Sahel: art and empires on the shores of the Sahara: [catalogue]

A comprehensive exploration, spanning 1,300 years, of the art and culture of the Sahel region of Africa This groundbreaking volume examines the extraordinary artistic and cultural traditions of the African region known as the Sahel (“shore” in Arabic), a vast area on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert that includes present-day Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, and Chad. This is the first book to present a comprehensive overview of the diverse cultural achievements and traditions of the region, spanning more than 1,300 years from the pre-Islamic period through the 19th century. It features some of the earliest extant art from Africa as well as such iconic works as sculptures by the Dogon and Bamana peoples of Mali. Essays by leading international scholars discuss the art, architecture, archaeology, literature, philosophy, religion, and history of the Sahel, exploring the unique cultural landscape in which these ancient communities flourished. Richly illustrated and brilliantly argued, Sahel brings to life the enduring creativity of the different peoples who lived, traded, and traveled through this crossroads of the world. Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University Press Exhibition Schedule: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (January 29–May 10, 2020) Cover Contents Director’s foreword Introduction Avenues of inquiry into the Sahelian Past Clay as metaphor The 1993 U.S. – Mali bilateral agreement Iconoclasm and the Great Mosque of Jenne Why the Sahel now? Local perceptions of early times: Odes to Sahelian empires Ghana-Wagadu Mali Empire The Kingdom of Gao and the Songhay Empire Bamana Segu On the shoreline of history: The state of archaeology in the Sahel A land of alternative polities Phantom capitals and small-scale societies Cities without citadels Threats and potential Pre-Islamic artistic patronage Emergence of complex societies A female presence at Kumbi Saleh Sacred lanscapes of Central Mali Bura civilization Middle Niger Equestrians Entreaties for divine intervention Middle Niger authorship Translating the elemental into human Islam in the West African Sahel Consoldiation of coexistence The Almoravids Early Arabic inscriptions at Tadmekkat-Essuk Early Gao and Ghana Mansa Musa of Mali Timbuktu Convergences and conflicts Architecture in focus: four Sahelian landmarks Djinguereber Mosque of Timbuktu Friday Mosque of Jenne Tomb of Askia Muhammad, Gao Nando Mosque, Bandiagara Escarpment Sahelian diasporas. Migrations from ancient Ghana and Mali Imperial Malian devotion Mande scepters as conduits of Nyama and emblems of authority A migration locus: Layers of settlement in the Bandiagara The Tellem-Dogon nexus Dogon prayers visualized by master sculptors Mali’s center of power and creative provinces Collecting the Sahelian past: myth building and primary sources Appropriating the Sahel in words, images, and objects The treasure of Segu Ethnographic collecting: the paradox of artistic emotion Archaeology and the mission to collect Reclaiming the complexity of the Sahelian past From the rise of Songhay to the fall of Segu Gao: at the center of empires A regional realignment The Bamana of Segu The Diarra dynasty The Jo association and arts patronage Painting with mud Rise of the Fulani/Fulbe: iconoclasm and the Umarian state Lomasa: the summit of Sahelian couture Visualizing an ever-changing world Praying for life Notes Works in the exhibition Selected bibliography Acknowledgments Index