- Tammari people
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A Tammari house. The thatched structure in the middle of the roof (left) covers sleeping quarters, whereas the one on the right is a granary. The cylindrical structures in the walls are used for storage or for keeping small livestock.
Tammari person Otammari people Betammaribe language Ditammari The Tammari people, or Batammariba, also known as Somba, are an Oti–Volta-speaking people of the Atakora Department of Benin and neighboring areas of Togo, where they go by the name of Taberma. They are famous for their two-story fortified houses, known as Tata Somba ("Somba house"), in which the ground floor is used for housing livestock at night, internal alcoves are used for cooking, and the upper floor contains a rooftop courtyard and is used for drying grain, sleeping quarters, and granaries. These evolved by adding an enclosing roof to the clusters of huts joined by a connecting wall that are typical of Gur-speaking areas of West Africa. The Tammari are mostly animist by religion. Their language is in the Gur family.
Gallery
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The entrance of a Tammari house, with twin altars
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A Tammari house with granaries. The forked poles at the left granary are ladders, with steps cut along their lengths
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Neighboring Tammari houses, with multiple altars
External links
- Pendjari Park site with drawings of Tata Somba
- French site on Tata Somba
Categories:- Ethnic groups in Benin
- Atakora Department
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