Reconnaissance de trois villes musulmanes de l'époque médiévale dans l'Ifat
Authors: Fauvelle-Aymar François-Xavier , Hirsch Bertrand , Bruxelles Laurent , Mesfin Chalachew , Chekroun Amélie , Ayenatchew Deresse 
Published: January 2017

The Ethiopian region of Ifat (North Shoa) has long been known as the cradle where Muslim kingdoms flourished during the Middle Ages, between the 13th to the 16th century. This region also was a very important emporium, which was revived in the 19th century with the growing of market places such as Aleyyu Amba. However, if the history of this region is relatively well-known from written sources, a very limited number of archaeological reconnaissances have been done to identify and describe the ancient remains. The area surveyed during this mission is situated some 20 km south-east of Shoa Robit, at an altitude of 1 250-1 300 meters. Several sites were identified.

Situated 1,5 km on the left-hand side of the road from Säfi-Beret to Kumamé, the site of Asbarï is found on a small plateau. The mosque we found there has already described by other scholars : it is possibly the largest ancient mosque of Ethiopia. Several other buildings displaying mihrab are also present on the site, as well as a Muslim graveyard comprising several hundred tombs. The town itself is walled. The structures still visible appear to be scattered and the remaining walls have a very low elevation.

On the same range of hills, several Muslim sites were identified. Situated 1km from Kedä Bura, the area of Mäsal displays many Muslim tombs and at least one tumulus. Another Muslim cemetery is found at the top of the slope near the edge of the plateau. Another three tumulus were found in the part of the cemetery where the most ancient tombs are located. This cemetery is walled. At the top of the hill, to the south of the cemetery, the ruins of a mosque locally called Mäsgid Lé-alé. The mosque of Rassa Guba is situated to the north-east of Kedä Bura ; only the north wall remains. North of Kedä Bura, a large Muslim cemetery was found : it is still in use and the local inhabitants call it Hajji Mansur. Among ancient and recent tombs, a unique sepulture already described par Chernet Tilahun (1990) was found : it is a monolithic structure engraved with an Arabic inscription.

The site of Nora is located one hour on foot from the Argobba village of Wosisso. Many ruins were found there, presenting a very dense aspect, with walls displaying up to 2 meters of elevation. A network of paved street is still visible. The buildings are distinctly quadrangular and reminiscent of Argobba or Harari traditional architecture. The town is walled, with gates. The mosque is located at the highest point of the site ; its size is 13.20 x 12.20m, with walls reaching 5 meters. In the north-east corner of the mosque, a low passage was found to be the entrance of the stairway leading to a now partly-destroyed minaret. A flat area not far from the mosque displays dozens of Muslim sepultures. The whole site delivers a great number of pottery shards as well as obsidian artifacts; the remains are particularly abundant nearby an archaeological tell situated 200m to the north-east of the mosque, and which might be a tumulus. At least three other tumulus were identified inside the town.