In North Africa among the Berbers, the January 12th is the 1st day of the year 2971 of the Amazigh (Berber) calendar which begins in 950 BC, date of the victory of the Berber king Chachnaq over the pharaoh Ramses III where the Berber king Sheshonq I was enthroned Pharaoh of Egypt and founded the XXII Dynasty which ruled Egypt until 715 BC. By Rabah ArkamThis Berber king had succeeded in unifying Egypt and then invading the kingdom of Israel. This date is mentioned in the Bible and would therefore constitute the first date in Berber history on a written medium. This Berber New Year is called “Yennayer”, etymologically, the name is made up of “Yen”, which means “first”, and “Ayer”, which means “month”. It corresponds to the 12th day of January of the Julian calendar, like the Gregorian calendar, the Berber calendar is divided into twelve months and has been used since Antiquity by the peoples of North Africa (Kabyles, Riffs, Tuaregs, Siwa…).

Source: The North Africa Journal January 12, 2021 12:56 UTC