A Find of Transoceanic Pottery at Bwejuu Island of the Rufiji Delta and Mafia Island, Tanzania: More Clue to the Elusive Ancient Azania’s Metropolis of Rhapta

Ryano, Mandela Peter; Chami, Felix A.

doi:10.11648/j.ija.20210901.14

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Swahili civilization can be traced back to the last century before the beginning of the current era (Ichumbaki, 2017; Jones, 2015; Ryano and Chami ,2021). The communities that made Swahili Civilization were comprised of pastoralist and Iron Age crop farmers from the hinterland (Spear,2000).…”

Section: Geographymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Swahili civilization can be therefore be de ned as independent communities that shared some cultures. These independent communities formed City states that included Mogadishu, Kilwa, Lamu, Mombasa, Malindi, and Gede and so on (Fleisher et al, 2015;Chami, 2021;Ichumbaki & Pollard, 2021). The new City states were later in uenced by Islam and were characterized by stone building and cosmopolitan life.…”

Section: Geographymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Forgotten Women Artisans? New frontiers of Gendered Spaces in Gede City State in Coastal Kenya

Muthegethi

2023

Preprint

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This paper interrogates how economic exchanges created new frontiers for women artisans in Gede city, at the coastal region of Kenya as demonstrated in archaeological records. Gede City state experienced economic development from the 11th century through intensification of international trade, rapid urbanization and diversification of subsistence patterns. This led to the emergency of artisan classes. Men artisans were mostly engaged in metal working and boat building whereas women artisans engaged in ceramics manufacturing and beads making. Before 11th century, the Gede community engaged in these activities mainly for subsistence use. The intensification of international trade and rapid urbanization from the 11th Century however led to the commodification of ceramics, metal objects, cloth and beads between the Gede community and the people from the hinterland. The Gede community exchanged goods such as beads, metal objects, cloths and ceramics for ivory, animal skins and precious stones. They then traded these goods from the hinterland with foreign merchants thereby making Gede a mercantile City. These new opportunities were contested by different social identities and became new frontiers where gender identities were expressed. This paper aim is twofold: it examines how Gede gendered activities were contested through re-organization of the society’s social structures and how women activities were reflected in new structures from archaeological record. Data was collected through historical sources, archival materials and excavation on Gede Industrial Complex of Bead Making as Women Space. The central question that the paper addresses is: How did the reorganization of the Gede economy create new gendered spaces for women artisans in Gede state?

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Section: Geographymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Geographymentioning

confidence: 99%

Forgotten Women Artisans? New frontiers of Gendered Spaces in Gede City State in Coastal Kenya

Muthegethi

2023

Preprint

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The Archaeology and Cultural Heritage of the Mafia Archipelago, Tanzania: Recommendations for Conservation and Management

Chami,

Ryano,

Ndyanabo

2024

Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites

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Sociocultural and Economic Aspects of the Ancient Roman Reported Metropolis of Rhapta on the Coast of Tanzania: Some Archaeological and Historical Perspectives

Bita

Bushozi

Chami

2023

International Journal of Environment and Geoinformatics

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Two thousand years ago, the Romans had knowledge of the western Indian Ocean seaboard. The East African seaboard was then known as Azania. The capital of Azania was recognized by the Romans as Rhapta. The unknown author of the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea seems to have visited the region himself and reported about the territory and its main settlements. However, Claudia Ptolemy, the geographer, got his information about the territory from skippers some who had been to Rhapta several times. After his third century report no more is heard about Rhapta. The search for the Azania settlements and particularly of Rhapta began from about 1950s in the colonial times. It is the research endeavor of the third author of this paper from the mid 1990s in the region of the Rufiji delta and the Mafia Island in south east Tanzanian coast that provided some clue to the location of Rhapta. With more recent research in Mafia archipelago, it is now apprehended that Rhapta got submerged on the northern side of the archipelago offshore of the Rufiji delta. With collected data from recent underwater and terrestrial archaeological surveys and available Roman historical reports, we can discuss socio cultural and economic aspects of Rhapta.

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A Find of Transoceanic Pottery at Bwejuu Island of the Rufiji Delta and Mafia Island, Tanzania: More Clue to the Elusive Ancient Azania’s Metropolis of Rhapta

Cited by 3 publications

References 10 publications

Forgotten Women Artisans? New frontiers of Gendered Spaces in Gede City State in Coastal Kenya

Forgotten Women Artisans? New frontiers of Gendered Spaces in Gede City State in Coastal Kenya

The Archaeology and Cultural Heritage of the Mafia Archipelago, Tanzania: Recommendations for Conservation and Management

Sociocultural and Economic Aspects of the Ancient Roman Reported Metropolis of Rhapta on the Coast of Tanzania: Some Archaeological and Historical Perspectives

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