page_title: Maghrebi script
section_title: Almohad
hierarchical_section_title: Maghrebi script / History / Imperial patronage / Almohad
caption_attribution_description: English: Coin of Almohad Caliph Abu Yaqub Yusef (1163-1184 CE).
context_page_description: Maghrebi script refers to a loosely related family of Arabic scripts that developed in the Maghreb, al-Andalus, and Biled as-Sudan. Maghrebi script is influenced by Kufic letters, and is traditionally written with a pointed tip, producing a line of even thickness.
  The script is characterized by rounded letter forms, extended horizontal features, and final open curves below the baseline. It also differs from Mashreqi scripts in the notation of the letters faa' and qoph.
  For centuries, Maghrebi script was used to write Arabic manuscripts and record Andalusi and Moroccan literature, whether in Standard Arabic, Maghrebi Arabic, or Amazigh languages.
context_section_description: Under the Almohad dynasty, Arabic calligraphy continued to flourish and a variety of distinct styles developed. The Almohad caliphs, many of whom were themselves interested in Arabic script, sponsored professional calligraphers, inviting Andalusi scribes and calligraphers to settle in Marrakesh, Fes, Ceuta, and Rabat. The Almohad caliph Abu Hafs Umar al-Murtada established the first public manuscript transcription center at the madrasa of his mosque in Marrakesh (now the Ben Youssef Madrasa).
  The Maghrebi thuluth script was appropriated and adopted as an official "dynastic brand" used in different media, from manuscripts to coinage to fabrics. The Almohads also illuminated certain words or phrases for emphasis with gold leaf and lapis lazuli.
  For centuries, the Maghrebi script was used to write Arabic manuscripts that were traded throughout the Maghreb. According to Muhammad al-Manuni, there were 104 paper mills in Fes under the reign of Yusuf Ibn Tashfin in the 11th century, and 400 under the reign of Sutlan Yaqub al-Mansur in the 12th century.
caption: Almohad dirham minted in curvilinear Maghrebi thuluth script under Abu Yaqub Yusuf.
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