Mequinenza

ZaragozaAragón

Andalusian Arabic toponym derived from the anthroponym Miknāsa, name of the North African Berber tribe of the same name that established in the place during the Cordovan emiral phase of the 9th century. The medieval form Mequinença, attested from 1133, preserves the Berber ethnonym with Romance locative suffix. It sits at the strategic confluence of three rivers: the Ebro, the Cinca and the Segre.

The Miknāsa are among the principal Berber tribal confederations of the central Maghreb, settled in present central Morocco (the city of Meknès takes its name from them). During the Muslim conquest of the Peninsula (8th-9th centuries), Miknāsa contingents established in various enclaves of the Ebro valley, leaving toponyms such as Mequinenza (Zaragoza) and Mecina (Granada). The fortress of Mequinenza, at the triple confluence, was a stronghold of the Muslim kingdoms of the Ebro until its conquest by Ramon Berenguer IV in 1149, and from then seat of the Moncada seigneury until the 19th century. The flooding of the valley by the Mequinenza reservoir in 1964 submerged the old village under the waters; the current Mequinenza is of contemporary foundation (1957–1967), built one kilometre from the old emplacement.

Evolution of the name

Miknāsa (etnónimo bereber) Andalusi Arabic 9th–12th centuries
Mequinença / Mequinenza medieval Catalan from 1133

Reflections, to the letter

The name keeps that of a Berber tribe, the Miknasa, who in the ninth century settled above the triple confluence and raised a watchtower there. Where that lookout stood now rises the castle that commands the three rivers. The same tribe gave its name, far away, to imperial Meknès in Morocco: two namesake towns, one on the Ebro and one below the Atlas, born of the same Amazigh family name.

Glossary

Anthroponym: A personal name, often used as the base of toponyms (Lucronius → Logroño, Sigerici → Castrojeriz, Sacavus → Sacavém).
Attested: A form or word documented in writing in historical sources; opposed to "reconstructed" (forms proposed by comparative inference but not actually documented).
Ethnonym: The name of an ethnic group (Astures, Vascones, Suevi, Vardulos…). Often the base of toponyms: Castro Urdiales (from the Vardulos), Bercianos (from El Bierzo).
Locative suffix: A Castilian ending marking "place of" or "workshop where X is worked": -ería (panadería, herrería), -ero/-era (barquera, Itero "place of the road"). From the Latin -arium.
Miknāsa: Berber tribal confederation of the central Maghreb, originating from the Middle Atlas mountains and the Moulouya valley in present-day Morocco. During the 8th-10th centuries they led several migrations towards al-Andalus, establishing in enclaves of the Ebro valley, Granada and Murcia. The Moroccan city of Meknès (Mequinez in Spanish) derives from the same ethnonym. Its traces in Hispanic toponymy are Mequinenza (Zaragoza), Mecina-Bombarón (Granada) and Mecina Fondales (Granada).

Sources

Corriente, F. — Diccionario de arabismos
Pita Mercé, R. — Mequinenza, historia de una villa

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Camino del Ebro

Evolution of the name

Reflections, to the letter

Languages of origin

Themes

Origin status

Glossary

Sources