Sebiba Touareg Exhibition of Djanet in Algeria.


Sebiba (Arabic: سبيبة, Tifinagh: ⵙⴱⵉⴱⴰ) is the term used in Algeria to designate a festival and the Tuareg peoples dance performed on this occasion and accompanied by female drummers in the Sahara oasis of Djanet in the Tassili nAjjer region in southern Algeria. The dance originated among the descendants of black African slaves and is part of the celebrations for the Islamic Ashura Festival. The dance was recognized by UNESCO in 2014 for its significance to humanitys intangible cultural heritage.







The Sebiba dance and drum music is rooted in the blacksmith class, or Inaden, among the Moorish Bidhan Tuareg people in Algeria and the Sahel region. The inaden, which made all tools, weapons and jewelry for society, formed a distinct cultural echelon within Tuareg society after being excluded for the two traditional social classes.The other traditional classes among the Bidhan were the aristocrats, Imajeghen or Imuhagh in Tamasheq language, corresponding to the warriors class (hassan),  and the Iklan, slaves or Abīd (Arabic: عبيد). Today, the slaves kidnapped from the Sudan region are free today and form the majority within Tuareg society