Ksar

Ksar or qsar (Maghrebi Arabic: قصر qṣer or ڭصر gser, plural qṣur; Berber: ⵉⴴⵔⵎ aghrem or ighrem, plural: igherman), plural ksars, qsars, ksour or qsour, is a type of fortified village in North Africa, usually found in the regions predominantly or traditionally inhabited by Berbers (Amazigh people).[1][2]

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

Related terms

The origin of the Maghrebi Arabic term qsar is qaṣar (قَصَر) in Standard Arabic, which means "castle" or "palace".[3] It was probably loaned from Latin castrum.[1] The Berber (Amazigh) word for "ksar" used in North Africa by the Berber-speaking populations is ighrem (singular) or igherman (plural), denoting a "fortified village," or "fort".[1]

Architecture

Ruins of the ksar at Timimoun, Algeria

Ksar Chenini, an abandoned ksar in southern Tunisia[4]

Ksour in the Maghreb typically consist of attached houses, often having collective granaries known as a ghorfa or agadir and other structures like a mosque, bath, oven, and shops. Ksour / igherman are widespread among the oasis populations of North Africa. Ksars are sometimes situated in mountain locations to make defense easier; they often are entirely within a single, continuous wall. The building material of the entire structure is normally adobe, or cut stone and adobe. The idea of the ksar as a granary is a confused notion of two things, the granary itself, found within a ksar, and the ksar, which is a village, normally with granaries within it. Ksars form one of the main manifestations of Berber architecture.

Places named Ksar

The word is part of place names across Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia.

Ksar Hadada, Tunisia
Ksar Halloof, Tunisia.
Ksar Oulad Dabab, Tunisia.
Ksar es-Seghir, Morocco
Ksar el-Kebir, Morocco
Ksar Nalut, Libya
Ksar Ouled Soltane, Tunisia

References

Van Staëvel, J.-P. (2004). "Ḳaṣr". In Bearman, P. J.; Bianquis, Th.; Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E. & Heinrichs, W. P. (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam. Volume XII: Supplement (2nd ed.). Leiden: E. J. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-13974-9.
Golvin, Lucien (1989). "Architecture berbère". Encyclopédie berbère. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
Wehr, Hans; Cowan, J. M. A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic (Third ed.). Ithaca, N.Y.: Spoken Language Services. p. 768.
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.

External links

www.ksour-tunisiens.com – complete documentation of all ksour of southern Tunisia, Herbert Popp & Abdelfettah Kassah

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[:0-1] Van Staëvel, J.-P. (2004). "Ḳaṣr". In Bearman, P. J.; Bianquis, Th.; Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E. & Heinrichs, W. P. (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam. Volume XII: Supplement (2nd ed.). Leiden: E. J. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-13974-9.

[:3-2] Golvin, Lucien (1989). "Architecture berbère". Encyclopédie berbère. 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] 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.