agadir (granary)
{{Short description|Fortified communal granary found in the Maghreb}}
File:Agadir de Tasguent (cropped).jpg]]
An agadir ({{Langx|shi|ⴰⴳⴰⴷⵉⵔ}}, plural: igudar or iguidar, "the wall" or "the fortified compound") is a fortified communal granary found in the Maghreb.{{Cite web|url=https://www.holidway.com/greniers-collectifs/|title=Greniers collectifs - Patrimoine de l'Anti Atlas au Maroc {{!}} Holidway Maroc|date=2017-02-28|website=Holidway|language=fr-FR|access-date=2020-04-06}}{{Cite web|url=https://globalheritagefund.org/what-we-do/projects-and-programs/sacred-granaries-morocco/|title=Collective Granaries, Morocco|website=Global Heritage Fund|date=12 May 2018 |language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-06}}
In Morocco, agadirs are most commonly found in the regions of the High Atlas, the Anti-Atlas mountains, and the Draa Valley.{{Cite web |last=Golvin |first=Lucien |date=1989 |title=Architecture berbère |url=https://journals.openedition.org/encyclopedieberbere/2582 |access-date=11 September 2023 |website=Encyclopédie berbère}} Some of them date back to the 10th century.{{Cite journal|last1=Raffaelli|first1=Giuliana|last2=Robles Marín|first2=Pedro|last3=Guerrera|first3=Francesco|last4=Martín Martín|first4=Manuel|last5=Alcalá-García|first5=Francisco Javier|last6=Amadori|first6=Maria Letizia|last7=Asebriy|first7=Lahcen|last8=El Amrani|first8=Iz-Edine|last9=Tejera de León|first9=Julian|date=June 2016|title=Archaeometric study of a typical medieval fortified granary (Amtoudi Agadir, Anti-Atlas Chain, southern Morocco): a key case for the maintenance and restoration of historical monuments|url=http://www.italianjournalofgeosciences.it/244/fulltext.html?ida=552|journal=Italian Journal of Geosciences|volume=135|issue=2|pages=280–299|doi=10.3301/IJG.2015.25|hdl=10045/64989|hdl-access=free}} Fortified granaries are also common in southern Tunisia, where they are referred to as a kasbah or, in the case of another type, as a ghorfa. In Algeria, they were once common in the Aurès Mountains, where they were known as a gal'a, but these were in the process of disappearing by the late 20th century.
Name
The term agadir is Amazigh, borrowed from {{langx|phn|{{popdf}}𐤀𐤂𐤃𐤓|translit=ʾgdr}},{{Cite book|last=Lipiński|first=Edward|url=http://www.peeters-leuven.be/boekoverz.asp?nr=6387|title=Semitic Languages: Outline of a Comparative Grammar|date=2002|publisher=Peeters Leeuven|isbn=978-90-429-0815-4|series=Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta|volume=80|place=Belgium|publication-date=2001|page=575|access-date=2020-04-06|archive-date=2017-10-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011031812/http://www.peeters-leuven.be/boekoverz.asp?nr=6387|url-status=dead}} meaning "wall", "compound", or (by metonymy) "stronghold"."Phoenician and Punic Inscriptions", [https://books.google.com/books?id=kwABAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA141 p. 141]. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Accessed 24 July 2013. The word agadir is common in North African place names, such as Agadir, Morocco, and the cities Cádiz and Gedera are also etymologically related. The word al-Makhzen ({{Lang|ar|المخزن}}), used to refer to the Moroccan state apparatus, also means storehouse, but in Arabic.{{Cite web|url=https://zamane.ma/fr/lagadir-ancetre-du-makhzen-marocain/|title=L'agadir, ancêtre du Makhzen marocain?|date=2018-06-12|website=Zamane|language=fr-FR|access-date=2020-04-06}}
Description
These structures are typically composed of a granary and a citadel, and are located in rocky, elevated locations to protect surrounding farms and livestock from enemies. In Morocco, they were typically built either of rammed earth or of dry stone masonry. Some of the large examples built in dry stone consist of multi-story structures laid out along narrow internal alleys. Each story is made up of a row of cell-like rooms, with upper rooms being accessible from the outside via protruding stones inserted into the facades. Rammed-earth constructions are more common in the High Atlas region, where the design of agadirs is more akin to that of the region's traditional houses, sometimes featuring exterior decoration executed in mudbrick. Multi-level structures are also known in southern Tunisia, where they are known as a ghorfa, though only a few have been preserved today. These consist of cell-like rooms stacked over each other up to four stories, with their entrances all facing an internal yard or court.
File:Agadir Imi'm Korn (Gang).jpg|The {{Ill|Ikounka Agadir|lt=|de|Agadir Imi'm Korn|WD=}}
File:Timit, Agadir Sidi Moussa.jpg|The Sidi Moussa Agadir of Aït Bouguemez, Morocco
File:320-006-PC264549 Crop.jpg|The {{Ill|Inoumar Agadir|lt=|de|Agadir Inoumar|WD=}} in the Souss-Massa region, Morocco
File:Id aissa 0667.JPG|The Id Aissa Agadir near Amtoudi, Morocco
File:Ghorfas of Medenine.jpg|A ghorfa in Medenine, Tunisia
In addition to harvested grains, Amazigh communities inhabiting the mountainous south of Morocco would use these structures to store all kinds of valuable belongings, including deeds and records, money, jewelry, clothing, carpets, and sometimes clothes and munitions. Guards were traditionally posted to ensure security.
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Buildings and structures in Morocco
{{Morocco-struct-stub}}