Sidi Okba

In an oasis east of Biskra stands the mosque of Sidi Okba, built around the tomb of Uqba ibn Nafi. The Arab commander, a leading figure in the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb, was killed near Tahouda in 683. His burial place became the heart of a settlement and a place of religious devotion. The mosque's carved wooden door and inscription recall an early renewal of the sanctuary around the eleventh century.

The complex continued to grow long after its foundation. A zawiya was built in the seventeenth century, and another mosque was added around 1799–1800 by Muhammad ibn Umar al-Tunisi. Amid the palms of the oasis, the tomb and its associated buildings preserved the memory of the early conquest while serving generations of worshippers and students.