Sijilmasa

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Sijilmasa

Sijilmasa (or Sijilmassa) was a mediaeval trade centre in the western Maghreb

Maghreb

The Maghreb , also rendered Maghrib , meaning "place of sunset" or "western" in Arabic, is a region in North Africa. The term is generally applied to all of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, but in older Arabic usage pertained only to the area of the three countries between the high ranges of the Atlas Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea....
. The ruins of the city lie in the Tafilalt oasis near the modern small town of Rissani in southeastern Morocco.

lmasa was an oasis

Oasis

In geography, an oasis or cienega is an isolated area of vegetation in a desert, typically surrounding a spring or similar water source. Oases also provide habitat for animals and even humans if the area is big enough....
town southeast of Fez on the northern edge of the Sahara

Sahara

The Sahara is the world's largest hot desert. At over 9,000,000 square kilometers , it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as the United States or the continent of Europe....
, astride the Ziz River

Ziz River

The Ziz River is a river in the south of Morocco and Algeria. It has its source in the Middle Atlas Mountains of Morocco and flows into the Sahara Desert in Algeria....
. It was established by Kharijite Sufris in 757. Up until the 11th century, it was, as the terminus for the western Trans-Sahara trade route

Trans-Saharan trade

Trans-Saharan trade is trade across the Sahara between Mediterranean countries and sub-Saharan Africa. While existing from prehistoric times, the peak of such trade extended from the eighth century until the late sixteenth century....
, one of the most important trade centres in the Maghreb

Maghreb

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Sijilmasa'

Start a new discussion about 'Sijilmasa'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

Sijilmasa (or Sijilmassa) was a mediaeval trade centre in the western Maghreb

Maghreb

Overview

Sijilmasa was an oasis

Oasis

Sahara

Ziz River

Trans-Saharan trade

Maghreb

The Maghreb , also rendered Maghrib , meaning "place of sunset" or "western" in Arabic, is a region in North Africa. The term is generally applied to all of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, but in older Arabic usage pertained only to the area of the three countries between the high ranges of the Atlas Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea....
. Sijilmasa became very wealthy through trade with ancient Ghana

Ghana

The Republic of Ghana is a country in West Africa. It borders C?te d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south....
, above all through the exchange of luxury items from the Mediterranean for gold.

On account of its wealth, the city was able to assert its independence under the Miknasa

Miknasa

The Miknasa were a Berber people tribe in Morocco and western Algeria.The Miknasa Berbers originated in Tripolitania and southern Tunisia, but migrated westwards into central Morocco and western Algeria in pre-Islamic times....
tribe as a Kharijite Emirate

Emirate

An emirate is a political territory that is ruled by a dynastic Arab Monarch styled emir....
ruled by the Midrarid dynasty, freeing itself from the Abbasid

Abbasid

The Abbasid Caliphate was the third of the Islamic Caliphates of the Islamic Empire. The Caliphate is one of the high points of Islam, and at the time Muslim civilization, together with that of Byzantium, China and India, was the most developed part of the world....
Caliphate

Caliphate

The caliphate represented the political leadership of the Muslim ummah in classical and medieval Islamic history and juristic theory. The head of state's position is based on the notion of a successor to the Prophets of Islam Muhammad's political authority....
as early as 771. In alliance with the Caliphate of Córdoba it was also able to remain apart from the Fatimids of Ifriqiya

Ifriqiya

In Middle Ages, Ifriqiya or Ifriqiyah was the area comprising the coastal regions of what are today western Libya, Tunisia, and eastern Algeria....
in the 10th century. However, when the Miknasa allied themselves with the Fatimids, they were dislodged by the Berber

Berber people

Berbers are the indigenous ethnic groups of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are discontinuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River....
Maghrawa

Maghrawa

The Magrawa were a Berber people tribe in Morocco and central and western Algeria....
tribe, who were allied with the Umayyads of Córdoba.

Under the Maghrawa the city retained its role as a trade centre, but came increasingly into conflict with the Sanhaja

Sanhaja

The Sanhaja were one of the largest Berber people tribe confederations of the Maghreb, along with the Zanata and Masmuda....
, a nomad

Nomad

Nomadic people, , also known as nomads, are communities of people who move from one place to another, rather than Settler in one location....
tribe of the Sahara. In 1054, Ibn Yasin

Ibn Yasin

Abdallah Ibn Yasin was a theologian and founder of the Almoravid dynasty movement and dynasty of North African rulers and later Iberian Peninsula....
allied the Almoravids

Almoravids

The Almoravids were a Berbers dynasty from the Sahara that spread over a wide area of North Africa and the Iberian peninsula during the 11th century....
with the Sanhaja and captured Sijilmasa in 1054, imposing his rigorous interpretation of Islam

Islam

Islam is a Monotheism, Abrahamic religion originating with the teachings of the Prophets of Islam Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure....
. A revolt quickly followed (1055), in the course of which the Almoravids were defeated and their leader Yahya ibn Umar killed. His successor Abu-Bakr Ibn-Umar

Abu-Bakr Ibn-Umar

Abu-Bakr Ibn-Umar was an Almoravid dynasty ruler. He was appointed General of the Almoravid movement by its leader Abdallah ibn Yasin on the death of his brother Yahya ibn Ibrahim in 1056 ....
put down the rebellion in 1056 and laid waste to Sijilmasa, which never recovered its status a centre of trade.

Although it was destroyed again in 1363, it was rebuilt under the orders of Sultan Moulay Ismail in the 18th century. It was conquered and destroyed - once again - by the nomadic tribes of Ait Atta in 1818. Today, the ruins of Sijilmassa, laying a couple of km north of the town of Rissani

Rissani

Rissani is a town in eastern Morocco, located near Erfoud. It is in the region of Er-Rachidia, on the edge of the Erg Chebbi, the largest sand desert in Morocco....
, are recognized by the World Monuments Fund

World Monuments Fund

The World Monuments Fund is a New York City-based private, non-profit organization dedicated to the historic preservation of historic architecture and cultural heritage sites worldwide through fieldwork, advocacy, grantmaking, education, and training....
as an endangered site, and preserved by the Moroccan Ministry of Culture

Culture

Culture is difficult to define. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions....
.

Sijilmasa

Overview

Note

Bibliography

External links