20 Dirhams 2013, Morocco
| in Krause book | Number: 74 |
| Years of issue: | 19.12.2013 |
| Edition: | |
| Signatures: | Government comissioner: Khalid Safir, Governor: Abdellatif Jouahri |
| Serie: | 2013 Issue |
| Specimen of: | 2012 |
| Material: | Cotton fiber |
| Size (mm): | 131 x 70 |
| Printer: | Dar As-Sikkah (DAS), Moroccan State Printing Works |
* All pictures marked 
are increased partially by magnifying glass, the remaining open in full size by clicking on the image.
** The word "Specimen" is present only on some of electronic pictures, in accordance with banknote images publication rules of appropriate banks.
Description
Watermark:
King Mohammed VI and denomination 20.
Avers:
Mohammed VI (Arabic: محمد السادس, born 21 August 1963) is the King of Morocco. He ascended to the throne on 23 July 1999 upon the death of his father, King Hassan II.
Mohammed was the second child and oldest son of Hassan II and his second wife, Lalla Latifa Hammou. On the day of his birth, Mohammed was appointed Heir Apparent and Crown Prince. His father was keen on giving him a religious and political education from an early age; at the age of four he started attending the Qur'anic school at the Royal Palace.
Mohammed completed his primary and secondary studies at Royal College and attained his Baccalaureate in 1981, before gaining a bachelor's degree in law at the Mohammed V University at Agdal in 1985. His research paper dealt with "the Arab-African Union and the Strategy of the Kingdom of Morocco in matters of International Relations". He has also frequented the Imperial College and University of Rabat. He was furthermore appointed President of the Pan Arab Games, and was commissioned a Colonel Major of the Royal Moroccan Army on 26 November 1985. He served as the Coordinator of the Offices and Services of the Royal Armed Forces until 1994.
In 1987, Mohammed obtained his first Certificat d'Études Supérieures (CES) in political sciences, and in July 1988 he obtained a Diplôme d'Études Approfondies (DEA) in public law.In November 1988, he trained in Brussels with Jacques Delors, then-President of the European Commission.
Mohammed obtained his PhD in law with distinction on 29 October 1993 from the French University of Nice Sophia Antipolis for his thesis on "EEC-Maghreb Relations". On 12 July 1994, he was promoted to the military rank of Major General, and that same year he became President of the High Council of Culture and Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Moroccan Army.
He speaks Arabic, French, Spanish and English.
The New York Times reported that prior to ascending to the throne, Mohammed "gained a reputation as a playboy during the years he spent waiting in the wings, showing a fondness for fast cars and nightclubs."
On 23 July 1999, Mohammed succeeded his father as king, being enthroned in Rabat on 30 July. 
In the background are patterns taken from the door of the main entrance of the madrassah of Abu-al-Hasan in Sala (المدرسة المرينية), also from his inner room.
Next to the white box (on the banknote) is a column. Such columns are also located in this Madrassah.
The mérinide madrassah of Salé is richly decorated: the floors are covered with zelliges (glazed ceramic pieces), the walls of stucco and carved cedar wood, the friezes in plaster and carved wood, roof composed of glazed tiles, and the columns are topped with stone capitals decorated with foliage and snails.
It has been erected on three levels, except on the north side where there is a prayer room covered with a roof presenting, in the center, a dome (koubba). As tradition dictates, the mihrab is finely decorated, carved into the wall.
It has an area of almost 180 m2, including a rectangular courtyard of approximately 42 m2 (4.90 × 8.60 meters), in the center of which is a fountain for ablutions. It is surrounded by four naves on which rest two floors of small cells reserved for students. The presence of student rooms favored the exploitation of the madrassah as a fondouk.
It offers unique architecture by its polychrome Kufic scriptures that run around the building.
Its door, of a beautiful bill with broken horseshoe arch, surmounted by a frieze, carved and topped with a carved cedar canopy, blackened by centuries, is preceded by a stone steps that gives access to the patio.
An inscription, engraved on a slab of white marble, indicates that the madrassah was built by "Amir Al-Mouminin" (Commander of the Believers) in 1333.
The Merinid Medersa de Salé (Arabic: المدرسة المرينية), also known as the Medersa of Abu al-Hassan, more commonly known as Attalâa Madrassah, is an ancient madrassah built in the city of Salé, in the Rabat region. -Sale-Zemmour-Zaer in Morocco. It was built between 1333 and 1341 by the sultan Abu al-Hasan ben Uthman (r 1331 - 1351), under the Merinid dynasty. She is one of the smallest medersas of Morocco.
The madrassah is located in the north-west of Morocco, in the city of Salé, and more precisely in the pedestrian district of Talâa (Arabic: حي الطالعة), just south of the Great Mosque of Sale; the madrassah is served by the Ras Chejra street where is the zaouia Ghaziya and the zawiya Ad-Dlil.
Built under the Merinid dynasty, the medersas played a cultural, educational and political role, they were erected to merit the favors of Allah, to work pious and pleasing to God, to restore religious education and science, they also served to strengthen the political power of the sovereigns, there are madrassas in Fez, Taza, Tlemcen and Meknes.
That of Salé was erected in the first half of the fourteenth century during the reign of the Merinid sultan Abu al-Hasan ben Uthman, in the district of Talâa near the Great Mosque of Sale, along with the other madrassas erected in different cities of the Morocco. It was completed on Friday, November 30, 1341.
The madrassah was designed for Koranic teaching and student housing: Sharia, literature, Usul al-Fiqh, linguistics, philosophy, medicine, were taught.
When Ibn al-Khatib, the Andalusian Arab writer, visited the Madrassah shortly after its inauguration, he found at least a hundred poets there. He also indicates in his book The exemplary way that in his time, the people of Salé "made a great contribution to the whole of sciences, having in addition the exclusive prerogative of certain domains of the knowledge", since several notables of Fez and other cities went to Salé to learn medicine, Sufism, etc. Among these notables are: Omar ibn Ghayat, Abi al-Fadl al-Ajlani, Ahmed ibn Acher al-Andaloussi.
The first dean of the madrassah was Ahmed ibn Al-Hafid, while Ali ben Brahim al-Malqi was the first teacher of the Arabic language; the latter also taught fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) in the morning and tafsir (exegesis of the Koran) between the two evening prayers.
Then, the teaching was assured by several ulemas from Morocco, Tlemcen, Al-Andalus, and among them we find: Abdallah ben Youssef al-Othmani known under the name of Ibn Sebbagh († around 1346), Ali ben Moussa al-Matmati († around 1371), Abu Al-Qasim Mohamed ibn Daoud al-Fakhar († around 1397), Said al-Aqbani († around 1408) and Ali ben Atia († around 1379) (both have held the post of cadi under the Banû Marīn in the city of Salé), the cadi Abu Mohamed Abdallah ibn Abi Said and his son the explorer Abu Said Faraj bin Abdallah ibn Said and Mohamed ibn Omran al-Fanzari, known as Ibn al-Majrad († circa 1412).
The last teacher was Ahmed ibn Muhammad ibn Moussa al-Hamssassi, from 1884 to 1892 he taught courses in grammar, rhetoric, logic and religious studies (fiqh, Hadith and Sufism). Then the madrassah became a school to teach the Koran only, Mohamed ibn Salem al-Hanaoui (1325 H.) was the last teacher to have taught there.
Restored towards the end of the eighteenth century by the caddy of Sale Mohamed Ben Hajji Zniber, then in 1864 by Mohamed Ben Abd el-Hadi Zniber and finally by the service of the Fine Arts French, the madrassah was classified national heritage by the Dahir of 9 September 1922. It is described by the historian Mohamed ibn Ali Doukkali as one of the smallest and most beautiful medersas by its arrangement, its decor and its architecture which reached a high level of perfection.
After the introduction of the French protectorate in Morocco, the madrassah no longer functioned as before. Unlike the other madrassas, the Salés Madrasah was totally remodeled between 1921 and 1924, the work of underpinnings and consolidation continued between 1922 and 1924.
The Marinid Madrasa benefited between 2001 and 2005 from a major restoration operation on the part of the Ministry of Culture for a budget of about four million dirhams.
Since 2006, the merinide madrassah hosts the biennial festival of Karacena.
In top right corner is the royal crown of Marocco and Maroccan stars.
The green stars symbolize (each) the Five pillars of Islam.
On top is the coat of arms of Marocco.
The current coat of arms of Morocco (formally, the royal coat of arms) was introduced 14 August 1957. It was developed by the graphic artists Gauthier and Hainaut and shows a green pentagram, specifically a two-dimensional Penrose pentacle on a red background before the Atlas Mountains and a rising sun. The royal crown is on top. Two lions function as the holders of the shield. On the ribbon underneath, the Arabic inscription is written: (Arabic: إن تنصروا الله ينصركم) (If you glorify God, He will glorify you) (Quran, Verse 7, Sura 47).
Denominations in numerals are in lower right and top left corners. In words - on top.
Revers:
View of the city of Casablanca and the Great Mosque of Hassan II.
Casablanca (from Spanish "white house", arab. الدار البيضاء, Ed-Dar al-Beyda - "white house") is a city in Morocco, the most populous in this country. This is the largest port in Morocco, stands on the Atlantic coast, near the capital of Rabat. The administrative center of the Greater Casablanca area.
The Hassan II Mosque or Grande Mosquée Hassan II (Arabic: مسجد الحسن الثاني; colloquially the "Casablanca Hajj") is a mosque in Casablanca, Morocco. It is the largest mosque in Morocco, the second largest in Africa, and the 5th largest in the world. Its minaret is the world's tallest at 210 meters (689 ft.). Completed in 1993, it was designed by Michel Pinseau and built by Bouygues. The minaret is 60 stories high topped by a laser, the light from which is directed towards Mecca. The mosque stands on a promontory looking out to the Atlantic Ocean; worshippers can pray over the sea but there is no glass floor looking into the sea. The walls are of hand-crafted marble and the roof is retractable. A maximum of 105,000 worshippers can gather together for prayer: 25,000 inside the mosque hall and another 80,000 on the mosque's outside ground.
On the left is shown a tram running along the bridge over the river Bou Regreg.
In December 2007, the construction of the Rabat-Sale tram line was launched, the core of which is the bridge over the Bou Regreg. On May 23, 2011 the network connecting the two cities was put into operation.
It includes two routes running through the common central section. The length of route 1 is 11.7 km., Route 2 - 7.8 km. The intervals on each route during peak hours are 8 minutes.
Against the background are the patterns of Moroccan (Rabat) carpets.
"Every Moroccan carpet is a unique poem created by the soul and hands - no machine is such a power" - so translated poem, posted in a store in Meknes.
In the XVII century. Muslims who fled to Morocco from Andalusia spread the Persian technique of knotted weaving in their new homeland, meanwhile the local Berber tribes made their own carpets for centuries. There are three types of Moroccan carpets: Rabat - the Persian knot weave with Arabic pattern, Berber carpets of the Middle and High Atlas and kilims, thinner and not woven, but woven.
Over the past centuries, the technique of making carpets has changed little. In the extreme south of Morocco, nomadic tribes still use horizontal looms, transported in a collapsed state and each time pulled on pegs driven into the ground. Drawings are passed down from generation to generation, and carpet makers keep them in mind. Over a large carpet, several people work, each one is engaged in his own plot. Controls the manufacturing process master - tired, attached to each machine. Tired knows the scheme and colors of the whole drawing and often, referring to the workers, everyone in particular sings the names of colors and the number of knots. This rhythmic singing is mastered from an early age. They say that the legendary tired can recall from memory 50-60 drawings. In cities, the process is quickly mechanized, vertical machines are introduced - they allow you to work much faster - and drawings are copied from the samples.
Carpets from Rabat, with a classic mihrab pattern in the center, are similar to Arab carpets. Their characteristic colors are blue, gray and red in different shades. Although Moroccan carpets are quite expensive, they can not be called suitable objects of investment, as they are much inferior in quality to Turkish and Persian. Moroccan carpet in the room Berber carpets are very different, they are uniquely attached to the uniqueness of the patterns: each tribe has its own. At the same time, in the pattern of many carpets the main motif is repeated: these are bright straight lines, and between them a diamond-shaped ornament. This pattern is attributed to magical properties. There are also carpets depicting strange animals: apparently in the past mystical symbols, now they are called to attract the attention of tourists. Traditionally, such carpets are covered with the floor of the nomadic tent, or they are hung out, dividing the tent into separate rooms.
Denominations in numerals are in top left corner and at the bottom, right of center.
Comments:
I found an interesting article "My Morocco" by Bruno Barbie, written as a childhood memory in the thirties years of creativity...
In my opinion it is very suitable in the subject of the banknote::
"I was born in Morocco and grew up in the cities of Salé, Rabat, Marrakech and Tangier." When I was very young, Salé seemed to me a real kingdom. "His strict medersa, the calls of the muezzin that merged with the incessant song of the sea, the waves crashing against the cliffs, the beauty of the cemetery I was fascinated by the fortress of Kasb Udaya, the necropolis of Chell, by the waters of the river Bou Regreg, gently beating the sides of the boats floating along it. * Later I lived in Marrakech, a red city located at the foot of the Atlas Mountains, and then - in Tangier, at Gibraltar Strait and Andalusia in the offing.
You can transfer from the desert sands of the Atlas Mountains and from the Atlantic coast to the Mediterranean coasts during the afternoon. Cultures and civilizations are mixed together here in the most incredible combination: Umayyad culture, Andalusian influences, Berber traditions, signs of the Jewish heritage. Despite everything, the Moroccans succeeded in maintaining a sense of human solidarity and harmony with nature. They adapted to the conditions of the modern world and at the same time preserved their own culture.
I conceived this book thirty years ago, when in the early seventies with his wife Caroline returned to his homeland. Since that time, I've come here to work and probably would not have been so crazy to continue the business for such a long time - do not find my childhood memories so bright and alive. The fact that in any other place could be of exceptional aesthetic interest, in Morocco - in the land of tradition - acquires qualities unique, humane features.
As elsewhere, the process of globalization takes its toll, but with all Morocco remains - how much more will it be? - the land is surprisingly calm, timeless. Look at the albums of Delacroix: regardless of the skills, even today you can sketch the same scenes at the corners of the bazaar streets. How many artists, photographers and writers who ever lived in Morocco, fell under the charm of its light, its features and its colors? Probably the most famous of all, Matisse, somehow admitted that this country forced him to re-think his palette.
A photographer here sometimes finds it so difficult to do his work, that before he starts to work with him, he must learn how to merge with the walls. Photographs must be taken very quickly, with all the ensuing risky consequences, or - after long periods of waiting, with boundless patience. Such was the price of these images made between 1970 and 2003. Memories of Morocco can only be captured through a respectful attitude towards it. "
If you find my work useful I will be grateful for any help in supporting the site.
-
PayPal
-
For users of European Union banking system