Souq Souq A souq or souk (, "shuq", "shuka", Spanish: zoco, also spelled shuk, shooq, soq, esouk, succ, suk, sooq, suq, soek) is a marketplace or commercial quarter in Western Asian, North African and some Horn African cities () . The term "souq" goes by many alternatives in different parts of the world; in the Balkans, the term "bedesten" is used; in Malta the terms "suq" and sometimes "monti" are used for a marketplace; and in northern Morocco, the Spanish corruption "socco" is often used. The equivalent Persian term is "bazaar". In general a souq is synonymous with a bazaar or
Souq in spite of the centrality of souqs and bazaars in Middle Eastern history, relatively little is known due to the lack of archaeological evidence. Souqs are traditionally divided into specialized sections dealing in specific types of product, in the case of permanent souqs each usually housed in a few narrow streets and named after the product it specializes in such as the gold souq, the fabric souq, the spice souq, the leather souq, the copy souq (for books), etc. This promotes competition among sellers and helps buyers easily compare prices. At the same time the whole assembly is collectively called