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Entre mythes et sacrifices. Le dossier inachevé de la cynophagie dans le monde berbère

Pierre BONTE

fr Anthropozoologica 39 (1) - Pages 343-350

Published on 30 July 2004

This article is a part of the thematic issue Animal domestications: social and symbolic dimensions. Homage to Jacques Cauvin

Between myth and sacrifice. The incomplete file on cynophagy among the Berbers

In the Maghreb up to now the consumption of dog meat has been associated with residual populations of Ibadite Muslims. This practice is probably the perpetuation of rituals practised among pre-Islamic Berbers. The thesis first proposed by the Polish orientalist Lewikci will be developed and enriched here by new observations of Saharan and West African history, for example the relation between cynophagia and female fertility. Through the myth of the mysterious Bafour, an ancient and legendary population of the western Sahara, we present this reflection on the relations between human and animal


Keywords:

Dog, Islam, sacrifice, domestication, diet, Berbers.

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