Koumbi Saleh

E339372

Koumbi Saleh was the principal urban and commercial center of the medieval West African Ghana Empire, renowned as a hub of trans-Saharan trade in gold and other goods.

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All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Koumbi Saleh canonical 2

Statements (50)

Predicate Object
instanceOf ancient city
archaeological site
buildingMaterial mudbrick
stone
connectedTo North Africa
surface form: Maghreb

North Africa
Middle Niger region
surface form: Sahel

Sudan region
surface form: Sudanic region
declinePeriod 12th century
late 11th century
describedBy Al-Bakri
surface form: al-Bakri
describedInWork Book of Routes and Realms
economicFunction redistribution center for goods
tax collection center
excavatedBy French archaeologists
excavationStartDate 1914
flourishedInCentury 10th century
11th century
9th century
early 12th century
hadFeature Muslim merchants' town
marketplaces
mosques
palace complex
royal town
heritageStatus important site of early West African urbanism
knownFor Islamic scholarship
gold trade
trade in salt
trade in slaves
trans-Saharan trade
locatedIn Ghana Empire
West Africa
locatedInPresentDay Mauritania
partOf Trans-Saharan trade routes
surface form: trans-Saharan trade network
politicalFunction seat of the Ghana king
possibleCauseOfDecline Almoravid campaigns in Iberia
surface form: Almoravid incursions

shifts in trade routes
religionPresent Islam
traditional African religions
role commercial center of the Ghana Empire
principal urban center of the Ghana Empire
servedAs capital of the Ghana Empire
tradedGood beads
copper
gold
ivory
salt
slaves
textiles

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Ghana Empire capital Koumbi Saleh
Wagadou capital Koumbi Saleh