Mysterious El Jadida Amazigh tombstone may date back to pre-Islamic era
The tombstone with Tifinagh inscriptions that was found close to El Jadida is pre-Islamic, according to a recent report from the National Institute of Archaeology and Heritage Sciences (INSAP).
Following widespread criticism of the story relic’s veracity, research is still being done to further clarify the stone’s precise dating.
The institution insisted in a statement that a commission of the Regional Directorate of Cultural Heritage and the El Jadida provincial authorities had been fully mobilized for this purpose.
Aboulkacem Chebri, an archaeologist and the director of the Center for Studies and Research on Moroccan-Lusitanian Heritage, told MAP that because the team hasn’t found the discovery site, it’s been challenging for them to conduct their in-depth investigation.
Abdelaziz El-Khayari, an expert in ancient Amazigh languages who works for INSAP in North Africa, deciphered the texts, which gave us “the chance to revisit our history.”
In its statement, INSAP noted that it was based on El-examination Khayari’s of photographs and emphasized that the tombstone had funerary inscriptions written on it in Libyques and in a vertical line.
These are the ancient Amazigh scripts that gave rise to the modern tifinagh.
The writing is similar to other inscriptions previously found in the areas of Ain Jamaa (southwest of Casablanca), Sidi El Arbi (suburb of Mohammedia), Nkhila (Settat region), and Souk Jamaa (Maaziz), according to the institute.
The Libyan or Punic inscriptions, which are typically Amazigh, date back to a few centuries before Christ, Aboulkacem Chebri emphasized to MAP.
Any new discovery, according to the expert, “reveals new discoveries from these centuries less known to historians and archaeologists.”
The regions that were not under Roman occupation are still not well known,” he continued.
In order to advance the investigations, he therefore pleaded with those who have revealed the discovery to provide a location.
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