In western Uganda one finds numerous earthworks near the Kitonga river. These earthworks have been affiliated with the Empire of Kitara. The most famous Bigo Bya Mugenyi is about four square miles with the Kitonga river on one side. The earthwork ditch was dug out by lifting cutting through solid bedrock and earth, about 200,000 cubic meters. It was about 12 feet high. It is not certain whether the function was for defense or pastoral use. Very little is known about the Ugandan earthworks.[18]
The capital(kibuga)of the Buganda constantly change from hill to hill a description of the Kibuga of Buganda at Mengo Hills. The capital was divided into quarters corresponding to provinces. Each chief built a dwelling corresponding to provinces. Each chief built a dwelling for wife, slaves, dependents, and visitors. The city was a mile and half wide. Large plots of land was available for planting bananas and fruits. Roads were wide and well maintained.[19]
Engaruka is a ruined settlement on the slopes of Mount Ngorongoro in northern Tanzania. Seven stone terraced villages along the mountainside comprised the settlement. A complex structure of stone channel irrigation was used to dike, dam, and level surrounding river waters. The stone channels run along the mountainside and base. Some of these channels were several kilometers long channelling and feeding individual plots of land. The irrigation channels fed a total area of 5000 acres.[20][21]
[edit] Nubia (Christian and Islamic)
The Christianization of Nubia began in the 6 century A.D. Its most representative architecture are churches. They are based on Byzantium Basilica's. The structures are relatively small and made of mud bricks. Vernacular architecture of the Christian period is scarce. Architecture of Soba is the only one that has been excavated. The structures are of sun dried bricks, same as present day Sudan, except for an arch. During the Fatimide phase of Islam, about the eleventh century Nubia converted to islam and became arabized. Its most import mosque was the mosque of Derr.[22][23]
[edit] Swahili States
Farther south, increased trade (namely with Arab merchants) and the development of ports saw the birth of Swahili architecture. Developed from an outgrowth of indigenous Bantu settlements[24], one of the earliest examples is the Palace of Husuni Kubwa lying west of Kilwa, built about 1245. As with many other early Swahili buildings, coral was the main construction material, and even the roof was constructed by attaching coral to timbers. Contrastingly, the palace at Kilwa was a two-story tower, in a walled enclosure. Other notable structures from the period include the pillar tombs as Malindi and Mnarani in Kenya, and elsewhere, originally built from coral but later from stone. Later examples include Zanzibar's Stone Town, with its famous carved doors, and the Great Mosque of Kilwa.
[edit] Aksumite
Bete Medhane Alem, Lalibela, the largest monolithic church in the world.
Throughout the medieval period, Aksumite architecture and influences and its monolithic tradition persisted, with its influence strongest in the early medieval (Late Aksumite) and Zagwe periods (when the churches of Lalibela were carved). Throughout the medieval period, and especially during the 10th-12th centuries, churches were hewn out of rock throughout Ethiopia, especially during the northernmost region of Tigray, which was the heart of the Aksumite Empire. However, rock-hewn churches have been found as far south as Adadi Maryam (15th c.), about 100 km south of Addis Abeba. The most famous example of Ethiopian rock-hewn architecture are the 11 monolithic churches of Lalibela, carved out of the red volcanic tuff found around the town. Though later medieval hagiographies attribute all 11 structures to the eponymous king Lalibela (the town was called Roha and Adefa before his reign), new evidence indicates that they may have been built separately over a period of a few centuries, with only a few of the more recent churches having been built under his reign. Archaeologist and Ethiopisant David Phillipson postulates, for instance, that Bete Gebriel-Rufa'el was actually built in the very early medieval period, some time between 600 and 800 A.D., originally as a fortress but was later turned into a church.
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