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Alarife @alarife.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

It seems that the Algerian word qardūn, meaning a hair band used to wrap a ponytail, is of Andalusi origin. @lameensouag.bsky.social

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Alarife @alarife.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

@lameensouag.bsky.social Someone on Algeria's subreddit is asking about Korandje. Maybe you could answer some their questions.

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Alarife @alarife.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

Algerian word: يَتْشَنقْ /jatʃanəg/ In the west of the country, it means “to complain, to wine," and the east (Constantine) it is "to procrastinate; to drag one's feet.” Apparently, it is from Andalusi Arabic.

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Alarife @alarife.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

A bowl from the early 11th century, produced in Cordoba, depicting a woman sitting on a mattress while drinking. She has kohl—a type of powder eyeliner—on, and we see on her cheek a curled sidelock a hairstyle of Abbasid origins. 🧵 [1/4]

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Alarife @alarife.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

Left: A miniature of a female Mudéjar (Muslim under Christian rule) pipe and tambour player from the Cantigas de Santa Maria (c. 1270). Right: A Muslim woman from Tlemcen, western Algeria (c. 1890).

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Alarife @alarife.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

A letter written in the Algerian dialect dated to 1803 from Mustapha Pasha (r. 1798-1805) to the United States during the presidency of Thomas Jefferson. 1/2

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Alarife @alarife.bsky.social · 02/06/2025

From Spanish treatise by López de Arenas (17th c.): Candillijo "little oil lamp" Zafate harpado "harpoon-shaped Safat" Almendrilla "little almond" Zafate "tray" Calle "alleyway" Moroccan names for the same shapes: Qandīl "oil lamp" Ṣfeṭ l-Ḥarba "spear-shaped Sfet" Lūza "almond" Ṣfeṭ Zqāq "alleyway"

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Alarife @alarife.bsky.social · 18/05/2025

Mīḍaʔat As-Sulṭān "the Sultan's ablution pavilion" in Tunis b. in 1450 to serve the believers in their washing ritual before prayers. The monument’s marble paneling and two-tone decoration reflect Egyptian influences, which had already begun to spread into the Eastern Maghreb by the late 14th c.

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Alarife @alarife.bsky.social · 11/05/2025

A low-relief carving from the altarpiece of the Royal Chapel of Granada, finished in 1522, depicts the baptism of Granadan women c. 1499–1501. The women are wearing veils (Melḥafa) in white, red, pink, green, purple, and light brown, all edged with a golden border.

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Alarife @alarife.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

A fountain in the Chrabliyine district from the second quarter of the 14th C. in Fez, Morocco. Above it, an inscription of a poem, written on tiles using the sgraffito technique, where parts of the glazed surface are scratched away to create a two-tone design.

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Alarife @alarife.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

Byzantine glass mosaic above the 10th century mihrab (a niche indicating the direction of prayer) of the Great Mosque of Córdoba, now a cathedral. It is interesting that such a visually striking decoration was never reemployed in any other monument in Iberia or in North Africa.

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Alarife @alarife.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

A wing of bliss was spread over you, A green [banner] that turned the morning [light] into a sash; It flutters like the beating heart of whoever opposes you, Striking the souls whichever way it unfurls; Assuring you fortune with a triumphant bearing, So look forth to the preeminent omen of success.

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Alarife @alarife.bsky.social · 18/04/2025

In 2000, Christie's auction house sold two truncated wooden doors, alleged to be Nasrid-made from the 14th century. Despite the low-quality picture, the inconsistencies make me confident these doors are forgeries, possibly made during the 19th century.

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Alarife @alarife.bsky.social · 16/04/2025

For clarification, palaces in Al-Andalus had a formal name used in high register (official documents, poetry, inscriptions) and another for low register. Here, the formal name was Dār al-Mulk, "Palace of Sovereignty," while (supposedly) Kumāriṣ was the dialectal one, which later passed into Spanish.

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Alarife @alarife.bsky.social · 16/04/2025

An original piece from the Alhambra's Hall of Ambassadors that was removed in 1959 during conservation work on the dome. On its reverse, an inscription in Andalusi Arabic.

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Alarife @alarife.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

In Fez, the term Yšābī or Lišābī refers to a "cross lap joint," commonly used in the framework that braces an inclined roof. The singular form, Yašba, denotes each individual member that composes the joint.

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Alarife @alarife.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

Bəršla pl. Brašəl (pronounced in the old Medinas of Fez and Meknes with a voiced approximant /ɹ/) is the name given to decorative wooden sloping roofs found in rich houses, palaces and mosques. The word is from Andalusi Arabic with the Spanish lexicographer Pedro de Alcalá giving it as...

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Alarife @alarife.bsky.social · 10/04/2025

On the door’s jambs of the lookout of Linderaja in Alhambra are panels of ceramic topped by an epigraphic frieze that reads as follows: النصر والتمكين والفتح المبين لمولانا ابي عبد الله امير المسلمين Victory, empowerment, and assured triumph to our lord Abi Abd Allah, the commander of the Muslims.

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Alarife @alarife.bsky.social · 06/04/2025

@lameensouag.bsky.social Do we know if Marrakesh developed a pre-Hilalian dialect outside of its elite class?

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Alarife @alarife.bsky.social · 06/04/2025

I wouldn't call medieval Marrakesh an intellectual center comparable to Fez. Though it was the seat of two empires, which made it one of the wealthiest and most populated cities in Maghreb, this didn’t translate well into its intellectual life, remaining in the shadows of its northern sister city.

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Alarife @alarife.bsky.social · 06/04/2025

Reconstruction (plan and elevation) of a Mocárabes frieze from the palace in the Mechouar citadel, Tlemcen, Algeria.

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Alarife @alarife.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

Mihrab (prayer niche) which belonged to the citadel of Murcia, Spain. This work is attributed to the Taifa king Ibn Mardanis (1147–1172) and was found during excavations in the Church of San Juan de Dios.

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Alarife @alarife.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

A repurposed minaret from the 13th century in the Albaicin neighborhood which is today serves as the bell tower of the church of San Juan de los Reyes in Granada. 🧵Thread [1/13]

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Alarife @alarife.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

@lameensouag.bsky.social In Morocco, the horizontal part of a hip roof is called l-bṣāṭ while in Spanish the same element is called Almizate. How likely is it that the two words are derived from a supposed Andalusi "Al-biṣāṭ"?

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Alarife @alarife.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

A house patio that belongs to Bâb Alī district in the medina of Tlemcen, where the historian of Al-Andalus Al-Maqri (conventionally Al-Maqqari) is believed to have lived his early life. 📸Kossay Zaoui.

A patio with flowerpots on the ground and in the center an apricot tree, around it are horseshoe arches that create an arcade. The wall is colored in beige and topped with a frieze of roof tiles while the pillar on which the arches rest are grey. The galleries are protected from the sun by stripped curtains.

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