Erfoud (Berber languages: ⴰⵔⴼⵓⴷ, Arfud; Arabic: أرفود) is an oasis town in the Sahara, in the Drâa-Tafilalet region, eastern Morocco. It belongs to ait atta tribe, divided into several districts: Hay Salam, Hay Jdid, Hay Ziz, Hay el Bathaa, Hay Annahda, and Hay el Hamri.
Due to its proximity to Merzouga desert village in the Erg Chebbi Dunes, Erfoud has developed tourist-related infrastructures such as hotels and restaurants.
Beyond the dunes, Erfoud’s food scene is a study in desert adaptation. The town’s restaurants often serve tajines cooked in earthenware pots that have been buried in hot sand, a technique that imparts a smoky depth no oven can match. Look for dishes featuring local dates and almond‑laden pastilla, which draw on the oasis’s own orchards. For the adventurous, a visit to a family‑run coop pour a glass of ‘meksa’, a date‑infused spirit that doubles as a digestive after a long ride across the Erg Chebbi. Pairing these flavours with a sunset view over the palms offers a sensory map of the region that guidebooks seldom highlight.
Base camp for the Fossil Frontier
Erfoud sits on a geological crossroads, serving as the launch point for fossil excursions in the nearby Tenthredinidae formations. Small operators organise day trips to sites where Jurassic-era marine reptiles have been unearthed, providing modest but informative tours with portable microscopes for on‑site identification. While the town itself is modest, its workshop spaces sometimes host rotating exhibits of locally recovered specimens, allowing visitors to glimpse the palaeontological heritage without venturing into formal museum settings. Booking early in the season helps secure a guide who can navigate the shifting sandbars that protect these delicate sites.
The rhythm of the weekly souq
Erfoud’s weekly market is more than a place to buy dates; it is a living laboratory of Saharan trade routes. Vendors arrive from distant oases with hand‑woven textiles, silver jewellery bearing Berber symbols, and spices that have travelled caravans for centuries. Observing the barter rituals reveals subtle hierarchies: families known for date cultivation command premium stalls, while newer migrants showcase handcrafted ceramics. Visit on a Thursday morning to catch the market at its busiest, and linger past the usual closing time to hear the informal storytelling sessions that accompany tea, offering insight into the town’s oral history.
Introduction
Place in Drâa-Tafilalet, MoroccoErfoud
أرفود (Arabic)ⴰⵔⴼⵓⴷ (Berber languages)Central Market Souq of ErfoudErfoudLocation in MoroccoShow map of MoroccoErfoudErfoud (Africa)Show map of AfricaCoordinates: 31°26′10″N 4°13′58″W / 31.43611°N 4.23278°W / 31.43611; -4.23278Country MoroccoRegionDrâa-TafilaletProvinceErrachidiaElevation807 m (2,648 ft)Population (2024) • Total28,912 • Density3,139/km2 (8,130/sq mi)Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)Postcode52200
Erfoud, city center district
Erfoud (Berber languages: ⴰⵔⴼⵓⴷ, Arfud; Arabic: أرفود) is an oasis town in the Sahara, in the Drâa-Tafilalet region, eastern Morocco. It belongs to ait atta tribe, divided into several districts: Hay Salam, Hay Jdid, Hay Ziz, Hay el Bathaa, Hay Annahda, and Hay el Hamri.
Due to its proximity to Merzouga desert village in the Erg Chebbi Dunes, Erfoud has developed tourist-related infrastructures such as hotels and restaurants.
History
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Jewish community[edit]
Erfoud's Jewish community traced its roots to the French protectorate period in the early 20th century, when several hundred individuals from nearby towns, particularly El Mâadid, settled in the region encouraged by French plans to develop the town. The community gained prominence as a base of the Abuhatzeira family, known for its esteemed rabbis, including Abir Yakkov, the Baba Lu Ḥazzan, and the Baba Sali. Due to the absence of an Alliance Israélite Universelle school in Erfoud, although one existed in nearby Rissani, many Jewish children attended a French school.
By 1931, the Jewish population constituted approximately one-third of Erfoud's total residents, numbering 1,172 out of a total population of 3,534. Following World War II, the number of Jewish inhabitants exceeded 700. Following Morocco's independence in 1956, the majority of Erfoud's Jewish population emigrated, mainly to Israel.
Filming location
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Due to the beauty of the surrounding Sahara Desert and the town's oasis areas, Erfoud has been a filming location for many films, including:
March or Die (1977)
In the film archeologists are uncovering an ancient city near Erfoud buried by a sand storm 3,000 years ago. The site is the resting place of a Berber saint, "The Angel of the Desert".
The Mummy (1999)
Filming began in Marrakesh, Morocco on May 4, 1998 and lasted 17 weeks. Photography then moved to the Sahara Desert outside Erfoud.
Production designer Allan Cameron found a dormant volcano near Erfoud where the entire set for Hamunaptra could be constructed.
The Four Feathers (2002)
For its Egypt and Sudan scenes, the film directed by Shekhar Kapur starring Heath Ledger, Wes Bentley and Kate Hudson was shot in Erfoud and Ouarzazate for more than a week.
Prince of Persia (2010)
Mike Newell selected Morocco as a shooting location for the film and also planned to film in Pinewood Studios. Filming began in July 2008 in Morocco. Eight weeks were spent in Morocco before the first unit moved to Pinewood.
Spectre (2015)
For the 24th (official) James Bond film, the nearby Gara Medouar played the part of an enemy headquarters.
Mars analogue research
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This area of Morocco has also been identified as being very similar in appearance and possibly geology to certain areas on the planet Mars. Because of this, there is an interest in this area as a field research location for Mars analogue research.
In February 2013 the Austrian Space Forum spent the whole month with a field team including two space suit simulators (Aouda.X and Aouda.S) and a number of rovers to conduct a large number of experiments. They were supported by a Mission Support Center run from Innsbruck, Austria to simulate a mission to the surface of Mars. The main desert base camp was named Camp Weyprecht on February 11, with a later satellite camp about 80 km further south being called Station Payer.
