Paths of Gharb al-Andalus: Reading toponymic data and written sources

Abstract

Written medieval sources giving information on the roads in the Gharb alAndalus remain scarce. However, some texts have crossed several centuries, namely those of Ibn Ḥawqal, al-Idrīsī and al-Ḥimyarī. Although these texts do not always coincide with each other, their main information proves to the existence of ancient roads, known from the text of the Itinerary of Antoninus, resumed in the Islamic period. Moreover, the geographical descriptions were reviewed and the toponymic correspondences between the ancient and current sites checked. The latter are often “established” for a long time, from attributions whose authenticity can sometimes be arguable. A new proposal for the roads in the Gharb al-Andalus has, therefore, been established from the available data )despite the lack of physical infrastructures of Islamic chronology( and from new interpretations of the toponymy.

Keywords

• gharb al-andalus
• toponymy
• itineraries
• historical geography