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About Mogador Island
 The island of Mogador is an ancient Phoenician site on the west coast of Morocco, and is the most remote permanent settlement known with respect to the homeland in Tyre. Prior to arrival of the Phoenicians in this coastal area of Morocco, the indigenous peoples were generally interior peoples known even today as Berber tribes; these nomads lived simply as early as 4000 BC and left little architectural trace; they were called ‘'Maures'‘ by the Romans leading to the region's early Roman name of Mauretania.The original Phoenician name for this ancient outpost was ‘'Arambys'‘ deriving from the Phoenician phrase ‘'Har A  nbin'‘, meaning ‘''mountain of grapes'‘. Subsequently the site became known as Mogador, after the Phoenician word ‘'migdol'‘ for watchtower. The Moors applied the name ‘'Souira'‘ to Mogador, leading to the name of the present day city Essaouira.  Mogador was founded as the Phoenician merchant navy pushed through the Pillars of Hercules and began constructing a series of bases along the Atlantic coast starting with Lixus in the north, then Chellah and finally Mogador. The Phoenicians initiated development of Mogador on the small island in the inlet bay of present day Essaouira. This island fit the Phoenician model well of providing a readily fortified place built upon a rocky promontory. Most of the early development took place at the southwestern end of the island at elevations of three to six metres. One of the first uses of this colony was the manufacture of a unique purple dye from a species of endemic murex shellfish; the dye was used in the coating of Getulian (named for a western Moroccan tribe of this area) purple ware. Probably Phoenicians used Mogador as a base for inland mineral exploration.  City of Essaouira The history of the town dates back to the 7th century B.C. On their way down to Black Africa, the Phoenicians stopped over in the Island of Mogador. The Romans later founded a Tyrian purple factory, making the bright red dye that gave its name to the Purple Islands just off the coast from Essaouira. La ville d'Essaouira est l'une des perles de l'Atlantique, ancien port de pêche et récente station balnéaire, appellée aussi l'ancienne Mogador, construite selon les principes militaires européens de l'époque. Les Phéniciens faisaient escale dans l´île de Mogador lorsqu´ils descendaient vers l´équateur. Juba II, roi de Mauritanie, y installa plus tard une fabrique de pourpre. Son climat tempéré toute l´année, ses ruelles, ses pêcheurs et artisans, sa kasba, ses plages et son fameux festival de Gnaoua, ses habitants et leur gentillesse tout ça a fait de Essaouira une ville unique au Maroc.
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