The 15th century Swahili town of Songo Mnara (Tanzania) had six mosques-an unusual quantity for a town of only 7 hectares and a population of 500-1000 people. Large-scale archaeological investigations of two previously unstudied mosques, and detailed survey of the remaining four structures has suggested a complex pattern of Islamic practice in the town, including a dynamic relationship between mosques and burials, an emerging sense of social difference within the town, and the active signalling of Islamic faith to visitors through the construction of monuments intended to be seen on approach to the town. We commend a holistic approach in which mosques are studied not as isolated structures but as part of a wider urban landscape.

The first mosque was a two-roomed prayer hall that was long and thin (14.25 x 3.30m). The mosque was destroyed by a significant fire, leaving burn traces on the floor and in the entrances.

The two rooms are separated by an internal wall, with the southern room measuring 9.75 x 3.3m and the northern room measuring 2.9 x 3.3m with its mihrab. There is no sign of a doorway separating the two spaces. A sandstone stair and a sandy ramp that led to the seashore were used to access the northern room from the west.

The mihrab has a relatively straightforward elevation with a little arch and no capital. At the level of the springing, the base was rectangular rather than semi-circular.

Three doorways could be found in the southern room (10.3 x 3.25 m), two of which were located on the west wall and one in the middle of the south wall.