Sijilmasa

Sijilmasa
Arabic: سجلماسة
Sijilmasa
Sijilmasa ruins
Sijilmasa is located in Morocco
Sijilmasa
Shown within Morocco
LocationRissani, Drâa-Tafilalet, Morocco
RegionErrachidia
Coordinates31°17′N 4°17′W / 31.28°N 4.28°W / 31.28; -4.28
TypeSettlement
History
Founded757 A.D.[1]
Abandoned1393 A.D.
CulturesBerber, Arab
Site notes
Excavation dates1988–1996[2]
ArchaeologistsWorld Monuments Fund
OwnershipMoroccan Ministry of Culture

Sijilmasa (Arabic: سجلماسة; also transliterated Sijilmassa, Sidjilmasa, Sidjilmassa and Sigilmassa) was a medieval Moroccan city and trade entrepôt at the northern edge of the Sahara in Morocco. The ruins of the town extend for five miles along the River Ziz in the Tafilalt oasis near the town of Rissani. The town's history was marked by several successive invasions by Berber dynasties. Up until the 14th century, as the northern terminus for the western trans-Sahara trade route, it was one of the most important trade centres in the Maghreb during the Middle Ages.[3]

  1. ^ Lightfoot & Miller 1996
  2. ^ "Sijilmassa".
  3. ^ Lightfoot & Miller 1996