Hajar al-Nasr () is an ancient

fortress 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 L ...

located in northern

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

. It was constructed in the 10th century by the

Idrisid dynasty The Idrisid dynasty or Idrisids ( ') were an Arabs, Arab Muslims, Muslim dynasty from 788 to 974, ruling most of present-day Morocco and parts of present-day western Algeria. Named after the founder, Idris I of Morocco, Idris I, the Idrisids were ...

. The archaeological site is situated on a rocky crest overlooking the headwaters of a tributary of the Loukkos River around 40 km almost due east of the modern city of

Larache Larache () is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast, where the Loukkos River meets the Atlantic Ocean. Larache is one of the most important cities of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region. Many civilisations and cultures have ...

. The fortress was probably built by Muhammad ibn Idris or one of his sons during the 9th century, and was finally destroyed in 996 by the

Maghrawa The Maghrawa or Meghrawa () were a large Berber tribal confederation in North Africa. They are the largest branch of the Zenata confederation. Their traditional territories around the time of Muslim expansion into the Maghreb in the 7th century ...

chief

Ziri ibn Atiyya Ziri ibn Atiyya (died 1001, Achir) was a leader of the Berber Maghrawa tribal confederacy and kingdom in Fez. Biography Under the protection of the Umayyad Caliph in al-Andalus, Hisham II, and his powerful regent al-Mansur, Ziri became king ...

. It served as a haven for the Idrisid dynasty's rulers, and sometimes alternated with al-Basra as their capital. The location of Hajar an-Nasar was a mystery to historians for the last two hundred years. In 1905 a French researcher noted that Sīdī Mazwār, who as eldest son of the Idrisid ruler Ali ibn Idris had renounced power and dedicated his life to religion, was buried there. Because the

marabout In the Muslim world, the marabout () is a Sayyid, descendant of Muhammad (Arabic: سـيّد, Romanization of Arabic, romanized: ''sayyid'' and ''sidi'' in the Maghreb) and a Islam, Muslim religious leader and teacher who historically had the f ...

of Sīdī Mazwār is a known shrine and pilgrimage site of the

region to this day, this should have fixed the location. However, this clue was ignored, and as late as 1980 an American expedition searched in vain for the site some 30 km away. A combined Spanish and Moroccan expedition visited the correct location in 1993 and have provided the only description published so far (Cressier ''et al.'', see below). Some sections of the ramparts and some steps, all built in massive stone blocks, are the only ruins visible on the surface.

References

Sources

* * P. Cressier, A el Boujay, H el Figuigi & J Vignet-Zunz, « Hagar al-Nasr, "capitale" idrisside du Maroc Septentrional: archéologie et histoire ». In ''Genèse de la ville islamique en al-Andalus et au Maghreb Occidental'', Casa de Velasquez, Madrid (1995), p. 303-334. () * C. El Briga, �
Hadjar en-Nesr
». In ''Encyclopédie berbère, vol.21'', Aix-en-Provence, Edisud (1999), p. 3299-3300 Idrisid dynasty Archaeological sites in Morocco Former populated places in Morocco 10th-century establishments in Africa {{TangerTetouanAlHoceima-geo-stub