[3][4][5] Kua, according to European historians and archaeologists is known as the "Pompeii of East Africa," is a vast complex of coral-stone buildings that may have been encircled by a web of smaller settlements akin to those seen around other stone town sites along the Swahili coastw.

[7] Many historians (Freeman-Grenville 1962; Kirkman 1964; Piggott 1941a, 1941b; Revington 1936) have cited an account of the collapse and subsequent abandonment of the site derived from local traditions, even though dates for the foundation of Kua still need to be firmly established through additional archaeological reconnaissance.

According to a common myth, the Sakalava from Madagascar stormed Kua in the early 19th century A.D. and "arrived in their small canoes called 'laka' and captured many people."

It's believed that this raid was planned by a Kua craftsman who, after becoming dissatisfied with how slaves and other people were treated by their overlords, escaped and brought reinforcements back.

This led to "an expedition being formed and sent to pursue the invaders... [who]... were found on a small island and defeated, the prisoners brought triumphantly back to Mafia."

[10] Freeman-Grenville claimed that the domestic architecture at the location achieved a not insignificant level of elegance since "many of the houses have elaborate plasterwork, both at the doorways and in the decoration of cupboards and niches."

[11] In 2010, as part of the initiative to evaluate the sociocultural settings of maritime contacts in the archipelago, the structures at Kua were plotted, photographed, and recorded.

At least five circular mounds of coral rocks and debris can be found in the southernmost section of the village, which is known as Mkokotoni (literally, "at the mangroves" in Swahili).

One of these mounds was excavated, and the ruins of collapsed dwellings were found there in the form of standing plastered masonry, structural wreckage, foreign and domestic pottery, and remains of local wildlife.

While the exact date of the settlement's founding is unknown, Kahua is depicted on the maps created in 1154 by Arab cartographer and geographer Muhammad Al-Idrisi.

On the other hand, radiocarbon dates that were improved utilizing archaeological, architectural, and historical information fall within the range of 1619-1699 AD with a 95% confidence level from the excavations within the ruins complex.

While these materials typically aren't finished, dressed slabs of Porites coral have been seen around (and occasionally inside) the mihrabs (prayer niches) as well as the entryway.

[19] To create a smooth surface over the uncut coral rag, a lime-and-sand plaster mixture was applied over a matrix of smaller rocks, pottery shards, and shells.

[21] There are three different types of embellishment or decorating on the buildings at Kua: niches, signs of potential wall hangings, and incised plastering.

For instance, according to Garlake, a poem written by Carly in the nineteenth century mentions a time in Pate when "the porcelain stood in wall niches."

[25] Many of the ruins at Kua are enclosed walls, in contrast to other stone-town sites in the area including Shanga, Songo Mnara, and Gede which contain a higher number of intricate constructions and mosques.

The majority of the enclosed wall constructions lack any discernible standing coral-stone architecture, with the exception of a small number of structures that housed nicely completed, compact ablution facilities.

[27] According to post holes discovered during the excavations at Shanga, some of the compounds—likely those without an associated latrine—likely contained other structures made of archaeologically ephemeral materials, such as wattle-and-daub houses and timber kiosks.

The incorporation of water management technology into Swahili urban settings was partly a response to a concern for ceremonial purity and actual clan boundaries, as revealed by contemporary ethnographies.

[35][36][37] The mihrab that is still standing at the location seems to be a simplified version of a classic design that is supposed to have been popularized in the late sixteenth to early seventeenth century, at least on the northern Swahili coast.

The construction or potential remodeling of the mosque to include a minbar (pulpit) recess in the north wall, which Garlake believes is a feature of the late eighteenth-century congregational mosques, would seem to have been the culmination of this period of development.The existence of the minbar appears to be at odds with the mihrab's potentially trifoliate arch design from the sixteenth century and the most probable display of imported porcelain ceramics above it.

There is typically a wall niche, called a mihrab, in a mosque showing the direction, or qiblah, because Muslims must face the Kaaba (in Mecca), the most sacred site in Islam, during prayer.

This change resembles what Horton saw as the Friday Mosque in Shanga's qiblah line shifted position over time as it underwent several phases of reconstruction.

The mosques' prominence and closeness to the coast provided opportunities to create and support "religious communities" in a vibrant, international economic environment.

This concept is founded on the idea that traders would prefer to do business with people who share their values, and as a result, the Islamicization of the East African coast made it easier to establish stronger ties with the networks in the Indian Ocean.

[44] While Horton acknowledges that the multiple phases of mosque construction at Shanga may have been driven by the necessity to accommodate the expanding population and the increasing size of the settlement, it may also indicate the "Islamicization of the community more broadly."

It's interesting that a complete red-slip vessel, which may have been used in rituals of ancestor remembrance reported at Songo Mara, was discovered inside the tomb enclosure.

The name of the first is etched on a headstone that is partially ruined and bears the inscription: "Sharif Biwilad Mohammed Ahmed bin Hamri Swaghir Alkemall."

In contrast, two more inland mosques that are south of the majority of the Kua ruins and are notably linked to architectural styles from a little earlier time (16th to 17th century) are located.

[54] Given the chronologies, the scale of the adjacent cemetery, and the existence of a pillar tomb frequently associated with persons of authority, it seems likely that this mosque was built contemporaneously with many of the other nearby buildings.