The Malian giraffe embassy to Fez (762 AH)
وفد مالي بالزرافة إلى فاس (762هـ)
December 1360 CE · Safar 762 AH
In Safar 762 AH the embassy of Mali's king Mansa Sulayman reached Fez bearing their sultan's gift — a giraffe, that strange-formed, huge-bodied creature — in return for Sultan Abu al-Hasan's own embassy; it was a celebrated day, the sultan seated at the Tower of Gold in review while crowds climbed over one another to behold the giraffe and poets declaimed praise, the envoys greeting the sultan by tossing dust on their heads and confirming the interpreter's words by twanging their bowstrings, excusing the gift's delay by the struggle for Mali's throne after Mansa Sulayman's death.
At a glance
- Era
- The Mongol and Post-Mongol Era
- Region
- Maghreb · West Africa & Sahel
- Review
- Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it
In time
In space
Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph
Overview
The day of the embassy
The sultan sat for a public audience in the Golden Tower, and people crowded to see the giraffe in admiration of its form, and poets recited verses of praise. The embassy greeted the sultan by throwing dust on their heads. 1
They excused the delay in the gift by the struggles of the kings of Mali for power after the death of Mansa Sulayman. 1
Connections
- Occurred at
- Fez
People and things also explored
The Marinid division between Fez and Marrakesh (776 AH)· ابن باجة· Fez
Sources
- Kitab al-Ibar of Ibn Khaldun
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “The Malian giraffe embassy to Fez (762 AH)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/mali-giraffe-embassy-762/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-17.