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“Berberrs. In that portion of Africa known to moderns as the Barbary states, one rude wild clan stands alone, refusing to join the melee that has long ago obliterated nearly every mark of nationality among those who have been its subjects. They have given their name to the Barbary states and impressed their character on their history.”

“The origin of the name Berbers has been the subject of much conjecture. Some Arabian writers have derived it from the Arabian word “Bar” (desert); others from “Beberna” (murmuring), as descriptive of the sound of the North African language.”

“Others still say that Ber was the son of one of the shepherd kings of Egypt and that from him comes to the name “Berbers;” while others affirm that Ber was a descendant of the Madzigh, who was the progenitor of the whole race. Consequently, the Berbers call themselves Amazirghs; they do not know the name Berbers.”

“However the question of the origin of the term may be settled, it leaves the origin of the tribe itself still open. In regard to this, opinions are quite as various. The most probable conclusion is that they came originally from the land of Canaan. This opinion is supported by tradition by monumental remains, and by history.”

“The Berbers themselves have a tradition that they came from Canaan, and some of the Arabians say that the Berbs are a colony of Philistines, and others that they were Amalekites driven out by Joshua.”

“The Shelloohs consider themselves the aboriginal inhabitants and say that the Berbers are interlopers, who emigrated from the east.”

“The Berber language seems to resemble the Shelloh, and neither of them appears to have any Semeticaffiniites, whereas the Philistines were a Semetic branch. In accordance with this physiological phenomenon Messrs. Nott and Gliddon, in the “Indigenous Races,” set down the Shelloohs and Berbers as Hamitic and cognate.”

“The Shelloohs are of frail structure, dark complexion, easily civilized, humane, and peaceable; the Berbers are robust, of light color, stubbornly savage, cruel and warlike. In every outward respect, they are as antipodal as the Berbers and Arabs.”

See The New American Cyclopaedia: A Popular Dictionary of General …, Volume 3 edited by George Ripley, Charles Anderson Dana