Tichit, or Tichitt (, ), is a village at the foot of the Tagant Plateau in central southern

Mauritania Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...

that is known for its

vernacular architecture Vernacular architecture (also folk architecture) is building done outside any academic tradition, and without professional guidance. It is not a particular architectural movement or style but rather a broad category, encompassing a wide range a ...

and proximity to the Dhar Tichitt archaeological sites. The main agriculture in Tichit is date farming, and the village is also home to a small

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

. Tichitt Airport has two unpaved runways designated in a barren area southeast of the village.

History

Neolithic

This region includes a long sandstone cliff formation that defines the northern limit of the Hodh depression, near the former lake of Aoukar. The

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

sites of Dhar Tichitt were settled around 2000 BC by agropastoral communities known as the Tichitt culture. Archaeologists including P.J. Munson, Augustin F.C. Holl, and S. Amblard have found some evidence that

millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most millets belong to the tribe Paniceae. Millets are important crops in the Semi-arid climate, ...

was farmed there from the date of the communities' foundation. The settlements were generally situated on the cliffs and included stone buildings. They are the oldest surviving archaeological settlements in

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

and the oldest stone-built settlements south of the Sahara. They are thought to have been built by the proto-

Soninke people The Soninke (Sarakolleh) people are a West African Mande languages, Mande-speaking ethnic group found in Mali, southern Mauritania, eastern Senegal, The Gambia, and Guinea (especially Fouta Djallon). They speak the Soninke language, also called ...

and were possibly the precursor of the

Ghana Empire The Ghana Empire (), also known as simply Ghana, Ghanata, or Wagadu, was an ancient western-Sahelian empire based in the modern-day southeast of Mauritania and western Mali. It is uncertain among historians when Ghana's ruling dynasty began. T ...

. Hundreds of rock art images have been discovered, depicting various animals and hunting scenes. The area was abandoned around 500 BC probably because of the onset of more arid conditions.

Medieval

The area around Tichit was part of ''Maasina'', the Fula term for the Dhar Tichitt- Walata-

Néma Néma () is a town in southeastern Mauritania, close to the border with Mali. It is located at around at the eastern end of the Aoukar. It is the capital of Hodh Ech Chargui Region and of the Néma (department), Néma Department. While the u ...

region and origin of the name ''Massina'' for the Inner Niger Delta.

Al-Bakri Abū ʿUbayd ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Muḥammad ibn Ayyūb ibn ʿAmr al-Bakrī (), or simply al-Bakrī (c. 1040–1094) was an Arab Andalusian historian and a geographer of the Muslim West. Life Al-Bakri was born in Huelva, the ...

's 11th century chronicle records a war between 'Masin' and nearby Awgham. The oldest population strata in Tichit consists of an Afro-Berber group still called the Imasna. The town of Tichitt was founded in the 12th century as a caravan stop on the Trans-Saharan trade route linking Oualâta to Chinguetti and eventually Sijilmasa. According to legend, seven towns have been built on top of each other at the site. The Azer dialect of Soninke was spoken in Tichit from the era of the Wagadou Empire until the early 20th century. The name 'Tichit' may be derived from a term meaning 'language of the blacks' in the

Tuareg languages Tuareg (), also known as ''Tamasheq'' (), ''Tamajaq'' or ''Tamahaq'' (Tifinagh: ), is a group of closely related Berber languages, Berber Linguistic variety, varieties. They are spoken by the Tuareg people, Tuareg Berbers in large parts of Mali, ...

.Michael J Rueck; Niels Christiansen
Northern Songhay languages in Mali and Niger, a sociolinguistic survey
Summer Institute of Linguistics (1999).

Modern

The town was self-sufficient and boasted several thousand inhabitants in the early 20th century, but desertification and sand encroachment have led to the abandonment of many structures. In 1996, it was designated a UNESCO

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

. In 1999, torrential rains caused flooding that damaged 80% of the town.

Vernacular Architecture

File:The Mosque of Tichitt.jpg, The Mosque of Tichitt File:A door in Tichit.png, A decorated door in Tichit File:Tichitt architecture.jpg, A street in Tichitt File:Tichit Architecture.jpg, Open space File:تيشت (منظر علوي 1).jpg, A view of the ancient town of Tichit File:تيشت (منظر علوي 2).jpg, Some modern housing visible in the foreground with many other abandoned historical buildings

Climate

References

Bibliography

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External links

* {{Authority control Communes of Mauritania World Heritage Sites in Mauritania Prehistoric Africa Archaeological sites in Mauritania Ksars