Libyans and Numidians

[Easy E]

Perhaps a silly question..... but what is the difference between ancient Libyans and Numidians?

Both groups seem to be of Berber origin, and live in North Africa west of Egypt.  It appears that the Libyans and Numidians were "light-skinned" folks.  Meanwhile, people of the sub-Sahara and Egypt were often referred to as Aethopians.  There is a clear distinction, and different cultures and language groups between the Berber origins and the Aethopians such and Kush and Egypt. 

I am having a harder time finding out the relationship between Ancient Libyans and Numidians.  I am assuming they had distinct language groups and cultural preferences.  I am also assuming they had different organizational structures, with Numidians being semi-nomadic.  Beyond that, I have not been able to find many resources about these peoples.             

Can someone help me understand the unique differences and similarities of the Ancient Libyans and Numidians?  Is there a good online or physical resource you could direct me towards?  Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I am seeking to understand.  Thanks for the help in advance.     
 

[Pattus Magnus]

Egyptians were seen as distinct from Aethiopians, at least around the 5th C BCE when Herodotus was writing.

There’s lots of research by specialists out there on ancient North African societies and cultural variations. My (admittedly limited) reading is that most of the region was originally inhabited by peoples that were broadly “Berber”, and divided into a variety of nomadic societies (in areas too dry for reliable agriculture) and small kingdoms (in the areas that were wet enough for growing cereals reliably). People could shift across boundaries between neighboring nomads and agricultural populations, depending on the situation and their kinship ties.

When Phoenicians (in what became Carthage), then Greeks (in Cyrenaica), and Romans (in “Africa”, now Tunisia and Algeria) colonized coastal areas they started using some of the names we’re familiar with for describing the local people. They also started trading and swapping ideas and technology with the local Berber folks, which resulted in some cultural drift.

Very little of what was going on would have been along clear national/ ethnic lines the way we tend to think of them today.

It may be that ancient Libyans and ancient Numidians were effectively the same people, described a few hundred years apart. Herodotus talks a lot about “Libyans”, but he’s describing people in a geographical area - basically anything in Africa west of Egypt was Libya to him. He doesn’t describe Numidia in detail (and may not use that term), as he is very vague on anything west of Carthage…  Most of the ancient sources describing Numidia are from the Roman period. They are much more detailed about folks in the west, as it was where their main opponent at the time was based. The Roman’s drew a lot on earlier Greek geographers, so the usage around what was Libya may be an anachronism they kept using.

[VonAkers]

Easy E
You have some great questions lately.
I was just looking at this the Other day .
I am doing an Earlier  Carthaginian Army in 28mm , and I was at a Cross Roads as to what Figures to use , for Numidian Horse.
Just about every Manufacturer goes the Moorish Route , ( some more so than others )
What I mean is they go for what I call " The Semi Rastaman look" , inspired by Trajans Column i think .
The facts are Nobody knows what they actually looked like , or even if there were any differences to begin with ,So please yourself.
One thing ancient authors seem to mention is the small Ponies they used .. something a Couple of Manufacturers seem to have missed ....
 For me I  am going to use the Relic Miniatures Figures for my Numidians.
These are Superb & the only ones that look a bit different ,having an Arabic looking background, which I feel is closer to the mark.
Cheers

[cadbren]

There are a couple of modern Cushite tribes from Sudan and Ethiopia who have hairstyles similar to the famous Moorish cavalry of anitquity. It's possibly related to the hairstyles the Egyptians themselves wore and got made into elaborate headdresses. The tribes are the Beja and Afar. They put something in their hair which gives them thick tresses/locks - not dreads.





There's also an image of ancient Lybians showing similar hair so this may have been a common thing right across North Africa with the Moors/Numidians being more caucasian looking than these guys.

[VonAkers]

Cadbren
Mate I have travelled a bit in Tunisia .
The people there were to my eye predominantly Arabic , with a few exceptions.
Also .. gotta ask .. Is that second guy a young Rick James ...??
Cheers

[area23]

For what I know Libya is an ancient name for the entire region while the more recent term Numidia was derived from the Phoenician word for nomad to indicate the nomad tribes from the Carthage region. Just as Berber means barbarian. In fact today's berbers call themselves Amazigh.

The history of the berbers was never written down by themselves so we only have roman and byzantine accounts. After the arab conquest it was the arabs who wrote history and as such much of berber/numidian history is not documented and forgotten. Until today very little archeological research has been done.
I even heard that it may be that arab-centered governments and universities just don't care that much about Amazigh culture and history.

I personally would love to find a good book on the matter, especially on the late Roman to Byzantine period.