It’s official, season 5 of the Irlando-Canadian series Vikings will be back on November 29, 2017 on the American channel History.
Fans of this series, the second most watched in the world after Game of Throneswill find their favorite heroes, but will also see new characters appear, of which Ziyadat Allah Ireal historical figure, played by the Egyptian actor Khaled Abol Naga.
Ziyadat Allah I (born in 788 – died on June 10, 838) was the third emir aghlabid of Ifriqiya from 817 to his death. Son of Ibrahim Ibn Al-Aghlab, he had succeeded his brother Abdallah I who reigned from 812 to 817. In 824, he had to face a revolt of Arab troops in Tunis, which he managed to master in 836, with the help of the Berbers.
Ziyadat Allah I had also conquered almost all of Sicily. These now Muslim territories constituted a province of the Emirate of Aghlabides and remained in the hands of the Arabs for about two centuries.
During his reign, the economic health of the kingdom had enabled a major construction program. This is how The mosque of Oqba Ibn Nafi in Kairouan had been rebuilt and the city defenses erected.
After his death, his brother Abu Iqal (838-841) succeeded him.
Khaled Abol Naga in Ziyadat Allah in a Vikings scene
Michael Hirst, historian, creator and screenwriter of Vikingsbased the series on real historical events, from which it builds the various episodes by adding fictitious details.
In this season 5, the Vikings will cross Europe, go through France and arrive in North Africa by sea. They will then continue until Kairouan To find Ziyadat Allah I in order to negotiate an agreement. It is following this meeting that Ziyadat Allah I will decide to conquer Sicily for reasons of which we will take note by looking at the series which, as said above, will be inspired by reality.
It is therefore thanks to the series Vikings Let us meet Ziyadat Allah I, this very cultivated Emir, through which Michael Hirst wanted to show that while Europe still lived in the Middle Ages, the Arabs were very civilized and well in advance compared to Europeans.
During a television program, Khaled Abol Naga expressed his pride in having participated in this impressive series, in the colossal budget and especially in the very well written script. Especially since he had really liked the role he had played there: a very learned historical figure, speaking several languages including Greek and Arabic and who, each time he had to meet foreigners, also learned their language. Indeed, Ziyadat Allah I had for example learned the Norrois to be able to communicate with the Vikings.
In addition, said Khaled, although the series is in English, Michael Hirst had actually made his character speak in old Norroises (a dead language, close to the Icelandic), to show how educated Arabs were and give a history lesson.
Khaled Abol Naga also added that his text had been given in phonetics. But having experienced difficulties in playing in an unknown language, not even being able to distinguish a verb from a subject or their place in a sentence, he had preferred to study it a little to be able to master it. This anecdote in itself shows the degree of perfectionism of professionals in this soap!
Although proud that this series talks about our country and our ancestors, I deplore that the sequences supposed to happen in Kairouan were shot in Morocco. Yes, in Morocco, and more specifically at the Merzouga desert.
It’s a shame. Really a shame. Tunisia, which for years has been a land of filming, is no longer so. This is essentially due to administrative heaviness that discourages professionals and insecurity that has reigned in the country since the Revolution.
And this is how a Tunisian adventure, which should have been filmed in Tunisia, finds itself in Morocco!
But I am still happy that thanks to this very famous series, a section of our history will be revealed to the whole world, especially from an advantageous angle. This will be an opportunity to make known a little more Tunisia and its very rich cultural heritage.
This season 5 of Vikings will also allow Tunisians to discover Ziyadat Allah I, this historical figure, most of whom completely ignored existence a few weeks ago. Perhaps this will also arouse the curiosity of some, who will be motivated enough to learn even more about him, about his dynasty and perhaps even on the history of Tunisia!
Neïla Driss
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