How, for example, did an artist produce the staggeringly realistic portrait of a negro warrior in the mid 13th century on the cathedral at Magdeburg, and what ideas lay behind this?
ARABIC CONFLUENCE FROM CONSTANTINE TO HERACLIUS: The Preparation for a 7th Century Religio-Racial Explosion
July 15, 2012 By
This paper’s argument is purposeless without the reader knowing the seventh century events of the so-called explosion of Islam, and the interpretation of which I find so contentious. Thus a brief description of the episode is necessary.
A Goliard Witness: The De Nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii of Martianus Capella in the Methamorphosis Golye Episcopi
July 13, 2012 By
Another twelfth-century poem in the same goliardic metre as the two lines just cited, the Methamorphosis go lye episcopi, goes far beyond this passing mention of Martianus and makes a most unexpected use of the De Nuptiis.
The Quest for Prester John
June 27, 2012 By
The legend of Prester John is one of the most fascinating and powerful myths of all time. To say that Medieval Europeans knew little about the world outside of their native continent is truly an understatement. It was an age in which much was assumed rather than ascertained about the exotic lands beyond.
The African Paradise of Cardinal Carvajal: New Light on the “Kunstmann II Map,” 1502-1506
June 14, 2012 By
The Kunstmann II map (99 x 110.5 cm) records the discoveries made in the New World by Miguel Corte-Real and Amerigo Vespucci in 1501–1502.
Two French Views of Monstrous Peoples in Sub-Saharan Africa
June 14, 2012 By
Although the existence of these peoples was increasingly put into question during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, they had not yet vanished from the face of the earth.
Black Africans’ Religious and Cultural Assimilation to, or Appropriation of, Catholicism in Italy, 1470-1520
June 14, 2012 By
Current scholarship emphasizes that the old model of conversion—of, say, Christianity being actively forced onto passive and subordinate peoples—is no longer satisfactory, and instead prefers to frame the issue around concepts of cultural interaction or cultural transmission, and selective appropriation of the host religion.
Beleaguered Muslim fortresses and Ethiopian imperial expansion from the 13th to the 16th century
May 23, 2012 By
This thesis challenges this common conception by demonstrating that throughout Ethiopia’s medieval period (1270-1555), the time of greatest conflict between the Ethiopian Empire and its Muslim neighbors, Muslim forces did not besiege the Ethiopian Empire.
Paradise in Africa: The History of a Geographical Myth from its Origins in Medieval Thought to its Gradual Demise in Early Modern Europe
May 19, 2012 By
Where was Paradise to be found? In this regard, a considerable number of different locations have been proposed.
Imagining the Metropolis on the Islamic Periphery: Commerce, Scholarship, and Architecture in 15th c. Bidar and Timbuktu
April 13, 2012 By
In this paper I wish to explore the similarities and differences that these two cities exhibit in terms of their evolution, their relationship to political power, and most importantly, the ways they imagined themselves in relation to metropolitan centers in the Islamic heartland.
Researchers explore lives of medieval Nubians from hundreds of skeletons
February 21, 2012 By
Research being carried out on the remains of hundreds of men, women and children from medieval Nubia has revealed they were plagued by meager diets, high infant mortality and diseases such as scurvy and tuberculosis.
The Andalusi origins of the Berbers
February 20, 2012 By
How could the Berbers originate in al-Andalus when everyone knows they are the original inhabitants of North Africa? One of the goals of this article is to show that asking the question in this way is part of the problem and that it stands in the way of securing the soundness of historical interpretations of the past.
Ancient Afro-Asia Links: New Evidence from a Maritime Perspective
February 13, 2012 By
Historical records have shown that the East African coast was connected to ancient global trade networks. These early overseas contacts are evidenced by references to trading voyages in the early 1st millennium AD and in the 11th to 14th century AD.
The Zagwe period re-interpreted: post-Aksumite Ethiopian urban culture
January 29, 2012 By
The history of Ethiopia from the decline of Aksum until the early sixteenth century is commonly divided into three periods.
Leo Africanus: The Man with Many Names
January 16, 2012 By
Very little is known about the actual life of Leo Africanus, in spite of his well established posthumous fame. He did not leave many marks in contemporary documents.
Not Quite Venus from the Waves: The Almoravid Conquest of Ghana in the Modern Historiography of Western Africa
November 20, 2011 By
The first seeds, within European learning, of the conquest hypothesis were sown by Leo Africanus.
Slavery and the slave trade in pre-colonial Africa
November 15, 2011 By
Slavery and the Slave Trade have been age old institutions and practices in almost every continent in the world.
Byzantine Dress Accessories in North Africa: Koiné and Regionality
September 27, 2011 By
In North Africa, as in other regions of the Byzantine Empire, supra-regional types and fashions sometimes co-existed with local traditions.
Medieval historian knighted by the King of Belgium
September 21, 2011 By
Professor Benjamin Hendrickx of the Department of Greek and Latin Studies at the University of Johannesburg was recently awarded a knighthood in the Belgian Order of the Crown. King Albert ll of Belgium conferred the title of Kommandeur in de Kroonorde on Prof Hendrickx for his outstanding research and achievements in the field of Byzantine […]
Biblical, mythical, and foreign women in the texts and pictures on medieval world maps
September 4, 2011 By
Biblical, mythical, and foreign women in the texts and pictures on medieval world maps Baumgartner, Ingrid The Hereford world map: medieval world maps and their context, (University of Chicago Press, 2006) Abstract On the mappamundi of Hereford Cathedral, which dates back to the late thirteenth century, Richard of Holdingham or Sleaford, who is thought to have designed […]
Gender, religion and society : a study of women and convent life in coptic orthodox Egypt
August 31, 2011 By
Gender, religion and society : a study of women and convent life in coptic orthodox Egypt Jeppson, Karolina M.A. Cultural Anthropology Thesis,Uppsala University, May (2003) Abstract This study deals with the interrelations between gender, religion and society in the context of contemporary Coptic Orthodox Egypt, with a focus on Coptic nuns and convent life. In the […]
Prester John: Fiction and History
July 24, 2011 By
Prester John: Fiction and History Bar-Ilan, Meir History of European Ideas, 20/1-3 (1995) Abstract A Hebrew book of Ben-Sira was published in 1519 in Constantinople, and its appendix includes ‘a copy of the letter that Priesty Juan sent to the Pope in Rome’. Although this story has several versions, its main theme is: Once upon a time, […]
“Western Islamic Art” The Metropolitan Museum of Art
July 17, 2011 By
“Western Islamic Art” Aanavi, Don The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 27, no. 3 (November, 1968) Abstract Islamic art springs from a vast geographic expanse from Spain to Indonesia and its history consists of a dynamic interchange of peoples and ideas. It is scomplex and as with the art of Europe or the Far East, […]
The Origins of Amazigh Women’s Power in North Africa: An Historical Overview
July 4, 2011 By
The Origins of Amazigh Women’s Power in North Africa: An Historical Overview By Ulbani Aït Frawsen and L’Hocine Ukerdi Al-Raida, Vol.20 (2003) Introduction: The term “Amazigh” denotes the major linguistic minority of North Africa. However, “Berber” still remains the more widely used ethno-linguistic word for them. In antiquity, the Romans and Byzantines used this term […]
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