Chapter 12 - The Library of Iberian Resources Online

1959), pp. 18--19.
57. "Molinería valenciana mijeval," pp. 702--704; the particle var, far, he explains, means watercourse.
In reality Alfafara, which he thinks a related toponym, is an indisputable arabism meaning place where
pottery is made (Asín Palacios, Toponimia árabe, p. 58).
58. On Favara, "Repartimiento de Valencia," p. 269 (A.D. 1240); Alfavara, ARV, Gobernación, 2241,
9th hand, fol. 34r (Aug. 11, 1430): "los cequiers de muncada de alfavara e de les altres cequies."
Compare the Magribi toponym El Faouar, "The Spring"; Pierre Moreau, Le pays des Nefzaouas (Tunis,
1947), pl. 7, opp. p. 100).
59. Rascanya: qanâ or qanâya, Arabic for "canal"; e.g., Pedro de Alcalá, p. 137, canná, pl. canaguát, as
in canná quibura, "canal maestre" (apparently without the connotation of irrigation, in contradistinction
to çáguia, pl. çaguiát, "regadura," p. 377). Rascayna: Repartimiento de Valencia, pp.154 (A.D. 1237),
266 (AD. 1240). Rascanya is parallel to another common toponym, ras al-'ayn (fountainhead; Latin,
caput aquae), as in Rasalany (Valencia; see Sanchis Guarner, Introducció, p. 90) and Ras-el-ain
(Tunisia; see Moreau, Pays des Nefzaouas, pp. 141, 146).
60. The canal and the district it waters frequently have the same name. Algirós (in Valencia and Alcira,
both) is well documented. For Algorós see Ibarra y Ruiz, Riego de Elche, p. 255,
61. Initial z into j is one of the few examples of this change (Steiger, Contribución, p. 145 n. 1). The
final b loses its sonority and changes first to f (e.g., Aljarof, the form in the Repartimiento de Valencia,
p. 480; Steiger, Contribución, p. 110) and then to s. The commentators have ignored this toponym,
concentrating on the Portuguese forms algeroz, algiroz, aljaroz, meaning gutter. See Eguílaz, Glosario,
p. 180; also Dozy and Engelmann (Glossaire, p. 125), who remark that mizrâb was the current
expression for gutter in North Africa and cite Freytag's definition of zarb as "canalis aquae."
62. On Ador, Jaubert de Passa, Canales de riego, II, 165. On Zarahiche, i.e., zafariche to zahariche to
zarahiche, by metathesis, Diaz Cassou, Ordenanzas y costumbres, p. 58.
63. On Aljupet, Ibarra y Ruiz, Riego de Elche, p 209. Cisterns were important landmarks and gave rise
to numerous toponyms. See ibid., p 10 (Port d'Aljup) and Asín Palacios, Toponimia árabe, p. 62, Algibe
On El Albellon, Ibarra y Ruiz, Riego de Elche, p 295.
64. On Calduf, Riegos de Alcoy: ordenanzas (Gandia, 1927), p. 2. Compare Asín Palacios, Toponimia
árabe, p. ,51, Alcadoz
65. On Tarqumn, Diaz Cassou, Ordenanzas y costumbres, p. 82.
66. On El Azut, Archivo de la Corona de Aragon, reg. 64, fol 125v. On Burjassot. literally "the tower of
the dam," see Asín Palacios, Toponimia árabe, p. 98. The burj was not necessarily a defense tower but,
like torre in modern usage, also meant a country house, cf. the toponym in Islamic Córdoba, Fahs al-
Sudd, field of the dam (Torres Balbás, "Contornos de las ciudades hispanomusulmanas," pp. 453, 485).
The burj of Burjassot may be that which gave its name to the Alborg Canal, which was apparently
within the limits of the village of Burjassot (ARV, Gobernación, 2268, 4th hand, fol, 8r. May 1, 1442).
The açut in question may in reality have been only a divisor or a permanent canal check, inasmuch as
Burjassot is not located on the river.
67. Asín Palacios, Toponimia árabe, p 111.
68. Ibid., p. 103
69. See Sanchis Guariler, Introducció, p. 90; Asín Palacios, Toponimia árabe, p. 94, Biar.
70. Julian Ribera, "Influencias berberiscas en el Reino de Valencia," El archivo, 1 (1886-1887), 171.
Compare the name of the Moroccan town Tetuan.