Pictures, photos & images of Ksar Ez Zahra, Tunisia. Ksar Ez Zahra is typical of the fortified villages built by the Berbers along the edge of the Sahara in Southern Tunisia around Tetouine. Ksar Ez Zahra consists of ghorfas which are vaulted rooms used by the Berber people for storing grain. Each ghorfa is a self contained unit and they were built on top of each other in continuous circles or squares with doors only opening on the inside to create 3 or 4 story high walls of Ksar Ez Zahra. It is entered through a double wooden fortified gate and would have been easy to defend from raiding parties as the lack of wood in the desert meant that building ladders or siege equipment to scale its 4 storey high walls was impossible. From Ksar Ez Zahra the Berbers would have traded across the desert using Camel trains that would take several months to do the round journey. The high value goods they returned with would be traded for food that would be securely stored in the ghorfas of the Ksar. Keeping their food safe was important to the Berber peoples survival of Ksar Ez Zahra as in this region it may only rain once every 10 years and areas suitable for cultivation are servetrely limited to oasis dotted along the desert edge. From Ksar Ez Zahra the Sahara spreads away south for 1000 miles across and endless flat arid plain where it might only rain every 10 years. To live in such conditions the desert peoples had to adapt strategies for survival and the Ksar played a crucial part. Although the Berber Ksar has a very distinctive style, similar mud brick villages can be found in Mali and the Yemen showing that the desert peoples learnt from each other over great distances. The Ksour of Tunisia may look very familiar and there is a good reason for that. George Lucas recognised the evocative style of Ksour and used them as locations for his Star War movies. Ksar Ez Zahra’s remoteness and proximity to the Libyan Border make it inaccessible to most tourists to Tunisia and is rarely visited. It is both land and time locked and the severity of desert life has seen its population dwindle. Buy Prints & Royalty free download images on line of Ksar Ez Zahra Tunisia

Visit our TUNISIA HISTORIC PLACES PHOTO COLLECTIONS for more photos to browse or download or buy as prints https://funkystock.photoshelter.com/gallery-collection/Pictures-Images-Photos-of-Tunisia/C0000lMpN5pUP1CM

Visit our ISLAMIC ART & HISTORICAL SITES PHOTO COLLECTIONS for more photos to download or buy as wall art prints https://funkystock.photoshelter.com/gallery-collection/Islam-Islamic-Art-Artefacts-Antiquities-Historic-Sites-Pictures-Images-of/C0000WMzJTSRGkTw