Images

The Arslan Tash Amulet AT1. Dated to the 7th century BCE, the Arslan Tash amulet (AT1) was discovered in Arslan Tash, Syria and contains the writing of Phoenician, magic incantations. (Archaeological Museum of Aleppo,Syria...

A terracotta figurine depicting a cavalry warrior of the Mali Empire (1240-1645 CE). 13th-15th century CE. (National Museum of African Art, Washington D.C.)

A modern artist's impression of the Mali Empire ruler Mansa Musa (r. 1312-1337 CE).

Ancient Uluru water spring overlooked by cliffs and waterfalls, central Australia. The area has long been a place of sacred tradition and history. In the Anangu tradition, the waterhole is the sacred location of the 'Kuniya...

This type is similar to the ones used for infant burials, but this one is painted with red strips using iron oxide (hematite), material already known during the Neolithic period for coloring plaster. The Jar was...

A wide photo of the ancient Uluru sandstone rock formation located in Central Australia. Uluru is home to many ancient tribes of Indigenous Australians that have inhabited the area for nearly 30,000 years and still do to this day. Uluru...

The Sankore Mosque, Timbuktu, Mali. The mosque, made from pounded earth and wood, was built in the late 1100s CE.

A map of the Mali Empire (1240-1645 CE) at its peak c. 1337 CE after the reign of Mansa Musa (1312-1337 CE).

A 1375 CE illustration of Mansa Kanku Musa (r. 1312-1337 CE) who ruled the Mali Empire in West Africa. (Detail from the Catalan Atlas Sheet 6, National Library of France, Paris)

An aerial view of Gao and the Niger River in Mali, West Africa. The river and trade along it were fundamental in the rise of African empires such as the Mali Empire (1240-1645 CE). Photo Credit: UN Photo/Harandane Dicko