Albarouni Museum in Jado is different from most of the other
museums in Libya. Likewise Ghadames museum, it displays the heritage of the Berber
people and as such it is listed by the Unesco
on the Libyan tourist map. It embodies a unique mix of Berber architecture and
traditional everyday objects and artifacts, most of which have been in use since
prehistoric times, and many of which appear to slowly disappear whence they came.
The visitor will be rewarded with genuine items and models of traditional crafts
and industries as well as ancient archaeological stone artifacts, some of which
date from the Roman period. The Romans must have stopped at various locations
in the Nafousa Mountain in their way to meet the Berber Garamantes of the Sahara,
south of Nafousa. Most modern desert and mountain roads followed
ancient tracks used by people, chariots and caravans, and the road from
Tripoli to Nafousa and Ghadames was one of them.
The Berbers of Libya had endured so much persecution from Libya's
installed regimes, as much as they still do today despite the claims of the installed replacements. The Berbers hope one day Libya would have a true government that would allow the Berbers unrestricted
freedom to run their own destiny according to "our" own values and traditions. As a result of the recent awareness of the
true value of Libyan culture and heritage, many societies began reviving
their inherited traditions and collecting their oral lore for publishing online. This was hoped to slow down the rate of "Arabisation", as well
as to teach the newer generations "Tamazight" traditions of the past ancestors.
For
example, during Kabaw's festival period, all the Berber residents of Kabaw agree to
wear traditional clothes and leave their jeans and baseball caps at home —
for that day at least! They also run training sessions for
girls to learn the arts of weaving Berber carpets and other textiles. Another
good example for this cultural revival is the Berber Tuareg Imzad Project
(The Imzad Hearers), which provides training for young girls to continue playing
the imzad — their mothers played since immemorial time.
Hopefully one day the Berbers would have their own political and financial institutions to decide what is best for them and steer away from the orchestrated chaos currently sweeping the region under the supervision of the so-called UN — the UN that authorised a brutal war against sovereign Libya based on fake promises that sent Libya back to the Stone Age.
Tanemmirt.
Usually museums are funded
and most often built by the state or by private sponsors. But Albarouni Museum
was created by the young people of Jado, without any help from
the previous government nor any funds went their way, except that the government tried to demolish the museum, after banning the Freedom Festival in 1995.
Despite the stark opposition they faced from the government the museum continued to grow. As members of Jado's Tamazight Cultural Movement (Alharaka Aththaqafiyya Alamazighiya) the activists founded the museum in 1986. The idea of the museum however goes back to 1964 when Jado's Sport, Cultural & Social Club (Annadi Arriyadi Aththaqafi Alijtima'i), also known as Nadi Albarouni, was established as a cultural, social and sport club. In 1983 the management of the club was changed, and the neglected cultural aspect of the club was revived to preserve Tamazight heritage, and consequently a section of the club was turned into a museum in 1986: "the Museum of Nadi Albarouni".
As soon as you enter the museum, you will see
the welcoming sign, then the oil press.
The sign reads: math'ef almujahid Solaiman Albarouni bi-Jado,
meaning: the museum of (the-freedom-fighter) Soulaiman Albarouni in Jado.
The Western Mountain's Albarouni, together with Omar Almokhtar of the Green Mountain, were the main two heroes of Libya's struggle for independence during
the Italian occupation.
The Story of -Barouni Museum: Part 1 URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3xUgea5Q-0
Andour ('oil press')
This is a photo of a stone oil press, similar
to those mentioned in the Ghirza records,
and in other parts of the mountain. The stone is kept in motion by an animal,
usually a cow. They are used to extract oil out of local olives. The long rod
going through the big stone is called Ougem, while the remaining
crushed olive stones and fiber is known as Taa'eqqeet.
After the olives were crushed into a rough mixture and placed
on those circular straw mats (the model-worker is holding in the photo), they
were stacked one on top of the other, as you can see, and the oil was squeezed
out by means of pressing, as shown in the next photo.
Iner or Ineer (centre): a large
form of an oil lamp.
Usual clay oil lamp.
Ougra
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Hands and feet are an integral part of Berber iconography and mythology.
Why not; the feet take you to all walks of life, and the hands are responsible
for most, but not all, of what you do.
The two things you really need to watch out for in life: where you go and what
you do.
A farming scene: a farmer ploughing the earth with the aid
of a camel.
The drawing symbolises the Goddess Tannit, written in Tifinagh.
The label behind the fork reads: zzazel - the name of the tool
before it
Aglouz
Berber Tasirt ('Quern')
The stone mill or the quern still is an important part of
the Berber kitchen. Its universal Berber name is tasirt, clearly
labeled in both Tifinagh and Arabic. Leather skins are also still in use, and
provide comfortable and warm seats; especially the fluffy sheep skins. But also
they can be used as mats upside down.
Clay jars, pots and mortar.
Modern compositions employing ancient elements.
Wooden writing tablets.
The spherical straw covers are used as food covers. They are
called andu (plural: inda), woven of palm leaves,
and decorated with patterns spiraling towards the point at the raised centre.
The straw allows the steam rising form the hot food to pass through, rather than
condense back onto the food. Similarly, the clay jars and pots used traditionally
to store drinking water do a good job of cooling the water during hot summer
days to a chilling point because the surface of the clay allows the water to
breathe through the microscopic cavities.
The Story of -Barouni Museum: Part 2 URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3xUgea5Q-0
