Gypsum

Calcium sulphate plaster produced by burning gypsum stone at low temperature and grinding it to a powder. In the southern Moroccan vernacular gypsum is used principally for interior wall and ceiling renders, decorative carved reliefs (nqach), and as a setting bed for tile and stone. The Tamazight term timchint and the Arabic jibs denote both the raw mineral and the prepared plaster. Gypsum is more abundant than lime in much of the pre-Saharan zone and historically supported a separate craft tradition of plaster carvers (naqqāshīn) attached to the ksour and kasbahs of wealthier patrons.