Ahmed Amentag

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Ahmed Amentag

| image =

| caption =

| birth_date = 1927{{Cite web|last=الأمازيغية|first=البوابة|title=الفنان الامازيغي الرايس أحمد أمنتاك يفارق الحياة صباح اليوم|url=http://www.portail-amazigh.com/2015/11/ahmed-amntag.html|access-date=2020-07-25}}

| birth_place = Tamsoult, Morocco

| death_date = 24 November 2015

| death_place = Dcheira El Jihadia, Morocco

| native_name = {{lang|ber|ⴰⵃⵎⴰⴷ ⴰⵎⵏⵜⴰⴳ}}

| occupation = Singer-songwriter

| instrument = Voice, Rebab

}}

Ahmed Amentag (1927 – November 24, 2015) was a Moroccan singer-poet (ṛṛays) and songwriter in Tashelhit.{{Cite book|last=Kratochwil|first=Gabi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fEJtAAAAMAAJ&q=Ahmed+Amentag|title=Die Berberbewegung in Marokko: zur Geschichte der Konstruktion einer ethnischen Identität, (1912-1997)|date=2002|publisher=K. Schwarz|isbn=978-3-87997-301-9|language=de}}{{Cite book|last=Cheurfi|first=Achour|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_n0PAQAAMAAJ&q=Ahmed+Amentag|title=L'encyclopédie maghrébine|date=2007|publisher=Casbah éditions|isbn=978-9961-64-641-0|language=fr}}

Biography

Ahmed Amentag was born in the village of Mentaga near Taroudant. Thus, his artistic name was Amentag which means "from Mentaga" in Tachelhit.{{Cite web|title=وفاة الحاج أحمد أمنتاك آخر عمالقة فن الروايس بسوس|url=https://www.alyaoum24.com/430960.html?fbrefresh=2|access-date=2020-07-25|language=ar}}

After leaving the madrasa in Taroudant at age 17, he joined a group of rways to play ribab for them. A few years later, he decided to found his own group of then-famous rways such as Lhadj Belaid, Omar Wahrouch, and Mohamed Demsiri.

During the 1950s, he was a famous rays and toured in France, Germany and Belgium. He made his first music recording during the later 1960s in Paris.

Legacy

Ahmed Amentag authored several famous poems and songs such as:

Bou salem
Bou chahwa
Imik ayga zin

The national festival of rways in 2017 was dedicated to him for his contributions to the musical art of rways.{{Cite web|title=الدشيرة الجهادية تحتفي بفن الروايس و بالمرحوم الحاج أحمد أمنتاك – وزارة الثقافة|url=https://www.minculture.gov.ma/?p=12186|access-date=2020-07-25|language=ar|archive-date=2020-07-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726074234/https://www.minculture.gov.ma/?p=12186|url-status=dead}}

Death

Ahmed Amentag fell sick during his last years and died on Tuesday, November 24, 2015, in Dcheira El Jihadia, Morocco.{{Cite web|title=Raiss Ahmed Amentag n'est plus|url=http://www.mapexpress.ma/actualite/societe-et-regions/raiss-ahmed-amentag-nest/|access-date=2020-07-25|website=MAP Express|language=fr-FR}}