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PalmPilot version| Berber | Original inhabitants of Maghreb. Never quite conquered by theRomans, and neither by Arabs or Islam. Most Moroccans are Berberby birth, many of the festivals and more colourful aspects ofMorocco are Berber in origin, and Berber clothing (much lessrestrictive for woman than orthodox Muslim), dialects, holy men(remnants of pre-Islamic cults), shrines, rugs and jewellry arecommon throughout the country. Individual Berber tribes havetheir own distinct identity, language and designs. |
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| Camion | French for lorry. Provide the main, albeit erratic, transportinfrastructure for the Atlas villages. |
| Couscous | Pre-cooked cracked grain and staple food. Frequentlyaccompanied in an invitation to lunch by gratuitous quackingmotion of the hand. |
| Djellaba | Traditional North African robe. |
| Erg | Sandy desert in general, and a dune in particular. |
| Gnaoua | Traditional and ritual music, accompanied by ecstatic dance,one of the traditional music brotherhoods. |
| Hammada | Stony desert. Most of the Moroccan Sahara is composed of such. |
| Hammam | Public steam baths |
| Jajouka | A village in the Jibala hills near Tangiers, site of anannual moussem believed by some to be a continuation of theancient Roman fertility rites of Lupercalia, and location of themusical Ecstatic Brotherhood. |
| Jilala | Religious music, with Sufi origins, played on ceremonial andritual occasions. Dancers, entering a trance, are able to slashthemselves with daggers or touch glowing coals without pain orinjury. |
| Kif | Cannabis, grown in the Rif mountains, to the east of Tangier. |
| Maghreb | Literally, the west. The Arab term for the north-westAfrican states, the furthest western edge of the Arab world. |
| Medina | The old non-European part of a city. Equivalent to a 'cantonment' inan English colonial city. |
| Medersa | Old student buildings associated with large mosques. Usuallybuilt in the old Roman style around a pool-filled atrium withelaborately carved wood. |
| Moussem | Berber festival, typically in honour of a local holy man(although it's believed that one of the "local" holy men is theJewish John the Baptist). Stamp of hooves, crack of rifles,auto-winds of a thousand cameras... |
| Rugbuyer | You! |
| Souk | Market for specific produce in the medina. |
| Tajine | Dome shaped terracotta cooking pot which lends its name tothe classic North African dish. The ubquity of tajine cookeryis responsible for the local song and traveller's saying'tajine, tajine, tajine, tajine, tajine' |
| Ville Nouvelle | The separate French or Spanish town built near or adjacent tothe medina. |
| Words Not Defined Here |
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