The marabout was a Moslem ”saint” (not in the Christian sense, though) who led an ascetic life according to the precepts of the Koran; these virtuous men and teachers were told to have beneficial virtues (”baraka”) towards objects and descendants and also magical powers.

The term ”marabout” comes from ”murabit” or ”inhabitant of the ribut” (= quarter).

Marabouts had to be buried by the disciples in the same place in which they had died and their graves were regularly visited by devoted pilgrims. Shape and size of the handwork varied according to the importance of the marabout (his ”degree” of holiness), available technical skills, local customs and economic means of his followers.

In architectural terms a marabout’s grave (or <marabout> as it is usually called by Westerners, but Arabs call it <qubba>), is a square cubic room often (but not always) covered by a semi-sphere. The grave is plastered in white and decorations are generally absent both internally and externally. Capitals could be present in the corners of the monument and A.P. Models supplies two kinds of graves, one with and the other without the capitals, and also a photo-etched half-moon.