Koumbi Saleh Travel Guide

Koumbi Saleh is what remains of the once flourishing capital of the kingdom of Ghana. Ghana ruled the trans-saharan trade routes of salt, gold and slaves. This brought the city and the region a lot of wealth.

Koumbi was a wealthy capital back then. Once it was wealthy of gold,but less salt. So the africans traded gold for salt because salt in  Koumbi Saleh is more preciouse for some Africans...

Traces of the town were discovered in 1913, and Koumbi is the number one archeological site of Mauritania.

Koumbi Saleh is not easy to reach if you don't have your own means of transport. It is not far off the main road from Ayoun al Atrous to Nema, but the sparse traffic does not make the detor.

Koumbi's history was full and joyful, still as ancient Ghana's capitol in the time of midevil africa. It was home to two peoples. One were the Soninkes, who were the locals and original people of the town. The other was the Muslims, who were traders who had come to trade and buy at Koumbi's market. It was the largest and wealthiest market in West Africa of that time.

The Soninkes and the Muslims were  tolerant of one another and the rulers of Koumbi, who were Soninke, were also tolerant of the Islam religion. They wanted to keep them there and continue to be a wealthy city, but they wanted to seperate the Soninkes from the Muslims. This resulted in the separation of the city. Half went to The Soninkes and the other to the Muslims. 

The east half of the city held the Muslims' homes. There homes were made of mainly bricks and mud. The Muslim side was also where the famous market is. The Soninkes' side consisted only of the lacals and their houses were made of mud and straw. Plus, the rulers' were on that side. They controlled Koumbi from there.

If you ever decide to go to Koumbi, know that it is rich in history and is almost the same then as it is today!