# Essouk > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Essouk > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Essouk.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essouk > Source revision: 1202602518 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Commune and village in Mali}} {{Infobox settlement |name = Essouk |official_name = |other_name = |native_name = {{lang|ar|السوق}} |nickname = |settlement_type = [Commune](/source/Communes_of_Mali) and village |total_type = |motto = |translit_lang1= |translit_lang1_type= |translit_lang1_info= |translit_lang1_type1= |translit_lang1_info1= |translit_lang1_type2= |translit_lang1_info2= |image_skyline = |imagesize = |image_caption = |image_flag = |flag_size = |image_seal = |seal_size = |image_shield = |shield_size = |image_blank_emblem = |blank_emblem_type = |blank_emblem_size = |image_map = |mapsize = |map_caption = |image_map1 = |mapsize1 = |map_caption1 = |image_dot_map = |dot_mapsize = |dot_map_caption = |dot_x = |dot_y = |pushpin_map = Mali |pushpin_label_position = |pushpin_map_caption =Location within [Mali](/source/Mali) |pushpin_mapsize =300 |subdivision_type = Country |subdivision_name = {{flag|Mali}} |subdivision_type1 = [Region](/source/Regions_of_Mali) |subdivision_name1 = [Kidal Region](/source/Kidal_Region) |subdivision_type2 = [Cercle](/source/Cercles_of_Mali) |subdivision_name2 = [Kidal Cercle](/source/Kidal_Cercle) |seat_type = |seat = |parts_type = |parts_style = |parts = |p1 = |p2 = |government_footnotes = |government_type = |leader_title = |leader_name = |leader_title1 = |leader_name1 = |leader_title2 = |leader_name2 = |leader_title3 = |leader_name3 = |leader_title4 = |leader_name4 = |established_title = |established_date = |established_title1 = |established_date1 = |established_title2 = |established_date2 = |established_title3 = |established_date3 = |founder = |named_for = |area_magnitude = |unit_pref = |area_footnotes = |area_total_km2 = |area_land_km2 = |area_water_km2 = |area_total_dunam = |area_total_sq_mi = |area_land_sq_mi = |area_water_sq_mi = |area_water_percent = |area_urban_km2 = |area_urban_sq_mi = |area_metro_km2 = |area_metro_sq_mi = |area_blank1_title = |area_blank1_km2 = |area_blank1_sq_mi = |elevation_footnotes = |elevation_m = |elevation_ft = |elevation_max_m = |elevation_max_ft = |elevation_min_m = |elevation_min_ft = |population_as_of =2009 |population_footnotes ={{citation|url=http://instat.gov.ml/documentation/kidal.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722220031/http://instat.gov.ml/documentation/kidal.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2011-07-22 |publisher=République de Mali: Institut National de la Statistique |title=Resultats Provisoires RGPH 2009 (Région de Kidal) |language=fr }}. |population_note = |population_total =2383 |population_density_km2 = |population_density_sq_mi = |population_metro = |population_density_metro_km2 = |population_density_metro_sq_mi = |population_urban = |population_density_urban_km2 = |population_density_urban_sq_mi = |population_blank1_title = |population_blank1 = |population_density_blank1_km2 = |population_density_blank1_sq_mi = |timezone = [GMT](/source/Greenwich_Mean_Time) |utc_offset = +0 |timezone_DST = |utc_offset_DST = | coor_type = |coordinates = {{coord|18|45|N|1|10.5|E|region:ML|display=inline,title}} |postal_code_type = |postal_code = |website = |footnotes = }} thumb|right|305px|Trade routes of the Western Sahara c. 1000–1500. Essouk is shown as Tadmekka. Goldfields are indicated by light brown shading. '''Essouk''' ([Arabic](/source/Arabic): {{lang|ar|السوق}} : "the market") is a [commune](/source/Communes_of_Mali) and small village in the [Kidal Region](/source/Kidal_Region) of [Mali](/source/Mali). The village lies 45 km northwest of [Kidal](/source/Kidal) in the [Adrar des Ifoghas](/source/Adrar_des_Ifoghas) massif. The ruins of the medieval town of '''Tadmakka''' ([Arabic](/source/Arabic): {{lang|ar|تادمكة}}) lie 2 km northeast of the present village. Between the 9th and the 15th centuries Tadmekka served as an important entrepôt for the [trans-Saharan trade](/source/trans-Saharan_trade). The commune is very large in area but sparsely populated. The 2009 census recorded only 2,383 people in an area of approximately 25,000 km2.This area is given in the ''Plan de Securite Alimentaire Commune Rural'' but appears to be too large. [Kidal Cercle](/source/Kidal_Cercle) covers an area of 25,617 km2 but precise boundaries have not been established for the three [communes](/source/Communes_of_Mali) within the cercle: [Anefif](/source/Anefif), Essouk and the Urban commune of [Kidal](/source/Kidal). See: {{citation | title=Programme de renforcement des capacités nationales pour une gestion stratégique du développement (PRECAGED): Schéma d'aménagement et de développement du Cercle de Kidal | publisher=République du Mali: Ministère de l'économie programme des nations unies et des finances | year=2002 | language=fr | url=http://www.bndr-mali.org/bnn-mali/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_download&gid=1519&Itemid=53 | access-date=2011-08-21 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120317130353/http://www.bndr-mali.org/bnn-mali/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_download&gid=1519&Itemid=53 | archive-date=2012-03-17 | url-status=dead }}. The village of Essouk has only a small permanent population. The rainfall is too low for rain-fed agriculture and almost all the population in the area are nomadic [pastoralists](/source/pastoralism).{{citation | title=Plan de Securite Alimentaire Commune Rurale de Essouk 2007-2011 | publisher=Commissariat à la Sécurité Alimentaire, République du Mali, USAID-Mali | year=2007 | url=http://www.csa-mali.org/plans/kidal/Kidal/P_S_A_ESSOUK.pdf | language=fr | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120519032236/http://www.csa-mali.org/plans/kidal/Kidal/P_S_A_ESSOUK.pdf | archive-date=2012-05-19 }}. ==History== Tadmakka lies some 500 km north-east of [Timbuktu](/source/Timbuktu) in the desert heartland of the Malian Tuareg, and 45 km from the nearest town, [Kidal](/source/Kidal). Its ruins stretch over a kilometre within the Essouk valley. The town prospered between the 9th and 15th centuries as an important [entrepôt](/source/entrep%C3%B4t) for [caravans](/source/Caravan_(travellers))—a place where they could prepare for, or recover from, the hardest stretch of the [Saharan](/source/Sahara_Desert) journey. For caravans travelling south, the town served as the last stopping place before entering the [Sudan](/source/Sudan_(region)).{{sfn|Levtzion|1973|p=146}} While Timbuktu was almost unknown before the 13th century, Tadmakka was first recorded in Arabic texts in the [10th century](/source/10th_century), linked to trade with [Ghana](/source/Ghana_Empire) and [Gao](/source/Gao), the first historically documented [West African](/source/West_African) states. The earliest mention to Tadmakka is found in [Ibn Hawqal](/source/Ibn_Hawqal)'s ''Kitab Surat al-ard'' ("The Picture of the Earth" ), written in three successive versions between 967 and 988.[https://www.world-archaeology.com/features/tadmakka/ Tadmakka]. ''World Archaeology''# 39.{{harvnb|Levtzion|Hopkins|2000|p=44}}{{harvnb|Holl|2006|p=8}} However the first detailed account of the town was written by the [Spanish-Arab](/source/Al-Andalus) historian and geographer [al-Bakri](/source/al-Bakri) in his ''[Book of Routes and Realms](/source/Book_of_Roads_and_Kingdoms_(al-Bakr%C4%AB))'' which he completed in 1068:
...across the desert plain to Tādmakka, which of all the towns in the world is the one that resembles Mecca the most. Its name means "Mecca-like". It is a large town amidst the mountains and ravines and is better built than Ghāna or Kawkaw [Gao]. The inhabitants of Tādmakka are Muslim Berbers who veil themselves as Berbers of the desert do. They live on meat as well as on grain which the earth produces without being tilled. Sorghum and other grains are imported for them from the land of the Sūdān.{{harvnb|Levtzion|Hopkins|2000|p=65}}. A translation into French is available online: {{harvnb|El-Bekri|1913|p=[http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k104409x/f338.image 339]}}.
The [Andalusian](/source/Al-Andalus) geographer [al-Zuhri](/source/Muhammad_ibn_Abi_Bakr_al-Zuhri), writing in the middle of the 12th century, reported that the [Almoravids](/source/Almoravids) helped [Ghana](/source/Ghana_Empire) in a war against Tadmekka in 1083-4 and as a result Tadmekka became [Muslim](/source/Muslim).{{sfn|Levtzion|Hopkins|2000|pp=98-99}} The historian [Nehemia Levtzion](/source/Nehemia_Levtzion) pointed out that Tadmekka would have been a Muslim town well before this date and speculated that al-Zuhri may have been referring to the conversion of the population from the [Ibadi](/source/Ibadi) form of Islam to the more orthodox [Maliki](/source/Maliki) school of [Sunni Islam](/source/Sunni_Islam). Traders in Tadmekka would have had commercial links with North African towns such as [Tahert](/source/Tahert) and [Ouargla](/source/Ouargla) where there were Ibadi communities.{{sfn|Levtzion|1973|pp=45, 136-137}}{{sfn|Levtzion|Hopkins|2000|pp=94, 389 note 25}} The medieval town was spread in a north–south direction between two chains of rocky hills that run parallel to each other on either side of a [wadi](/source/wadi). The main section of the town was on the east bank and extended for 1 km by 200 m. A central section covering an area of 200 m by 100 m was built on a small island while the third section extended for 500 m by 200 m on the west bank.{{harvnb|Mauny|1961|pp=487–488}}. Page 488 has a plan of the ruins. Associated with the town are number of cemeteries. In a cemetery lying to the southwest of the town, tombstones have been discovered that have Arabic epigraphs with 11th century dates.{{sfn| Moraes Farias|1990|pp=91-105}} Rock faces on either side of the valley contain [petroglyph](/source/petroglyph)s as well as inscriptions written using either the [kufic](/source/kufic) or [tifinagh](/source/tifinagh) scripts. Some of the Arabic inscriptions include 11th century dates.{{sfn| Moraes Farias|1990|pp=91-105}} Archaeological excavations were carried out between January and March in 2005 by a team led by Sam Nixon.{{sfn|Nixon|2009|p=223}} Of the three areas of the town investigated, the most complete stratigraphic sequence was obtained at a location opposite the island on the eastern side of the wadi. A {{convert|5|x|5|m|ft|abbr=on}} area was excavated to a depth of {{convert|6.5|m|ft|abbr=on}} before undisturbed soil was reached. A series of 12 radiometric dates were obtained from carbon containing material. The four samples from the deepest levels produced a range of dates centred on middle of the 8th century while samples from the top levels gave 12th and 14th century dates.{{sfn|Nixon|2009|pp=231, 236}} It is sometimes referred to as the "cradle of [Tuareg](/source/Tuareg_people) civilization". The annual Saharan Nights festival showcases traditional Tuareg music as well as featuring various [world music](/source/world_music) performers. [Oral tradition](/source/Oral_tradition) holds that Boctou, foundress of [Timbuktu](/source/Timbuktu), was originally from Essouk. Essouk is also an important archaeological site, featuring rock carvings more than eight thousand years old. == World Heritage Status == The archaeological site was added to the [UNESCO](/source/UNESCO) [World Heritage](/source/World_Heritage) Tentative List on September 8, 1999, in the Cultural category.*{{citation | title=World Heritage Tentative List: Es-souk | year=1999 | url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/1349/ | publisher=UNESCO – World Heritage Convention | language=fr | access-date=21 Jan 2011}}. ==Notes== {{Reflist|30em}} ==References== *{{citation | last=El-Bekri | year=1913 | orig-year= 1859 | title= Description de l'Afrique septentrionale | others=[Mac Guckin de Slane](/source/William_McGuckin_de_Slane), trans. and ed. | publisher= A. Jourdan | place=Algers | language=fr | url= http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k104409x }}. *{{citation | last= Holl| first= Augustin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WCPgDwAAQBAJ&q=Tadmakka+water|title=West African Early Towns: Archaeology of Households in Urban Landscapes|publisher=University of Michigan Press|place=Ann Arbor|year=2006| isbn= 9780915703616}} *{{citation | last=Levtzion | first=Nehemia | title=Ancient Ghana and Mali | publisher=Methuen | place=London | year=1973 | isbn=0-8419-0431-6}}. Reprinted by Holmes & Meier in 1980. *{{citation | editor1-last=Levtzion | editor1-first=Nehemia | editor2-last=Hopkins | editor2-first=John F.P. | orig-year=1981 | title=Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West Africa | publisher=Marcus Weiner Press | place=New York | year=2000 | isbn=1-55876-241-8}}. *{{citation | last=Mauny | first=Raymond | year=1961 | title=Tableau géographique de l'ouest africain au moyen age, d'après les sources écrites, la tradition et l'archéologie | publisher=Institut français d'Afrique Noire | place=Dakar | language=fr | pages=487–488 }}. *{{citation | last= Moraes Farias | first= Paulo F. de | year=1990 | title= The oldest extant writing of West Africa: medieval epigraphs from Essuk, Saney, and Egef-n-Tawaqqast (Mali) | journal= Journal des Africanistes | volume=60 | issue= 2 | pages= 65–113 | url=http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/jafr_0399-0346_1990_num_60_2_2452 | doi=10.3406/jafr.1990.2452}}. Link is to a scan on the Persée database that omits some photographs of the epigraphs. Page 90 contains a map of the archaeological site. *{{citation | last=Nixon | first=Sam | year=2009 | title=Excavating Essouk-Tadmakka (Mali): new archaeological investigations of early Islamic trans-Saharan trade | journal= Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa | volume=44 | issue=2 | pages=217–244 | doi=10.1080/00671990903047595 | s2cid=163032463 }}. ==Further reading== *{{citation | last= Moraes Farias | first= Paulo Fernando de | year=2010 | title= Local Landscapes and Constructions of World Space: Medieval Inscriptions, Cognitive Dissonance, and the Course of the Niger| journal= Afriques. Débats, Méthodes et Terrains d'Histoire | volume=2 | issue= 2 | url= http://afriques.revues.org/896 | doi=10.4000/afriques.896 | access-date=23 Aug 2011 | ref=none | doi-access=free }}. *{{citation|last1=Nixon | first1=Sam | last2=Murray | first2=M.A. | last3=Fuller | first3=D.Q. | year=2011 | title=Plant use at an early Islamic merchant town in the West African Sahel: the archaeobotany of Essouk-Tadmakka (Mali) | journal=Vegetation History and Archaeobotany | volume= 20| pages= 223–239| doi=10.1007/s00334-010-0279-6|issue=3 | s2cid=140577853 | ref=none}}. == External links == *{{citation | last=Nixon | first=S. | title=Excavations at Essouk-Tadmakka (Republic of Mali): new archaeological investigations of Early Islamic trans-Saharan trade | url=http://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/aha/nixon/index.htm | publisher=University College London, Institute of Archaeology | ref=none | access-date=2008-10-08 | archive-date=2011-10-15 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111015005803/http://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/aha/nixon/index.htm | url-status=dead }}. {{Communes of the Kidal Region}} {{Authority control}} Category:Communes of Kidal Region Category:Tuareg --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Essouk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essouk) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essouk?action=history)). 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