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Ras al Fil (Cape of the Elephant)

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Ibn Majid is the only author who mentions the cape. And he says you can also sleep there. So some save settlement must have been there.

Taken from: Archaeological Sites Survey from Kisiju to Dar es Salaam by Emanuel T. Kessy 1997

 

Kimbiji Pwani ya Kazi: This site is located about 3 km south east of the present Kimbiji town on a fertile plain at the bottom of a cliff, half a km north of the lighthouse at Kimbiji. It is approximately 4 ha. Within the site is a mosque ruin of which the walls are still standing. Based on the evidence of blue on white Chinese ware and blue green glazed Persian ware the site dates to the 15th century. The site is very rich in local potsherds but most of the sherds were undecorated. Only one sherd with incised lines was recovered at the site. A shovel test pit done at the site revealed local undecorated pottery daub and shells from the surface to a depth of 70cm.   

Kimbiji : This site is located approximately 300 metres to the east of Kimbiji town . At the site are stone ruins with a high concentration of local and imported potsherds on the surface. There is also a ruined mosque which is believed to have been constructed in the 18th century A.D. The area surrounding the mosque is a graveyard in which most of the graves are big sherds of 18th - 19th century European wares used in ritual activities. A shovel test pit dug at the site consisted of a high concentration of local potsherds from the surface to 80 cm depth. Finds from the deposits suggest the site was occupied continuously for a long time . The site is probably contemporary with the site of Pwani ya Kazi (15th century).

The mosque was originally furnished with ( probably ) two rows each of five octagonal pillars. There are also ruins of very small mosques at the hamlets of Sala and Kutani about 24 and 5 miles north of Kimbiji , respectively. There is a further plain mosque without columns, very long in proportion to its width , near the lighthouse at Ras Kanzi .

Note: as not much research has been done to find the founding dates of the settlements. Any one of them might have been the place recommended by Ibn Majid to spend the night.