page_title: Bazaar
section_title: Bazaar
hierarchical_section_title: Bazaar / Terminology by region / Bazaar
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Le quartier commercial d'Amman bien achalandé
context_page_description: A bazaar or souk, is a permanently enclosed marketplace or street where goods and services are exchanged or sold.
  The term bazaar originates from the Persian word bāzār. The term bazaar is sometimes also used to refer to the "network of merchants, bankers and craftsmen" who work in that area. Although the word "bazaar" is of Persian origin, its use has spread and now has been accepted into the vernacular in countries around the world.
  The term souk is used in Western Asian, North African and some Horn African cities.
  Evidence for the existence of bazaars or souks dates to around 3,000 BCE. Although the lack of archaeological evidence has limited detailed studies of the evolution of bazaars, indications suggest that they initially developed outside city walls where they were often associated with servicing the needs of caravanserai. As towns and cities became more populous, these bazaars moved into the city center and developed in a linear pattern along streets stretching from one city gate to another gate on the opposite side of the city. Souks became covered walkways.
context_section_description: The origin of the word bazaar comes from Persian bāzār. from Middle Persian wāzār, from Old Persian vāčar, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *wahā-čarana. The term, bazaar, spread from Persia into Arabia and ultimately throughout the Middle East.
caption: Souk in Amman
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