Arch at the ruins of Gedi, 1947 (b/w photo) [1995/076/1/2/7/21]

An arched stone doorway stands amidst the ruins of Gedi, an ancient Muslim town that was abandoned in the 17th century. The settlement featured a mosque, a palace and several large stone houses, and is thought to have been populated by around 2,500 people. Original manuscript caption: Part of the ruins of Gedi, now crumbling in the forest in the coast near Malindi. No one knows who built Gedi & when, or why it fell into decay. It was a large city, & one theory holds that it was built by the Persians about AD 1,000. More probably, Arab, built in C17.