From Timbuktu to Marrakech
Marrakech, known across the globe as the Ochre City, is one of the world’s richest trading centers. It is a city that celebrates its past and its historic culture while moving forward to the future. The life of this city helped me to understand how understanding and preserving cultural heritage is important to human dignity and the life of nations.
From my own hometown, the fabled desert city of Timbuktu in Mali, I visited Marrakech—a place I can definitely classify as the twin sister of Timbuktu. I flew to Morocco to visit Marrakech, even though Morocco has for centuries been linked to Timbuktu via the ancient trans-Saharan caravan trade. During my few days in the city I stayed in Medina, the quarter of Marrakech. The Berber Sanhaja tribe founded the Almoravid dynasty in the 11th century and conquered the south of Morocco, including the land that would become Marrakesh. Marrakech has played a historically important role in Moroccan and world history. The name Marrakech derives from local Amzigh dialect and means “Land of Gold.”
I felt at home in the winding streets of Marrakech, which reminded me Timbuktu, including the smell of food and spices, how children play freely in the streets, and the way the inhabitants often operate shops from their own homes.
The Medina quarter of Marrakech is the ancient neighborhood settled by founder families of Marrakech. It is very similar to the Medina quarter of Timbuktu, where the settler’s families of the ancient city of Timbuktu still live. Timbuktu’s famous traditional Moorish doors and windows made are wood in a style that was brought to Timbuktu by Moor invaders in 1594. As a child in Timbuktu, I was told stories about the influence of the Moroccan invasion and how the city of Timbuktu preserves the legacy of Moroccan of architecture.
the jama el Fna square March 2018
The link between Timbuktu and Morocco
The Moors invaded Timbuktu in the twilight of its golden age–-when the University of Sankore welcomed 25,000 students from of all over Africa and the Middle East who came to study with the city’s Sufi teachers. Timbuktu was the hub of West African Muslim scholarship. The scholar Ahmed Baba was the last chancellor of the University of Sankore and was accused of subversion by the Moor conquerors. Though Baba fled Timbuktu, he was eventually captured in Marrakech and imprisoned for years. In exile in Morocco from 1593 to 1608, Ahmed Baba continued his research and writing in prison. He eventually returned home, but while in prison he penned a mournful poem about his love and nostalgia for Timbuktu (quoted here from, Timbuktu and the Songhay Empire, John O. Hunwick, Brill Publishers, London: 316).
“O traveller to Gao, turn off to my city.
Murmur my name there and greet all my dear ones,
With scented salams from an exile who longs
For his homeland and neighbors, companions and friends …”
Timbuktu was deeply impacted by the Moor invasion. One of Mali’s most famous scholars of the 16th century, the Timbuktu native Ahmed Baba, wrote about that period in Arabic documents, most of which have been preserved. Timbuktu’s only public library and research center is named after him. The Ahmed Baba Institute once stored some 18,000 original manuscripts, including many of his own, though many of the holdings have been removed for protection during the current civil war. Ahmed Baba even taught some Moroccan scholars about Islam and history while he in prison.
Hadj and the artist of Marrakech , March 2018
Djamaa El- Fna
One of the most attractive sites in Marrakech is the square of Jemaa el-Fnaa, the city’s main square. Around AD 1050, this site used to be for public executions and the root of its Arabic name is unclear, though some believe it refers to an “assembly of the dead.”
UNESCO declared the Jemaa el-Fnaa a World Heritage Site (a designation shared by Timbuktu) in 2001 for its value in bringing urban legends and oral history to life. It is the site of performances by storytellers, acrobats, musicians, traditional dancers, and comedy acts. The carnival charm of Jemaa el-Fnaa makes it one of the most famous public squares in all of Morocco. In some performances one can hears tales of the traders of old and their perilous travels across the Sahara.
Tourism in not new in Marrakech. Moroccans, international visitors, merchants and traders across the world have long been coming here for business, pleasure, including the trade of goods and fabrics that make Marrakesh a golden city, a great crossroads of language, culture, and civilization.
Marrakesh was founded primarily as a trading town that facilitated commerce through the trans-Saharan salt road, which cut east and then south across the Sahara to the rest of Africa. This was a popular route for the great camel caravan trade that helped connect Europe to north and Sub-Saharan Africa. The Jemaa el-Fnaa is full with many small outdoor markets, each of which represents a community or a neighborhood with certain specializations. These include craftsmen and women who specialize in wood, metal, leather, and cloth, giving life to the entire public square.
the mosque of Koutoubia , Marrakesh ,march 2018
The Koutoubia Mosque
The Koutoubia Mosque, one of the world’s most striking Islamic structures, dates from the 12th century and helped establish the Moroccan style architecture we see throughout the country and in parts of sub-Saharan Africa, like Mali and Niger. The mosque, which stands 80 meters high and is the largest mosque in Marrakech. The tower is an outstanding example of the Almohad style. One of the most important things I noticed in my first visit there were the varying decorative archways onto the courtyard around the tower.
Marrakech Museum
As a history teller and researcher in cultural heritage, visiting a museum in a country always brings light and knowledge. The Marrakech Museum was opened in 1997 with support of the Omar Benjelloun Foundation. The building itself represents an example of classical Moorish architecture, with fountains in the central courtyard and traditional seating areas on ornate handwoven rugs and pillows. The museum holds exhibits of both modern and traditional Moroccan art together with fine examples of historical books, coins and pottery of Berber, Moroccan, Jewish and Islamic cultures.
One wing is dedicated to contemporary Moroccan art includes works of local artisans while another wing hosts Moroccans textiles and embroidery as well as Amazigh jewelry.
The Cuisine of Marrakesh
Tajin
I could not visit Morocco, or any country, and not talk about the food. As the late Anthony Bourdain once said, “If I am an advocate for anything, it is to move. As far as you can, as much as you can. Across the ocean, or simply across the river. Walk in someone else’s shoes or at least eat their food. It’s a plus for everybody.” Culinary art has the power to attract people and connect cultures. As a traveler walking in the square of Djama El Fnaa, the smell of Moroccan cuisine reminds me of the smell of food in my hometown of Timbuktu with all types of spices and specialties. It’s important to understand that the Marrakech cuisine is influenced by exchanges with other cultures and nations over centuries.
I tasted the tajin dish of Marrakesh, made of meat, onions, hot spices legumes and served in a traditional clay bowl. The origin of tajine is a Berber food. I suggest travelers to Marrakech to experience the delicious tajin with the Moroccan traditional bread.
I have a deep passion for learning more about cultural heritage. Marrakech is wonderful community of cultures and civilization, a city of knowledge everybody must visit.
My stay in Marrakesh was unforgettable.
Editor: Peter Chilson
