Decentering the Renaissance

Carnelian beads from Fezzan in Libya or Gujarat in India, cowrie shells from the Indian Ocean, and precious metalwork from Syria or Egypt: the North Nigerian site of Durbi Takusheyi contains objects that indicate the extensive transregional networks the area was a part of during the fifteenth century. ¹ The site is located between the trading hubs of Daura and Katsina and contains several tumuli, with Tumulus 7 being a particularly rich grave site. The deceased individual in this tumulus was buried with a collar of carnelian beads, cowrie shells, and luxurious metal objects. ² A large number of gold artifacts were found, including a golden ring and another ring wrapped with wire, several bracelets, and more metal artifacts, as well as glass and carnelian beads in one of two metal buckets that were unearthed from the grave. The most significant object found was a large metal bowl from the Mamluk empire in Syria or Egypt (Figure 3.6.1), which contained further golden items and jewelry, including two earrings, another finger ring, and a pendant. Created in the Mamluk empire in today's Syria or Egypt during the late fourteenth or fifteenth century and interred in a fifteenth-century Northern Nigerian tomb, it must have arrived at Durbi Takusheyi very soon after it was made.