Jumba La Mtwana

Jumba la Mtwana is a Swahili word that means “the large house of the slave”.   It is lies along Mtwapa Creek, North of Mombasa. Within this area includes;

• The House of the Cylinder
• The House of the Kitchen
• The House of the Many Pools, which had three phases
• The Great Mosque.

The inhabitants of this town were mainly Muslims as evidence by a number of ruined mosques.  There are no written historical records of the town but ceramic evidence showed that the town had been built in the fourteenth century but abandoned early in the fifteenth century. The dating is based on the presence of a few shreds of early blue and white porcelain with lung-chuan celadon, and the absence of any later Chinese wares.

It is most likely the site’s strategic position was selected because of the presence of fresh water, exposure to the North East and South East breezes which would keep the people cool and safe location from external attacks by sea since it had no harbor.  Thus larger vessels had to anchor along way offshore or move probably in Mtwapa creek.

One can only therefore guess reasons for its eventual desertion, namely trade interruption, hostile invasion or a failure in water supply. Though there is need to pursue further research on this.

Jumba La Mtwana is under The management of National museums of Kenya.