THE BOOK OF
أرفود
History, places, people, culture and food of Erfoud, told by two Moroccans.
CHAPTER I
Gateway to Erg Chebbi and a town of dates, Erfoud grew in the 20th century as a garrison post in the heart of the Tafilalet. It is also the capital of Moroccan fossils, cut from limestone hundreds of millions of years old.
CHAPTER II
Erfoud lies in the Tafilalet palm grove, Morocco's largest oasis, watered by the Ziz river. About twenty kilometres south lie the ruins of Sijilmassa, a great caravan city from the 8th to the 14th century, and Rissani, cradle of the Alaouite dynasty.
The area belongs to the territory of the Amazigh Ait Atta tribe and to the ksour of the Tafilalet, where Arabs, Amazighs, Haratin and, formerly, many Jewish families have lived for centuries.
The modern town was born under the French protectorate in the 1920s, as a military and administrative post to control the Tafilalet, which resisted conquest until 1932. The authorities encouraged its growth, and several hundred Jews from neighbouring ksour, mainly El Maadid, settled here.
In 1931 Erfoud had 3,534 inhabitants, 1,172 of them Jewish, a third of the population. The town was a base of the Abuhatzeira family, a dynasty of revered rabbis including the famous Baba Sali. After independence in 1956 most Jewish families emigrated, mainly to Israel.
Erfoud lives from dates, celebrated each autumn by a festival, and from Tafilalet fossils, cut and polished in its workshops. Its landscapes have been the set for many films: "The Mummy" (1999), whose Hamunaptra set was built in an old volcano near the town, "The Four Feathers" (2002), "Prince of Persia" (2010) and "Spectre" (2015), shot at Gara Medouar.
In February 2013 the Austrian Space Forum ran a month-long simulated Mars mission here, with spacesuits and rovers, because the nearby desert resembles Martian ground.
CHAPTER III
757
Sijilmassa, the great caravan city of the Tafilalet, is founded nearby (Rissani).
1900–1930
The modern town grows around a French garrison.
CHAPTER IV
1
You can watch the stone being sawn and polished; always ask whether a trilobite is genuine or reconstructed.
2
An old fort on the hill, overlooking the palm grove and, on clear days, the dunes.
3
A few kilometres away, a large fortified earthen village that is still lived in.
CHAPTER V
Every autumn, after the harvest, Erfoud celebrates its dates with music, dancing and markets.
The Erfoud Date Festival (October) celebrates the harvest of millions of date palms — one of Morocco's most authentic agricultural festivals. Fossil workshops demonstrate the extraction and polishing of trilobites and ammonites from the black marble — the region is a world-class paleontological site.
CHAPTER VI
Filalis are proud to come from the cradle of the Alaouites. Arabs, Amazighs and Haratin live from dates, fossils and tourism; families gather in the palm-grove ksour.
Tafilalet darija has its own accent, and Tamazight is spoken in the surrounding villages.
CHAPTER VII
CHAPTER VIII
Allow 1–2 days to see Erfoud without rushing. That is the length we use in our itineraries.
The best months for Erfoud are October, November, March and April.
Per person per day, accommodation included: about $30 on a budget, $70 mid-range and $160 for a luxury stay.
CTM buses from Fes (8h), Ouarzazate (5h), Marrakech (9h). Grand taxis to Merzouga (45 min).
The must-sees of Erfoud: Fossil workshops, Sijilmassa ruins, Merzouga dunes and Date Festival (October).
To taste in Erfoud: Khobz, Moroccan mint tea, Oranges with cinnamon and Msemen.
The best areas to stay: City center.
Yes, Erfoud welcomes many travellers every year. The precautions are those of any tourist destination: watch your belongings in crowds, politely turn down unofficial guides, agree on a taxi fare before getting in.
Yes, Erfoud is easy to visit with children.
To go further and check what we write.
