Detail from the Catalan Atlas, 1375 This detail from a medieval map depicts Mansa Musa (lower right), who ruled the powerful West African empire of Mali from 1312 to 1337. Musa’s golden crown and scepter, and the gold ingot he holds in his hand, testify to the empire’s wealth as well as to the European mapmakers’ interest in the precious metal mined in the area.
(Detail from the Catalan Atlas, 1375/Abraham Cresques/Getty Images)