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Ancient and Medieval Africa Museum

A colorful 14th map of North-west Africa and the southern portion of Spain.

Mansa Musa, 14th century Catalan Atlas

Detail of the Catalan Atlas shows a depiction of Mansa Musa, seated on a throne wearing green garments. He has a scepter and crown in gold leaf, as well as a nugget of gold in his hand, also in gold leaf.

Spanish Map of West Africa (Detail)

A Drawing of a caravan with thousands of people that starts in the foreground and extends into the background out of sight. Among the people in the caravan, camels heads can be seen among them, as well as carts.

The March of ye Caravan out of Cairo to Mecha

The Mosque at Timbuktu takes up the majority of the image, with a person in the foreground walking to the left.

Mosque in Timbuktu built in 1325

Color photograph of the Jengereber Mosque in Timbuktu

Jengereber Mosque, Timbuktu

black and white drawing of the western view of Timbuktu

Drawing of Timbuktu by Réné Caillié

The Great Mosque at Jenne takes up the majority of the photo, with exception to the lone figure of a man crossing across the image walking towards the right.

Mosque in Jenne, Mali built in 1400

Wood doorlock with iron reinforced crossbar. Lock housing in the form of a female figure with nails for eyes. Overall eroded surface

Bamana Doorlock

Cast copper alloy ring with equestrian figure holding a short wide spear and a flat spiral shield. The animal has a wide ringed collar or mane and a single rein. The ring has a braided pattern and overall wear, with the facial features worn off.

Dogon Ring

Wood crest mask composed of a seperate head and body in the form of a horizontal antelope with open mouth, long curving tail and chip carved textured skin. The mask has metal (sheet brass?) disk eyes and a neck joint collar.

Bamana Crest Mask

Wood face mask with overhanging brow, pointed triangular nose, flat face with open triangular jaws, upright long narrow pointed ears and large pierced eyes. Triangular designs are incised on the forehead, side of head and jaw. Overall dark surface and holes pierced at the back for insertion of cord.

Bamana Face Mask

Meketre is seated smelling a lotus blossom in the shade of a small cabin, which on an actual boat would have been made of a light wooden framework with linen or leather hangings. Here the hangings are shown partly rolled up to let the breeze into the cabin. Wooden shields covered with bulls' hides are painted on each side of the cabin roof. A singer, with his hand to his lips, and a blind harper entertain Meketre on his voyage. Standing in front of him is a man, probably the ship's captain, with his arms crossed over his chest. He may be depicted awaiting orders, but he may also be paying homage to the deceased Meketre. As the twelve oarsmen propel the boat, a lookout in the bow holds a weighted line used to determine the depth of the river. At the stern, the helmsman controls the rudder. A tall white post amidship supported a mast and sail (not found in the tomb), which would have been taken down when the boat was rowed downstream—as it is here—against the prevailing north wind. Going south (upstream), with the wind behind it, the boat would have been sailed. The boat is similar to one Meketre might have used in his lifetime. Certain details, however, suggest that on this voyage Meketre is traveling toward the afterlife. For instance the blossom he holds is the blue lotus, a flower the Egyptians associated with rebirth.

Travelling Boat being Rowed

The mask is a sensitive, idealized portrait, depicting its subject with softly modeled features, bearing inlaid metal and carved scarification marks on the forehead, and wearing bands of coral beads below the chin. In the openwork tiara and collar are carved stylized mudfish and the bearded faces of Portuguese. Because they live both on land and in the water, mudfish represent the king's dual nature as human and divine. Having come from across the seas, the Portuguese were considered denizens of the spirit realm who brought wealth and power to the oba.

Queen Mother Pendant Mask: Iyoba

This haunting figure huddles with its leg hugged to its chest and its head dropped on its knee. It simultaneously suggests the knotted tension of anxiety and the sublime absorption of deep prayer. Created over 700 years ago, in the Inland Niger Delta region of present-day Mali, this elegant work's intense emotional immediacy blurs the boundaries of time and place.

Seated Figure

The vast and terrible powers of the "olowo" are expressed in the imagery of this work by four figural groups united by a python, an important symbol of royalty. Prominent and pervasive mudfish and crocodile motifs evoke the king's praise names, or "oriki," that liken him to a vast ocean into which all rivers flow and whose unfathomable depths hold potent secrets and supernatural abilities. It also emphasizes the king's intimate relationship with Olokun, god of the sea, who brings wealth and fertility to his adherents. The imagery inscribed throughout the surface of this vessel suggests the "olowo's" ability to span multiple realms—terrestrial and aquatic, human and divine.

Lidded Vessel

This idealized image of a leader once constituted the central protagonist of such a grouping. His meditative stance reflects simultaneously upon his destiny in the other world and his ongoing responsibilities to the living. The figure's chiefly identity is revealed through both the distinctive posture and the signs of rank that include a patterned hat, filed teeth, and decorative scarification patterns.

Seated Male Figure

Three keys on a ring with engraved motifs and pierced openwork geometric designs.

Tuareg Key

Lock in two parts, designated (a) and (b). It has a rectangular shape with 2 cone shaped projections attached on either side and another at the bottom. Two loops on either side are attached at the bottom. The body of the lock has engraved motifs.

Tuareg Lock

Fan-shaped hair pin with three brass attachments and incised geometric designs.

Tuareg Hairpin

A gold ram's head with horns that curl behind its ears and running parallel to the length of the ram's head. The ram is adorn with an Uraeus, otherwise known as an Egyptian cobra, atop its head.

Kushite Ram's-head Amulet

At its summit is a brass pendant of St. Anthony of Padua, one of the most beloved saints in Kongo Christianity. The figure’s attributes confirm his identity: the cross held in his proper right hand, the Christ child balanced on his left hand, and his simple habit. The saint’s head is oversized in relation to his body, providing an expansive surface for both his simply molded and detailed incised facial features. The raised oval eyes have horizontal indentations at their centers, the nose is a softly raised triangle, and the lips raise at the corners into a smile. His thick eyebrows gently arch, with vertical lines to delineate each hair. Above, his head is bald except for a ring of hair. Known as a tonsure, this shaved hairstyle represented an act of religious humility. The detail of his triple-knotted belt shows not only the sculptor’s powers of observation, but also hold symbolic power as representations of the three vows of the Franciscan order (poverty, chastity, and obedience). The fabric of the habit flows in long folds from the belt, pushing forward subtly to indicate the figure’s underlying limbs. The Christ child is wide-eyed, looking forwards as he stretches out his arm across the chest of the elder saint, gesturing towards the solid crucifix. Like St. Anthony, his head too is oversized. The toes and fingers are articulated with simple parallel lines. A hanging loop is placed between the figure’s shoulders, directly on top of the inverted triangle of the cowl (hood) of his religious garment; this would have allowed the figure to have originally functioned as a pendant. St. Anthony stands feet shoulder width apart on a thick circular base; a large nail placed between his feet secures the pendant to the wooden shaft of the staff.

Prestige Staff: Saint Anthony of Padua