Ksar

Ksar Aït Benhaddou, Morocco, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987

Ksar or qṣar (Arabic: قصر, romanized: qaṣr), in plural ksour or qsour (Arabic: قصور, romanized: quṣūr), 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 ighrem (singular) or igherman (plural).

Etymology

The Arabic qaṣr (قصر), frequently pronounced qṣar in the Maghreb, was probably borrowed from the Latin word castrum.

Locations

Ksour or igherman are widespread among the oasis populations of North Africa, found in Tunisia, Algeria, and Libya, and are also found on the Djado Plateau and in the commune of Fachi in Niger. They are sometimes situated in mountain locations to make defense easier; they often are entirely within a single, continuous wall.

Architecture

Ksar Ighzer near Timimoun, Algeria
Ksar Chenini, an abandoned ksar in southern Tunisia

Ksour in the Maghreb typically consist of attached houses, often having a granary like the fortified granaries of Aures in Algeria, or the ghorfa and agadir types known in Tunisia and Morocco respectively, beside other structures like a mosque, hammam, oven, and shops.

The building material of the entire structure is usually adobe, or cut stone, salt bricks from Taoudenni, and adobe. The conception of the ksar as a granary is a confused notion of two things: the granary found within a ksar, and the ksar itself, a village, typically with granaries within it. Ksars are among the main manifestations of Berber architecture.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Van Staëvel, J.-P. (2004). "Ḳaṣr". In Bearman, P. J.; Bianquis, Th.; Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E. & Heinrichs, W. P. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume XII: Supplement. Leiden: E. J. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-13974-9.
  2. ↑ Golvin, Lucien (1989). "Architecture berbère". Encyclopédie berbère. 6: 865–877. doi:10.4000/encyclopedieberbere.2582. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  3. ↑ Wehr, Hans; Cowan, J. M. A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic (Third ed.). Ithaca, N.Y.: Spoken Language Services. p. 768.
  4. ↑ Golany, Gideon (1988). "Ksar Settlements". Earth-sheltered Dwellings in Tunisia: Ancient Lessons for Modern Design. University of Delaware Press. pp. 36–46. ISBN 978-0-87413-297-7.
  5. ↑ Guessar, Souad; Abdeldjebar, Hadja Mama (2023-10-06). "Preserving the Old Ksar of Beni-Abbes- Algeria". Migration Letters. 20 (S7): . 620–628. doi:10.59670/ml.v20iS7.4423. ISSN 1741-8992.
  6. ↑ Samakie, Abdulmnam. "Ksar Nalut | Archiqoo". archiqoo.com. Archived from the original on 2026-02-02. Retrieved 2026-02-15.
  7. ↑ "Mystery of the desert: The lost cities of the Nigerien Sahara". France 24. 2023-06-05. Retrieved 2026-02-15.
  8. ↑ "Photos: The lost cities of the Nigerien Sahara". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2026-02-15.
  9. ↑ Binous, Jamila; Baklouti, Naceur; Ben Tanfous, Aziza; Bouteraa, Kadri; Rammah, Mourad; Zouari, Ali (2010). "X.6 Chénini (of Tataouine)". Ifriqiya: Thirteen Centuries of Art and Architecture in Tunisia. Islamic Art in the Mediterranean (2nd ed.). Museum With No Frontiers & Ministry of Culture, the National Institute of Heritage, Tunis. p. 269. ISBN 9783902782199.