Ras Mkumbuu Ruins (''Magofu ya mji wa kale wa Ras Mkumbuu'' in Swahili ) are located in Chake Chake district of

South Pemba Region Pemba South Region or South Pemba Region (''Mkoa wa Pemba Kusini'' in Swahili) is one of the 31 regions of Tanzania. The region covers an area of . The region is comparable in size to the combined land area of the nation state of Grenada. and t ...

. They lie close to the village of Ndagoni at the end of a long narrow peninsula known as

Ras Mkumbuu Ras Mkumbuu is a long narrow peninsula on the central west coast of Pemba Island, one of the two main islands of Tanzania's Zanzibar Archipelago. The town of Chake-Chake Chake-Chake is a town located on the Tanzanian island of Pemba and ca ...

, which lies to the northwest of the town of

Chake-Chake Chake-Chake is a town located on the Tanzanian island of Pemba and capital of Chake Chake District. It is in the centre of a deep indentation in the west coast called Chake-Chake Bay. Chake-Chake is historically the capital of Pemba Island ...

. 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 A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

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 Al-Mas'udi ( ar, أَبُو ٱلْحَسَن عَلِيّ ٱبْن ٱلْحُسَيْن ٱبْن عَلِيّ ٱلْمَسْعُودِيّ, '; –956) was an Arab historian, geographer and traveler. He is sometimes referred to as the "Herodotus ...

around 900 but could not identify remnants earlier than the 13th century . A possible identification of Pemba Island as a whole and especially Ras Mkumbuu with Qanbalu is still discussed.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

References

*Finke, J. (2006) ''The Rough Guide to Zanzibar (2nd edition).'' New York: Rough Guides. Pemba Island Archaeological sites in Tanzania Former populated places in Tanzania {{Islam-stub

See also

References