Volubilis is famous for its mosaics and its bronze statues, but its medieval past is much less well known. In this lecture,
Dr. Elizabeth Fentress, Archaeologist, Honorary Visiting Professor at University College London and creator of Fasti Online discusses findings from excavations carried out between 2000 and 2005 by the Moroccan Institut National des Sciences de l'Archéologie et du Patrimoine and University College London. Seeking to understand the medieval period, during which we know that
Idris I, the founder of the
Idrisid dynasty, was based at the site then known as Walili, the excavations revealed two remarkable building complexes, both of the late eighth century. One was a Berber town, with stone-built, rectangular houses, and the other the headquarters of Idris, composed of large courtyard structures built around one of the earliest bath buildings, or hammams, in North Africa. This podcast describes the excavations in detail, and concentrates on the differences between those two communities.