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.

A small prayer room (5.4 × 2.75/3.25 m) at the mosque is oriented on 347 and 340 degrees. A remaining arched doorway in the south wall served as the entrance.

The mihrab was surrounded by two additional arched doors that led to two modest chambers and an exterior courtyard. The mihrab lacks an arch but has an apse. Three transverse barrel vaults supported by a cornice made comprised the barrel vaulted roof.

A 16 m2 enclosure with numerous tombs marked by sandstone slabs surrounds the mosque. Six stairs placed up against an exterior wall on the seashore appear to have been used to access the mosque and its enclosure. These steps lead to the entryway in the northwest corner.