Origin: Moorish Ulat Delim (Western Sahara, Morocco)

Local name:
MŻo/A/3993 – camel saddle pad: lebda (mey)
MŻo/A/3995 – camel saddle:rahla (mey)

 Dating: mid 20th century

 Dimensions:

MŻo/A/3993: length 66.5 cm, width 34.5 cm, depth 4.5 cm
MŻo/A/3995: height 52 cm, width 57 cm, depth 40.5 cm

Material:

MŻo/A/3993: leather, factory made fabric
MŻo/A/3995: leather, wood

Techniques: leatherworking, carpentry

Acquired by: Adam Rybinski,
MŻo/A/3993: shop, Dakhla (Morocco), 2000
MŻo/A/3995: shop, Dakhla (Morocco), 2000

Description:

The term Moors(Mauri) is an exoethnonym came from the Latin word Mauri, derived from the name of the historical and geographical land of Mauritania - today these are the areas of Mauratnia, Algeria and Morocco. This name was given by the Romans to the Berbers inhabiting the African Roman province. Some researchers derive the name of the Moors from the history and culture of a small kingdom of the Numidian Maure people, existing in the 3rd century BC in today's Morocco [Brett, Fentress 1997]. In medieval Europe, the term Mauri was used to describe the Muslim inhabitants of the Iberian Peninsula, who until the end of the 15th century formed a state in the area of today's Andalusia (Spain). Today, the name is used to refer to the white rice or mulatto people living in Mauritania and the southern part of Algeria and Morocco.

The saddle and the saddle pad are a complete set for riding a camel. The basic raw material from which they are made is leather in a natural light color. A colorful geometric ornament is visible on the pad - mostly red with small green additions. The saddle is decorated with a simple black and red pattern only on the characteristic front pommel visible while riding.

These items were bought in a shop in Dakhla - a city in southern Morocco, on a peninsula on the Atlantic Ocean, nowadays known for its growing tourism, however it would be difficult to call them tourist souvenirs. A. Rybiński found them not at the exhibition, hidden in the corner of the shop, out of the interest of tourists, mostly surfers. The large dimensions of the saddle make it difficult to transport, the pad seems to be easier in this respect - however, it is not very attractive as equipment for the apartments of Europeans, who dominate among tourists visiting this region.

Local names given in Hassaniya, a language spoken in Mauritania.

Bibliography:

Brett Michael, Elizabeth Fentress, 1997, The Berbers, Willey-Blackwell.

 Edited by Lucjan Buchalik

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The purchase is co-financed by the Ministry of Culture, National Heritage and Sport as part of the National Institute of Museums and Collections' own program "Expansion of museum collections".