塔菲拉勒地区的一座古老古堡, 摩洛哥 An old kasbah in the Tafilalet region, Morocco (© José Antonio Moreno/agefotostock)

塔菲拉勒地区的一座古老古堡, 摩洛哥 An old kasbah in the Tafilalet region, Morocco (© José Antonio Moreno/agefotostock)

沙海中的绿洲 An oasis in a sea of sand

Tafilalet oasis in Morocco

Tafilalet means 'jug' in the language of the ancient Amazigh people (aka Berbers), and that's surely an appropriate moniker for the largest oasis in Morocco. After the first permanent settlement of the region, Sijilmassa, was founded in 757 CE, Tafilalet became a stopping point for caravans traveling from the Niger River to Tangier on the northern tip of Morocco and the gateway to Europe.

The oasis here at Tafilalet thrives thanks to underground springs and wells, which are supplied by sandstone aquifers that can be hundreds of miles away. Surrounded by the dry sands of the Sahara, the lifegiving waters here at Tafilalet support miles of date palm groves, a major industry in North Africa. Over the centuries, several villages have sprung up in this oasis, some of them with fortified kasbahs like this one, to withstand attacks from invaders.

摩洛哥塔菲拉莱绿洲

Tafilalet在古代亚马齐格人（又名柏柏柏尔人）的语言中是“jug”的意思，这无疑是摩洛哥最大绿洲的恰当称呼。公元757年，该地区建立了第一个永久定居点Sijilmassa，塔菲拉莱成为商队从尼日尔河前往摩洛哥北端丹吉尔的停靠点，也是通往欧洲的门户。

塔菲拉勒的绿洲因地下泉水和水井而繁荣，这些泉水和水井由数百英里以外的砂岩含水层提供。塔菲拉莱的生命之水被撒哈拉沙漠的干沙所包围，支撑着数英里的椰枣林，这是北非的一个主要产业。几个世纪以来，这片绿洲中涌现出了几个村庄，其中一些村庄有像这样的设防卡斯巴，以抵御入侵者的袭击。