Tomb of Askia is a historical tomb and the burial place of Askia Muhammad I, first ruler of the Askia dynasty of the Songhai Empire (an empire that ruled the western African Sahel in the 15th and 16th centuries AD). The tomb was built in 1495 and is located in the city of Gao, which was the capital of the Songhai Empire at that time. The tomb takes a pyramidal shape and is 17 meters high, and is located within a larger complex that includes two mosques and an Islamic cemetery. Tomb of Askia was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2004.