Oualata
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| State Party |  Mauritania |
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| Type | Cultural | |
| Criteria | iii, iv, v | |
| Identification | #750 | |
| Region2 | Arab States | |
| Inscription History | ||
| Formal Inscription: | 1996 20th WH Committee Session |
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| WH link: | http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/750 | |
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1 Name as officially inscribed on the WH List |
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Oualata (Arabic: ولاته) is a town in south east Mauritania. It is believed to have been first settled by an agro-pastoral people akin to the Mandé Soninke who lived along the rocky promontories of the Tichitt-Oualata and Tagant cliffs of Mauritania. There, they built what are among the oldest stone settlements on the African continent. The modern city was founded in the eleventh century, when it was part of the Ghana Empire. It was destroyed in 1076 but refounded in 1224, and again became a major trading post for trans-Saharan trade and an important centre of Islamic scholarship.
Today, Oualata is home to a manuscript museum, and is known for its highly decorative vernacular architecture. It is also a World Heritage Site.
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[edit] References
- Mauny, R. (1971), “The Western Sudan” in Shinnie: 66-87.
- Monteil, Charles (1953), “La Légende du Ouagadou et l’Origine des Soninke” in Mélanges Ethnologiques (Dakar: Bulletin del’Institut Francais del’Afrique Noir).
