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Ksar El Hadj
Ksar or qṣar (), in plural ksour or qsour (), is a type of fortified village in North Africa, usually found in the regions predominantly or traditionally inhabited by Berbers (Amazigh). The equivalent Berber term used is ' (singular) or (plural). Etymology The Arabic ''qaṣr'' () was probably borrowed from the Latin word . Architecture Ksour in the Maghreb typically consist of attached houses, often having a fortified communal granary like those in Algeria, or the ghorfa and agadir types known in Tunisia and Morocco respectively, beside other structures like a mosque, hammam, oven, and shops. Ksur or igherman are widespread among the oasis populations of North Africa. Ksars are sometimes situated in mountain locations to make defense easier; they often are entirely within a single, continuous wall. The building material of the entire structure usually is adobe, or cut stone and adobe. The idea of the ksar as a granary is a confused notion of two things: the granary i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adobe
Adobe (from arabic: الطوب Attub ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for mudbrick. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of earthen construction, or various architectural styles like Pueblo Revival or Territorial Revival. Most adobe buildings are similar in appearance to cob and rammed earth buildings. Adobe is among the earliest building materials, and is used throughout the world. Adobe architecture has been dated to before 5,100 BP. Description Adobe bricks are rectangular prisms small enough that they can quickly air dry individually without cracking. They can be subsequently assembled, with the application of adobe mud to bond the individual bricks into a structure. There is no standard size, with substantial variations over the years and in different regions. In some areas a popular size measured weighing about ; in other ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sahara
The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Arctic. The name "Sahara" is derived from , a broken plural form of ( ), meaning "desert". The desert covers much of North Africa, excluding the fertile region on the Mediterranean Sea coast, the Atlas Mountains of the Maghreb, and the Nile, Nile Valley in Egypt and the Sudan. It stretches from the Red Sea in the east and the Mediterranean in the north to the Atlantic Ocean in the west, where the landscape gradually changes from desert to coastal plains. To the south it is bounded by the Sahel, a belt of Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands, semi-arid tropical savanna around the Niger River valley and the Sudan (region), Sudan region of sub-Saharan Africa. The Sahara can be divided into several regions, including ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fortifications By Type
A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ("strong") and ("to make"). From very early history to modern times, defensive walls have often been necessary for cities to survive in an ever-changing world of invasion and conquest. Some settlements in the Indus Valley Civilization were the first small cities to be fortified. In ancient Greece, large cyclopean stone walls fitted without mortar had been built in Mycenaean Greece, such as the ancient site of Mycenae. A Greek ''Towns of ancient Greece#Military settlements, phrourion'' was a fortified collection of buildings used as a military garrison, and is the equivalent of the ancient Roman, Roman castellum or fortress. These constructions mainly served the purpose of a watch tower, to guard certain roads, passes, and borders. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arabic Fortifications
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns language codes to 32 varieties of Arabic, including its standard form of Literary Arabic, known as Modern Standard Arabic, which is derived from Classical Arabic. This distinction exists primarily among Western linguists; Arabic speakers themselves generally do not distinguish between Modern Standard Arabic and Classical Arabic, but rather refer to both as ( "the eloquent Arabic") or simply ' (). Arabic is the third most widespread official language after English and French, one of six official languages of the United Nations, and the liturgical language of Islam. Arabic is widely taught in schools and universities around the world and is used to varying degrees in workplaces, governments and the media. During the Middle Ages, Arabic was a major vehicle of culture and learning, especially ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arabic Words And Phrases
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns language codes to 32 varieties of Arabic, including its standard form of Literary Arabic, known as Modern Standard Arabic, which is derived from Classical Arabic. This distinction exists primarily among Western linguists; Arabic speakers themselves generally do not distinguish between Modern Standard Arabic and Classical Arabic, but rather refer to both as ( "the eloquent Arabic") or simply ' (). Arabic is the third most widespread official language after English and French, one of six official languages of the United Nations, and the liturgical language of Islam. Arabic is widely taught in schools and universities around the world and is used to varying degrees in workplaces, governments and the media. During the Middle Ages, Arabic was a major vehicle of culture and learning, especial ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ksars
Ksar or qṣar (), in plural ksour or qsour (), is a type of fortified village in North Africa, usually found in the regions predominantly or traditionally inhabited by Berbers (Amazigh). The equivalent Berber languages, Berber term used is ' (singular) or (plural). Etymology The Arabic ''qaṣr'' () was probably borrowed from the Latin word . Architecture Ksour in the Maghreb typically consist of attached houses, often having a Fortified Granaries of Aures, fortified communal granary like those in Algeria, or the ghorfa and agadir (granary), agadir types known in Tunisia and Morocco respectively, beside other structures like a mosque, hammam, oven, and shops. Ksur or igherman are widespread among the oasis populations of North Africa. Ksars are sometimes situated in mountain locations to make defense easier; they often are entirely within a single, continuous wall. The building material of the entire structure usually is adobe, or cut stone and adobe. The idea of the ks ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maghreb Place Name Etymology
{{Short description, none The place names of the Maghreb come from a variety of origins, mostly Arabic and Berber, but including a few derived from Phoenician, Latin, and several other languages. This is well illustrated by the three largest cities of Algeria, for instance: Algiers from Arabic ''al-jazâ'ir'' "the islands", Oran from Wahran from Berber ''wa-iharan'' "place of lions", and Constantine (Arabic Qasantina قسنطينة) from the Latin name of the emperor Constantine. The following toponymic elements are common in place names in the Maghreb: *''agadir'', granary. Berber, from Phoenician ''gader'' *''aghbal'' أغبال, spring. Berber *'' adrar'' أدرار, mountain. Berber *''âin'' عين, pl. âyoune عيون, spring. Arabic *''aït'' or ''ath'' آيت, sons of. Berber *''âzib'' عزيب, settlement (originally, especially military.) Arabic *''azrou'' أزرو, stone. Berber *''beni'' بني, sons of. Arabic *''berkane'' بركان, black. From Berber ''a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ribat
A ribāṭ (; hospice, hostel, base or retreat) is an Arabic term, initially designating a small fortification built along a frontier during the first years of the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb to house military volunteers, called ''murabitun'', and shortly after they also appeared along the Byzantine frontier, where they attracted converts from Greater Khorasan, an area that would become known as al-ʻAwāṣim in the ninth century CE. The ''ribat'' fortifications later served to protect commercial routes, as caravanserais, and as centers for isolated Muslim communities as well as serving as places of piety. Islamic meaning Historical meaning The word ''ribat'' in its abstract refers to voluntary defense of Islam, which is why ribats were originally used to house those who fought to defend Islam in jihad. They can also be referred to by other names such as ''khanqah'', most commonly used in Iran, and ''tekke'', most commonly used in Turkey. Classically, ribat referred to t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Ksour In Tunisia
The list of ksars (Arabic: ''ksour'') in Tunisia is established by Herbert Popp and Abdelfettah Kassah and published in their book ''Les ksour du Sud tunisien : atlas illustré d'un patrimoine culturel'' in 2010. It lists 92 ksour, i.e. almost all of the country's buildings – distributed between the governorates of Medenine Governorate, Medenine and Tataouine Governorate, Tataouine over an area between Koutine to the north, Ksar Zorgane to the east, Remada to the south and Beni Khedache to the west – except for a few isolated works such as Ksar Sidi Makhlouf, Ksar Morra or Ksar Dhehibat.. Medenine Governorate Beni Khedache Delegation Medenine Nord Delegation Tataouine Governorate Bir Lahmar Delegation Ghomrassen Delegation Smar Delegation Tataouine Nord Delegation Tataouine Sud Delegation References Bibliography * {{Portal, architecture Ksars in Tunisia, * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alcázar
An ''alcázar'', from Arabic ''al-Qasr'', is a type of Islamic castle or palace in Spain built during Al-Andalus, Muslim rule between the 8th and 15th centuries. They functioned as homes and regional capitals for governmental figures throughout the Umayyad Caliphate, Umayyad caliphate and later for Christian rulers following the Iberian Reconquista. The term alcázar is also used for many medieval castles built by Christians on earlier Roman, Visigothic or Islamic fortifications and is frequently used as a synonym for ''castillo'' or castle. In Latin America there are also several colonial palaces called ''alcázars''. Terminology The Spanish language, Spanish word () derives from the Arabic word 'the fort/castle/palace', that in turn derives from the Latin word ('fortress', 'military camp'). Similar words exist in Galician language, Galician (, ), Portuguese language, Portuguese (, ), and Catalan language, Catalan (, ). Spain also has Muslim citadels known as ''alcazabas' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Berber Architecture
Berbers, or the Berber peoples, also known as Amazigh or Imazighen, are a diverse grouping of distinct ethnic groups indigenous to North Africa who predate the arrival of Arabs in the Maghreb. Their main connections are identified by their usage of Berber languages, most of them mutually unintelligible, which are part of the Afroasiatic language family. They are indigenous to the Maghreb region of North Africa, where they live in scattered communities across parts of Morocco, Algeria, Libya, and to a lesser extent Tunisia, Mauritania, northern Mali and northern Niger. Smaller Berber communities are also found in Burkina Faso and Egypt's Siwa Oasis. Descended from Stone Age tribes of North Africa, accounts of the Imazighen were first mentioned in Ancient Egyptian writings. From about 2000 BC, Berber languages spread westward from the Nile Valley across the northern Sahara into the Maghreb. A series of Berber peoples such as the Mauri, Masaesyli, Massyli, Musulamii, Gaetuli, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
