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[QUOTE]Originally posted by Doug M: [QB] Continued... Photos of African sepahis in France: The problem here is they are not necessarily Algerian, but could be Senegalese or other cavalry soldiers in French service: http://cheval.passion.free.fr/Photographier_le_cheval/99_Autres/Pages/Page01.htm Once again, more research is needed. Lexicorient history of Marrakesch: [QUOTE] It is from Marrakech that Morocco has received its modern name. Europeans got the name of the city wrong, first reducing the "ch"-sound to s, and later even removing the ending until the French were left with "Maroc" and the English "Morocco". HISTORY 1062: A capital for the Almoravids is founded by Yussuf bni Tashufin. It gets the name "Marra Kouch", which means "Land of the Kouch-men". Kouch was the name given to warriors with black complexion from modern Mauritania. [/QUOTE] http://lexicorient.com/e.o/marrkech.htm Another photo from Tifalelt(black and white): http://www.concise.britannica.com/ebc/art-14648 Another point to remember about this period in North African history is the great Berber Revolt. This revolt was part of the basis of some of these Berber dynasties being labelled as "Kharjite" which means they rejected Islam or parts of it, and rebelled against it. The Kharjite rebellion is portrayed as mainly occurring in Arabia and the Levant, however the rebellions of the Africans in this time period against the ruling authorities in Syria caused them to likewise be labelled as Kharjite. It is often a point of confusion that many events within North Africa are tied to events in the Near East, once again overshadowing the fact of the black African role in the affairs of North Africa in the age of Islam. In fact this is actually a contradiction, as these people in North Africa were rebelling against the treatment they received under the Abassids and Ummayids from Syria and Baghdad. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berber_Revolt http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kharijites http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rustamid The rustamids were the main link between the Maghreb and Persian Kharjites and after their dynasty was defeated, they migrated to the Mzab and became the ancestors of the modern Mozabites. Another important aspect of the Almoravid dynasty is the founding of the Madrassa in Marrakesch of the name Ben Youssef. It was named after an Almoravid ruler and built around a mosque from the 12th century. This Madrassa is famous because of its size and the fact that many historians wrote important works there. During the period of 10ce 16ce, Marrakesh was fought over by various dynasties and eventually declined after the trade routes were moved from there by the Merenids. Marrakesch once again became prosperous under the Saadian dynasty, a dynasty ruled South Morocco and is responsible for the destruction of Timbuktu. This history was recorded by the historians at the Ben Youssef Madrassa. The fact that Morocco was basically a feuding system of city states for most of its history, it is easy to forget and get confused about the black African presence there among the various dynasties. It also important to remember the trading networks and ties between these city states, the black Africans of the Sahara and the peoples further South. Most of the buildings of the Almoravids were destroyed by the Almohads when they conquered the city and subsequent wars further destroyed many ancient monuments. HOwever, it is important to remember the role black Africans played in the founding of the city, the development of the Madrassa (university) there, and other architectural monuments started under the Alhmohads, which make the city famous to this day, including the Menara Gardens and the Madrassa. Keep in mind that by the 16th century the population of the city was said to be 60,000, a low point in its history. Therefore, it is not hard to understand how waves of subsequent dynasties and peoples could have erased the presence of black Africans there. http://www.ryad-marrakesh-morocco.com/marrakesh.html Also note that it was the Almoravids and Almohads who intitiated the building of super large minaret towers in Morocco and Spain. The tower of Hassan in Rabat and its sister tower the Giralda of Sevile would form the foundation of the religious architectural style found in many religious churches and their square church steeples. In fact this style of architecture comes from Africa and was introduced into Christianity by the Moors. Look closely at these towers, especially the intricate windows and you will see the influence of the Moors on Christian architecture. However, let me be clear here, most writers will try and divert attention from the essential historical basis for the Christian church steeple inheriting from the Muslim Africans, by talking about phallic symbolism and the such, all of which is purely nonsense. Sure Moorish kings wanted their towers to be the tallest in the world, but this sort of allusion to a Freudian phallic symbolism is secondary to the primary purpose of both within their respective communities. They are towers used to call people to prayer at regular intervals throughout the day. Christian steeples often feature bells or organ music piped from inside, but Islamic towers had muezzin who issued the call to prayer at the appropriate time of day. This call to prayer therefore aligned itself (no pun intended as these towers had to be properly aligned to Mecca) with the ancient practice of timekeeping as a function of religious priests, for the purpose of timing of religious ceremonies. It is here and in the idea of alignment of religious structures with stars or other locations that you can see how these practices stretch all the way back to ancient Egypt. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Tower http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giralda http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koutoubia_Mosque Both are modelled after the Koutoubia mosque in Marrakesch, also built by the Almohads. It is often said that the period of Islamic architecture in Al Andalus in Spain was one of the grandest of the Moorish period. These works and others bear testament to this period. http://archnet.org/library/dictionary/entry.tcl?entry_id=DIA0016&mode=full Also note that the architects of the Almohads also introduced the hypostle style layout of the central prayer area, similar to the arrangement of other ancient religious houses of worship, as in Egypt. http://archnet.org/library/images/sites.tcl?select=style&key=Almohad&order_by=site_name&collection_id=-1&showdescription=1 Final note: Modern Moroccans have been classified as having a great amount of European and Far East ("arab") ancestry, mainly due to the history of people from Syria, Baghdad, the Levant and Europe in the area. [QUOTE] Dermatoglyphic finger patterns and pattern intensity were examined in a sample of 204 (105 males and 99 females) adults from the authochthonous Arab population of south central Morocco. No significant sex differences were found for the overall finger pattern incidence or for the pattern intensity index. A high incidence of arches is the most remarkable characteristic of this population as compared to other Mediterranean groups. The significant differences from two previous sets of Moroccan data indicate a remarkable heterogeneity within the present day Moroccan population. [b]Also important is the differentiation of this sample from other north African ethnic groups such as Berbers and Tuaregs. An analysis of the dermatoglyphic relationships using R-matrix analysis, shows a relative proximity between this Moroccan series and other southwest European groups as compared to north African populations.[/b] [/QUOTE] http://taylorandfrancis.metapress.com/link.asp?id=r44956p17j70h10p Algerian tuaregs: http://www.aline-perier-photos.com/Sous-Rubriques-Photos_2_15_51_1.htm [/QB][/QUOTE]
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