The Gedi ruins were first discovered by colonialists in 1884 after a British resident of Zanzibar, Sir John Kirk, visited the site.[1][2] However, the ruins remained obscured until its subsequent rediscovery in the 1920s, when the site began to gain attention from the British East African Government.[3] Gedi was made a historic monument in 1927 and after looters began removing Chinese porcelain inset as architectural decorations, the site was declared a protected monument in 1929.[4] In 1939, the Kenya Public Works Department began restoring structures that were at the greatest risk of collapse.[5] Further site restoration, primarily clearing vegetation overgrowth, was conducted during a series of archaeological excavations led by James Kirkman from 1948 to 1958 who was appointed warden after Gedi and the surrounding forest was declared a national park in 1948.[6]
In 1969, stewardship for Gedi was turned over to the National Museum of Kenya and is currently administered by the museum’s Department of Coastal Archaeology.[7][8] In 2000, the construction of a museum funded by the European Union concluded, which featured a permanent display on Swahili Culture.[9]
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- ^ National Museum of Kenya. "Gedi." http://www.museums.or.ke/content/blogcategory/22/28/ (accessed October 12, 2016).
- ^ Reynolds, David West. "Swahili Ghost Town." Archaeology vol. 54 no. 6 (December 2001): 47.
- ^ Reynolds, David West. "Swahili Ghost Town." Archaeology vol. 54 no. 6 (December 2001): 47.
- ^ Reynolds, David West. "Swahili Ghost Town." Archaeology vol. 54 no. 6 (December 2001): 47.
- ^ Pradines, Stephanie. "Islamization and Urbanization on the Coast of East Africa: recent excavations at Gedi, Kenya.” Aania vol. 38 (2003): 180.
- ^ Pradines, Stephanie. "Islamization and Urbanization on the Coast of East Africa: recent excavations at Gedi, Kenya.” Aania vol. 38 (2003): 180.
- ^ Reynolds, David West. "Swahili Ghost Town." Archaeology vol. 54 no. 6 (December 2001): 44.
- ^ National Museum of Kenya. "Gedi." http://www.museums.or.ke/content/blogcategory/22/28/ (accessed October 12, 2016).
- ^ Reynolds, David West. "Swahili Ghost Town." Archaeology vol. 54 no. 6 (December 2001): 47.