Archaeological Saharan Urban Centers as Civilizational Linkages between the Central Maghreb and the African Interior: Warjlān as a Case Study

Abstract

This scholarly paper seeks to reconsider the relations that developed between the Saharan urban centers of the Central Maghreb Warjlān, taken as a case study, and Western Sudan, with a view to highlighting the civilizational dimension as an aspect largely neglected in studies that have addressed this relationship. It does so by moving beyond the unilinear explanatory model that has often reduced and confined these relations to a commercial framework. The study adopts a comparative historical approach, drawing on the tools of the historical method, to examine the civilizational influences exerted by the urban center of Warjlān, one of the most important active Saharan centers, and to trace their manifestations within the societies of Western Sudan. The analysis begins by providing a historical framing of the urban center of Warjlān and its connections to the African interior to uncover mechanisms of communication, before moving on to analyze the civilizational transformations resulting from this interaction in the fields of religion, customs, dress, architecture, and mentalities. These transformations were reflected in the gradual shift towards Islam in devotional practices and social transactions, the spread of mosques, changes in dress patterns and the veiling of women, as well as the transmission of certain dietary traditions associated with the Saharan urban milieu. The influence was also evident in the architectural sphere through the presence of the Maghrebi style and in ritual life through the growing celebration of Ramadan, religious festivals, and the Prophet’s birthday. The study concludes that the Saharan urban centers of the Central Maghreb, foremost among them Warjlān, were not merely stations of commercial transit; rather, they constituted a civilizational bridge that contributed to profound structural transformations affecting the various civilizational structures of Western Sudanese societies. This reflects the complex nature of civilizational interaction between the two regions, restores balance to the historical narrative in its comprehensive form, and demonstrates that the Central Maghrebi Saharan urban center was an authentic contributor to the making of the African civilizational landscape, rather than a mere subordinate margin within it.