house near the mosque have given dates that range between the late 9th and the 14th centuries. The French archaeologist Raymond Mauny estimated that the town would have accommodated between 15,000 and 20,000 inhabitants. Mauny himself acknowledged that this is an enormous population for a town in the Sahara with a very limited supply of water ("Chiffre énorme pour une ville saharienne"). The archaeological evidence suggests that Koumbi Saleh was a Muslim town with a strong Maghreb connection. No inscription has been found to unambiguously link the ruins with the Muslim capital of Ghana described by al-Bakri. Moreover, the ruins of the king's town of Al-Ghaba have not been found. This has led some historian to doubt the identification of Koumbi Saleh as the capital of Ghana. World Heritage Status The archaeological site was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List on June 14, 2001 in the Cultural category. Notes References . . . . . Volume 1 is the Arabic text, Volume 2 is a translation into French. Reprinted by Maisonneuve in 1964 and 1981. The French text is also available from Aluka but requires a subscription. . First published in 1999 as . . . Reprinted by Holmes & Meier in 1980. . First published in 1981. . . . Includes a detailed plan of the archaeological site as Figure 95 on page 480. . . Further reading . . . . . . . . External links . Capitals of former nations Archaeological sites in Mauritania Ghana Empire History of Mauritania Former populated places in Mauritania Archaeological sites of Western Africa