Signet ring
- Object Name
- Signet ring
- Culture / Site
- Iran
- Medium
- Silver
- Date
- 15th/16th century
- Dimensions
- 3.18 cm x 2.54 cm
- Credit Line
- Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA, The Nasli M. Heeramaneck Collection, gift of Joan Palevsky, M.73.5.336
- Section
- Saharan Frontiers/Mansa Musa's Hajj to Mecca
- Description
The historian and geographer Abu ‘Ubayd al-Bakri (d. 1094) provided information about Saharan caravan trade to a readership hungry to learn about faraway trading partners. In his Book of Routes and Realms, published in 1063, al-Bakri describes royal succession in Kawkaw, the medieval name for Gao: “When a king ascends the throne, he is handed a signet ring, a sword, and a copy of the Qur’an, which, as they assert, were sent to them by the Commander of the Faithful. Their king is a Muslim, for they entrust their kingship only to Muslims.” A sword and jewelry were among the diplomatic gifts received by Mansa Musa.