If you read the history books of the 16th century, Sayyida al-Hurra will rarely show up. The powerful women of the Mediterranean and Islam typically don’t, except as footnotes or asides. So her leadership, piracy and plundering for her people never quite made the major texts.
But the “pirate queen” of Morocco is finally receiving her due, at least in videogame form, as one of the playable heroes in Civilization 7‘s recent Tides of Power Collection DLC—thanks in part to the digging of one University of Kansas professor.
“[Al-Hurra] is fascinating,” says Finn Taylor, senior narrative designer at Firaxis Games for the 4X strategy title. “She was highly educated, greatly respected by both friends and foes, and accomplished remarkable feats during a challenging time in Moroccan history.”
Her last name is actually an honorific title, meaning “free,” and is given to those who lead—similar to a regional mayor. When Amal El Haimeur, an assistant professor at the University of Kansas, ran across her name as an aside in a book, she was immediately curious. Sayyida was one of two women in El Haimeur’s memory to hold the title, and the only one in Morocco.
“It became a research question for me: What led her to power?” El Haimeur says.
The more the researcher dug, the more interesting the queen became: She was born to a prominent family and was highly educated in both Spain and Morocco; learned governance and marine skills from her first husband, ruling the city of Tétouan when he was absent; and took over after his death with the help of an older brother, an advisor to the king.
“The people did not object,” El Haimeur says. “People really liked her governance, according to primary sources. She was described as intelligent, strong, flexible—and beautiful as well.”
In addition to leading locally, the queen married a king in the Berber Wattasid dynasty, her second husband. During her rule, she supported her region in a number of ways, including both diplomacy and piracy. Raiding enemy ships was seen as protecting local interests at the time, says El Haimeur.
“The interpretation of piracy is different between how the West looks at it, and how her people look at it,” she says. “According to foreign sources, she’s a pirate. But according to sources in Arabic, she is a leader or a queen. She was described as the strongest pirate, that scared the Iberians.”
Al-Hurra eventually lost power due to challenges from Portuguese and Saudi powers and the loss of support from her family after her older brother died. Her younger half-brother, a rival in political circles, challenged her, and gained the support of her brother-in-law.
The pirate queen in Civ 7
Firaxis was digging for good heroes to include in Civilization 7 and ran across al-Hurra and a journal article by El Haimeur in early 2024. They immediately reached out and offered El Haimeur a role consulting for the title. She ended up giving advice on much more than just al-Hurra’s life.
“Amal’s publications on Sayyida and other Moroccan women of that era put her on our radar,” Taylor says. “She was not only knowledgeable about Sayyida herself, on a level we were unable to achieve in house, but she also brought expertise on the wider context of Sayyida’s world and how her legacy continues today.”
El Haimeur advised on Sayyida’s narrative voice in the game, translated the script into Moroccan Arabic, worked with the Firaxis voice actor to capture the correct tone and pronunciation, and gave feedback on the character’s visual design, including making suggestions for gestures and mannerisms, Taylor says.
“We are so fortunate to have been able to work with her to bring Sayyida to life,” he says. “It’s important we capture the authenticity of the person to the extent possible, from the language and dialect they speak to the clothes they wear and the mannerisms with which they express themselves.”
Firaxis has three in-house historians who do research for the games, but often hires outside consultants in areas where their expertise is shallower. In al-Hurra’s case, El Haimeur had traveled to the region and consulted original sources, giving her unique insight into the forgotten queen.
“Women in power are usually absent from archives or absent in historiography,” the study of historical writing, El Haimeur says. So al-Hurra was a fascinating example of a woman who ruled based on her expertise.
“She deserves to be in global history. It’s not just about playing,” she says. “If the player is leaving the game with questions—about Moroccan history, about Islamic political leadership, and specifically as it relates to women, perhaps North African women in general—that’s what’s important to me.”
Sayyida turned out to be the perfect character to generate that interest.
“She was greatly respected by both friends and foes, and accomplished powerful feats during a challenging time in Moroccan history,” Taylor says. “We were very excited to bring her into the game.”
This may not be the last we see of Sayyida al-Hurra. El Haimeur is working on a book on women’s sovereignty in North Africa, which will feature the queen. She says she’s gotten other expressions of interest about the character, including one from a British filmmaker. And she’s started digging into another character now: Fatima al-Fihriya, the founder of what’s considered to be the world’s first university.
The Tides of Power Collection is a $30 add-on, and features al-Hurra and Edward Teach, the pirate better known as Blackbeard. Civilization 7 itself launched last year, and wasn’t received as favorably as the previous two games in the grand strategy series, in large part due to its controversial new Ages system. We found something to like in the left turn for the series, but with Civilization 5 and 6 still the preferred games among fans, Firaxis has been working on bringing the classic Civilization format into Civ 7 as an option.
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