Our Past Is Built in Stone If you’ve ever walked through the old streets of Mogadishu’s Hamar Weyne district or visited the ruins of Zeila and Barawe, you’ve already seen the silent proof: Somalis have been builders for centuries. But sadly, not enough people especially younger Somalis or members of the diaspora know the rich architectural and engineering history of our homeland. In this post, I’ll walk you through a brief but fascinating journey of Somali architecture and engineering. You don’t need any technical knowledge to follow along just curiosity and maybe a little pride in what our ancestors were able to achieve using local resources, clever designs and community based engineering. 1. Ancient Foundations: Stone, Coral, and Mud Long before colonial maps ever included Somalia, our people were building homes, ports, mosques, and cities using natural materials like coral stone, limestone, and mud brick. Take Zeila , a historic port city in the northwest. It was once pa...