One of the remaining Amazigh Kasbah .
Kasbah of Telmasla.











Morocco: old village in the Atlas mountains

Brahim Boussaid is a cultural interpreter from Morocco that devoted this article to describing the social and urban structure of old Amazigh villages in Morocco and the way they are representative of this very ancient cultureMorocco is a country with multi-ethnic groups, through Moroccan history, the land of the moors, hosted many people coming from both the East and the West .All those old civilizations should have an impact on the social structure of the Moroccan Villages. I will try to focus on the features of the Moroccan village by studying the features of my own village. How the village is structured in terms of people, space and powerThe countryside of Morocco is organized through tribes, Takbilte (1) is the main unit in Moroccan village, the tribe generally leaded by a elected council called Imzura or Inghramen (2) but not in the sense of modern elections, most tribes are presented by their fractions in the council which stands as the executive committee that managed the daily matters in the village. In addition to the tribe, Amghar (3) plays a pivotal role in dealing with inter-family problems; his name was derived from authority and power from his people. While this authority is referred as Tamghart (4). All the people of the tribe respect the power of the elected council and tribal leader. Their main functions are keeping peace in the village and establishing rules related to the village, and agricultural activities.The village is generally built upon a hill or at the top of mountains for specific reasons: as a defensive area from the enemies or by force of the natural forces mainly rain and snow, in the rocky places people prefer to build at the top of mountain to give more space to the green fields.The village surrounded by wall to protect the village that is the reason; some old cities in Morocco kept the same structure like Marrakesh or Taroudante (5). The village has two main gates with labyrinth streets of walls. While going through the village, you will find different places like a show place or the tribe showed the dancer or singer shows. To sum up the space in the village is well organized.One more element in the village is the conception of "the guest house" , named "Tigmi n Taqbilte"; literary the house of the tribe , served as a shelter for traders, travelers, beggars and all people coming from different places, they spend their overnight while one member of the village , as a volunteer invite those men for dinner or lunch.The Amazigh village remains a "life" show that reflects the culture and the old history of the people.

Terminology

1. Tribe

2. Elected council3.

Tribal leader

4. Authority

5. Two Cities in Morocco
Source: Brahim Bousaid, Cultural Interpreter, Morocco

This picture is taken in Tiznit on the road to Aglou Beach.