Africa Blog

Morocco

Pre Colonial:

The earliest well-known Moroccan independent state was the Berber Kingdom of Mauretania under King Bocchus I. This Berber Kingdom of Mauretania, currently northern Morocco, dates at least to 110 BC. In 788, Moorish dynasties began to rule in Morocco. In the 16th century, the Sa'adi monarchy, particularly under Ahmad AL-MANSUR (1578-1603), repelled foreign invaders and inaugurated a golden age.

Colonial:

In 1900 France and Italy made a secret agreement assigning Morocco to France and Libya  to Italy. In 1902 a similar arrangement between France and Spain provides for the proposed division between them of Moroccan territory. In 1904 France and Britain make a pact: Britain will allow France freedom of action in Morocco in return for France's acceptance of Britain's role in Egypt. Meanwhile, Morocco is still evidently an independent ruled country , although inefficiently, by its own Alaouite dynasty of sultans. Morocco became a French protectorate in 1912.

Independence:

In 1956, after 44 years of occupation, Morocco regained independence from France and Spain as the "Kingdom of Morocco". Five years later, Hassan II begins a 38-year reign as the king of Morocco. Then in 1976, the UN entrusts the Western Sahara to joint administration by Morocco and Mauritania. Morocco annexes the Mauritanian part of the Western Sahara, thus taking control of the entire region three years later.

Present Day:

Under King Mohammed VI, who in 1999 succeeded his father to the throne, human rights have improved. This month, Morocco, the only North African country that has no oil or gas of its own, approved creation of an agency to ensure nuclear plant safety, helping advance slow-moving plans for its first nuclear reactors. Nuclear reactors are machines that convert energy stored in atoms into heat or electricity.

Interesting:

There are several interesting facts about Morocco. Did you know that Morocco is the only African country that is presently not a member of the ‘African Union’? (I didn't.) In addition, the University in Fes, founded in 859 AD, claims to be the oldest university in the world. Another interesting fact is that the full Arabic name of Morocco is ‘Al-Mamlaka al-Maghribiya’, which translates to ‘The Western Kingdom’. Also, Morocco is the 12^th richest country in Africa. Lastly, Morocco is one of the eleven countries that's apart of Epcot's World Showcase at Disney World.

Sources:

http://lifestyle.iloveindia.com/lounge/facts-about-morocco-1662.html

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/mo.html

http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ac97

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90777/90854/7258138.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morocco

Creation Myths

              All of the creations have similarities that recur throughout the three stories. For example they all have some sort of god-like person who the myths revolve around, even though these creation myths come from all different places in the world. Other similarities are how the people are made from clay/nature, “people” form into the sky and earth, all stories start with “In the beginning…”.

              Making things with clay is a recurring point (theme) throughout some creation myths. The clay is usually used to make living things. For example in the Inuit creation, sheep were made from clay as well as fish,birds, a bear and other animals. A woman was made also to accompany man. Also the Chinese creation myth people were made with clay.  In other myths, people were made from nature.Such as, in the Inca creation people were made from stone. In the Norse creation myth, the people were made from trees. In the Mayan creation myth, people were made out of corn paste. From the other stories I've read, for example the Egyptian creation myth, people were made from tears and in the Babylonian creation myth people were made from bones of monsters and they were covered in flesh.

              In several stories, the sky and the earth are made by people. In the Maori creation myth, Rangi was the sky and Papa was the earth. In the Egyptian creation there is Nut the sky and Geb the earth. In the Norse creation myth Ymir's body formed the earth, "His blood became the sea, his flesh became the land, his bones the mountains and his hair the trees.... his skull formed the sky, held up by four towering pillars." In the Babylonian creation myth, after Tiamat dies, Marduk raised up half of her body to the heavens to form the sky and the other half to form the earth.

              A lot of the stories I've read all start out pretty much the same. Here are a couple examples: "Before the world had a true form...", "In the beginning...", "Before the beginning of time...", "Before anything had a name, before there was firm ground or sky or the sun and moon...".  All of these beginnings of stories pretty much sound/are the same. They all have the same meaning which is the beginning of time. In conclusion, these are some of the similarities between creation myths that are from all over the world.