The Chronicle of Abdejlil Lahjomri devoted to CHELLA AND THE MYSTERIOUS FUNERARY STONE OF ABOU YACOUB YOUSSOUF LE MÉRINIDE has aroused the interest it deserved, so much so the research carried out by the perpetual Secretary of the Academy of the Kingdom during the confinement on the mysterious funerary stele, with an orifice of 12 centimeters in diameter, overflowed the declared object of research, going back the course of its own memories and ancient history, so that at the end of the reading, Rabat, through the history of Chella, appears as the most imperial of the imperial cities (Fez, Marrakech and Meknes). On its own; this subject deserves attention and the Quid will not fail to return to it.
As he provided answers here and the beginnings of answers there, Abdejlil Lahjomri opened up new avenues of research and asked new questions to be resolved. Notably those of heritage preservation or even that of making Chella an open-air museum. The site as well as the City of Light that houses it are worth it.
Among the reactions to the chronicle, one should note this one, by Adil Myziam who writes that “not far from Al Gza in Rabat, there are abandoned Merinid ruins covered by vegetation, [without] any action by the Ministry of Culture. “Purely by coincidence, both the chronicle and this reaction came at the same time as the case of the Café Maure des Oudayas, but also a communiqué from the Ministry of the Interior announcing the dismissal of the governor of Anfa “for mismanagement of heritage”. It would be a villa that was classified as national heritage and then abandoned, finally giving way to the construction of a building. Angry, our friend Jamal Berraoui, contacted the Quid to specify that this story should seriously raise the question of the classification of a national heritage building and the follow-up, or rather the non follow-up of which it is a victim. It is not enough to classify, but to maintain and showcase. According to him, the Anfa Hotel, for example, which housed part of the historic Casablanca Conference in the midst of World War II (1943), where Roosevelt, Churchill, De Gaulle and King Mohammed V and the future Hassan II are shown in the photo, is now only a memory. The architect Rachid Andaloussi, former president of Casa Mémoire, confirms that it was destroyed in 1964. He points out, however, that next to the hotel, the Villa d’Anfa where the American President Roosvelt was housed, who was paralyzed and who also hosted a good part of this conference because of this paralysis, still exists and is currently inhabited by a Casablanca family.
A reader, Maude J-p, writes that “unfortunately archaeologists can do nothing without the support of the authorities, without the awareness of all Moroccans of the richness of their heritage. I am an archaeologist,” she says, “and every day I see tangible and intangible beauties abandoned and destroyed. When I see the site of Volubilis, among others, it breaks my heart to see people walking on these thousand-year-old mosaics, for example. Every child must also be aware of the beauties of their country and the adults who want to preserve them. »
At the end of his chronicle, Abdejlil Lahjomri underlines that he does not want to finish it“ without launching an appeal (which has nothing to do with it or maybe it does, since it indirectly concerns Chella) that here is: My research has taught me that the painter Gherbaoui, one of the most famous painters of the early days of painting in Morocco, lived in a small house in Chella for a whole year. I have no further information. I will be grateful to the reader, the connoisseur of Gherbaoui’s work, the lover of Chella, the artist, the collector, the museum director, the administrator of culture, the “specialist” of tourism, the person in charge of one of the local or regional councils of the town, if he has any information about this mysterious stay of Gharbaoui in Chella, whether he is kind enough to share it with me or simply to confirm it for posterity. If this miracle were to happen, I wouldn’t have wasted my time clarifying the mysteries of such an astonishing stele. »
For the moment, none of the officials approached has yet reacted, but a documented response has come from Mustapha Saha in Paris. A sociologist and writer, himself a painter and photographer whose erudition is known to readers of Le Quid through his chronicles, states that “in 1962, Jilali Gharbaoui set up his artist’s studio in Morocco in the ancient site of Chella. He calls it “Atelier l’oeuf”, a small windowless room donated by the writer Ahmed Sefrioui, a nest protected by storks, wakes of flights reproduced on canvas and paper… On July 19, 1966, he bequeathed his works to his companion Thérèse Boersma: “Rabat, July 19, 1966. I, Djilali Gharbaoui, a painter, residing at “Atelier l’oeuf” “Jardin du Chellah”, Rabat, Morocco, declare that I, Djilali Gharbaoui, painter, residing at “Atelier l’oeuf” “Jardin du Chellah”, Rabat, Morocco, authorize Miss Thérèse Boersma to take possession of all my paintings in Amsterdam. Jilali Gharbaoui “.
Mustapha Saha, who graces us with a portrait of Djilali Gharbaoui, and supports his information with a copy of his testamentary letter authenticating his residence in Chella, hopes that “the Moroccan authorities will classify this workshop as part of the national heritage and make it the basis of a Jilali Gharbaoui museum”.
Our friend Khalil Hachimi Idrissi, in another register, writes to Abdejlil Lahjomri: “I am an atavistic Casablancais, living in Rabat for almost a decade, your text on Chellah has awakened in me an unsuspected otherness. I will never dare to put my hand in the hole of the stele, even if my father’s blessing is attested, because the mischief of fate is improbable. I prefer to get closer to the remains of Chella to celebrate real interculturality, but never put my hand in a black hole where matter can be sucked out forever. “»
Another reader, Jean Clode Vigana says he is “very pleased to rediscover this pen [by A. Lahjomri NDLR] and the narrator’s passion for the universality of His City. “Regarding Gharbaoui, he adds: “we are on the trail of the families of the former potters of Chella”, thus opening a new path of research. To conclude, we will give the floor to Larbi Benlafkih: “You make us plunge into the historical meanders of a “Rbati” site that so many visitors will appreciate differently after reading the three parts [of the chronicle]. Many thanks, Dear Professor. “NK
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