Nekor

Nekor (Berber language: N'kor; Arabic: نقور) is a historic site in the Rif region of Morocco near modern-day Bni Bouayach. It was founded by Idris ibn Salih, Emir of the medieval Kingdom of Nekor, between 749 and 761 AD. His son Sa'id I ibn Idris moved the capital to Nekor from Temsaman. At its height, it was described as the greatest center of Berber culture in the region of Rif.[1]

In the winter of 859 to 860 AD Nekor, founded 200 years prior and defended by Sa'id II ibn Salih, was sacked by Viking raiders, apparently for attempting to interfere with their plunderings in the area, under Hastein and Björn Ironside, who sailed through the Straits of Gibraltar. After staying for eight days in Morocco, the Vikings went back to Spain and continued up the east coast. Of the 62 ships that went to the Iberian peninsula and then Morocco, only 20 returned.[2] [3] Many of the inhabitants of Nekor were taken as slaves and later sold in Ireland.[4]

The city was destroyed by the Almoravid Yusuf ibn Tashfin in 1080 during his conquest of the Rif.[1]

The site has been partially submerged by the reservoir of the Abdelkrim Khattabi dam.[5]

  1. ^ a b Harvard African Studies. African Department, Peabody Museum of Harvard University. 1931. p. 34.
  2. ^ Peterjon Creswell (February 2023). "What happened when the Vikings raided Morocco?". thevikingherald.com. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  3. ^ Ibn-Adhari, translated in Stefansson, Jon, "The Vikings in Spain. From Arabic (Moorish) and Spanish Sources". In Saga-Book of the Viking Club: Vol. VI Proceedings. University of London King's College, 1909, pp. 40–41.
  4. ^ Ann Christys, Vikings in the South (London: Bloomsbury, 2015), pp. 63-64.
  5. ^ Al-Hoceima entre hier et aujourd’hui : Des trésors ensevelis