The Kasbah of Ait Ben Haddou

Morocco 1997

It took me a while to get the hang of saying “Ait Ben Haddou“. I kept getting Haddou mixed up with the word ‘howdy’ and caught myself saying ‘howdy-do’ on several occasions. Embarrassing. Now, I’ve got it. It’s easier when you know that Ait means tribe and Ben Haddou is the name of the tribe. 

 The Kasbah is rather like a fortified village. Many mud castle-like structures provide apartments for families and shelter for animals. Heavy gates and high walls surround and protect the entire structure. Inside are mosques, shops and homes.  There’s also a synagogue at Ait Ben Haddou and I was told that Jews come to celebrate certain holy days there. I don’t know if it is true, but at one time many Berbers were Jews.

Only a few families live in the kasbah now. Last time I visited there were six families. You could visit them in their home and take tea. It was expected that you would leave some money. It’s a lovely opportunity to see how these families live. I’ll show those photos one day.

The Berbers even now are conscious of tribal allegiance. Each area is known for the tribe that inhabits it. And tribal members can tell by looking at a person if they belong or not. The family I used to help was the only family in their village who was of a different tribe and they were looked down upon. They were always referred to by their tribal name and they introduced themselves the same way saying, ” I am  Ayub, the son of the (tribal name) carpet seller.”

Contact www.adventureswithali.com for your own visit to Kasbah Ait Ben Haddou.