19 · TREASURE · medieval occupation; prominent phases between the 11th and 13th centuries

Kumbi Saleh

Urban archaeological site of Kumbi Saleh

The city was important in the western Sahel and is a possible capital of Ghana, although that identification remains open.

Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.

Visual proposal for Urban archaeological site of Kumbi Saleh, South-eastern Mauritania — **DECLARED VISUAL RECONSTRUCTION · AI-GENERATED IMAGE · TRACEKEEPERS**
Generated reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis
Declared visual reconstruction for museographic context; it is not a photograph of the original nor documentary evidence.

History and context

The site preserves stone architecture, a mosque, cemeteries and material evidence of exchange.

It was a major node in the western Sahel and a plausible candidate in the search for Ghana’s capital. Limitation: plausible does not mean identified; al-Bakri’s text and the excavated layout do not automatically correspond.

Evidence and interpretation

ARQ+EXT+CUR. The site preserves stone architecture, a mosque, cemeteries and material evidence of exchange. What this does not establish: plausible does not mean identified; al-Bakri’s text and the excavated layout do not automatically correspond.

Catalogue facts

Narrative date: medieval occupation; prominent phases between the 11th and 13th centuries
Location: South-eastern Mauritania
Material: archaeological landscape in situ
Context: In situ; on the World Heritage Tentative List. Custody: the state and relevant heritage authority of Mauritania; confirm the current points of contact and permissions.
Curatorial reading: The documented fact and its interpretation appear separately in the evidence block.
Dossier axis: settlement
Research record: MANDE · EVI-05
Documentary coverage: 3 museum, heritage, primary corpus or research sources for this stop.

A SHARED TOPIC, DIFFERENT MOMENTS

Objects connected through time

Follow a topic across the collections. A shared tag is a way to compare objects, not proof that one culture influenced another.

The order uses the midpoint of each approximate date range; ranges can overlap. Spacing does not represent elapsed time. Swipe, scroll or use the arrows. With the sequence focused, use ← / →, Home or End.

THE CURRENT OBJECT

Its date is not sufficiently established to place it on the timeline. We keep it here, separate from the dated objects.

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medieval occupation; prominent phases between the 11th and 13th centuries

Kumbi Saleh

Mande Worlds

Phases of a city’s medieval occupation, not the date of an object.

Current record

Stone19 dated objects

1 / 19In the centre: Swanscombe handaxe

Also connected, without a comparable date (9)

These objects are not placed after the others: an unknown date does not mean a more recent object.

A White Wall on the DanubeCeltic worlds · 6th century BCE
CemeteryIndus civilisation · ca. 2600–1900 BCE
Engraved stonePrehistory · Before ≈39,000 cal BP
Four gardens and waterAchaemenid Persia · 6th century BCE
Soma stonesVedic and later Indian worlds · Rigvedic strata; later ritual tradition
The quarry remained visibleGojoseon and early Korea · Mainly 6th–5th centuries BCE
The Thracian HorsemanThracians · Roman era · diffusion especially in the 2nd–3rd centuries CE
Tichitt wallsMande Worlds · II–I millennia BCE
Writing with gapsGaramantes · Diverse chronologies

You can scroll the first group without JavaScript. The other topics are also available below.

Architecture

Current object, without a comparable date: Kumbi Saleh.

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

A White Wall on the Danube · 6th century BCE · Celtic worlds
Cemetery · ca. 2600–1900 BCE · Indus civilisation
Dia’s strata · 9th century BCE–2nd millennium CE · Mande Worlds
Four gardens and water · 6th century BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Jenne-jeno contexts · ca. 250 BCE–1400 CE · Mande Worlds
Livestock and mounds · c. 2050–1500 BCE · Nubia, Kerma and Kush
Lothal · ca. 2400–1600 BCE · Indus civilisation
Rice on stilts · Especially 1st–3rd centuries CE · Yayoi Japan
Rome learns in terracotta · End of the sixth century BCE · Etruscans and Rome
The altar cord · Approximate composition and transmission c. 800–500 BCE, with revisions · Vedic and later Indian worlds
The quarry remained visible · Mainly 6th–5th centuries BCE · Gojoseon and early Korea
Tichitt walls · II–I millennia BCE · Mande Worlds

Exchange and trade

Current object, without a comparable date: Kumbi Saleh.

Weights · ca. 2600–1900 BCE · Indus civilisation
Before the Hittites · c. 19th century BCE · Hittites
Kerma vessel · c. 1802–1640 BCE · Nubia, Kerma and Kush
Ivory in Nimrud · 9th–8th centuries BCE · Phoenicians
Motagua jade · c. 900–600 BCE · Maya worlds
The so-called ‘Priest of Cádiz’ · 7th century BCE · Phoenicians
The so-called ‘Priest of Cádiz’ · 7th century BCE · Iberians
The Gallery of the Conch Shells · Main use c. 800–500 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Mazarrón 1 · Second half of the 7th century BCE · Phoenicians
Mazarrón 2 · Second half of the 7th century BCE · Phoenicians
Ivory with names · End of the 7th century–first half of the 6th century BCE · Phoenicians
The inscription of Pistiros · 4th century BCE · Thracians
Yan knife-money in the Gojoseon sphere · 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Ancient China
Lead tablet · 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Iberians
A coin with the memory of a blade · 323–222 BCE · Gojoseon and early Korea
Ceramics that continued · Last third of the 2nd century BCE–1st century CE · Iberians
Roman glass oinochoe · Late 1st century BCE–early 1st century CE · Etruscans and Rome
Moulds for gold · 9th–11th centuries CE · Mande Worlds
Missing grave goods · 13th–15th centuries according to the heritage overview · Bantu-speaking worlds
Catalan Atlas · after 1375 and before November 1380 · Mande Worlds
Kilwa coin · 1482–1493 · Bantu-speaking worlds

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

Archives and documents

Current object, without a comparable date: Kumbi Saleh.

Boğazköy Archive · Above all 17th–13th centuries BCE · Hittites
Derveni Papyrus · copy conserved towards 340–320 BCE; comments on a previous text. · Thracians
Venus in the codex · Preserved manuscript: Postclassic, probably 13th–14th centuries; earlier knowledge · Maya worlds
Bamum document · 28 April 1922 · Bantu-speaking worlds
Two songs, missing names · 15 July 1952 · Batwa / Twa histories
Batwa on a colonial record · 1954 · Batwa / Twa histories
A map with the right to be closed · 2012–2013 · Batwa / Twa histories
Eleven articles · Adopted April–May 2022; public portal 2025 · Batwa / Twa histories

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

49 Classical Voices · Authors and traditions between the 6th century BCE and 4th century CE · Iberians
Before Bantu Worlds · Modern linguistic reconstruction on historical and living languages · Bantu-speaking worlds
Dance with weapons · Towards 400 BCE. Xenophon's story · Thracians
Shum Laka · c. 8,000 and 3,000 years before present · Bantu-speaking worlds
The Banquet of Seuthes II · Towards 400 BCE. Anabasis episode · Thracians
The cost of transcription · 19th century–current digital edition · San histories
Translating faith · 16th–18th centuries · Bantu-speaking worlds
Voices from outside · Fifth century BCE–Late Antiquity · Garamantes
Zalmoxis · testimony of Herodotus, 5th century BCE; no biographical date of the divinity. · Thracians

A closer look

About 1 min to read · 1 section. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: September 5, 2026.

Inscriptions and metal among the ruins

The heritage file submitted by Mauritania mentions finds that expand the image of Kumbi Saleh beyond its buildings: inscribed plaques, a mail coat and other metallic objects few in number. Bringing them together obliges distinguishing different activities, from writing on durable supports to manufacturing or using bodily protection. Their presence in the site’s inventory does not mean they all come from the same room or phase. To reconstruct these associations, excavation records are needed, not only the general description of the assemblage.

Heritage · UNESCO, Tentative List · Site archéologique de Kumbi Saleh, dossier submitted by Mauritania (2001)Access recorded: September 5, 2026.

Sources and references

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Kumbi Saleh

History and context

Evidence and interpretation

Catalogue facts

Objects connected through time

Kumbi Saleh

Swanscombe handaxe

Engraved ochre from Blombos

Before the San

Before the name San

Engraved stone from Çakmaktepe

Grinding stone from Çakmaktepe

Warka Mask

Cylinder seal

Uruk Vase

Narmer Palette

Worshiper of Tell Asmar

Statue of Ebih-Il

Weights

Lamassu of Khorsabad

Ashurbanipal Hunt

Heads on the wall

Sarcophagus of Eshmunazar

The statue was the urn

The inscription of Pistiros

A closer look

Inscriptions and metal among the ruins

Sources and references

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