3rd century BCE – 7th century
Western Maghreb between the Atlantic and the Mulucca
The Mauri were one of three broad groups used by Greek and Roman authors to classify the non-Phoenician inhabitants of the Maghreb. They occupied the western zone between the Atlantic coast and the Mulucca, or Moulouya. Their society, like that of neighboring Numidian populations, was dominated by semi-nomadic pastoralism while also including settled communities and regular agriculture. Their territory was associated with the names Maurousia and later Mauretania.
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The Story
Greek and Roman authors referred to many individual tribes in the Maghreb, but for the period under discussion they generally organized non-Phoenician populations into three principal groups. The Mauri occupied the western zone, extending between the Atlantic and the Mulucca, identified with the Moulouya. Their territory was called Maurousia in an earlier usage and Mauretania in a later one.
The Mauri were not defined simply by a wholly nomadic way of life. The passage places them within a broader Maghrebian pattern in which semi-nomadic pastoralism predominated, but areas of sedentary settlement and regular agriculture already existed. These settled forms of life continued to increase, suggesting a landscape in which mobility, cultivation and permanent communities coexisted.
The passage also stresses that there was no essential difference between the inhabitants of Mauri territory and the Numidae to the east. Both regions shared comparable cultural and economic patterns, and Mauretania maintained fairly close contact with southern Spain, where similar cultures existed. The classical names therefore reflect ancient schemes of classification rather than sharply bounded cultural divisions.
3rd century BCE – 7th century
Western Maghreb between the Atlantic and the Mulucca
The Mauri were one of three broad groups used by Greek and Roman authors to classify the non-Phoenician inhabitants of the Maghreb. They occupied the western zone between the Atlantic coast and the Mulucca, or Moulouya. Their society, like that of neighboring Numidian populations, was dominated by semi-nomadic pastoralism while also including settled communities and regular agriculture. Their territory was associated with the names Maurousia and later Mauretania.
Continue exploring
The Story
Greek and Roman authors referred to many individual tribes in the Maghreb, but for the period under discussion they generally organized non-Phoenician populations into three principal groups. The Mauri occupied the western zone, extending between the Atlantic and the Mulucca, identified with the Moulouya. Their territory was called Maurousia in an earlier usage and Mauretania in a later one.
The Mauri were not defined simply by a wholly nomadic way of life. The passage places them within a broader Maghrebian pattern in which semi-nomadic pastoralism predominated, but areas of sedentary settlement and regular agriculture already existed. These settled forms of life continued to increase, suggesting a landscape in which mobility, cultivation and permanent communities coexisted.
The passage also stresses that there was no essential difference between the inhabitants of Mauri territory and the Numidae to the east. Both regions shared comparable cultural and economic patterns, and Mauretania maintained fairly close contact with southern Spain, where similar cultures existed. The classical names therefore reflect ancient schemes of classification rather than sharply bounded cultural divisions.