- Genres: World
Koumbi Saleh
| Artist: Kumbi Saleh |
| Wikipedia: Koumbi Saleh |
| Koumbi Saleh | |
|---|---|
| — Commune and town — | |
  Koumbi Saleh
|
|
| Coordinates: 15°46′N 7°58′W / 15.767°N 7.967°W | |
| Country |  Mauritania |
| Time zone | GMT (UTC+0) |
Koumbi Saleh, sometimes Kumbi Saleh is a large settlement mound or tell in south east Mauritania that has been putatively identified as the site of the capital of the Ghana Empire.
The city dates back to the third century CE, when its Mandé founders controlled the trade routes between Koumbi Saleh, Aoudaghost, and Timbuktu. In the seventh century, the Ghana Empire rose to dominate the region, with Kumbi Saleh as its capital.
By the eleventh century the city had become one of the largest urban areas in sub-Saharan Africa. It consisted of two centres. The northern centre was known for its twelve mosques, while the southern, known as al-Ghala, was home to the royal palace surrounded by a small, planned settlement. Residential suburbs lay between the two centres. However, in 1076, the Sanhaja Berbers again moved south to the city, this time razing it, and with it, most of its documented records. As a result of this destruction, accounts of the city of Ghana as it were, are mainly those of Arab or Berber visitors and travellers.
In the early thirteenth century, the Sosso king Soumaoro Kanté of the Takrur region used the city as a base of operations for his army. The city was later abandoned, then rediscovered in 1914 by Bonnel de Mèzieres, and opened as an archeological site.
World Heritage Status
This site was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List on June 14th, 2001 in the Cultural category.
References
- Berthier, Sophie (1997), Recherches archéologiques sur la capitale de l'empire de Ghana: Etude d'un secteur, d'habitat à Koumbi Saleh, Mauritanie: Campagnes II-III-IV-V (1975–1976)-(1980–1981), British Archaeological Reports 680, Cambridge Monographs in African Archeaology 41, Oxford: Archaeopress, ISBN 0860548686.
- Insoll, Timothy (2003), The archaeology of Islam in sub-Saharan Africa, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-5216-5702-4.
- Levtzion, Nehemia (1973), Ancient Ghana and Mali, London: Methuen, ISBN 0841904316.
- Levtzion, Nehemia; Hopkins, John F.P., eds. (2000), Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West Africa, New York, NY: Marcus Weiner Press, ISBN 1-55876-241-8. First published in 1981.
- Masonen, Pekka; Fisher, Humphrey J. (1996), "Not quite Venus from the waves: The Almoravid conquest of Ghana in the modern historiography of Western Africa", History in Africa 23: 197–232, http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/~amcdouga/Hist446/readings/conquest_in_west_african_historiography.pdf.
- Thomassey, Paul; Mauny, Raymond (1951), "Campagne de fouilles à Koumbi Saleh", Bulletin de I'lnstitut Français de I'Afrique Noire (B) 13: 438–462, http://www.mr.refer.org/numweb/spip.php?article20.
External links
Coordinates: 15°46′N 7°58′W / 15.767°N 7.967°W
 |
This Mauritania location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Learn More
 | Sosso |
| Soumaoro Kanté |
| Ghana Empire |
 | Who is saleh? Read answer... |
| Muntasir saleh is cool? Read answer... |
| Who is Prince Saleh Abdullah Kamel? Read answer... |
Help us answer these
 | What ethnicity is the last name Saleh? |
| What is salim saleh's e-mail? |
| Who is Mr Alimohammad saleh in yemen? |
Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:
Copyrights:
 |
 | Artist. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved. Read more |
 |
| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Koumbi Saleh". Read more |
Related answers
- Who is saleh?
- Muntasir saleh is cool?
- Who is Prince Saleh Abdullah Kamel?
- Medain salehs means sales city in arabic and is considered to be a?
ADVERTISEMENT
