African Dominion: A New History of Empire in Early and Medieval West Africa by Michael A. Gomez (Princeton)
This ground breaking study of early and medieval West Africa
focuses on the rise and fall of the Kingdom of Ghana and the empires of Mali
and Songhay. Reports by Arab and European travelers often contradict one
another, so Gomez ingeniously synthesizes them with archaeological evidence,
manuscripts in Timbuktu libraries, and local tradition, to give a granular view
of life in the region. The most fascinating figure is Mali's fourteenth-century
ruler Mansā
Mūsā,
whose fame reached Europe; a Catalan illuminated map depicts him holding a
massive gold nugget. Making the hajj to Mecca, he gave away such huge
quantities of gold along the way that he in inadvertently depressed its value for
a considerable time.
No comments:
Post a Comment