Alhama de Almería

Camino Mozárabe

AlmeríaAndalucía

Transparent toponymic Arabism. Alhama derives from Andalusian Arabic al-ḥamma (الحَمَّة, 'the thermal baths, the hot water baths'), from classical ḥamīm (hot water, steam). The toponym was systematically applied by Andalusian administration to localities with thermal springs, leaving dozens of peninsular Alhamas (Alhama de Granada, Alhama de Aragón, Alhama de Murcia). The epithet de Almería distinguishes this from the homonyms.

The thermal springs of Alhama de Almería, calcic-sulphated water at 47 degrees Celsius, were exploited from late prehistory and monumentalised by the Romans as public balneary between the 1st and 4th centuries. Andalusian administration maintained the therapeutic use and gave name to the locality: al-ḥamma is documented from 950 in the itineraries of al-Idrisi. After the reconquest of 1489, the Catholic Monarchs ceded the balneary to the Duke of Sessa, who exploited it as private concession until the 19th century. The current balneary is in uninterrupted operation since 1875.

Evolution of the name

  1. al-ḥamma Andalusi Arabic 8th–15th centuries
  2. Alhama de Almería Castilian from 1489

Reflections, to the letter

The water names the place before any stone does: al-ḥamma, the hot baths. At the San Nicolás spa the spring still rises at 47.5 °C inside a grotto below the Sierra de Gádor, the same scalding flow the Romans built their baths over and the Andalusis named for good. Hold your hand to the gush: that heat is the etymology.

Languages of origin

Themes

Origin status

confirmed

Glossary

Arabism
A word or place name in Castilian, Portuguese or Catalan borrowed from Andalusian Arabic. The Peninsula preserves thousands: aceite, azúcar, almohada, alcázar, azulejo, Guadalquivir, Atalaia, Azofra, Azambuja.
Fuero
A medieval legal privilege granted by a king to a town, conferring special rights and freedoms. A key instrument of medieval Christian repopulation, attracting settlers by offering jurisdictional autonomy.
Thermal toponyms in Alhama
Peninsular toponymic family derived from Andalusian Arabic al-ḥamma, applied by Andalusian administration to localities with thermal springs. It preserves twenty attested toponyms in Spain: Alhama de Almería, Alhama de Granada, Alhama de Murcia, Alhama de Aragón, Alhama del Cidacos, Alhama de Maranchón, among others. All correspond to hot water springs between 30 and 50 degrees Celsius with therapeutic use documented from the Andalusian phase.

Sources

  • Corriente, F. — Diccionario de arabismos

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Camino Mozárabe

  1. ··· toward Santiago
  2. Granada
  3. Quéntar
  4. La Peza
  5. Guadix
  6. Fiñana
  7. Alboloduy
  8. Alhama de Almería
  9. Rioja
  10. Almería