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| Tea and the Atlantic By: Dr. Anouar Majid University of New England |
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Morocco is part of the Atlantic civilization, its coast having long been sought out by various maritime nations, beginning, of course, with the intrepid Phoenicians, their descendants, the Carthaginians, then the Romans, followed by Arabs, then the Portuguese, the French, and the Spaniards, before most of the coast reverted back to Moroccan control. The Atlantic coast is about 2, 800 kms long (compared to 530 kms of Mediterranean shores). No wonder, then, its history is more varied and complex because one can find traces of all these civilizations in most towns and cities, and even a few villages.
Whenever I am facing the Atlantic in Morocco, I always remember that until America was “discovered,” Morocco was the westernmost part of the known world. Morocco was alone among the great Muslim nations with an Atlantic seaboard, the bahr adouloumat, or sea of darkness, as the ocean was known among the ancients. ‘Uqba ibn Nafi, who opened Morocco to Islam, is supposed to have charged into the Atlantic (near Tifnit, south of Agadir) saying that had he known of other lands beyond he would have taken the message of Islam there. I even read that some legend has it that it was on that same spot that the whale disgorged the Prophet Younes (Jonah). Morocco’s entire Atlantic coast is endlessly fascinating, but if I had to choose only one spot to visit, it would have to be Essaouira.
This windswept city sits on a major crossroads of cultures, connecting with the Haha Berbers and Chiadma Arabs. The Phoenicians and Romans were interested in the area long before Islam came to Morocco. Because of its rich fishing waters and its famous seashell, the murex, which produces the highly prized crimson dye for Roman togas, the islands of Mogador acquired some renown in the Roman Empire. In the eleventh century, the town was named Amagdoul, after the patron saint of the region, Sidi Mogdoul. Later, King Manuel of Portugal seized the town early in his campaign to dominate the whole trade and coast of Morocco and built a fort in 1506, but the Saadians took it back in 1541.The foundations of the modern city, however, were laid by the great and visionary Alawite sultan, Sidi Mohamed ben Abdellah (the same sultan who first recognized the independence of the United States.)
Sultan Ben Abdellah wanted to develop a port for international commerce, so he entrusted the project to Théodore Cornut of Avignon, a French military engineer captured during a failed assault on Larache in 1776, with the help of hundreds of Christian prisoners. The northern part of city was probably built by an English renegade named Ahmed el ‘Elj (the name el-‘elj was given to Europeans who converted to Islam). A Portuguese palace was destroyed to build the skala, where the cannons facing the ocean can still be seen today. Thus the port and kasbah of Essaouira make up a whole out of European and Moroccan architectural traditions.
The city’s port was known as the “Port of Timbuktu” because most African products for export ended up there, including slaves (children of Bambara, in the gnawa mythology). Sultan Ben Abdellah promoted free trade policies by reducing customs and encouraging the settlement of rich merchants and Jews to handle trade with Christians. A quarter for foreign merchants was also established. By 1780, the port was handling almost half of Morocco’s international trade. Export items included ostrich feathers, almonds, gum arabic, ivory and dried camel skins (which were imported from sub-saharan Africa through the caravan trade), while the other intrepid race of sailors, the British, imported Manchester cotton and the item that would prove to be more addictive than opium in China: tea. Not only that, but the British probably imported through Essaouira the first teapot, the berrad, manufactured in Manchester from Andalusian and other Arab designs.
The city fascinated European and American artists throughout much of the twentieth century. Orson Welles couldn’t find a better place to film the Shakespearean tragedy of Othello. His visit to Essaouira is now commemorated with a plaque that stands in a square named after him. The city's beaches inspired Jimmy Hendrix to write his Castle in the Sand. And now a whole generation of windsurfers and other artists are following in their footsteps.
I never participated in these events, but for those interested, the city hosts a gnawa festival, consisting of all night parties or ceremonies (ksara). With the convergence of slaves and other Africans on the port of Essaouira, the Sidna Bilal zawya (named after a black convert, just like his namesake, the Prophet’s companion and first mueddin) built a lodge near the Jewish quarter, the mellah, in the medina. Now the gnawa remember the suffering of their slave ancestors through a well-rehearsed ecstasy ritual led by a bandleader, the m’alem, with his guenbri (a three-cord luth), while others use castanets (qraqeb) and drums.
The variety of the region’s indigenous musical traditions (such as ahouach, amarg, ganga) come together during the festival of the Argan Tree. The Regraga to the north commemorate their discovery of Islam when, according to legend, they sent the famous seven men (sab’atu rijal) on a journey to Mecca to find out about the Prophet and his new religion through a major moussem (festival) that includes more than 40 days of storytelling and troubadour music (halqas, shikhates, and the aita).
One cannot walk in Essaouira without seeing a profusion of thuya wood products—a rock-hard wood that is dug out as a root—embellished with mother-of-pearl and ebony. Art galleries and restaurants are everywhere, and so are very creative posters with a variety of public messages. Essaouira's beaches are not hot enough for me, but I find the city quite relaxing and an excellent place to read and think. A good glass of tea in the port around sunset can be truly inspiring—as long as the tea is not too sweet!
Wafin.com
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