Ras Mkumbuu Ruins

Ras Mkumbuu Ruins
	Ndagoni complex part of the Ras Mkumbuu Ruins
	Shown within Tanzania
Location	Chake Chake District,; Pemba South Region,; Tanzania
Coordinates	5°11′43.8576″S 39°39′13.31″E / 5.195516000°S 39.6536972°E
Type	Settlement
History
Material	Coral rag
Founded	9th century CE
Abandoned	16th century CE
Cultures	Swahili
Site notes
Condition	Endangered
Ownership	Tanzanian Government
Management	Antiquities Division, Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism
Architecture
Architectural styles	Swahili & Islamic
National Historic Sites of Tanzania
Official name	Ras Mkumbuu Ruins Historic Site
Type	Cultural

Ras Mkumbuu Ruins (Magofu ya mji wa kale wa Ras Mkumbuu in Swahili ) are located in Chake Chake district of South Pemba Region. They lie close to the village of Ndagoni at the end of a long narrow peninsula known as Ras Mkumbuu, which lies to the northwest of the town of Chake-Chake.^[2]^[3] The ruins mainly date from the 9th century CE and were abandoned in the 16th century, though there are indications that they were built over older foundations. Notable among these ruins are those of a large mosque which was for some time the largest structure of its type in sub-Saharan Africa. James Kirkman, the first archeologist to excavate here in the 1950s, proposed to connect his findings with the "Qanbalu" mentioned by the Arab explorer Al-Masudi around 900 but could not identify remnants earlier than the 13th century .^[4] A possible identification of Pemba Island as a whole and especially Ras Mkumbuu with Qanbalu is still discussed.^[5]

References

^ "Antiquities Division". Retrieved 21 Jul 2022.
^ Spear, Thomas. “Early Swahili History Reconsidered.” The International Journal of African Historical Studies, vol. 33, no. 2, 2000, pp. 257–90. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/220649. Accessed 4 Aug. 2022.
^ Spear, Thomas. “Swahili History and Society to 1900: A Classified Bibliography.” History in Africa, vol. 27, 2000, pp. 339–73. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/3172120. Accessed 4 Aug. 2022.
^ Reid, Lane: African Historical Archaeologies (2014), p. 135f
^ Oliver, Oliver & Fagan: Africa in the Iron Age: C.500 BC-1400 AD (1975), p 193f mention the identity as established, other authors not so