African history: pre-colonial Books

Book SynopsisMadagascar is the fourth largest island in the world. It is a unique blend of Asia and African culture. Although close to the East Coast of Africa, Madagascar came to be inhabited by sea-faring peoples from present day Indonesia. Although so close to the east coast of Africa where traces of human existence go back hundreds of thousands years, Madagascar was uninhabited until about two thousand years ago. How it came to be inhabited by sea-faring peoples from present day Indonesia is just one of the many fascinating aspects of this book. The History of Madagascar examines the origins of Malagasy, the early context with Europeans and the struggle for influence in the nineteenth century between the British and the French. It also covers the Colonial period from 1896 to 1960, the recovery of independence and subsequent history up to the early 1990's. A highly readable, entertaining introduction to the history, politics and people of Madagascar."

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Trade Review'...offre un tableau très imposant sur le culte du dieu-taureau... important et indispensable.' L. Castiglione, Acta Archaeologicae Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, 1977. '... useful repertorium of material both published and unpublished...' P.M. Fraser, Journal of Hellenic Studies, 1977.

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Book SynopsisThis volume deals with the chronology of Ancient Egypt from the fourth millennium until the Hellenistic Period. An initial section reviews the foundations of Egyptian chronology, both ancient and modern, from annals and kinglists to C14 analyses of archaeological data. Specialists discuss sources, compile lists of known dates, and analyze biographical information in the section devoted to relative chronology. The editors are responsible for the final section which attempts a synthesis of the entire range of available data to arrive at alternative absolute chronologies. The prospective readership includes specialists in Near Eastern and Aegean studies as well as Egyptologists.

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Book SynopsisThe principal text translated in this volume is the Ta’rīkh Al-sūdān of the seventeenth-century Timbuktu scholar ‘Abd al-Raḥmān al-Sa‘dī. Thirty chapters are included, dealing with the history of Timbuktu and Jenne, their scholars, and the political history of the Songhay empire from the reign of Sunni ‘Alī (1464-1492) through Moroccan conquest of Songhay in 1591 and down to the year 1613 when the Pashalik of Timbuktu became an autonomous ruling institution in the Middle Niger region. The year 1613 also marked the effective end of Songhay resistance. The other contemporary documents included are a new English translation of Leo Africanus's description of West Africa, some letters relating to Sa‘dīan diplomacy and conquests in the Sahara and Sahel, al-Ifrānī's account of Sa‘dīan conquest of Songhay, and an account of this expedition by an anonymous Spaniard. This publication has also been published in hardback, please click here for details.Trade Review'This book provides a wealth of information on pre-modern West Africa, particularly on the Sonhay empire of the Niger river region and on the conquest of that empire by the Moroccan Sa'di dynasty during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.' Stephen Cory, Religious Studies Review, 2000.

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Book SynopsisThis volume presents a new reading of an extraordinary Proto-Coptic magical text. Papyrus British Museum EA 10808 features a unique spell for a victim of divine wrath composed in the liturgical language of ancient Egypt but in Greek script with a few Demotic signs. Sederholm reveals a coherent and distinctive text that contributes to the illumination of Egyptian thought in the Graeco-Roman Period just before the great shutdown of the ancient temple learning. In nine chapters of transcription, translation, and commentary, Sederholm considers such features as taboo, secrecy, and the efficacy of magical words and names. He also discusses the destructive nature of the stars and the role of Fate in the bloody slaughter of divine enemies within the text.

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Book SynopsisThis second volume of collected essays, complement to volume one, focuses upon the art and culture of the third millennium B.C.E. in ancient Mesopotamia. Stress is upon the ability of free-standing sculpture and public monuments not only to reflect cultural attitudes, but to affect a viewing audience. Using Sumerian and Akkadian texts as well as works, the power of visual experience is pursued toward an understanding not only of the monuments but of their times and our own. "These beautifully produced volumes bring together essays written over a 35-year period, creating a whole that is much more than the sum of its parts...No library should be without this impressive collection." J.C. ExumTable of ContentsChapter Sixteen- After the Battle is Over: The Stele of the Vultures and the Beginning of Historical Narrative in the Art of the Ancient Near East Chapter Seventeen- Eannatum and the “King of Kiš”?: Another Look at the Stele of the Vultures and “Cartouches” in Early Sumerian Chapter Eighteen- Women in Public: The Disk of Enheduanna, the Beginning of the Office of En-Priestess, and the Weight of Visual Evidence Chapter Nineteen- Sex, Rhetoric, and the Public Monument: The Alluring Body of Naram-Sîn of Agade Chapter Twenty- Tree(s) on the Mountain: Landscape and Territory on the Victory Stele of Naram-Sîn of Agade Chapter Twenty-One- How Tall was Naram-Sîn’s Victory Stele? Speculation on the Broken Bottom Chapter Twenty-Two- The Body of the Able Ruler: Toward an Understanding of the Statues of Gudea Chapter Twenty-Three- ‘Idols of the King’: Royal Images as Recipients of Ritual Action in Ancient Mesopotamia EXPERIENCING ‘ART’ AND ARTIFACT Chapter Twenty-Four- Representing Abundance: A Visual Dimension of the Agrarian State Chapter Twenty-Five- Reading Ritual in the Archaeological Record: Deposition Pattern and Function of Two Artifact Types from the Royal Cemetery of Ur Chapter Twenty-Six-“Surpassing Work”: Mastery of Materials and the Value of Skilled Production in Ancient Sumer Chapter Twenty-Seven- The Aesthetic Value of Lapis Lazuli in Mesopotamia Chapter Twenty-Eight- Agency Marked, Agency Ascribed: The Affective Object in Ancient Chapter Twenty-Nine- “Seat of Kingship”/“A Wonder to Behold”: The Palace as Construct in the Ancient Near East Chapter Thirty- Opening the Eyes and Opening the Mouth: The Utility of Comparing Images in Worship in India and the Ancient Near East Chapter Thirty-One- The Affective Properties of Styles: An Inquiry into Analytical Process and the Inscription of Meaning in Art History VIEWING (IN) THE PAST AND THE PRESENT Chapter Thirty-Two- The Eyes Have It: Votive Statuary, Gilgamesh’s Axe, and Cathected Viewing in the Ancient Near East Chapter Thirty-Three- Babylonian Archaeologists of The(ir) Mesopotamian Past Chapter Thirty-Four- Exhibit/Inhibit: Archaeology, Value, History in the Work of Fred Wilson Chapter Thirty-Five- Change in the American Art Museum: The (An) Art Historian’s Voice Chapter Thirty-Six- Packaging the Past: The Benefits and Costs of Archaeological Tourism

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Book SynopsisAs most people in Atlantic-era West Africa—as in contemporary Europe and the Americas—were farmers, fields and gardens were the primary terrain where they engaged the opportunities and challenges of nascent globalization. Agricultural changes and culinary cross-currents from the Gold Coast indicate that Africans engaged the Atlantic world not with passivity but as full partners with others on continents whose histories have enjoyed longer, and greater, scholarly attention. The most important ‘seeds of change’ are not to be found in the DNA of crops and critters carried across the seas but instead in the creativity and innovation of the people who engaged the challenges and opportunities of the Atlantic World.Trade ReviewWinner of the 2013 Mary W. Klinger Award for Best Book from the Society for Economic Botany. "[La Fleur's] human-centered as opposed to crop-centered focus makes an important contribution to our knowledge of African foodways during this crucial era and furthers historians’ efforts to retrieve the dynamic roles of Africans in Africa as actors in our histories of the Atlantic world." - Cynthia Bouton, in: Journal of Early Modern History (November, 2014) "... this is an excellent book." - Ray Kea, in: New West Indian Guide (November, 2014) "... This is a well written and nicely produced book with broad appeal given its focus on issues that have developed in the wake of Crosby's influential The Columbian Exchange. In addition to its value as a work of historical scholarship, it will also be appreciated by anyone interested in African ethnobotany whether in Africa or elsewhere..." - John Rashford, in: Economic Botany (June, 2013) "... La Fleur adds to our growing attempt to better include West Africa in Atlantic Studies, and thus make it less Eurocentric, while expanding our understanding of the role of women within the Gold Coast as they determined what new items would be adapted and which ones would not." - Ty Reese, in: Itinerario: International Journal on the History of European Expansion and Global Interaction (April, 2013) ".. move[s] the history of staple foodstuffs to a new level, greatly extending understanding of the history of agriculture and food ..." - Rachel Laudan, Institute for Historical Studies, University of Texas at Austin, in: Journal of World History (June 2017), pp. 302-306Table of ContentsList of Maps, Illustrations, and Word Lists Preface and Acknowledgements Notes on Linguistic Evidence and African Languages 1. Finding Food in Early Afro-Atlantic History Africanist Historiography of Pre-Colonial Agriculture Themes and Structures 2. Introducing the Land to Culture, 25,000 BCE to circa 1400 CE Early Foraging to 25,000 BCE Specialized Foraging, 25,000 BCE to 10,000 BCE Intensified Foraging from 10,000 BCE Integrating Crops and Critters into Hunting, Gathering, and Foraging Initial Farming from 500 BCE Mature Farming, circa 1400 CE 3. Seeds of Change: Early African Experimentation in the Atlantic Era The Agro-Historical Milieu Plantains Maize Asian Rice 4. Reap What You Sow: The Profits and Perils of the New Starchy Crops Going for Gold with Plantains Allada Communities and Culinary Cross-Currents Baked Bread and Biscuits Kenkey Opportunities Brewing Sowing and Savoring Wealth Insecurity and Impoverishment amid Scarcity and Violence Suffering in Times of Plenty 5. The Porcupine’s Shame: Bearing the Burden of Cassava Culture Problems in the Earliest Records of Introduction Introducing Cassava Africanizing Cassava Culture Outsiders and Renewed Innovation with Cassava Colonial Postscript 6. Finding History in Early Afro-Atlantic Foodways Works Cited Index

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Book SynopsisIn this book, Pascal Buresi and Hicham El Aallaoui edit, translate, and study an Arabic manuscript of the Royal Library of Rabat, containing 77 appointments of provincial officials. The Almohad Caliphs were the first Berbers to unite the whole Maghrib and the Iberian Peninsula under an imperial ideology elaborated at the end of the 12th C.E. by the most famous scholars, such as Averroes. This peripheral Islamic dynasty produced a pragmatic documentation that provides exceptional information about the administrative, political, ideological, and religious organisation of the largest medieval European-African Empire. Buresi and El Aallaoui convincingly stress the importance of the literature of the Chancellery in renewing the history of power and authority in medieval Islamic lands.Trade Review'Inventive in its conception and faultless in its methodology, this is a subtle research by two cautious, succinct and profound thinkers on a challenging theme calling for a prismatic perceptive power and bearing fascinating reflections. I can’t recommend this book strongly enough to historians, ethnologists, philosophers of religion, linguists, students of medieval Arab culture, or adherents of the view that human culture and civilisation is a collective product – Hellenic, European, Arab, Jewish.' Stavros Nikolaidis, in Journal of Oriental and African Studies, Volume 22, 2013

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Book SynopsisThis book charts the history and influence of the most vitriolic and successful anti-Semitic polemic ever to have been printed in the early modern Hispanic world and offers the first critical edition and translation of the text into English. First printed in Madrid in 1674, the Centinela contra judíos (“Sentinel against the Jews”) was the work of the Franciscan Francisco de Torrejoncillo, who wrote it to defend the mission of the Spanish Inquisition, to call for the expansion of discriminatory racial statutes and, finally, to advocate in favour of the expulsion of all the descendants of converted Jews from Spain and its empire. Francisco de Torrejoncillo combined the existing racial, theological, social and economic strands within Spanish anti-Semitism to demonize the Jews and their converted descendants in Spain in a manner designed to provoke strong emotional responses from its readership.Table of ContentsCONTENTS Acknowledgements … vii Abbreviations … ix List of Illustrations and Maps … xi Maps … xii Illustrations … xv Foreword … xxi SECTION ONE A HISTORY AND ANALYSIS OF THE CENTINELA CONTRA JUDÍOS 1. Seventeenth-Century Spain and its ‘Jewish Problem’: The Centinela contra Judíos and its Historical Context … 3 2. Religion and Blood: ‘Religious Anti-Semitism’ in Early Modern Spain … 19 3. Authorship, History and Impact of the Centinela contra Judíos … 47 4. Anti-Semitic Propaganda and Pedagogy: Fear Mongering in the Centinela contra Judíos …75 Conclusion … 99 SECTION TWO TRANSLATION OF THE CENTINELA CONTRA JUDÍOS Foreword to the Translation … 105 Introductory Poem … 107 Prologue … 109 1. How the Jews are, and always have been, arrogant and liars … 111 2. That the Jews are, and have been, traitors … 117 3. How the Jews came to be disdained and humbled … 139 4. How the Jews are persecutors of our Holy Catholic Faith … 145 5. That those who favour Jews because of the benefit that they receive in return will never come to a good end. Nor will they prosper with them … 161 6. Why the Jews should not be trusted, nor should any faith be placed in their deeds … 175 7. Regarding the anxiety with which the Jews await the coming of the Messiah … 185 8. How the Jews, wherever they may be, stick together and form a Mystical Body … 197 9. Why they were called Hebrews, Israelites and Jews and why and how, in ancient times, they came to be called Marranos … 205 10. How the Jews, in addition to being opposed to our Holy Faith, are our mortal enemies … 219 11. Regarding the signs by which Divine Providence differentiates the Jews … 237 12. How the Jews are restless, vainglorious and seditious and ordinarily sow discord wherever they are … 251 13. How the Hebrews do not presently possess any honour, or nobility whatsoever, and they lost that which they possessed with the death of Christ … 263 14. Regarding the mercy with which our Mother Church treats the Jews, and will continue to treat them, and how far its obligations extend … 273 Appendix … 285 Bibliography … 303 ndex … 315

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Book SynopsisBritish Captives from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic, 1563-1760 provides the first study of British captives in the North African Atlantic and Mediterranean, from the reign of Elizabeth I to George II. Based on extensive archival research in the United Kingdom, Nabil Matar furnishes the names of all captives while examining the problems that historians face in determining the numbers of early modern Britons in captivity. Matar also describes the roles which the monarchy, parliament, trading companies, and churches played (or did not play) in ransoming captives. He questions the emphasis on religious polarization in piracy and shows how much financial constraints, royal indifference, and corruption delayed the return of captives. As rivarly between Britain and France from 1688 on dominated the western Mediterranean and Atlantic, Matar concludes by showing how captives became the casus belli that justified European expansion.Trade Review"Professor Matar has offered [...] a fitting testament in this valuable, incisive, and insightful book, and an exacting framework for future scholars to build upon his commitment and in-depth research." - John Callow, University of Suffolk, in The Seventeenth Century, 32:1, pp. 103-107 "Nabil Matar’s new study complements his extensive previous research into the relations between Great Britain and North Africa. Matar examines the question of British captivity, first, to provide better figures for the total numbers of Britons seized and, second, to distinguish between captives (merchants and others who might have been captured while sailing in the wrong place at the wrong time) and prisoners (of war, pirates, or others who themselves broke the terms of existing treaties). [...] His aim is to contextualize Mediterranean captivity while defusing its utility as a transhistorical flashpoint for Christian-Muslim enmity. The enduring force of the Mediterranean divide as a conceptual category seems likely to resist even this effort at archival correction. Nonetheless, this book is an admirable attempt to tell a more accurate story, in terms of both numbers and the important distinctions among captives. Captivity was far more nuanced than we recognize, Matar argues, determined by national allegiances and specific political contexts rather than by any timeless enmity between East and West, or Islam and Christianity." - Barbara Fuchs, UCLA, in: The Journal of African History, 57(3), pp. 466-468 "Nabil Matar’s British Captives from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic, 1563–1760 [...] is a well-documented attempt to assess the number of Britons who were actually captured and taken to North Africa, and to distinguish between ‘captives’ and “prisoners of war or pirates or men breaking the terms of peace and commerce treaties.” The task Matar has set himself is by no means easy. Western contemporaries were only too delighted to provide statistics, but in the vast majority of cases these were manifestly unreliable and can be seen as part of the traditional anti-Islamic propaganda campaign. In a copious appendix Matar gives, in his own words, a list of “every captured man, woman, and child (that I have found) in a chronological order.” The documents he uses are signed petitions; reports of captives seized or ransomed; lists of ransomed captives drawn up by British factors, sea captains, and government emissaries; a very few lists of ransoms negotiated by North African rulers; and accounts by captives who escaped and managed to return home. The time span covered, from 1563 to 1760, is considerable, and, in view of their reliability, the documents can be taken as a trustworthy indication of the minimum number of captives in North Africa. [...] British Captives from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic is based on thorough research in the British National Archives, the British Library, and elsewhere in both England and France. It will thus be of the greatest use to historians." - Alastair Hamilton, The Warburg Institute, London, in Church History and Religious Culture 95 (2015) 41–127, pp. 91-92 "The book highlights the need for a broader reassessment of the nature of captivity, war, state formation, imperial politics and commerce in the early modern western Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic. [...] Matar has written numerous books and articles on the broader topic of Britain and the Islamic World, and some of his best stories like that of Ahmad al-Mansur and Queen Elizabeth I negotiating for the release of British, Dutch and French captives are told elsewhere. This book is probably not the place to start in order to get a broad sense of the important work he has done. However, there is something poignant about Matar’s “last foray into the area of captivity studies,” as he is a true master of the field." - Robert Batchelor, Georgia Southern University, in Seventeenth Century News, Vol. 74, Nos. 1&2, pp. 25 - 29Table of ContentsApologia Foreword A Note on Citations List of Figures Introduction 1 Britons in Mediterranean and Atlantic: Captivity and Piracy Sources Caveats North Africa, the Indian Ocean, and North America ‘Christian’ Piracy 2 Captives and Captors: 1563–1760 The Elizabethan Period, 1558–1603 The Jacobean Period, 1603–1625 The Caroline Period, 1625–1649 The Interregnum Period, 1649–1660 The Restoration Period, 1660–1688 William and Mary, and Queen Anne, 1688–1714 The Periods of George I, 1714–1727, and George II, 1727–1760 3 The Northern Invasion Tripoli Algiers Conclusion Appendix: Captives’ names Works Cited Index

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Book SynopsisMamluk Cairo, a Crossroads for Embassies offers an up-to-date insight into the diplomacy and diplomatics of the Mamluk sultanate with Muslim and non-Muslim powers. This rich volume covers the whole chronological span of the sultanate as well as the various areas of the diplomatic relations established by (or with) the Mamluk sultanate. Twenty-six essays are divided in geographical sections that broadly respect the political division of the world as the Mamluk chancery perceived it. In addition, two introductory essays provide the present stage of research in the fields of, respectively, diplomatics and diplomacy. With contributions by Frédéric Bauden, Lotfi Ben Miled, Michele Bernardini, Bárbara Boloix Gallardo, Anne F. Broadbridge, Mounira Chapoutot-Remadi, Stephan Conermann, Nicholas Coureas, Malika Dekkiche, Rémi Dewière, Kristof D’hulster, Marie Favereau, Gladys Frantz-Murphy, Yehoshua Frenkel, Hend Gilli-Elewy, Ludvik Kalus, Anna Kollatz, Julien Loiseau, Maria Filomena Lopes de Barros, John L. Meloy, Pierre Moukarzel, Lucian Reinfandt, Alessandro Rizzo, Éric Vallet, Valentina Vezzoli and Patrick Wing.Trade Review"In addition to the focus on diplomacy, this volume offers a wealth of material on society, religion, and politics and on the range of government officials, soldiers, scholars, and merchants during the Mamluk era. These contributions provide an important resource for anyone interested in the broad historical reach of the Mamluks." - Daniel Varisco in Journal of the American Oriental Society 141.1 (2021).Table of ContentsPreface Abbreviations Charts, Figures, and Tables Notes on Contributors 1 Mamluk Diplomatics: the Present State of Research  Frédéric Bauden 2 Mamluk Diplomacy: the Present State of Research  Malika Dekkiche Part 1 Diplomatic Conventions 3 Diplomatics, or Another Way to See the World  Malika Dekkiche 4 Strong Letters at the Mamluk Court  Lucian Reinfandt 5 Embassies and Ambassadors in Mamluk Cairo  Yehoshua Frenkel Part 2 The Mongols and Their Successors 6 Careers in Diplomacy among Mamluks and Mongols, 658–741/1260–1341  Anne F. Broadbridge 7 The Golden Horde and the Mamluks: the Birth of a Diplomatic Set-Up (660–5/1261–7)  Marie Favereau 8 Mamluk-Ilkhanid Diplomatic Contacts: Negotiations or Posturing?  Reuven Amitai 9 Baghdad between Cairo and Tabriz: Emissaries to the Mamluks as Expressions of Local Political Ambitions and Ideologies during the Seventh/Thirteenth and Eighth/Fourteenth Centuries  Hend Gilli-Elewy 10 Between Iraq and a Hard Place: Sulṭān Aḥmad Jalāyir’s Time as a Refugee in the Mamluk Sultanate  Patrick Wing Part 3 The Timurids, the Turkmens, and the Ottomans 11 Niẓām al-Dīn Shāmī’s Description of the Syrian Campaign of Tīmūr  Michele Bernardini 12 Diplomatic Entanglements between Tabriz, Cairo, and Herat: a Reconstructed Qara Qoyunlu Letter Datable to 818/1415  Frédéric Bauden 13 Fixed Rules to a Changing Game? Sultan Meḥmed II’s Realignment of Ottoman-Mamluk Diplomatic Conventions  Kristof D’hulster Part 4 The Western Islamic Lands 14 Diplomatic Correspondence between Nasrid Granada and Mamluk Cairo: the Last Hope for al-Andalus  Bárbara Boloix-Gallardo 15 Entre Ifrīqiya hafside et Égypte mamelouke: Des relations anciennes, continues et consolidées  Mounira Chapoutot-Remadi 16 Tracking Down the Hafsid Diplomatic Missions All the Way to the Turco-Mamluk Borders (892–6/1487–91)  Lotfi Ben Miled Part 5 Arabia, India, and Africa 17 Diplomatic Networks of Rasulid Yemen in Egypt (Seventh/Thirteenth to Early Ninth/Fifteenth Centuries)  Éric Vallet 18 “Aggression in the Best of Lands”: Mecca in Egyptian-Indian Diplomacy in the Ninth/Fifteenth Century  John L. Meloy 19 Some Remarks on the Diplomatic Relations between Cairo, Delhi/Dawlatābād, and Aḥmadābād during the Eighth/Fourteenth and Ninth/Fifteenth Centuries  Stephan Conermann and Anna Kollatz 20 The Ḥaṭī and the Sultan: Letters and Embassies from Abyssinia to the Mamluk Court  Julien Loiseau 21 “Peace Be upon Those Who Follow the Right Way”: Diplomatic Practices between Mamluk Cairo and the Borno Sultanate at the End of the Eighth/Fourteenth Century  Rémi Dewière Part 6 The Latin West 22 The European Embassies to the Court of the Mamluk Sultans in Cairo  Pierre Moukarzel 23 In the Name of the Minorities: Lisbon’s Muslims as Emissaries from the King of Portugal to the Sultan of Egypt  Maria Filomena Lopes de Barros 24 Envoys between Lusignan Cyprus and Mamluk Egypt, 838–78/1435–73: the Accounts of Pero Tafur, George Boustronios and Ibn Taghrī Birdī  Nicholas Coureas 25 Negotiating the Last Mamluk-Venetian Commercial Decree (922–3/1516–7): Commercial Liability from the Sixth/Twelfth to the Early Tenth/Sixteenth Century  Gladys Frantz-Murphy 26 Three Mamluk Letters Concerning the Florentine Trade in Egypt and Syria: a New Interpretation  Alessandro Rizzo Part 7 Material Culture 27 Écritoires: objets fonctionnels et symboliques indissociables des cérémonies officielles à l’ époque mamelouke  Ludvik Kalus 28 Precious Objects for Eminent Guests: the Use of Chinese Ceramics in Mamluk Cairo: the Fustat Ceramic Collection from The Royal Museums of Art and History (Brussels)  Valentina Vezzoli Indexes

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Book SynopsisChoice Outstanding Academic Title 2020 Winner of the 2021 African Studies Review Prize for the Best Africa-focused Anthology or Edited Collection A Companion to Medieval Ethiopia and Eritrea introduces readers to current research on major topics in the history and cultures of the Ethiopian-Eritrean region from the seventh century to the mid-sixteenth, with insights into foundational late-antique developments where appropriate. Multiconfessional in scope, it includes in its purview both the Christian kingdom and the Islamic and local-religious societies that have attracted increasing attention in recent decades, tracing their internal features, interrelations, and imbrication in broader networks stretching from Egypt and Yemen to Europe and India. Utilizing diverse source types and methodologies, its fifteen essays offer an up-to-date overview of the subject for students and nonspecialists, and are rich in material for researchers. Contributors are Alessandro Bausi, Claire Bosc-Tiessé, Antonella Brita, Amélie Chekroun, Marie-Laure Derat, Deresse Ayenachew, François-Xavier Fauvelle, Emmanuel Fritsch, Alessandro Gori, Habtemichael Kidane, Margaux Herman, Bertrand Hirsch, Samantha Kelly, Gianfrancesco Lusini, Denis Nosnitsin, and Anaïs Wion. See inside the book.Trade Review"Here we are well served by Samantha Kelly's Companion to Medieval Ethiopia and Eritrea. Each chapter conveys a sense of discovery. As Kelly reminds us, we are dealing with a field marked by "the continual expansion of the available source base" due to the ongoing digitalization of Ethiopic manuscripts in Ethiopia itself and in libraries throughout the world. Yet perhaps the most exciting contribution of the Companion is a new view of Ethiopia itself. Christian Ethiopia has tended to be treated as an isolated mountain hideaway where time stood still; Edward Gibbon, at his most sonorous and most wrongheaded, wrote, "Encompassed on all sides by the enemies of their religion, the Aethiopians slept near a thousand years, forgetful of the world, by whom they were forgotten". The reverse was true. Medieval Ethiopia (which includes much of modern Eritrea) was a frontier society, penetrated in all directions by routes that led from the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean deep into Equatorial Africa. This reenvisioning of medieval Ethiopia is, perhaps, the most challenging aspect of the Companion. In the words of one contributor of Kelly's volume, "Let us hope that the image of an archaic, never evolving and isolated country is no longer acceptable". "The Glories of Aksum", by Peter Brown, in The New York Review of Books, October 2021, accessible here. Winner of the 2021 African Studies Review Prize for the Best Africa-focused Anthology or Edited Collection. The awarding committee made the following statement, accessible here: "The ASR Prize for the Best Africa-Focused Anthology or Edited Collection recognizes editors and contributors to an anthology of original scholarship, cohesive in structure and interdisciplinary in nature, that advances African studies in new theoretical and/or methodological directions. The award recognizes the editor(s) and also the contributors as a whole. In making its selection, the prize committee pays particular attention to significance, originality, and quality of writing, and the anthology’s contribution to advancing debates in African studies. [...] This stellar edited volume makes available recent scholarship on the history of Medieval Ethiopia and Eritrea. Comprehensive in its scope, the sixteen chapters by the international scholars Alessandro Bausi, Claire Bosc-Tiessé, Antonella Brita, Amélie Chekroun, Marie-Laure Derat, Deresse Ayenachew, François-Xavier Fauvelle, Emmanuel Fritsch, Alessandro Gori, Habtemichael Kidane, Margaux Herman, Bertrand Hirsch, Samantha Kelly, Gianfrancesco Lusini, Denis Nosnitsin, and Anaïs Wion bring to light various dimensions of the history and culture of this region. The chapters explore various dimensions of the history of the Ethiopian-Eritrean region from the seventh to the sixteenth century, including Christianity, Islam, and local religions, women, trade, literature, and visual culture. In addition to providing an insightful panorama of the religious and cultural contexts in the area, the diverse authors are very successful in articulating different textual and visual sources while employing several different methodological approaches. Innovative and based on extensive research, this is a unique edited volume that showcases the rich connections between the region of Ethiopia-Eritrea, the African continent, and the rest of the globe. This magisterial edited book is an important contribution to African Studies, which will be useful for scholars and students interested in the history of Africa, Ethiopia, and Eritrea." "Ce volume propose un remarquable état des lieux de la recherche sur l’histoire de l’Éthiopie médiévale, c’est-à-dire de la période allant de la fin du royaume d’Axoum (VIIe siècle) jusqu’à celui de Gondar (XVIIe siècle). Il couvre plus parti culièrement le temps des dynasties Zagwe (à partir de 1270) et salomonide, une période de relative stabilité, sans cesse renégociée, et de prospérité durant laquelle furent façonnés des traits du pays et de son Église. [...] Complété par 5 cartes et 25 illustrations la plupart en couleurs, dans le texte (surtout pour les manuscrits et les arts visuels), une impressionnante bibliographie (82 pages !) et un bon index (noms, thèmes), ce volume n’en constitue pas moins un remarquable instrument de travail." ISTINA LXV (2020)

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Book SynopsisChoice Outstanding Academic Title 2020 Winner of the 2021 African Studies Review Prize for the Best Africa-focused Anthology or Edited Collection A Companion to Medieval Ethiopia and Eritrea introduces readers to current research on major topics in the history and cultures of the Ethiopian-Eritrean region from the seventh century to the mid-sixteenth, with insights into foundational late-antique developments where appropriate. Multiconfessional in scope, it includes in its purview both the Christian kingdom and the Islamic and local-religious societies that have attracted increasing attention in recent decades, tracing their internal features, interrelations, and imbrication in broader networks stretching from Egypt and Yemen to Europe and India. Utilizing diverse source types and methodologies, its fifteen essays offer an up-to-date overview of the subject for students and nonspecialists, and are rich in material for researchers. Contributors are Alessandro Bausi, Claire Bosc-Tiessé, Antonella Brita, Amélie Chekroun, Marie-Laure Derat, Deresse Ayenachew, François-Xavier Fauvelle, Emmanuel Fritsch, Alessandro Gori, Habtemichael Kidane, Margaux Herman, Bertrand Hirsch, Samantha Kelly, Gianfrancesco Lusini, Denis Nosnitsin, and Anaïs Wion. See inside the book.Trade Review"Here we are well served by Samantha Kelly's Companion to Medieval Ethiopia and Eritrea. Each chapter conveys a sense of discovery. As Kelly reminds us, we are dealing with a field marked by "the continual expansion of the available source base" due to the ongoing digitalization of Ethiopic manuscripts in Ethiopia itself and in libraries throughout the world. Yet perhaps the most exciting contribution of the Companion is a new view of Ethiopia itself. Christian Ethiopia has tended to be treated as an isolated mountain hideaway where time stood still; Edward Gibbon, at his most sonorous and most wrongheaded, wrote, "Encompassed on all sides by the enemies of their religion, the Aethiopians slept near a thousand years, forgetful of the world, by whom they were forgotten". The reverse was true. Medieval Ethiopia (which includes much of modern Eritrea) was a frontier society, penetrated in all directions by routes that led from the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean deep into Equatorial Africa. This reenvisioning of medieval Ethiopia is, perhaps, the most challenging aspect of the Companion. In the words of one contributor of Kelly's volume, "Let us hope that the image of an archaic, never evolving and isolated country is no longer acceptable". "The Glories of Aksum", by Peter Brown, in The New York Review of Books, October 2021, accessible here. Winner of the 2021 African Studies Review Prize for the Best Africa-focused Anthology or Edited Collection. The awarding committee made the following statement, accessible here: "The ASR Prize for the Best Africa-Focused Anthology or Edited Collection recognizes editors and contributors to an anthology of original scholarship, cohesive in structure and interdisciplinary in nature, that advances African studies in new theoretical and/or methodological directions. The award recognizes the editor(s) and also the contributors as a whole. In making its selection, the prize committee pays particular attention to significance, originality, and quality of writing, and the anthology’s contribution to advancing debates in African studies. [...] This stellar edited volume makes available recent scholarship on the history of Medieval Ethiopia and Eritrea. Comprehensive in its scope, the sixteen chapters by the international scholars Alessandro Bausi, Claire Bosc-Tiessé, Antonella Brita, Amélie Chekroun, Marie-Laure Derat, Deresse Ayenachew, François-Xavier Fauvelle, Emmanuel Fritsch, Alessandro Gori, Habtemichael Kidane, Margaux Herman, Bertrand Hirsch, Samantha Kelly, Gianfrancesco Lusini, Denis Nosnitsin, and Anaïs Wion bring to light various dimensions of the history and culture of this region. The chapters explore various dimensions of the history of the Ethiopian-Eritrean region from the seventh to the sixteenth century, including Christianity, Islam, and local religions, women, trade, literature, and visual culture. In addition to providing an insightful panorama of the religious and cultural contexts in the area, the diverse authors are very successful in articulating different textual and visual sources while employing several different methodological approaches. Innovative and based on extensive research, this is a unique edited volume that showcases the rich connections between the region of Ethiopia-Eritrea, the African continent, and the rest of the globe. This magisterial edited book is an important contribution to African Studies, which will be useful for scholars and students interested in the history of Africa, Ethiopia, and Eritrea." "Ce volume propose un remarquable état des lieux de la recherche sur l’histoire de l’Éthiopie médiévale, c’est-à-dire de la période allant de la fin du royaume d’Axoum (VIIe siècle) jusqu’à celui de Gondar (XVIIe siècle). Il couvre plus parti culièrement le temps des dynasties Zagwe (à partir de 1270) et salomonide, une période de relative stabilité, sans cesse renégociée, et de prospérité durant laquelle furent façonnés des traits du pays et de son Église. [...] Complété par 5 cartes et 25 illustrations la plupart en couleurs, dans le texte (surtout pour les manuscrits et les arts visuels), une impressionnante bibliographie (82 pages !) et un bon index (noms, thèmes), ce volume n’en constitue pas moins un remarquable instrument de travail." ISTINA LXV (2020)

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Book SynopsisHiob Ludolf (1624-1704) and Johann Michael Wansleben (1635-1679), the master and his erstwhile student could not be more different. Ludolf was a celebrated member of the Republic of Letters and the towering authority on Ethiopian studies. Wansleben, himself a brilliant scholar and, unlike Ludolf, a seasoned traveller in the Middle East, converted to Catholicism and eventually died impoverished and marginalized. Both stood at the centre of the burgeoning study of Ethiopia and spent a formative part of their career in middle sized Duchy of Saxe-Gotha which for several years played a pivotal role in Ethiopian-European encounters. This volume offers in-depth studies of the remarkable life and work of these two scholars in a broader intellectual, political, and confessional context.Table of ContentsContents Acknowledgments List of Figures 1 Scholarship and the Quest for Ethiopia in the Seventeenth Century Hiob Ludolf and Johann Michael Wansleben  Jan Loop and Asaph Ben-Tov Part 1: Hiob Ludolf: at the Gotha Court and in the Republic of Letters 2 Der Kosmopolit Hiob Ludolf im Lichte seines Stammbuches und des Reysebüchleins  Martin Mulsow 3 Hiob Ludolf als Amtsträger der Herzöge von Sachsen-Gotha  Holger Kürbis 4 Hiob Ludolf und die globalen Ambitionen im Herzogtum Sachsen-Gotha des 17. Jahrhunderts  Alexander Schunka 5 The Reluctant Alchemist Hiob Ludolf (1624–1704) as Chymical Intelligencer and the Curious Elias Ashmole (1617–1692)  Vera Keller Part 2: Johann Michael Wansleben: Oriental Studies and Republicanism 6 Wansleben the Archaeologist  Alastair Hamilton 7 Wansleben Reads Harrington Wansleben, the Harrington Manuscript, and English Republicanism  Gaby Mahlberg 8 Wansleben’s Interests in International Politics  Thérèse-Marie Jallais Part 3: Ethiopia and Lutheran Germany 9 Ludolf und seine äthiopischen Lehrer in Europa Der Gelehrte Abba Gorgoryos als Mitbegründer der Äthiopistik als wissenschaftliche Ethnographie  Wolbert G.C. Smidt 10 Peter Heyling als Äthiopienforscher  Jürgen J. Tubach Part 4: Ludolf and Biblical Studies 11 Hiob Ludolf and Biblical Evidences  Scott Mandelbrote 12 Quail or Locust? What the Israelites Ate in the Desert  Ulrich Groetsch 13 An Appendix to Coffee in the Bible Hiob Ludolf, Melchior Leydecker, and the Biblical Delicacy קלי (kali)  Benjamin Wallura Part 5: Ludolf on the History of Languages and Writing 14 Hiob Ludolf, the Qurʾan, and the History of Writing  Jan Loop 15 Ludolf’s Language Laws Pitfalls in Describing and Comparing the World’s Languages  Toon Van Hal 16 Kommen die Zigeuner aus Nubien? Hiob Ludolf zu einer Herkunftshypothese über die Sprache der Roma  Martin Mulsow Part 6: Ludolf and Natural History 17 Einhörner und Geranomachien Ludolfs Wirkung auf die phantastische Zoologie seiner Zeit  Bernd Roling 18 Hiob Ludolf Observing Locusts  Asaph Ben-Tov Part 7: Ludolf on Chronology and the History of the Holy Roman Empire 19 Die Zeitrechnung der Samaritaner Ein Austausch zwischen Hiob Ludolf, Wilhelm Ernst Tentzel und Christoph Cellarius  Martin Mulsow 20 Hiob Ludolf als Präsident des Collegium Historicum Imperiale  Jacob Schilling 21 ‚… durch eine gewiße veranlaßung übernommen, historiam hujus seculi zu elaboriren …‘ Ludolf und die Allgemeine Schau-Bühne der Welt  Markus Meumann Part 8: A Portrait of the Scholar 22 Die zeitgenössischen Portraits von Hiob Ludolf  Stefan Weninger Index

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