KABYLES, ka-bilz' (Ar. qabilat, pl.. tribes). The Arabic name for the Hamitic Ber bers. numbering about half a million and in habiting the table-lands of Algeria. In a narrow sense Kabylia is restricted to a tract in Algeria divided by the Sahel River into Great Kabylia on the west, with the mountains rising 7500 feet, and Little Kabylia on the east, with cliffs 3000 feet above the sea. The Kabyles of Herodotus were among the first Libyan tribes encountered by the Arab invaders. When the Mohammedans pushed their conquests across Northern Africa they gave this name to all non-Arab peoples who tied to the uplands, including with the Berbers ( Imazighen) the descendants of the Carthagin ians. Greeks, and Romans, all of the Mediter ranean race, the Vandals, of the Teutonic race, and the Berberized negroes. They are above the average in stature (1.977 m., or 61 inches). the men being notably taller than the women; and dolichocephalie, their index being 70.4. All of them come from long-headed stock, Mediter ranean, Teutonic, and negro. A most interesting characteristic is the frequent occurrence of blonds among them. Opinions have been divided whether to attribute this feature to original albinism in the Hamite era or to the blond Teutonic. Blond ilamites, however. are represented on Egyptian tombs as early as B.C. 1800-1300, and the great prevalence of the feature shows it to be deeply rooted.
The Kabyles, following the instincts of their Hamitic descent. are not roving and aggressive like the Arabs, but are agricultural and hidus trial. in dress, home. furniture, tools and im plements, they are little different from the patri archs described in the Bible. They use the wooden plow and thresh their grain with the tribulum or harrow with stone teeth. They are good workers in iron. brass. and leather. and the women are skillful in basketry textiles. No machinery of any kind exists among them. Kabyle pottery is all made by women without the use of the wheel. The forms are plates, bottles of plain or quaint designs. teapot forms, pitchers. etc. The colors are C.ern. red, terra-cotta, and black. Their ornamentation is made up of an infinite number of patterns, in which dots, hent lines, hachures. and gemnetrical forms are mingled; hut there is no evidence of legendary designs. Fresh interest is awakened in Kabyle pottery hy its resemblance to the ware found in the prehistoric cemeteries of Egypt.
The Kabyle village is similar in structure and motives to those of the Pueblo Indians, but of a higher grade. The notion of terrace-building, which unites habitation and defense, is promi nent. In the more prosperous settlements the
houses cover a hill rising so steeply that the lower houses arc commanded from above, the crest forming a citadel. The tile roofs, heavy wooden framework. squared walls, added stories, and decorated porches. with some ideas of archi tectural proportion and ornament. are marks of higher culture, but structurally they are defec tive. The interior of the Kabyle house (13x15 feet) is divided by a partition wall into two rooms, one of them at a higher level than the other. In the latter the family eat, live. and sleep. The lower is a stable for domestic ani mals, and is ventilated into the living room. Granaries of burnt clay are built over the stables. The walls are whitewashed, mats serve for beds, and the fire is in a pit, round which are stones to support the cooking-pots.
The family is patriarchal and monogamy is the universal custom. The women and girls go about unveiled. and are said to enjoy much greater freedom than their sex among the Arabs. But their life is a hard one and they are old and wrinkled at thirty. The families are organ ized into a thousand or more clans or septs living in separate villages. The tribes, which form larger units of nations and confederacies, are ruled .hy Ain ins, who are eommanders-in chief in war and civil rulers in peace. They are not despotic, however, since their acts are sub ject to the revision of a council. Beneath the civil rule is felt the influence of secret societies, which arc all-powerful in elections and policies.
The language of the Kahyles belongs to the Libyan or Berber group, and forms a member of the Semito-Ilamite The religion is a somewhat modified Moham medanism. Each village possesses one or more mosques resembling enlarged dwellings, not always adorned with minarets. The Imam has care of the religious services and the instruc tion of the young. Ile is treated with great respect, consulted in important affairs, and is often the arbitrator in family disputes.
Education. beyond learning to read, is most meagre. The Berber language is the vernacular, but a knowledge of Arabic is essential for com mercial transactions.
Since the French occupation of Algeria and the existence of good government and demand for labor. the Kabyler3 are coming down from their seclusion and securing employment on the public and in the oil ies.
Consult: tin not call et Letournenx. La Kabylie et les routunies Kabytes (3 vols.. Paris. 1893); Randall-Maciver and Wilkin, Libyan Notes (Lon don, 1901). See LIBYANS.