Going back in time (a bit of history )

It's probably fair to say that things are not particularly well signposted in Morocco. Unless you read Arabic. We rely a lot on Google maps to get around and find those places we want to see but have almost no idea as to where they may be. A case in point is the musée Archéologique. Not a million miles from the Catholic Cathedral,  its nonetheless hidden up a sidestreet.

Well hidden it may be but finding it is just the start. The security guard will escort you through the metal detector before reaching the reception desk to pay the small entrance fee.

The building dates from the 30s and has a pleasing art deco feel, even better for having been recently renovated. The entrance room is dominated by a statue of, I think, Ptolemy who was king of Mauretania ( Morocco) he was the son of Juba II and Cleopatra Selene, who was assasinated by the Roman emperor Caligula.

The statue dates from AD 25-40.

The other exhibits are prehistoric and reflect the cultures from the region dating from 40,000 to 20,000 BC and include some of the only burial ( human ) remains discovered at Dar es Soltane and el Harhoura.

There are also some childrens remains which although little disturbing at first do show how humans have shown great reverence and respect for the dead.

The museum continues on galleries above slowly taking you through history. There are atifacts on tbe upper galleries from Sala-Chella, which we would look around that afternoon. The quality of the finds was outstanding.

There were ceramics and fine jewellery along with more domestic artifacts. The coins were particularly fine and there were magnifying glasses available to see the extraordinary detail.

I was very taken by this piece of Islamic art. Its an Astrolabe, a precursor to the sextant of which we have two examples aboard Dark Tarn. The engraving on tbe backplate is exquisite, the readings are indicated and read from the small horns on tbe rotating section. Used for measuring the amplitude and azimuth of astral bodies for navigation.

Another room on the ground floor holds a fabulous collection of pre-islamic ( Roman ) finds from mainly Volubilis but also Sala, mogador, Balasa and Themusida. There are some major bronze sculptures that are simply fabulous.

Behind the sculptures above is a map of Volubilis. The large bronzes within are of fabulous quality.

Volubilis must have been a real treasure trove. As even the small statues of various gods, an everyday item for a personal altar are wonderful. Beautifully worked and detailed, some look they were made yesterday.

Below is a bronze of Hercules defeating the minotaur.

After the museum we wandered up to the big Mosque on Avenue Mohammed V. Carrying on for a fair way past the Royal Palace and associated government buildings led us outside the old city walls and to the even older walls of the Chella Necropolis.

This encloses tbe tomb and mosque of Abou Yacoub Youseff. It is approached from tbe only southern gate in the city ramparts the Bab Zaer.

The imposing Alomad gate is flanked by two towers, an iscription with the builders name, Abou el Hassan and a date 1339.

Unfortunately our visit co-incided with a price policy change which meant that as non Moroccans ( estrangers) the price rose from 10 dirhams to 70 dirhams. And the price increae had been implemented THAT DAY!

Ah well.

The first remains to appear within the walls
are the rebuilt ruins of the Roman settlement of Sale Colonia.

Off to the right in this photo is the mauselum and mosque partly built over tbe Roman remains. The minaret still stands and is one of the favoured nesting spots for a large colony of Storks who now inhabit the site.

This was a temple of Saturn.

And this is the view from the forum.

Here are typical Roman arches filled in with islamic geometric patterned ceramics.

There are thankfully some shady and cool gardens to explore. But strangely no sign of a souvenir shop or café!

Some stuff just seems to be lying around.

There are of course the omnipresent security guards armed with tbe Moroccan tool of obedience , the whistle.......

I got into trouble and was whistled at for getting too close to this hypercaust, early Roman central heating, although why you would need it is a bit beyond me. On the day we were tbere the temperature was over 30 degrees.

Considering its just outside a capital city its very peaceful. Not even contrails in the sky.

This is the prayer floor in the mosque.

This was taken from the tomb and shows the Storks colonising every available spot.

Of course every chance we got we went back to the gardens to cool off!

This appears to be a Roman bath incorporated into the mosque ( washing is an important precursor to prayer)

This shows the elaboratly decorated back of the tomb of possibly the wife of the " Black Sultan" he was from Numibia. She was a converted christian who was known as  " The light of the dawn" which is quite nice.

There is a pool of eels which are said to aid fertility if you feed them eggs, actually we never saw any, but as usual there were lots and lots of cats.

They are not just tolerated but are a fixture of virtually every public space in Morocco.

We had had a big hot day of history. Now it waz time for a swim, after of course that long walk back.