Post by thazz on Jul 28, 2023 1:40:05 GMT
Hello,
I've recently been researching 15th-17th century ruins in and around Mauritania and the western half of the Sahara. Whilst researching about a ruined Tajakant town named "Togba" (coordinates: 17°23′30″N 10°21′17″W) I stumbled upon a book that hinted at the existence of two other towns from around that same area that went by the names of "Tarra" and "Zara".
Considering it was behind a paywall, I wasn't able to read much, but I think this link (from the book The Atlantic World and Virginia, 1550-1624) gives a good chunk of info about the place.
The book never gave me any definite location or any good confirmation of the place's existence, but it did provide a map of the area from around the time of it's supposed existence:
I checked around where I thought was the area at which the map pointed to, but I found nothing of significance, only remnants of Neolithic settlement, possibly connected to Dhar Tichitt. What I want to know is if there are any ruins in the area that have been found that could possibly be Tarra and/or Zara. There's another book on the supposed medieval town that goes by the name of "The Quest for "Tarra": Toponymy and Geography in Exploring History" but every page I found it on had it blocked behind a paywall.
I'm curious if you guys could possibly give me any leads on where this place is/was and whether it really existed or is just a false lead and I'm wasting my time.
Thanks for reading my rambling,
I've recently been researching 15th-17th century ruins in and around Mauritania and the western half of the Sahara. Whilst researching about a ruined Tajakant town named "Togba" (coordinates: 17°23′30″N 10°21′17″W) I stumbled upon a book that hinted at the existence of two other towns from around that same area that went by the names of "Tarra" and "Zara".
Considering it was behind a paywall, I wasn't able to read much, but I think this link (from the book The Atlantic World and Virginia, 1550-1624) gives a good chunk of info about the place.
The book never gave me any definite location or any good confirmation of the place's existence, but it did provide a map of the area from around the time of it's supposed existence:
I checked around where I thought was the area at which the map pointed to, but I found nothing of significance, only remnants of Neolithic settlement, possibly connected to Dhar Tichitt. What I want to know is if there are any ruins in the area that have been found that could possibly be Tarra and/or Zara. There's another book on the supposed medieval town that goes by the name of "The Quest for "Tarra": Toponymy and Geography in Exploring History" but every page I found it on had it blocked behind a paywall.
I'm curious if you guys could possibly give me any leads on where this place is/was and whether it really existed or is just a false lead and I'm wasting my time.
Thanks for reading my rambling,
