Zerhoun ( also spelled Zarhun or Zarhon) is a

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

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 ...

, north of

Meknes Meknes (, ) is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco, located in northern central Morocco and the sixth largest city by population in the kingdom. Founded in the 11th century by the Almoravid dynasty, Almoravids as a military settlement, Mekne ...

. On the hill is the Moulay Idris Zerhoun town, named after Moulay Idris I, the founder of 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 ...

who was buried there in 791 AD.

Geography

Near the Zerhoun range are the ruins of

Volubilis Volubilis (; ; ) is a partly excavated Berber-Roman city in Morocco, situated near the city of Meknes, that may have been the capital of the Kingdom of Mauretania, at least from the time of King Juba II. Before Volubilis, the capital of the kin ...

, once the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

provincial capital, and the first home of Idris I. It was settled by

Phoenicians Phoenicians were an ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syrian coast. They developed a maritime civi ...

Carthaginians The Punic people, usually known as the Carthaginians (and sometimes as Western Phoenicians), were a Semitic people, Semitic people who Phoenician settlement of North Africa, migrated from Phoenicia to the Western Mediterranean during the Iron ...

prior to the conclusion of the

Punic Wars The Punic Wars were a series of wars fought between the Roman Republic and the Ancient Carthage, Carthaginian Empire during the period 264 to 146BC. Three such wars took place, involving a total of forty-three years of warfare on both land and ...

, when it was annexed by Rome.C. Michael Hogan (2007) ''Volubilis'', The Megalithic Portal, edited by A. Burnham
/ref> After the withdrawal of Rome, Christian Berbers continued to inhabit Volubilis until the seventh century AD (Bidwell, 2005). Volubilis has been designated as a

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

. Also nearby is the town of Moulay Idriss Zerhoun, site of the mausoleum of Idris I.

References

External links

* Mountains of Morocco Meknès Prefecture Geography of Fès-Meknès {{FèsMeknès-geo-stub

Geography

See also

References

External links