Said Ennahid and Eric Ross, "Adding a Layer. Functioning Muslim Shrines at Archaeological Sites in Northwestern Morocco", in: Stefan Altekamp, Carmen Marcks-Jacobs and Peter Seiler (Eds.), Perspektiven der Spolienforschung 2. Zentren und Konjunkturen der Spoliierung, Berlin: Edition Topoi, 2017, 95–132

Abstract

Archaeologists working in Northwestern Morocco (former Roman province of Mauritania Tingitania) were often struck by the ubiquitous association of pre-Islamic archaeological sites and Muslim shrines. Although several studies have been devoted to maraboutism as a form of popular piety in Morocco, Muslim shrines found at archaeological sites were rarely if ever studied in connection to their archaeological context. This research 1) revisits saints and sainthood in Morocco, and more importantly, 2) examines six case studies in Northwestern Morocco (Lixus, Zilil, Thamusida, Chella, Banasa and Hajar al-Nasr) in order to shed light on how the active devotional layer, i.e. the shrines, relates spatially and architecturally to the archaeological remains beneath and around them.

Published In

Stefan Altekamp, Carmen Marcks-Jacobs and Peter Seiler (Eds.), Perspektiven der Spolienforschung 2. Zentren und Konjunkturen der Spoliierung, Berlin: Edition Topoi, 2017