Sebiba

The first day through the tenth day of the first Islamic month of

New Hijri Year's Day is the following eleventh Muharram. In Djanet, Sebiba is the dance and the entire city festival at the turn of the year.^[10]

In Agadez in northern Niger, the Tuareg people celebrate the Bianu festival with dances and parades on the same occasion.^{[citation needed]}

At the Bianu and at the Sebiba festival, the course of the event is formed by the contrast between two population groups: With the Bianu, the city of Agadez is divided into an east and west half for the duration of the event, the residents of the Ksar come for the Sebiba festival, Azellouaz and Ksar El Mihan against each other.^{[citation needed]}

The festival brings back memories of a long conflict that has now been resolved between the two villages. The place Adjahil does not take part in the celebrations, presumably the religious prohibition by the

The cultural background of the Sebiba also includes the mythological idea of the end of the year, a new beginning and an interim period that is in transition and dissolving during the duration of the festival. This general cosmogonic concept is passed down as Tuareg customs (Tagdudt) and is said to have been known to nomadic Tuaregs in the past.[11]

The idea of a chaotic transition period relates to the seasonal regeneration of nature, but can also be associated with a mythological reassurance of the power of black African rulers. There, the kingship goes through a regularly recurring phase of ritual anarchy, in which the relations of rule are turned upside down and sham battles are carried out until the ruler has finally been confirmed as having his divine origin.^{[citation needed]}

The temporal equation with Ashura makes the rites, originally referred to as pre-Islamic, a part of everyday Islamic culture and therefore acceptable for a large part of the Muslim Tuareg. Nevertheless, there are Muslim groups who reject the Sebiba as un-Islamic because of their origin and the way they are carried out.^{[citation needed]}

Oral tradition traces the origin of the Sebiba back to the death of Pharaoh, who drowned in the Red Sea while persecuting Moses (Sidi Moussa) and the Jews, in accordance with Sunni Islamic tradition on the origin of Ashura.^[12] At that time, good triumphed over evil, which is expressed in the new beginning of nature during the Ashura days.^[13]

To give thanks for the victory, the Sebiba is said to have been invented. To distinguish it from Sebiba dances, which can also be performed in other villages at weddings and other private celebrations, the festival on Ashura Day is called Sebiba n’Tililin (other spelling Sebeiba ou Tillellin).^[14]

Other dances of the originally black population of the Maghreb are the Stambali, a Tunisian dance that is part of an obsession rite and its Moroccan counterpart Derdeba. The Algerian dance of the Berber women Abdaoui also has a seasonal reference.^[15]

The feast of Sebiba in Algerian Sahara has been classified as Tuareg heritage and Cultural heritage forming part of the world heritage of humanity, where the traditional costume made for the occasion holds a central place.^[16]

The ritual and ceremonies of Sebiba in the oasis of Djanet were inscribed in the year 2014 among the UNESCO lists of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.^[17]

The dance in this festival is a dance genre being part of the UNESCO lists of intangible cultural heritage, associated with singing, music and celebrations.^[18]

The Sebiba includes celebratory,

This classified dance form is officially recognised as an Algerian cultural heritage, and is appreciated and enjoyed all over the world, and have a very international dimension and touristic attraction.[20]

Sebiba dance is a very complex phenomenon, which involves culture, traditions, the use of human bodies, artefacts (such as costumes and props), as well as a specific use of music, space and sunshine light.^[21]

As a result, a lot of tangible and intangible elements are combined within Sebiba dance, making it a challenging but extremely interesting type of Algerian and Tuareg heritage to safeguard.^[22]

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  Sebiba

  shuyukhs

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  Sebiba dancers.
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  Sebiba dance.
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  Sebiba murid.
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  Sebiba murids.

Bouzid-Sababou, Meriem. 2001. Sebeiba - Tillellin : Les célébration de l'Achoura chez les Touaregs sédentaires de Djanet. Alger: Barzakh. ISBN 9961-893-15-1.