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Chellah
The Chellah or Shalla (Berber languages: Sla or Calla; Arabic: شالة) is a medieval fortified Muslim necropolis and ancient archeological site in Rabat, Morocco, located on the south (left) side of the Bou Regreg estuary. The earliest evidence of the site's occupation suggests that the Phoenicians established a trading emporium here in the first millennium BC. This was later the site of Sala Colonia, an ancient Roman colony in the province of Mauretania Tingitana, before it was abandoned in Late Antiquity. In the late 13th century the site began to be used as a dynastic necropolis for the Marinid dynasty. By the mid-14th century Marinid sultans had enclosed a part of the site with a new set of walls and built a religious complex inside it to accompany their mausoleums. In the 15th century the necropolis began to decline and it suffered damage over the centuries due to earthquakes and looting. Archeological excavations in the 20th century unearthed the remains of the ancient Roman town. Today the site is a tourist attraction and since 2012 it forms part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Phoenicians founded several trading colonies along the Atlantic coast of what is now Morocco, but the existence of a Phoenician settlement on the site of Chellah has been debated by archeologists. Jean Boube, who led some of the modern excavations at the site, discovered neo-Punic artifacts dating as far back as the 3rd century BC, which suggests there must have been a small trading post here around that time. Later excavations by Boube also found fragments of Phoenician or Punic bowls dating to the 7th and early 6th centuries BC, but it is possible that such early items were imported by trade rather than being evidence of occupation. The settlement along the banks of the Bou Regreg was known as Shalat (Punic: 𐤔𐤏𐤋𐤕, šʿlt; compare Hebrew סלע, rock), which appears to derive from the Punic word for "rock".
By the first century BC the local inhabitants were still writing in the neo-Punic language but the region came under the influence of Rome. At this time the area was occupied by the ancient Berber Mauretanian Kingdom. Under its last two rulers, Juba II and Ptolemy, the Mauretanian kingdom became a client state of Rome. Some relics from the time of these two kings have been discovered at Chellah. After the death of Ptolemy in 40 AD the region was annexed by Rome and became the province of Mauretania Tingitana.
On this site the Romans built their own city, Sala Colonia. The Roman town was referred to as "Sala" by Ptolemy, a 2nd-century writer. Excavations have revealed that older Mauretanian structures existed on the site before Roman structures were built over them. For the Roman period, they show a substantial port city with ruined Roman architectural elements including a decumanus maximus or principal roadway, a forum and a triumphal arch. The area around the forum, excavated and visible today, was subjected to many transformations over time and the exact chronology of these is still debated. Inscriptions found on site show that the city had the status of a municipium around the mid-2nd century AD.
One of the two main Roman roads in Mauretania Tingitana reached the Atlantic through Iulia Constantia Zilil (Asilah), Lixus (Larache) and Sala Colonia. Another may have been built towards the south, from Sala to modern Casablanca, then called Anfa. The Romans had two main naval outposts on the Atlantic coast of the province: Sala Colonia, and Lixus. The port of Sala (now disappeared) was used by commercial Roman ships as a way station on their southwestward passages to Anfa and the Insula Purpuraria (Mogador island).
Sala remained linked to the Roman Empire even after the withdrawal in the 4th century of the occupying Roman legions to Tingis (Tangier) and Septem (Ceuta) in northern Mauretania Tingitana. A Roman military unit remained there until the end of the 5th century.[verification needed] Some of the major monuments of the town were abandoned around this time. The site of the large capitolium temple, for example, was turned into a cemetery and a dumping ground during the 4th century. Archaeological objects of Visigothic and Byzantine origin found in the area attest to the persistence of commercial or political contacts between Sala and Roman Europe, up to the establishment of a Byzantine presence in North Africa during the 7th century. Fragments of pottery with Christian motifs and graffiti have also been found among objects dating from the 4th to 6th centuries.
Sala began to be abandoned in the 5th century and was mostly in ruins when the Muslim Arabs arrived in the 7th century. The Byzantine governor of the area, Count Julian of Ceuta, surrendered to Uqba ibn Nafi in 683.
The area was only occupied again in the 10th century, when historical sources mention the existence of a ribat in the area. Around 1030, a new town called Salā (present-day Salé) was founded on the opposite side of the river (the north side) by the Banu 'Ashara family. After the end of the Umayyad Caliphate in Al-Andalus in the early 11th century, the Almoravids assumed control of the region and built a new ribat at the mouth of the river. This ribat was in turn destroyed and then rebuilt by their successors, the Almohads, in the mid-12th century, becoming what is now known as the Kasbah of the Udayas. The Almohad caliph Abu Yusuf Ya'qub al-Mansur (r. 1184–1199) also began construction of a vast new royal city with new walls on the site next to ancient Sala, corresponding to what is now the historic center of Rabat, but it was never finished. The town of Salā on the right bank (northern side) of the river continued to develop and during the following Marinid dynasty period (13th to 15th centuries) it grew more important than the settlements of the left bank.
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Chellah
The Chellah or Shalla (Berber languages: Sla or Calla; Arabic: شالة) is a medieval fortified Muslim necropolis and ancient archeological site in Rabat, Morocco, located on the south (left) side of the Bou Regreg estuary. The earliest evidence of the site's occupation suggests that the Phoenicians established a trading emporium here in the first millennium BC. This was later the site of Sala Colonia, an ancient Roman colony in the province of Mauretania Tingitana, before it was abandoned in Late Antiquity. In the late 13th century the site began to be used as a dynastic necropolis for the Marinid dynasty. By the mid-14th century Marinid sultans had enclosed a part of the site with a new set of walls and built a religious complex inside it to accompany their mausoleums. In the 15th century the necropolis began to decline and it suffered damage over the centuries due to earthquakes and looting. Archeological excavations in the 20th century unearthed the remains of the ancient Roman town. Today the site is a tourist attraction and since 2012 it forms part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Phoenicians founded several trading colonies along the Atlantic coast of what is now Morocco, but the existence of a Phoenician settlement on the site of Chellah has been debated by archeologists. Jean Boube, who led some of the modern excavations at the site, discovered neo-Punic artifacts dating as far back as the 3rd century BC, which suggests there must have been a small trading post here around that time. Later excavations by Boube also found fragments of Phoenician or Punic bowls dating to the 7th and early 6th centuries BC, but it is possible that such early items were imported by trade rather than being evidence of occupation. The settlement along the banks of the Bou Regreg was known as Shalat (Punic: 𐤔𐤏𐤋𐤕, šʿlt; compare Hebrew סלע, rock), which appears to derive from the Punic word for "rock".
By the first century BC the local inhabitants were still writing in the neo-Punic language but the region came under the influence of Rome. At this time the area was occupied by the ancient Berber Mauretanian Kingdom. Under its last two rulers, Juba II and Ptolemy, the Mauretanian kingdom became a client state of Rome. Some relics from the time of these two kings have been discovered at Chellah. After the death of Ptolemy in 40 AD the region was annexed by Rome and became the province of Mauretania Tingitana.
On this site the Romans built their own city, Sala Colonia. The Roman town was referred to as "Sala" by Ptolemy, a 2nd-century writer. Excavations have revealed that older Mauretanian structures existed on the site before Roman structures were built over them. For the Roman period, they show a substantial port city with ruined Roman architectural elements including a decumanus maximus or principal roadway, a forum and a triumphal arch. The area around the forum, excavated and visible today, was subjected to many transformations over time and the exact chronology of these is still debated. Inscriptions found on site show that the city had the status of a municipium around the mid-2nd century AD.
One of the two main Roman roads in Mauretania Tingitana reached the Atlantic through Iulia Constantia Zilil (Asilah), Lixus (Larache) and Sala Colonia. Another may have been built towards the south, from Sala to modern Casablanca, then called Anfa. The Romans had two main naval outposts on the Atlantic coast of the province: Sala Colonia, and Lixus. The port of Sala (now disappeared) was used by commercial Roman ships as a way station on their southwestward passages to Anfa and the Insula Purpuraria (Mogador island).
Sala remained linked to the Roman Empire even after the withdrawal in the 4th century of the occupying Roman legions to Tingis (Tangier) and Septem (Ceuta) in northern Mauretania Tingitana. A Roman military unit remained there until the end of the 5th century.[verification needed] Some of the major monuments of the town were abandoned around this time. The site of the large capitolium temple, for example, was turned into a cemetery and a dumping ground during the 4th century. Archaeological objects of Visigothic and Byzantine origin found in the area attest to the persistence of commercial or political contacts between Sala and Roman Europe, up to the establishment of a Byzantine presence in North Africa during the 7th century. Fragments of pottery with Christian motifs and graffiti have also been found among objects dating from the 4th to 6th centuries.
Sala began to be abandoned in the 5th century and was mostly in ruins when the Muslim Arabs arrived in the 7th century. The Byzantine governor of the area, Count Julian of Ceuta, surrendered to Uqba ibn Nafi in 683.
The area was only occupied again in the 10th century, when historical sources mention the existence of a ribat in the area. Around 1030, a new town called Salā (present-day Salé) was founded on the opposite side of the river (the north side) by the Banu 'Ashara family. After the end of the Umayyad Caliphate in Al-Andalus in the early 11th century, the Almoravids assumed control of the region and built a new ribat at the mouth of the river. This ribat was in turn destroyed and then rebuilt by their successors, the Almohads, in the mid-12th century, becoming what is now known as the Kasbah of the Udayas. The Almohad caliph Abu Yusuf Ya'qub al-Mansur (r. 1184–1199) also began construction of a vast new royal city with new walls on the site next to ancient Sala, corresponding to what is now the historic center of Rabat, but it was never finished. The town of Salā on the right bank (northern side) of the river continued to develop and during the following Marinid dynasty period (13th to 15th centuries) it grew more important than the settlements of the left bank.
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