| Koumbi Saleh | |
|---|---|
| — Commune and town — | |
 
Koumbi Saleh
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| 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.
This site was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List on June 14th, 2001 in the Cultural category.
Coordinates: 15°46′N 7°58′W / 15.767°N 7.967°W
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