3 Matching Annotations
  1. Apr 2021
    1. This black Lord is called Musse Melly and is the sovereign of the land of the negroes of Gineva [Ghana]. This king is the richest and noblest of all these lands due to the abundance of gold that is extracted from his lands.

      This description shows and explains that Musse Melly was the one who became the richest Malian king in ancient history. From the narrative that I read about Musse Melly, I believe this refers to King Mansa Musa. I also think that Musse Melly was just another name he had, and his people probably have called him by that.

    2. This black Lord is called Musse Melly and is the sovereign of the land of the negroes of Gineva [Ghana]. This king is the richest and noblest of all these lands due to the abundance of gold that is extracted from his lands.

      In this section, the atlas is referring to the Malian King, Mansa Musa. I was not aware that he was also called Musse Melly, but was able to infer due to the familiar image of him as well as the description of his wealth. As we know, Mansa Musa is still believed to be the richest human in world history. We also learned that Mansa Musa used his wealth to benefit his country, though this was not mentioned in this section.

    1. This is the middle branch of Mount Tauris [Tibesti Mountains]. Many Saracens coming from the West pass through this mountain wishing to go to Mecca to see the arch of Mohamed that contains their Law.

      Mecca is considered the holy city of Islam, near Cairo, Egypt on the west side of Africa. When Mansa Musa made his pilgrimage, as is tradition for a Malian sovereign, he impressed the court so much with his offering that people wrote about it for decades to come. Looking further at his journey, we note that he left Niani and most definitely passed one of the branches of Mount Tauris (the Tibesti Mountains). It's incredibly interesting to think about how long this journey was, and the fact that he left such a large impression by his gifts and wealth was fascinating to me considering the era. In our readings, it also said he brought 10,000 of his followers, which is even more incredible that that many people made this perilous journey