Agadir Inoumar

Agadir Inoumar, storage chambers

Agadir Inoumar is the name of the largest memory castle of Berber in the Moroccan province of Chtouka-Aït Baha in the region Souss-Massa near the village Tasguedelt .

Agadir Inoumar means 'the sunny storage castle ' in Central Atlas Tamazight because it was built in a sunny area halfway up a mountain.

location

Agadir Inoumar, formerly shared by several villages ( douars ), is located about 25 km (driving distance) east of the city of Biougra in the hilly and semi-arid environment of the western Anti-Atlas on a valley slope at about 550 m above sea level. d. Above the Assif Aouerga, which is dry for most of the year .

Residents and economy

The various Berber tribes in the area lived for centuries from agriculture in barren and stony fields and from cattle breeding. The former way of life of transhumance was largely abandoned during the time of the French protectorate . In addition, the ongoing climate change with increasing drought and annual rainfall of approx. 200 mm has led to the emigration of part of the population; many men now work in the cities of northern Morocco or in Europe.

history

The Agadir can hardly be dated - one can however assume that the building was used, expanded and repaired over centuries; it has gradually been abandoned since the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The sometimes ornamentally carved and / or painted wooden doors were burned, sold to antique dealers or collectors or taken to ethnographic museums. In 2014, some parts of the structure were restored.

Agadir

Tower interior with corner ascent

About 500 m away from the village, on a slope, is the approximately 5000 m² large storage castle of the village and its surroundings with its three storeys distributed almost 600 approximately 6 to 8 m deep and approximately 1.70 m high chambers, whose ceilings consist of one There was a tangle of branches with a layer of reeds and earth. The interior of the walled area, framed by four squat corner towers, is divided into several rows with storage chambers arranged next to and one above the other. On both sides of the corridors there are stepping stones arranged in a staggered manner in the dry brickwork made of small stones and some earth ; Via these, the storage chambers, formerly secured by ornamentally decorated board doors with wooden locks, could also be reached without ladders, in which - permanently or in times of absence - supplies ( barley , argan seeds , dates , almonds etc.), tools (sickles, hoes) and on family documents (marriage and property deeds) written on small wooden tablets were stored. The Agadir was constantly guarded by members of the various villages, which also ensured mutual control; today there is only one guard.

Door with decor
Family documents

meaning

Like all agadirs in southern Morocco, the Agadir Inoumar comes from a time when the Berber population was not yet completely settled and - at least in part - had to move their cattle (sheep, goats) to higher mountain regions in the summer months. There was therefore a constant need to defend the food and other valuables produced on the barren soils and laboriously against wandering nomads and, in the event of feuds and famine, against neighboring tribes.

literature

D. Jacques-Meunié: Les greniers collectifs au Maroc. Paris 1944
D. Jacques-Meunié: Greniers-citadelles au Maroc. Paris 1951
Salima Naji: Greniers collectifs de l'Atlas. Paris 2006
Herbert Popp, Mohamed Ait Hamza, Brahim El Fasskaoui: Les agadirs de l'Anti-Atlas occidental. Atlas illustré d'un patrimoine culturel du Sud marocain. Natural Science Society, Bayreuth 2011 ISBN 978-3-939146-07-0