| Location | Ethiopia |
|---|---|
| Type | City |
| Site notes | |
| Discovered | 2009 |
| Archaeologists | François-Xavier Fauvelle-Aymar Bertrand Hirsch |
Gendebelo (also called Gende Belo and Nora) was an ancient Muslim trading city in Ethiopia. Its location was discovered in 2009 by a team of French archaeologists. [1]
Gendebelo was a medieval Muslim trading center thought to be lost. [1] It was believed to situated about 30 kilometres (19 mi) from Ankober. [2] Gendebelo was "a great mercantile city", where camel caravans brought all kinds of spices except ginger (which was grown locally) from the port of Zeila. [2] Although Ethiopia is known as the second oldest Christian country in the world, about half of its population is Muslim. [1] Gendebelo was a place of peaceful trade between the Christian and Muslim cultures. [3]
In 2009, French archaeologists François-Xavier Fauvelle-Aymar and Bertrand Hirsch [4] discovered the site as a medieval city now known as Nora, which has been abandoned for years except for the mosque. [3]
An old Ajami manuscript helped the archaeologists determine the city's location. [3] [4] Italian scholar and Ethiopia expert Enrico Cerulli had found the manuscript in the Muslim city of Harar in 1936, where it was being used to wrap sugar. [3] [4] The archaeologists also used the writings of Alessandro Zorzi, a 16th-century Venetian explorer who had found the ruins of Gendebelo in the desert and referred to it as "the place where mules are to be unloaded and camels take over." [3] [4]