article
Beyond monument lies empire: mapping Songhay space in tenth- to sixteenth-century West Africa
RES: anthropology and aesthetics • (48) • Published In 2005 • Pages: 33-44
By: Van Dyke, Kristina.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This article examines Songhai history through the properties of a spiritualized landscape and an embodied architecture. Ancestral shrines were nodes of spiritual power, as was Mecca; pilgrims returning from Mecca had to kiss their chief upon their return to transfer their blessings to him. The author argues that the lack of monumental architecture in places such as Gao and Timbuktu during the Songhai ascendency does not preclude the use of space in other ways to mark identity and power. The royal residence was never permanent, with the royal entourage itself acting as palace, denoting the majesty of the ruler.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Public structures
- Forage crops
- Settlement patterns
- Occupational specialization
- Chief executive
- Executive household
- Sacred objects and places
- Magic
- Ethnogeography
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Songhai
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2016
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Africa
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Western Africa
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- article
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Historian
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Ian Skoggard; 2016
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- not applicable
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 900-1600
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Gao, Mali
- NotesAdditional notes
- Kristina Van Dyke
- Includes bibliographical references
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Songhai (African people)