Bosco

Moroccan capital uncovers past while rebuilding seafront

By Agence France Presse (AFP)

Monday, February 12, 2007

Sammy Ketz

Agence France Presse

link

RABAT: The Moroccan capital of Rabat is rebuilding its seafront and in so doing uncovering a vast treasure trove of relics, artifacts and ruins. "We have made some fantastic discoveries not only for the history of Rabat but of the kingdom," archaeologist and historian Mohammad Essemmar says. Essemmar, 43, heads the heritage department of the agency in charge of redeveloping the Bouregreg valley, a watercourse linking the twin cities of Rabat and Sale.

Roman columns and capitals, 12th-century enclosing walls, Islamic ceramics and coins have emerged from the sands.

The prize discovery in the 2,500-square-meter site is the enclosing wall of the Tachfin ribat, or military camp, attached to the Oudayas casbah, dating from the 12th century and completed during the brief reign of the Almoravid dynasty's King Tachfin ben Ali (1143-1145).

The base of the wall was unearthed in late 2006, made up of the camp's two corner towers and a central tower.

"The old texts mention its existence but we did not know here it was, because at the end of fierce battles the founder of the Almohad dynasty Abdelmoumen ben Ali [1130-1163] razed the camp to build the Oudayas casbah," says Essemmar, who hold degrees from French and Moroccan universities.

"It is great, because outside Marrakesh Almoravid remains are very rare," he adds.

There have been other pleasant surprises as well. Archaeologists have uncovered a chamber that must have been used as an armory and at the end of last year found an arched passage dating from the 17th century and linking the Street of the Consuls, a famous commercial street in the medina, or old urban quarter, with the seafront.

The excavations, which have over $140,000 so far, have disrupted the plans for development work.

"For the first time, developers and archaeologists are on the same wavelength. My town-planning and architect colleagues have changed their plans to reconstitute history," says Essemmar.

Work will begin next month to restore the road to the appearance it had at the start of the Alawite dynasty, founded by Moulay Cherif (1631-1636), ancestor of the reigning monarch King Mohammad VI.

The plan to redevelop the Bouregreg estuary began in January 2006 and has six phases. It seeks to rehabilitate and transform the two banks into major tourist and urban centers.

Partner investors in the United Arab Emirates have contributed to the cost of the work, which totals $2.75 billion.

In July, a pre-dawn phone call from workmen on the site awoke Essemmar. In a creek they had found three large marble Roman columns with their capitals.

"The river has in its belly hundreds of treasures and when we drag it we shall make some terrific discoveries, because with its 2,500 years of history it is a real archaeological museum," says Essemmar.

The development agency's information officer Omar Benslimane says efficiency has to go hand in hand with heritage. "It is a building site which we have to complete, but we are certain to come across other ruins. We shall then suspend the work to call up archaeological expertise."

Wanted to edit but it was too late:

By default, there should now be a place on the right side of your taskbar that lets you choose between Arabic and English. If not, go back to where you added Arabic and click on Options. Go to Language Bar. Click on where you want it to be shown (desktop, taskbar). Also, by default, Left+Alt+Shift lets you switch between languages but this can be changed too in the same place under Key Settings.

i wanna learn how to set up arabic on my keyboard.. But i tried and couldnt figure it out.. anyone know how to do it?? Once my husband gets here.. I know He would need it to talk to his family.. And I am DYing to start typing it

Go to your Control Panel.

Go to Regional and Language Options

Click on the Languages tab

Check the box under Supplemental Language Support that says Install files for complex script and right-to-left languages (including Thai)

Above that, under Text Services and input languages, click on Details Under Installed Services you want to add an Arabic language. The difference in Arabic 101 and Arabic 101 is usually only the key that you hit to make "dhaal".

Now you buy overlays so you can see where the keys are. I order from this site because their prices are so low 4Keyboard. The diacrits are not marked on the stickers, but not everyone uses them anyway. DataCal also sells them.

You can also download many different Arabic fonts that go from simple to rather detailed. This site links to many here

Another part of the problem is those with college degrees often do not want private sector jobs because there are little protections in place. Bosses can get away with saying there is no money to pay the salary this month, demanding long hours for little wages, unsafe conditions, no medical coverage and no pension. Public sector jobs are high in demand, and some of the protests that go on center around the demand for public sector work. Meanwhile, mpre and more sectors are privatized.

A stroll through any cyber cafe in Morocco come evening hours is a pretty good give away as to why. Guys even helping other guys with what to say, with their English, etc.

2005 Stats on actual admissions from DHS

K1 listed first, K3 second

Algeria

39

30

Egypt

96

101

Iran

456

137

Iran

456

137

Iraq

188

51

Israel

86

21

Jordan

94

291

Lebanon

203

164

Libya

17

6

Morocco

194

190

Saudi Arabia

6

9

Syria

174

92

Tunisia

15

14

UAE

3

D

Yemen

7

108

d = data not available

I am so happy for you!!! Best of luck tomorrow!

Tamer also speculates that it has something to do with the surface you pray on - a lot of the mosques in egypt have hard cement floors. DH had a little one while he was in egypt, but here, he prays on our soft carpet with his soft prayer rug, so it's gone away.

It does relate to the surface. Shia often use a clay tablet to place their heads on when they pray, and this can cause the mark on the forehead. Praying on the ground (dirt) can also leave a temporary mark. Some people consider it a sign of worship (ala ashes on Ash wednesday).

I apologize for the role I played. Hopefully, the others will also take heed and drop things finally because I find it hard not to respond

Again, my apologies for any disruption to the board and to anyone whose feelings I may have hurt.

HI Everyone, just got back from the offsite managers meeting at work, it was so fun! I have a new love in life...Bocee ball!

What shoes did you end up wearing?

خمسة khamsa -- 5

next up is daal د

Ok, my first time to play...hopefully I have this right, I am just learning script which I have been pushing back on for some time now.

شكرا = thanks

Next up Khaa = خ

~Kiyah~

The Arabic word should have began with thaa rather than the English word, but I am glad you are playing. I will look for an Arabic alphabet chart because the order is hard to memorize. Even if it is not in order, we are learning, right?

jiim follows thaa so I will continue with jiim

جديد jadid - new

Next up is Haa ح

Shukran! Yes, the order is so hard to memorize, this is only one of the reasons I have put off learning script, at first glance I thought "yeah right, I'll stick to english and roman letters thank you very much!" However, I want so much to read the Quran in script, not English. I think so much is lost in the translation to English even though I am sure they make a great effort to translate as close as possble.

~Kiyah~

I kept a printout of the alphabet taped to the side of my monitor for the longest time.

Also, it isn't necessary to write the words in Arabic script. English letters is fine too!

Ok, my first time to play...hopefully I have this right, I am just learning script which I have been pushing back on for some time now.

شكرا = thanks

Next up Khaa = خ

~Kiyah~

The Arabic word should have began with thaa rather than the English word, but I am glad you are playing. I will look for an Arabic alphabet chart because the order is hard to memorize. Even if it is not in order, we are learning, right?

jiim follows thaa so I will continue with jiim

جديد jadid - new

Next up is Haa ح

تأشيرة = visa

next up thaa = ث

If you don't have Arabic script on your computer, just use transliteration. We go in order of the Arabic alphabet.

First up: alif

الأمريكية = amreekiya (America)

Next up: baa ب

All of the time I have spent in here..I'm horrible at remembering who'se SO is from where. I know that the "Jordan group" is fairly small compared to Morocco and Egypt. I was wanting to get a count of how many of our SO's are from Jordan. As far as I know there are only 6 of us....

myself

J-mag

Dollface

angelk

JayPea

and I think julianna??

I am hoping there are more of us than this......

amal

you share your spouse?

Again before i leave this blow up, no one is (forced) to reply to anything not left to respond to outreageous and offensive posts. I did come as a after the fact for alot of this but your doing it all again, attacking one person. I said it the other day its like the pot calling the kettle black, its ok for some to say subject related to ... then if someone else does, they get it from all directions. I dont think i would be doing any voteing from those that dont talk believe you me no points would be won today from the ones ive heard from. Again i have no sides and i dont have an answer but it does get old maybe one of the reason i like to stay in OT but you all were here when i came and you will be here when i leave. Now i need to work on my papers for Ahmed and thank the ones of you that commented with good wishes, hopeing soon we can get this all over with as im sure most of you are.

I think that it is one person is telling. A group of women as diverse as this, various ages, various backgrounds, various opinions, basically all seeing it the same way.

It's not like no one here hasn't been told that the way this board is perceived is different from the way they perceive themselves. The response has been to character assasinate the messengers.

Uhhhhh, this applies to you.

Another expected and predictable tirade by you. Will it ever end? You are one of the BIGGEST PROBLEMS of this forum with your unrelentlessness and arrogance. You say you don't care about us yet you squawk and squawk and squawk. You best buddies are those who also felt hurt by the abnormal and gross thing. You complain about multiple threads and accuse us of being a clique. Are you calling out Charles for bumping up three old ones today?

Guess what, everyone else's PM boxes are full of people complaining about you. Shall we get into whose getting more PM's contest? You are one of the biggest reasons friendly faces move away... they are put off by your gloom and doom messages of the clique and incessant rants.

Your diatribes are old. Nearly everyone is sick of it but your "clique" (denial denial denial). You have said it about 100 times. You can add perseveration to your accomplishments.

If this could be put to vote, you would overwhelming be voted "off the island", so quit your delusions.

ETA: Maybe it is time for those who have been mainly silent on the board but vocal off the board about SZ-GEG to speak their minds so she can get a reality check.

It's funny that you should mention ugly. A wise woman said something to me yesterday that I told her I was going to steal. She said that this place was supposed to be a site where there was "friendship and helping each other through the good bad and the ugly. Apparently they got stuck on ugly!!!!"

I concur. Something in LebaneseMama's post made me think. Not to single her out, but I'll bet this is true of many. She said that there are people here she's not fond of, but they don't know it because she doesn't like to start drama. Well, I wonder how many people have decided to dislike someone even without knowing more about them than what they see posted here? Seems like a superficial way to decide whom to like and whom not to like. That's how you get cliques of people who agree on a lot of things, but know few if any people who are not so much like them. While it's tru that people are generally attracted to people whom are like them, postings on a message board is no way to discern what a person is really like, especially if they only post on sunshine topics, or if they are among those who are picked on and have to shout back a lot.

My PM box is full of people who feel rejected, betrayed, puzzled, and hassled by folks on this board. Some speak their peace in public, and some hunker down and say nothing. There are all types here, but we surely segregate ourselves on thin grounds. So, too, with the daily threads; they're just a manifestation of what is being felt. I look for a friendly face to be with. The friendly faces are moving away.

down with the clique (you tube)

Well it's automatic when you hit reply and it just snowballs from there. I know what you mean it can be annoying.

yeah

Totally.

I fully agree.

I concur.

Don't you guys agree that its great that we all agree?

We're all part of the cabal. Of course we agree

Right, did the jackets come in yet?

this thread rocks - wool or no wool...... but the red sheep is cool - cooler than the black sheep!

Maybe the red sheep can be our cabal mascot?

Now we just need a cabal theme song :dance:

Not sure what you think I am thinking, buuuuuuut the 3 times I have visited that site I remember catching some *familiar* and unique names that I see here on VJ too... But really I donnot think it matters. (If you were I was talking about you, OPer, or Private ...I was not)

But as I far as the validity of that site. I think it is more of a chat forum discussing issues that may have some conncection to religion, then a site for information.

I agree, and some off-the-wall discussions at that.

I think some members here use or have used beliefnet. Private maybe?

Well I donnot know about that. But I found VJ from a post on Belief.net back in May 2006. Someone forwarded me some thread from their and i checked the site out. I remember some names there from here, so...

I think some members here use or have used beliefnet. Private maybe?

are you thinking what I think your thinking

No song... but then again, it has been questioned whether I have a romantic bone in my body