krakebs

thumb|Use of Qraqeb in a wedding in the city of Salé, Morocco - November 2025 Qraqeb or garagab (), in English often transliterated as krakeb, are a large iron castanet-like musical instrument primarily used as the rhythmic aspect of Gnawa music. Gnawa today is part of the North African culture and is inherent in the Maghrebi soundscape. The word qraqeb is a plural form (with the singular being qarqab), with an unclear etymology, as the word does not occur in Standard Arabic with this meaning.

== Cultural significance == Gnawa music is a spiritual music representing the history of sub-Saharan West African people who were sold as slaves in present-day Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Tunisia or Greater Maghreb. "...stories are told to those who are connected with their history by the very sound of the krakebs – they represent the sound of horses hooves hitting the ground as their people were carried away in grain sacks, and the rattling of shackles that used to hold their people captive.". They are also said to represent shackles which slaves removed when they became free men. Several specific rhythms played by Gnawa musicians on Qarqabat (often accompanied by hajhuj or sintir) symbolise this freedom.