Tin Hinan, Mother of the Tuareg
Tin Hinan—meaning 'she of the tents' or 'mother of us all'—is the legendary ancestress and queen of the Tuareg people. According to oral tradition, she was a 4th-century princess who fled north Africa with her servant Takamat, riding a white camel across the Sahara. Near perishing in the wilderness, they stumbled upon grain in desert anthills, which saved their lives. Tin Hinan settled in the Hoggar Mountains of southern Algeria, where she became the first queen (Tamenokalt) of the Tuareg. She had three daughters who became the ancestral mothers of the Tuareg nobility, while Takamat's descenda