Editing Chinguetti (section)

== History ==
Occupied for thousands of years, the Chinguetti region was once a broad [[savannah]]; rock paintings at [[Agrour Amogjar]], in the nearby [[Amogjar Pass]], feature images of giraffes, cows, and people in a green landscape. It is quite different from the [[sand dune]]s of the surrounding [[Sahara|desert]], which make up most of the region today.<ref name = Smithsonian>{{cite web |last1=Maglaty |first1=Jeanne |title=Endangered Site: Chinguetti, Mauritania |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/endangered-site-chinguetti-mauritania-54168194/ |website=Smithsonian Magazine |publisher=Smithsonian Institution |access-date=1 January 2024 |date=March 2009}}</ref>

===Founding===
The city was founded in AD 777. The name ''Chinguetti'' means "spring of horses" in the [[Nemadi dialect|Azayr language]], an extinct dialect of [[Soninke language|Soninke]] that was heavily mixed with [[Berber language|Berber]]. The area, at that time far more green than today, was home to agricultural peoples ancestral to several sub-Saharan ethnic groups, including the [[Soninke people|Soninke]].<ref name = Webb>{{cite book |last1=Webb |first1=James |title=Desert frontier : ecological and economic change along the Western Sahel, 1600-1850 |date=1995 |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |location=Madison |isbn=0299143309 |page=29 |url=https://archive.org/details/desertfrontierec0000webb/page/28/mode/2up |access-date=25 December 2023}}</ref> {{rp|15,71}}

===Center of Trade===
By the 11th century, Chinguetti had become a trading center for a confederation of [[Berber people|Berber]] [[tribe]]s, known as the ''[[Sanhaja]]''. They eventually melded with the [[Almoravid]]s, represented by [[Abdallah ibn Yasin]], who would eventually control an empire stretching from present-day [[Senegal]] to ''[[al-Andalus]]'' in modern-day [[Spain]]. The city's stark, unadorned [[architecture]] reflects the strict religious beliefs of the Almoravids, who spread the [[Maliki]]te rite of [[Sunni]] [[Islam]] throughout the Western [[Maghreb]].

After two centuries of decline, the city was effectively re-founded in the 13th century as a fortified trading-center for nomadic trans-Saharan [[caravan (travellers)|caravan]]s, and as a means of connecting the Mediterranean with Sub-Saharan Africa. Although the walls of the original fortification disappeared centuries ago, many of the buildings in the old section of the city date from this period.

===World Heritage Site===
In 1996, UNESCO designated Chinguetti, along with the cities of [[Ouadane]], [[Tichitt]] and [[Oualata]], also in the dunes area, as a [[World Heritage Site]].<ref>{{citation |title=Ancient Ksour of Ouadane, Chinguetti, Tichitt and Oualata|publisher=UNESCO World Heritage Centre|access-date=2017-08-21|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/750}}</ref> Notable buildings in the town include [[Chinguetti Mosque|The Friday Mosque of Chinguetti]], an ancient structure of dry-stone construction, featuring a square minaret capped with five [[ostrich egg]] finials; the former [[French Foreign Legion]] [[fortress]]; and a tall [[watertower]]. The old quarter has five important manuscript libraries of scientific and [[Qur'an]]ic texts, with many dating from the later [[Middle Ages]]. In recent years, the Mauritanian government, the U.S. Peace Corps, and various NGOs have attempted to position the city as a center for adventurous tourists. Visitors may "ski" down its sand dunes, visit the libraries, and appreciate the stark beauty of the Sahara. 

The [[Chinguetti Mosque|Friday Mosque]] is widely considered by Mauritanians to be the national symbol of the country.<ref name = Smithsonian/> The recently discovered offshore [[Chinguetti oil field|oilfield]] was named Chinguetti in its honor.