Draa Valley, Morocco

This scene is an original illustration set in Draa Valley, Morocco. It lies in the subtropics, where the climate is hot desert — evaporation far outruns rainfall.

Rammed-earth houses with squared corner towers and stepped crenellated eaves line an unpaved lane. A dense date-palm canopy rises behind the rooftops. A loaded donkey walks the lane, and the ground is bare gravel and dust. The earth walls take the low afternoon sun and glow the same colour as the ground they were made from.

Why are desert walls built this thick in rammed earth?

Rammed earth is thermal mass: thick walls hold the night's cool through a scorching day and release it back after dark. It also means the building material was underfoot. Date palms need intense heat and constant water at the root, so a palm canopy in bare desert marks a watercourse or a spring. Together they describe an oasis settlement on the desert's edge, not in its interior.

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