3 June 2023 The Future is the Product of the Past

The Mountain of Shemharus, King of the Ginn: Toubkal

Towering over the Atlas Mountains, Mount Toubkal is the highest peak in Morocco. Toubkal, the highest mountain in all of North Africa and the Arab world with its height of 4167 meters in Morocco, means “The Peak You Can See Everything” in the Berber language. According to the belief, the King of the Ginn, Sidi Shemharus, lives on this mountain.

Morocco is one of the favorite destinations of tourists with its different culture, deserts, and mountains. Among all these, the place of Sidi Shemharus, the King of the Ginn, is the most interesting and creepy. This is a pre-Islamic sanctuary located at an altitude of 2350m, 5km north of the summit of Jebel Toubkal.

Morocco is a geography where sorcery -magic works are quite common. In folk legends, Moroccan women are advised not being looked at too much into their eyes. Mount Toubkal, a few kilometers from Marrakech, is also a place that feeds on magic-related mysteries and is believed to be the place of Shemharus, the king of the Ginn.

Mount Toubkal is believed to be the place of Shemharus, the king of the ginn, who feeds on magic-related mysteries.

This mountain peak, consisting of volcanic rocks and surrounded by the Lac d’Ifni, Tizi n’Ouanoums and Tizi n’Ouagane passes, can be reached by going from Marrakech to Imlil. There are here traces of Amazig/Berber culture that has lived for thousands of years.

Tomb of the Ginn king

The most interesting legend about Toubkal; It’s about the Berbers believing that this place has always been very strongly connected with the sacred. This is considered to be the burial place of Sidi Shemharoush, the king of the Ginn.

According to their beliefs, the Ginn king Sidi Shemharus lived on the slopes of the mountain here in old times. Over time, the place where he lived was turned into a mausoleum. A small village was established at an altitude of 2350 meters just around the living area, which is symbolized by a white-painted rock.

Morocco has been a place where sorcery and magical works have had a very strong presence since pre-Islamic times. Sidi Shemharuş became a visiting place site that started before Islam and continued to exist after. This is a place that has been fully attributed to ginn since its establishment.

People have been coming here for hundreds of years to treat their unexplained ailments. Sidi Shemharoush’s presence has always been kept alive with thousands of people visiting him, taking a vow, and seeking healing.

With the arrival of Islam in Morocco, Sidi Shemharoush was seen as the “Great Genie” among the Arabs who settled there, while maintaining its positive perception among the Berbers. A masjid was built next to it to symbolize the bond between humans and jinn and to make Toubkal even more legendary.

Sidi Shemharoush is revered as a saint by many prominent figures in some parts of Morocco. His tomb was built in the pre-Islamic period. He has a kind of shrine carved under a huge rock, said to contain his remains. It was also Islamized with the mosque built after Islam.

Sidi Shemharoush is said to have a complex communication network similar to a river with a thousand branches. With this river-like net, the king’s messages were carried to the jinn in the far reaches of the world. According to belief, Shemharus is still alive in his grave.

 Those captured by the jinn are brought to this tomb for healing and the help of the sultan of the jinn is asked.

In local belief, it is said that Shemharus met the Prophet Muhammad, met with various companions, and even made pilgrimages. There are also some narratives on the subject in various Ottoman sources, especially Köprülüzade.

Shemharus, the King of the Ginn, is still very popular in Morocco. Throughout history, Morocco and Andalusia have been important centers of mysterious and mystical subjects, magic and sorcery. There are many manuscripts on this subject that are not accessible to the public in libraries in Morocco, Egypt, and Turkey.

The mountain of Shemharus, the King of the Jinn: Toubkal, has been prepared by the author Hasan Mert Kaya, who has written articles on the informational History of Religions, Urban Memory & Istanbul, Anatolia, and the Middle East.

For those who want to reach other information about the author Hasan Mert Kaya, you can visit @kayamerthasan_

Banner
Related Post

Largest Anglo-Saxon cemetery discovered in Britain illuminates ‘Dark Ages’

16 June 2022

16 June 2022

Archaeologists working on HS2 (the purpose-built high-speed railway line) have discovered a rich Anglo-Saxon cemetery in Wendover, Buckinghamshire, where almost...

134 ancient settlements discovered north of Hadrian’s Wall

26 May 2022

26 May 2022

134 ancient settlements have been found during a survey of the region north of Hadrian’s Wall in the United Kingdom....

China exhibits 2,000-year-old artifacts discovered in Guangzhou

12 August 2021

12 August 2021

On August 10, the National Museum of China launched an exhibition featuring archaeological finds from ancient China’s Qin (221–207 BC)...

A unique golden sun bowl was discovered during an archaeological survey in Ebreichsdorf, Austria

3 October 2021

3 October 2021

A golden sun bowl and several hundred bronze objects were discovered during archaeological excavations in a prehistoric settlement in today’s...

A Rock-Cut Temple and Inscriptions from the Neolithic period discovered in Saudi Arabia

6 August 2022

6 August 2022

In a project led by the Saudi Heritage Commission, a multinational team of archaeologists has discovered an 8,000-year-old archaeological site...

Elamite clay tablet discovered 4500 years old, in southwest Iran

4 December 2021

4 December 2021

A clay tablet, estimated to be from the Elam period, about 4500 years old, was recently discovered in southwestern Iran....

Medieval gold ‘lynx’ earrings from Ani Ruins

29 December 2022

29 December 2022

A pair of lynx-shaped gold earrings have been unearthed near the ruins of Ani, the once great metropolis known as...

Restoration of the Duomo of Florence has revealed original polychrome paint

1 December 2022

1 December 2022

During the restoration of the Porta dei Cornacchini and the marble cladding of the northern side of Florence’s Duomo, extensive...

Minoan civilization may have used celestial navigation techniques

3 March 2023

3 March 2023

According to a study done by an American researcher at the University of Wales, ancient civilizations may have used celestial...

Salt May Have Been Used as Money in Exchanges

24 March 2021

24 March 2021

Salt has always been a precious metal. Salt was needed in many areas, from the preservation of food to the...

“Exceptionally rare” gold sword pommel given to Scottish national museums

24 October 2022

24 October 2022

An “exceptionally rare” solid gold sword pommel found by a metal detectorist near Blair Drummond, Stirling, has been acquired by...

Archaeologists Unearth 78,000-Year Oldest Human Burial

5 May 2021

5 May 2021

A 78,000-year-old group of bones discovered at the mouth of a Kenyan coastal cave constitutes the oldest recorded formal human...

Aramaic four inscriptions found for the first time in eastern Turkey

17 September 2022

17 September 2022

Four inscriptions written in Aramaic were discovered in the ancient city with a grid plan, located on an area of...

Two unique mid-14th-century shipwrecks discovered in Sweden

22 April 2023

22 April 2023

During an archaeological dig in western Sweden this summer, the remains of two medieval merchant vessels known as cogs were...

Ancient Dog Figurines Mini Tea Utensils on Display in Nara

21 February 2021

21 February 2021

Nara was the capital of Japan from 710 to 794, also known as the Nara period, before moving to the...

Comments
Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *