Ksar or qsar (
Maghrebi Arabic:
قصرqṣer or ڭصر gser, plural qṣur;
Berber: ⵉⴴⵔⵎ aghrem or ighrem, plural: igherman), plural ksars, qsars, ksour or qsour, is a type of fortified village in North Africa, usually found in the regions predominantly or traditionally inhabited by
Berbers (Amazigh people).[1][2]
Related terms
The origin of the
Maghrebi Arabic term qsar is
qaṣar (قَصَر) in
Standard Arabic, which means "castle" or "palace".[3] It was probably loaned from Latin castrum.[1] The
Berber (Amazigh) word for "ksar" used in North Africa by the Berber-speaking populations is ighrem (singular) or igherman (plural), denoting a "fortified village," or "fort".[1]
Ksour in the Maghreb typically consist of attached houses, often having collective
granaries known as a ghorfa or agadir and other structures like a
mosque,
bath, oven, and shops. Ksour / igherman are widespread among the
oasis populations of
North Africa. Ksars are sometimes situated in mountain locations to make defense easier; they often are entirely within a single, continuous wall. The
building material of the entire structure is normally
adobe, or cut stone and adobe. The idea of the ksar as a granary is a confused notion of two things, the granary itself, found within a ksar, and the ksar, which is a village, normally with granaries within it. Ksars form one of the main manifestations of
Berber architecture.
^Wehr, Hans; Cowan, J. M. A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic (Third ed.). Ithaca, N.Y.: Spoken Language Services. p. 768.
^Binous, Jamila; Baklouti, Naceur; Ben Tanfous, Aziza; Bouteraa, Kadri; Rammah, Mourad; Zouari, Ali (2010). "X.6 Chénini (of Tataouine)".
Ifriqiya: Thirteen Centuries of Art and Architecture in Tunisia. Islamic Art in the Mediterranean (2nd ed.). Museum With No Frontiers & Ministry of Culture, the National Institute of Heritage, Tunis. p. 269.
ISBN9783902782199.