient inhabitants of North Africa probably did not raise bees, whose swarms propagate themselves in freedom in the hollows of tree trunks or the cracks of rocks. These bees, being little used to the proximity of men and animals, cruelly tormented travellers who
passed too close to their dwelling place and by their stings, upset the
tranquillity of their walk. Such is the meaning of the word for bee in Kabyle, which is “thizizouith”,the plural being “thizizoua” - Tease, Tease, Way.
We use the plural for this interpretation; however, in looking at the proper endings in the singular and the plural, the meaning of “thizizouith”becomes even clearer since then it is the buzzing of the insect which bothers and troubles rest - Tease, Ease, Whiz. The word for honey, “tament” in Kabyle, reproduces this idea that sweetness always finishes by bringing out and taming - Tame, End.
The Punic words definitely have the right expression for the habits of these peoples, and the strength of this truth is obvious in the verb to slither, in Kab.“mour;edh”, for us to slither is to move forward in the manner of a snake, but for a Numidian it is to go into in the high grass of a moor and to move forward without being seen - Moor, Head.
The verb to be overwhelmed, in Kab. “r'ot”, tells us what these people think of a man who lets himself be taken by surprise by the heat - Raw(new, without experience), Hot (burning) – in effect, one must be without experience of the burning sun to expose oneself to its heat at certain hours of the day.
When Sallust tells us that the Libyans and the Gaetules lived like nomads, he forgets to tell us that the bare earth was hardly pleasant for them to take their rest; it really was too painful a bed; so they took care to remedy it by stretching out their weary limbs on a good "mat", in Kab. “aguer'thil” - Ache, Earth, Heal.
We might believe that, because of their mettlesome nature, the Numidians took pleasure in noise and quarrelling; but their language contradicts this thought; because a man who gives himself to making a lot of noise is an "abject" man, “amekrouh” - Make, Row.
There are many monosyllabic expressions in the Kabyle language; in these words and their Celtic correspondences there is still a striking correlation of ideas. Thus to grind, n Kab.“zed”, is reported as Sate,
to set ablaze, in Kab. “serr”, derives from Sear, to burn; night in Kab. “idh”, comes from to Heed; to revile or vilify, in Kab. “simes”, “tsames”, corresponds to Shame.
This warlike people knew a good fighting sword, and carried in the strong hand of its warriors, this sharpened blade was brought down on the head of the enemy with a sharp whistle; in Kab. the word for sword is “iskin”- Hiss, Keen(sharp).
The verb to abdicate retains a perfect meaning in the Numidian language: for us this expression, taken as it is, has the significance of a voluntary renunciation of sovereign power: the Numidians see in it an heir to the throne, sometimes chosen completely freely, and in a great many circumstances accepted by force, that is to say, imposed: abdicate is translated into Kab. as “tekher” - Take, Heir.
Now we come to the ordinary salt cellar, in Kab. “thaqsouit”, which has the honour of being a composite word - Take, Salt.
We could add other Kabyle words with their deconstruction and compare their meaning; but the examples mentioned are quite enough to show in the Punic language a perfect derivation of the language which preceded Babel.**
Meanwhile, we should not, terminate this short survey without interpreting the word “aroumi” applied by the Kabyle to the French. Taken collectively, the French are known, in Kabyle, under the name of Afransis; but for the Berber, the Frenchman, taken as it is,the man who
has tamed him, who has surpassed him in warlike valour, before whom he has to bow, as one bows before superiority, and for whom he contains all his admiration in a single word, the Frenchman is "the Grand" – “aroumi” – Roomy (grand).
REFERENCES
(1) Daubenton. Cuvier
2. Salluste, bell. Jug.
* Kabyle - Kabbalah, Very ancient system of Hebraic philosophy.
** For those who may not know, Babel refers to the event in the Bible when God, and apparently his companions, decided mankind was getting too clever by half when they tried to build a tower at Babel, known later as Babylon in modern day Iraq. Since they all spoke the
same language, he decided to spike this project by causing them all to speak in different languages and thus prevent their efforts at co-operation. GR.