Archeological Remains of Kumbi Saleh, the last capital of the ancient kingdom of Ghana, Hodh Ech Chargui Region, Mauritania
Kumbi Saleh (also spelt Koumbi Saleh) was the last capital of ancient Ghana (also known as Wagadu), a powerful and wealthy West African kingdom dominated by the Soninké people. The city’s archaeological remains lie 320 kilometres (200 miles) north of Bamako, Mali. Eleventh-century scholar Abu Ubaydalla al-Bakri wrote that the city consisted of two distinct towns: a Muslim town and a royal compound. Archaeologists have confirmed the existence of the much larger and denser Muslim town, covering square kilometres (one square mile). Its wealthy Muslim traders prayed in the dozen mosques. A large main street twelve meters (forty feet) wide ran the length of this settlement. A distinct, Soninké-dominated royal compound, less well built, probably existed ten kilometres (six miles) from the main town. Approximately 15,000 to 20,000 people probably lived at Koumbi Saleh at its peak, when the town prospered from the sale of gold and slaves to trans-Saharan traders. From the ninth century, Arab authors mention the Ghana Empire in connection with the trans-Saharan gold trade. The discovery in 1913 of a 17th-century African chronicle that gave the name of the capital as Koumbi led French archaeologists to the ruins at Koumbi Saleh. Excavations at the site have revealed the ruins of a large Muslim town with houses built of stone and a congregational mosque but no inscription to unambiguously identify the site as that of capital of Ghana. Ruins of the king's town described by al-Bakri have not been found. Radiocarbon dating suggests that the site was occupied between the late 9th and 14th centuries.
Size: 8368px × 5584px
Location: Kumbi Saleh, Hodh Ech Chargui Region, Mauritania
Photo credit: © François-Olivier Dommergues / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: africa, african, ancient, arab, archaeological, archaeologist, archaeology, bamako, capital, chargui, colony, compound, desert, ech, french, ghana, gold, hodh, house, houses, islamic, kingdom, koumbi, kumbi, mali, mauritania, mauritanie, mosque, muslim, remains, royal, ruin, ruins, sahara, saleh, slaves, soninké, stones, town, trade, trader, traders, trans-sahara, trans-saharan, wagadu, wealthy, west
