“Treasure” in Moroccan popular memory… The hope of reaping wealth mixes prospecting with myth

A research article explains the narrative of “treasure” excavation in Moroccan popular memory, saying that it is “a cross-cultural phenomenon; Every society has its own narratives with underground treasures, and among them we find the Moroccan society,” he added, adding that although this topic is “easy in terms of theoretical general discussion,” it is “not an ordinary topic in field treatment, as it is surrounded by very complex and sensitive mysticals, secrets, and hidden things.” Several threads of concealment, secrecy, and caution are intertwined in it. Anyone who works in this field cannot reveal one of the secrets of the craft, which has resonated in recent years in the media linked to crime and criminality.

This came in a study by sociology researcher Ismail Al-Raji, published in the Moroccan peer-reviewed periodical specializing in history and human sciences, “Lexus Magazine,” in its new issue 53, in which it was stated that the treasure, despite the myths and beliefs surrounding it, between the magical and the religious, and the scientific work around it, It remains a “fact.”

Al-Raji said: “It cannot be said in many societies, including Morocco, that there are no social groups, whether poor or rich, that do not engage in searching for demands/treasures, and this is confirmed by the news of events in Moroccan society in Moroccan newspapers in recent years.”

He continued: “The phenomena associated with treasures have become more rational at the present time than ever before, as technology has entered the line. In the market for technology tools, mechanisms are sold today at varying prices, and are acquired by ‘treasures’, as one of the characteristics of some of the mechanisms announced in the online marketing network is Tracking precious metals underground by many meters.

The paper added: “The Internet provides educational links in reading very ancient treasure signs and the like, and this technological dimension undoubtedly changed many of the rules of ‘playing’, including the rules of searching for treasures, such as summoning magic and amulets.”

The researcher explained that one of the major features of the treasure narrative in Moroccan folklore is its association with “the worlds of the jinn that guard treasures, and put anyone who approaches them without knowledge in imminent danger,” meaning “passed down for years from generation to generation,” which has an echo in “culture.” Popularity in analyzing the livelihood of some individuals in society whose luck in treasure wealth has changed their socio-economic reality,” recalling in this context the writings of Ibn Khaldun, Hassan al-Wazzan, and then Paul Bascon in the twentieth century.

The paper indicated that the sources of the treasures, including “cemeteries, which are the graves of prominent figures and families from the Roman nations and the like, whose customs and traditions indicate that their death was buried by burying their wealth with them, which may be estimated at tens and hundreds of pounds of gold and antiques, dating back thousands of years, in very complex ways, and leaving evidence.” Carved on rocks, such as the drawing of an eye, a horse, a wheel, circles… and others (…) And those who search for these signs and read them are in fact not ordinary people (…) These are more like archaeologists (archaeologists) who are experts in the burial customs and traditions of ancient societies, such as the Romans and the like.”

The study also brought to mind what Ibn Khaldun mentioned about ancient writings, which are “restrictions” in which the burial places of a family’s wealth are described, after the death of its owner who hid it on the way to Hajj, for example, and there are specialists in searching for it and deciphering its coordinates and symbols.

The paper estimates that the cemeteries “truly have a historical record in all areas that ancient civilizations reached, and the plundering and theft of these cemeteries is not a new thing. It is a very widespread phenomenon in the Arab countries, and the theft of ancient artifacts and their valuables reaches several levels, and perhaps colonialism was not left behind in most Arab countries.” Which occupied only a few of those graves that they had more knowledge of than others… Indeed, some museums in the Western world are full of antiques and artifacts dating back to many areas of the Arab and Islamic countries. Such as Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia… (then America after the invasion of Iraq). The importance of these scientific cemeteries is greater than their material value, but the combined ignorance and the veil of the desire for wealth make the Keynesians ready to sell everything they find, even if its value is outside the normal price scale.”