Editing Marrakesh (section)

==Etymology==
The exact meaning of the name is debated.{{sfn|Shillington|2005|p=948}} One possible origin of the name Marrakesh is from the [[Berber language|Berber]] (Amazigh) words ''amur (n) akush'', which means "Land of God".{{sfn|Nanjira|2010|p=208}} According to historian Susan Searight, however, the town's name was first documented in an 11th-century manuscript in the [[Qarawiyyin]] library in [[Fez, Morocco|Fez]], where its meaning was given as "country of the sons of Kush".{{sfn|Searight|1999|p=378}} The word ''mur''{{Sfn|Egginton|Pitz|2010|p=11}} is used now in Berber mostly in the feminine form ''tamurt''. The same word "mur" appears in [[Mauretania]], the North African kingdom from antiquity, although the link remains controversial as this name possibly originates from μαύρος ''mauros'', the [[ancient Greek]] word for "dark".{{sfn|Shillington|2005|p=948}} The common English spelling is "Marrakesh",{{sfn|de Cenival|1991|p=588}}{{sfn|Cornell|1998|p=15}} although "Marrakech" (the [[French language|French]] spelling) is also widely used.{{sfn|Nanjira|2010|p=208}} The name is spelled ''Mṛṛakc'' in the [[Berber Latin alphabet]], ''Marraquexe'' in [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], ''Marrakech'' in Spanish.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=RAE|last2=RAE|title=Marrakech {{!}} Diccionario panhispánico de dudas|url=https://www.rae.es/dpd/Marrakech|access-date=2020-09-07|website=«Diccionario panhispánico de dudas»|language=es|archive-date=2021-11-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211107093401/https://www.rae.es/dpd/Marrakech|url-status=live}}</ref> A typical pronunciation in [[Moroccan Arabic]] is ''merrākesh'' ({{IPA|/mərra:kəʃ/}}) with [[Stress (linguistics)|stress]] on the second syllable.<ref>{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=16DfjwEACAAJ&q=georgetown+moroccan+arabic |title=The Georgetown Dictionary of Moroccan Arabic: Arabic-English, English-Arabic |publisher=Georgetown University Press |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-62616-331-7 |editor-last=Maamouri |editor-first=Mohamed |pages=584 (see xxv-xxvi for discussion of vowels) |language=en}}</ref>

From medieval times until around the beginning of the 20th century, the entire country of Morocco was known as the "Kingdom of Marrakesh", as the kingdom's [[History of Morocco|historic]] capital city was often Marrakesh.{{sfn|de Cenival|1991|p=593}}{{sfn|Gottreich|2007|p=10}} The name for Morocco is still "Marrakesh" to this day in [[Persian language|Persian]] and [[Urdu]] as well as many other South Asian languages. Various European names for Morocco (Marruecos, Marrocos, Maroc, Marokko, etc.) are directly derived from the name ''Murrākush''. Conversely, the city itself was in earlier times simply called ''Marocco City'' (or similar) by travelers from abroad. The name of the city and the country diverged after the [[Treaty of Fez]] divided Morocco into a [[French protectorate in Morocco]] and [[Spanish protectorate in Morocco]], and the old interchangeable usage lasted widely until about the interregnum of [[Mohammed Ben Aarafa]] (1953–1955).<ref name="IbpUSA2006">{{cite book |title=Morocco Country Study Guide|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8GjrAeMS1dIC&pg=PA23|access-date=29 June 2013|date=1 April 2006|publisher=International Business Publications|isbn=978-0-7397-1514-7|page=23|archive-date=26 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140626185538/http://books.google.com/books?id=8GjrAeMS1dIC&pg=PA23|url-status=live}}</ref> The latter episode set in motion the country's return to independence, when Morocco officially became {{lang|ar|المملكة المغربية}} (''al-Mamlaka al-Maġribiyya'', "The Maghreb Kingdom"), its name no longer referring to the city of Marrakesh. Marrakesh is known by a variety of nicknames, including the "Red City" ({{Langx|ar|المدينة الحمراء|translit=Al-madīnat al-ḥamrā'|links=no}}), the "Ochre City" and "the Daughter of the Desert", and has been the focus of poetic analogies such as one comparing the city to "a drum that beats an [[Africa]]n identity into the complex soul of Morocco."{{sfn|Rogerson|Lavington|2004|p=xi}}