Suq
A souq ( ) ( Arabic سوق, DMG Sūq 'market', pluralأسواق / Aswāq ; Alternative spellings in German: Soq , Souk , Suk , Sook , Soukh or Souq ) designates commercial districts in an Arab city and - like “ Markt ” in German - the trade itself. Suq is a loan word from the Aramaic language with the same meaning. In the Persian-Indian and Turkish-speaking areas, the souq corresponds to the bazaar . Suqs are an almost general characteristic of an oriental-Arab city and mostly also its economic center. In contrast to European business and craft districts, the souks are generally uninhabited and one-story.
The increasingly rare, open-air markets organized by farmers outside of built-up areas are also known as souks. The analysis of the souks is of economic , socio-historical and archaeological importance.
Economic function of the Sūq
The typical souq alleys have always been the domain of retail and handicrafts. In addition, the Sūqs are also centers of foreign and long-distance trade , finance and credit and all kinds of public and private services , such as B. Mosques . Sūqs are organized in such a way that shops with the same goods are usually close to one another and there is also a short connection to the warehouses, e.g. B. the textile retail trade in the alleys and the fabric stores in the adjacent department stores.
The shape of the Chan building has emerged as the center of wholesale and long-distance trade, as well as financial matters . This is a multi-storey building with a lockable courtyard that is connected to most of the Sūqs.
In addition, for security reasons, they are usually organized in such a way that the “nobler” trades, such as jewelers, gold and silversmiths or silk dealers, are in the middle of the market area. In recent times, high-turnover retail has often prevailed over handicrafts on the livelier streets - traditionally, the workshop and sales point were in one place.
The alleys of many souks are completely or partially covered to protect goods and visitors from sunlight and heat.
Change over time
At the beginning of the 20th century, the souks increasingly lost their importance and became a cheap place to live for immigrants. They mostly competed with western-oriented parts of the city, which offered more pleasant but also more expensive living alternatives.
Change in supply
With the oriental charm and the "exotic" shopping experience, the souq became increasingly attractive for tourists. He also experienced an increasing appreciation by the local population, which led to some very complex restorations of the existing buildings in order to be able to continue using them.
With the growing importance of tourists as customers, the range of goods also adapted, and folkloric goods, luxury goods and fashionable leather goods took up more space in the souks. Traditional handicrafts have to give way to this trend more and more, while handicrafts benefit from wealthy customers.
Others
In the souks it is common to negotiate the price ( haggling ) between customers and shop owners . A spontaneous break-off of price negotiations by the potential buyer is not welcome.
The concept of having all kinds of shops, service providers and restaurants concentrated in a narrow space is similar to the structure of modern shopping centers in Western countries.
Quote
- “In addition to the shops that only sell, there are many in front of which you can watch the objects being produced. So you are there from the start, and that makes the viewer happy. Because part of the desolation of our modern life is that we get everything ready for use in the house and ready for use, as if from ugly magic apparatus. ” Elias Canetti : The Voices of Marrakech . The souks.
See also
literature
- Eugen Wirth : The Suq, the economic center of the Arab city. In: Günter Meyer (Ed.): The Arab World in the Mirror of Cultural Geography (= publications of the Center for Research on the Arab World (ZEFAW). Vol. 1). Center for Research on the Arab World, Mainz 2004, ISBN 3-88250-330-0 , pp. 32–40.
