The Louvre opened its Medieval Morocco: An Empire from Africa to Spain exhibition today, which will feature over 300 artefacts covering the North African kingdom’s history during the later Middle Ages.
Ferdinand the Saint Prince of Portugal
February 13, 2014 By
Ferdinand was doomed to have a very sad story.
The European Reconquest of North Africa
April 14, 2013 By
The chief structural features of Africa Minor are simple. The territory consists of a long strip of land bounded on the north by the Mediterranean,on the south by the Sahara, on the east by the Gulf of Tripoli and the Libyan Desert, on the west by the Atlantic.
Archeological and Historical Approaches to Complex Societies: The Islamic States of Medieval Morocco
March 20, 2013 By
We postulate that during the Medieval period two widely different sociopolitical contexts existed, giving rise to diverse urban patterns. Most importantly, we argue that the second of these patterns represents a widespread situation that is inadequately treated in the literature.
Jewish trading in Fes on the eve of the Almohad conquest
June 24, 2012 By
The status of Jewish communities under Almohad rule has been the subject of scholarly interest for different reasons notably in the framework of the disruption of convivencia in al-Andalus among the people of the three abrahamic faiths.
Al-Idrisi and His World Map (1154)
March 14, 2012 By
Working for eighteen years under the patronage of the Norman King Roger II Guiscard of Sicily, who gathered scholars from many regions at his court in Palermo, the Moroccan geographer Al-Idrīsī in 1154 completed a description and an atlas of maps of the known world.
“Western Islamic Art” The Metropolitan Museum of Art
July 17, 2011 By
“Western Islamic Art” Aanavi, Don The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 27, no. 3 (November, 1968) Abstract Islamic art springs from a vast geographic expanse from Spain to Indonesia and its history consists of a dynamic interchange of peoples and ideas. It is scomplex and as with the art of Europe or the Far East, […]
The Origins of Amazigh Women’s Power in North Africa: An Historical Overview
July 4, 2011 By
The Origins of Amazigh Women’s Power in North Africa: An Historical Overview By Ulbani Aït Frawsen and L’Hocine Ukerdi Al-Raida, Vol.20 (2003) Introduction: The term “Amazigh” denotes the major linguistic minority of North Africa. However, “Berber” still remains the more widely used ethno-linguistic word for them. In antiquity, the Romans and Byzantines used this term […]
Warfare and Firearms in Fifteenth Century Morocco, 1400-1492
December 30, 2010 By
Warfare and Firearms in Fifteenth Century Morocco, 1400-1492 By Weston F. Cook Jr. War and Society, Vol.11 (1993) Introduction: Warfare in history is back in vogue again with special interest in the period 1350-1750. Much of this renewal arises from debate over the ‘Early Modern Military Revolution’ paradigm formulated by Geoffrey Parker and other self-described ‘New’ […]
Hosting Dynasties and Faiths: Chronicling the Religious History Of a Medieval Moroccan Oasis City
October 29, 2010 By
Hosting Dynasties and Faiths: Chronicling the Religious History Of a Medieval Moroccan Oasis City By Robert Caverly MA Thesis, Villanova University, 2008 Introduction: Writing a history of an ancient society is a process that calls on both the specificity of individuated events and the broad, sweeping currents of greater change. Similarly, a religious history is […]
The Almohads: The Rise of an Islamic Empire
September 22, 2010 By
The Almohads: The Rise of an Islamic Empire By Allen J. Fromherz IB Tauris, 2010 ISBN: 9781845116514 How did an obscure Islamic visionary found an empire? The Almohad Empire at its zenith in the 12th century was the major power in the Mediterranean and North Africa, ruling a huge region from the Atlas Mountains to […]
The Most Beautiful Earthen Village : Ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddou
April 18, 2010 By
These are the Atlas Mountains in Central Morocco. They are over 3000 metres above sea level. This was the homeland of the Berber tribes of North Africa. Over 1,000 fortified villages are scattered in the areas valleys and on hillsides. Ait-Ben-Haddou is believed to be the best-preserved and most beautiful village remaining. People, in the […]
The Maze City: the Fez Medina
April 17, 2010 By
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