THE QASR

This stump has the specificity of never having suffered destruction, even from the Ottomans who destroyed or damaged many of them in the heights of Jebel Nefousa. It is therefore one of the few whose activity lasted very long, after the old village that surrounds it was deserted, and its guardian was paid for a long time by weight of barley. Still in service in the 1980 s, its activity has steadily decreased since, as the generation of the village's elders turned off.

The villagers included, in particular, wheat and barley from fields that they were labouraient during the rainy periods and harvested in the beautiful days in the Plaine plain where they were paître their herds.

In our passage, only five ghorfa were in use. It is now mainly a tourist site that was redesigned for visitors four years ago: a small fountain and toilets were even installed on the esplanade before the stump. Its facade as well as some houses in the old village have benefited from renovations, and about ten paid guards, inhabitants of the village, are coded to accommodate visitors: The courtyard at the entrance to the site is the place of choice of the village elders for discussions around tea. There is sometimes a t-shirt "Qasr el-Hajj" sold for 5 DL. Notice to amateurs!

In the lobby, or skifa, vaulted at the entrance to the stump, two niches shelter a small collection of objects from the daily life of the former villagers and the stump, including barley grains preserved in the stump since 1968. When the stump worked full, it was where the inhabitants deposited their property titles, business accounts sheets, and other important documents or items, like a common safe, when they left the Basin plain. At the time of foundations, this is where you read the Koran or rest.

Particularities of Nineveh el-Hajj. The Qasr el-Hajj is built in the plain and not in the mountains which constituted as many defensive positions against the robbers on the lookout for food kept in those buildings. He was very exposed, however, and was defended by the watchtower that had been arranged in his surroundings. The back of the stump was protected by the Wadi Jeyf (water valley in the season).

This stump also has the characteristics of regular height (some tornadoes present raised niches relative to others) and circular (others are rectangular). It is constructed of cemented limestone stone with a mixture of sand and lime. Finally, it is the only one where you can find a row of stairs on the north side, from which we have a very beautiful view over the mountains.

According to the oral tradition, the founder of the trialogue, as well as his population, would not have been of Berber origin but Arabic (although probably coming from a predominantly Berber region) contrary to the other reconstructions of Jebel Nefousa. In any case, it was found that the village was inhabited by a Muslim population of Sunni Sunni rituals and Arabic language and writing, and not by ibadite rite and Berber language and writings, such as the Berbers of the mountains. This faith belongs to the origin of the foundation of the trialogue. It was probably built in the th century on the initiative of Sheir Abdallah Abu Jatla from Saguiet el-Hamra (South Moroccan) and who had carried out the pilgrimage of Mecca (Qasr el-Hajj means «castle of the one who made the pilgrimage of Mecca»).

Oral history reports that the attic consists of 114 ghorfa, these small niches with palm wood doors (some still in place) where families kept food from their agricultural work: oil, wheat, barley, dates, figs and flour (see box). The founder's founder, therefore, would have built as many ghorfa as verses in the Koran. It would therefore be in more recent times than new ghorfa were added, as the first level of ghorfa in basement or split, for a total of 150 ghorfa. The Haj Abu Jatla built a mosque and a Koranic school in front of the stump. The activities of Koranic schools allowed for the maintenance of the mosque and those of the prefects storing food, covering the expenses of Koranic school. According to tradition, at the death of the founder, his descendants and their families répartirent the different ghorfa.

By leaving the stump, we will notice the small gaps in the facade used to renew the air to preserve the grain conservation. On the right, we will visit the small traditional houses that have been renovated. Note the vaulted ceilings, which also served as a basket for food. The stump is surrounded by the ruins of the houses of the old village. Each neighborhood corresponded to a different tribe. Although the oral tradition reports that the inhabitants of Nineveh el-Hajj were of Arab and non-Berber origin, the arrangement is typical of the Berber villages in Jebel Nefousa, which were present at the foot of the stump in order to benefit from attacks, notice, in particular, the arcades that still rely directly on the eastern side of the stump. The decorations found in the old houses (feet or hands for example) are also common with those of the ancient Berber villages in jebel. In the th century, it was also found in this ancient village of cave houses.

It will be noted that the houses surround the stump except on the side facing its doorway. Thus, space was left empty between the stump and the Koranic school (zawiya) of the origins, now the marabout of Haj Abdullah Abu Jatla, whose little green dome on the other side of the site was seen. The founding Hajj was buried there and his wife.

You can't visit the marabout, but you can see on the east side of the old village two tombs side by side in a courtyard, which are those of a pious man and his wife. At the end of the eastern part of the village, there is a small palm grove on the other side of the village. Previously, many more and maintained palm dates around the village were part of the crops stored in the stump.