Michael Spies

Around 1000AD the Berber kingdom spanned the whole of north western Africa, and was led by a wise, warrior Queen, around whom whole legends are woven. These Berbers already had a system of banks, called "AGADIR" for the storage and protection of their valuables.
About 12 villages shared one AGADIR, a type of fortress on a hill managed by a captain, a person of trust with a team of guards. In the AGADIR we're tiny rooms, each rented to one family where they could store their "Riches". Berber gold and jewellery was buried in covered holes in the walls or floor. To remember where the holes were, they would code the number of handwidths from a certain point in the room. Furthermore they stored their contracts here. Due to the lack of paper, these were written on a piece of wood and signed by both parties under whitness. Other treasures were garments, argan oil, grain and even dried vegetables.
The AGADIR Tasguent, which had 360 compartments, is world heritage but has been closed to visits due to danger of collapse. A local villager who had access, gave us an exclusive tour spiked by many stories.
In 1969 several years after maroccan indépendance, the captain of this AGADIR robbed what valuables he could find by breaking into the various compartments and disappeared to Paris.
Now, does that remind us of the banks we have today??????En savoir plus