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JENNE

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Originally appearing in Volume V15, Page 319 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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JENNE , a See also:

city oe See also:West See also:Africa, formerly the See also:capital of the See also:Songhoi See also:empire, now included in the See also:French See also:colony of Upper See also:Senegal and See also:Niger. Jenne is situated on a marigot or natural See also:canal connecting the Niger and its affluent the Bani or Mahel Balevel, and is within a few See also:miles of the latter stream. It lies 250 M. S.W. of See also:Timbuktu in a straight See also:line. The city is surrounded by channels connected with the Bani but in the dry See also:season it ceases to be an See also:island. On the See also:north is the Moorish See also:quarter; on the north-west, the See also:oldest See also:part of the city, stood the citadel, converted by the French since 1893 into a See also:modern fort. The See also:market-See also:place is midway between the fort and the commercial See also:harbour. The old See also:mosque, partially destroyed in 1830, covered a large See also:area in the See also:south-west portion of the city. It was built on the site of the See also:ancient See also:palace of the Songhoi See also:kings. The See also:architecture of many of the buildings bears a resemblance to See also:Egyptian, the facades of the houses being adorned with See also:great buttresses of pylonic See also:form. There is little trace of the See also:influence of Moorish or Arabian See also:art. The buildings are mostly constructed of See also:clay made into See also:flat See also:long bricks.

Massive clay walls surround the city. The inhabitants are great traders and the See also:

principal merchants have representatives at Timbuktu and all the See also:chief places on the Niger. The boats built at Jenne are famous throughout the western See also:Sudan. Jenne is believed to have been founded by the Songhoi in the 8th See also:century, and though it has passed under the dominion of many races it has never been destroyed. Jenne seems to have been at the height of its See also:power from the 12th to the 16th century, when its merchandise was found at every See also:port along the west See also:coast of Africa. From this circumstance it is conjectured that Jenne (See also:Guinea) gave its name to the whole coast (see GUINEA). Subsequently, under the See also:control of Moorish, See also:Tuareg and See also:Fula invaders, the importance of the city greatly declined. With the See also:advent of the French, See also:commerce again began to flourish. See F. See also:Dubois, Tombouctou la mysterieuse (See also:Paris, 1897), in which several chapters are devoted to Jenne; also S0NGH01; TIMBUKTU; and SENEGAL.

End of Article: JENNE

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