Abhatoo - Centre Nationale de Documentation

Morocco is a part of the Arabic world, located in the North-West of Africa. Ethnobotanical studies increasing in this country in the last decade and continue to records novel medicinal plants and new therapeutic practices. However, few studies involve or discuss the historical roots of this traditional knowledge. This work aims to highlight the impact of the ancient Arab-Islamic therapeutic knowledge developed through the Golden Age (7th – 13th C.E) on the current ethnobotanical knowledge in Morocco. Furthermore, we discuss the development of ethnobotanical knowledge in Morocco through time and space. To reveal the relationships and the impact of the Arab-Islamic medical scholars
from the golden age on the modern ethnobotanical knowledge developed through time in Morocco, we undertook a bibliographical research based on Published papers recovered from different bibliographical databases such as ScienceDirect, PubMed, and Google Scholar, as well as books and scientific thesis available in Morocco. As a first reflection, few ethnobotanical works conducted in Morocco provide a historical analysis in their study. However, we can note that modern Moroccan ethnobotany is a mixture of different knowledge developed by various ethnicities from different civilizations settled in Morocco through time. Nevertheless, the Arab-Islamic civilization deeply influenced traditional Moroccan practices, principally through Andalusian scholars and medics who lived or traveled crossed Morocco, such as Ibn al-Baytar. Finally, ancient Arab-Islamic knowledge is considered a solid base for the development of Moroccan ethnobotanical knowledge. Consequently, historical analysis needs more involvement for understanding the cultural sets behind our local traditional practices.