History of Africa · The History of Africa Podcast
Season 6 Episode 13: The Stone City of Songo Mnara
·20 min·2 clips
The 15th century Bullion Famine that crippled Europe became an economic miracle for gold-exporting Kiwawa.
As heard by us
Kiwawa's recovery leads into Songomnara's walls, tower, and a careful lesson in historical uncertainty.
Season 6, Episode 13 follows Kiwawa's slow return from a fourteenth-century economic collapse before shifting to Songomnara, a Swahili coastal settlement where stone architecture makes wealth, density, and security feel unusually concrete.
Why you'd press play
You get a ruined coastal city, a 40-room house, and a tower with an uncertain job description.
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