Nekor (

Berber language The Berber languages, also known as the Amazigh languages or Tamazight,, ber, label=Tuareg Tifinagh, ⵜⵎⵣⵗⵜ, ) are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They comprise a group of closely related languages spoken by Berber commun ...

: N'kor; ) is a historic site in the

Rif The Rif or Riff (, ), also called Rif Mountains, is a geographic region in northern Morocco. This mountainous and fertile area is bordered by Cape Spartel and Tangier to the west, by Berkane and the Moulouya River to the east, by the Mediterrane ...

region of

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

near modern-day

Bni Bouayach Bni Bouayach (Tarifit: Bni Buɛyac, ⴱⵏⵉ ⴱⵓⵄⵢⴰⵛ; Arabic: بني بوعياش) is a city in Al Hoceïma Province located in the region of Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima, Morocco. Bni Bouayach is the 3rd largest city in Al Hoceima provinc ...

. It was founded by

Idris ibn Salih Idris (I) ibn Abd Allah ( ar, إدريس بن عبد الله, translit=Idrīs ibn ʿAbd Allāh), also known as Idris the Elder ( ar, إدريس الأكبر, translit=Idrīs al-Akbar), (d. 791) was an Arab Hasanid Sharif and the founder of the ...

, Emir of the medieval

Kingdom of Nekor The Emirate of Nekor ( ar, إمارة بني صالح ''ʾImārat Banī Ṣāliḥ'') was an emirate centered in the Rif area of present-day Morocco. Its capital was initially located at Temsaman, and then moved to Nekor. The dynasty was of Himy ...

, between 749 and 761 AD. His son

Sa'id I ibn Idris Sa'id I ibn Idris (760-803) ( ar, سعيد بن ادريس الأول) was emir of Nekor. He moved the capital from Temsaman to Nekor. The city was later was sacked by the Normans, who took many prisoners, a few of whom were ransomed by the Umayy ...

moved the capital to Nekor from Temsaman. At its height, it was described as the greatest center of

Arabic culture Arab culture is the culture of the Arabs, from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the east, and from the Mediterranean Sea in the north to the Horn of Africa and the Indian Ocean in the southeast. The various religions the Arab ...

in the region of Rif. In 859 or 860 AD Nekor, defended by Sa'id II ibn Salih, was sacked by

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

raiders, apparently for attempting to interfere with their plunderings in the area, under

Hastein Hastein (Old Norse: ''Hásteinn'', also recorded as ''Hastingus'', ''Anstign'', ''Haesten'', ''Hæsten'', ''Hæstenn'' or ''Hæsting'' and alias ''Alsting''Jones, Aled (2003). ''Transactions of the Royal Historical Society: Sixth Series'' Cambridge ...

and

Björn Ironside according to Norse legends, was a Norse Viking chief and Swedish king. According to the 12th- and 13th-century Scandinavian histories, he was the son of notorious Viking king Ragnar Lodbrok and lived in the 9th century, between 855 and 858. Björ ...

, who sailed through the

Straits of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar ( ar, مضيق جبل طارق, Maḍīq Jabal Ṭāriq; es, Estrecho de Gibraltar, Archaic: Pillars of Hercules), also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Medit ...

. After staying for eight days in

, the Vikings went back to Spain and continued up the east coast.Ibn-Adhari, translated in Stefansson, Jon, "The Vikings in Spain. From Arabic (Moorish) and Spanish Sources". In ''Saga-Book of the Viking Club'': Vol. VI Proceedings. University of London King's College, 1909, pp. 40–41. Many of the inhabitants of Nekor were taken as slaves and later sold in Ireland. The city was destroyed by the

Almoravid The Almoravid dynasty ( ar, المرابطون, translit=Al-Murābiṭūn, lit=those from the ribats) was an imperial Berber Muslim dynasty centered in the territory of present-day Morocco. It established an empire in the 11th century that s ...

Yusuf ibn Tashfin Yusuf ibn Tashfin, also Tashafin, Teshufin, ( ar, يوسف بن تاشفين ناصر الدين بن تالاكاكين الصنهاجي , Yūsuf ibn Tāshfīn Naṣr al-Dīn ibn Tālākakīn al-Ṣanhājī ; reigned c. 1061 – 1106) was l ...

in 1080 during his conquest of the Rif. The site has been partially submerged by the reservoir of the Abdelkrim Khattabi dam.Al-Hoceima entre hier et aujourd’hui : Des trésors ensevelis
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References

Archaeological sites in Morocco Capitals of former nations Rif {{TangerTetouanAlHoceima-geo-stub