DJANET, Algeria — In one hand, the dancers hold swords symbolizing battle. In the other, a piece of cloth symbolizing peace. They dance a shuffling ''step-step'' to the beat of drums and chanting from the women encircling them, all adorned in their finest traditional garments and jewelry.
They're performing the rituals of the 3,000-year-old annual Sebeiba festival of Djanet, a southeastern Algerian oasis town deep in the Sahara, just over 200 kilometers (about 125 miles) from the Libyan border.
Sebeiba is a core tradition of the Tuareg people, native to the Sahara and parts of West Africa. The Tuareg are Muslim, and their native language is Tamasheq, though many speak some combination of French, Modern Standard Arabic, Algerian Arabic (Darija) and English.
The festival lasts 10 days, and ends with a daylong dance competition between two neighborhoods in Djanet — Zelouaz, or Tsagit, and El Mihan, or Taghorfit. The winner is decided by judges from a third neighborhood, Adjahil, by selecting the group with the most beautiful costumes, dances, jewelry, poetry and songs.
Significance of the festival
The Tuaregs in Djanet say there are two legends explaining the significance of Sebeiba, though oral traditions vary. The first says the festival was put on to celebrate peace and joy after Moses defeated the Pharaoh in the Exodus story.
''In commemoration of this great historical event, when God saved Moses and his people from the tyranny of the oppressive Pharaoh, the people of Djanet came out and celebrated through dance,'' said Ahmed Benhaoued, a Tuareg guide at his family's tourism agency, Admer Voyages. He has lived in Djanet all his life.
The second legend says the festival commemorates the resolution of a historic rivalry between Zelouaz and El Mihan.