Golden Rhinoceros

Medieval Africa through the eyes of local guides

The association of the concept of the Middle Ages with sub-Saharan Africa sounds unusual for Czech readers, as there are not many publications in Czech that allow to get acquainted with the richness of local cultures and civilizations in the 8th-15th century. we don't have a century.

This long period remains generally unknown, one might say obscure, due to the total lack of sources. Nevertheless, a number of clues are offered here, whether from the surviving narratives of some personalities or from found objects.

In this book, based on his lifetime of research, historian and archaeologist François-Xavier Fauvelle-Aymar presents the Africa of the "Golden Age" through the stories and guides through whose eyes we come to know Africa. They include traders, adventurers, geographers and diplomats from the distant past, as well as contemporary archaeologists. And so, thanks to them, we discover the mansions of rich rulers, densely populated cities, where merchants from both the Islamic and non-Islamic worlds met, and markets, where they bartered ambergris, slaves and gold for luxury utensils, metal ingots, salt or scallops, that they imported in their trade with distant Asia.