Begin this activity by displaying or sharing the image of one panel of The Catalan Atlas with students and asking them to share observations as a class. As needed, prompt students with the following questions:

  • Is this an image of a natural object, cultural artifact or both?
  • What does it depict? How was it used?
  • What might it tell us about people depicted on it or people who create it?
  • Who are  the most prominent images on this panel? Who are they and why might they be shown? 

Teacher Note-Since the image featured is only part of a panel and there are 6 panels total, it might be good to show the whole thing first, then the whole one panel, then the part of a panel. https://pitt.libguides.com/silkroads/catalanatlas#:~:text=The%20map%20originally%20consisted%20of,to%20fold%20like%20a%20screen

After a brief brainstorm, make any related connections to student responses and introduce students to the Catalan Atlas. Key details to review include:

  • The atlas is an artifact from 1375
  • The atlas is a pictorial map
  • The atlas is one of the most significant medieval world maps, created by the Catalan cartographer Abraham Cresques from Spain, along with his son Jehuda Cresques
  • It is written in Catalan, a romance language
  • The atlas was intended to serve as a comprehensive geographical and navigational aid for sailors, merchants, and explorers of the era commissioned by King Peter IV of Aragon and Naples, France
  • The atlas depicts:
    • Various trade routes and goods such as gold
    • Key landscape features such as the Atlas Mountains in Morocco
    • Mansa Musa, West African King of Mali, holding a golden coin (Optional video-https://youtu.be/O3YJMaL55TM?feature=shared )
    • Prester John, a legendary Christian ruler believed to reign over a kingdom in the distant East, sometimes associated with Ethiopia or the Far East. (Optional video- https://youtu.be/aJKqtoAcutA?feature=shared)
    • The interconnected medieval world
    • The ideas that Europeans, and in particular Abraham Cresques had about the rest of the world

Explain to students that though we may not be able to read the Catalan language to determine which buildings are represented, the pictorial map shows there were many important architectural structures at the time of the atlas’ creation. In particular, direct students to observe the number of mosques that are present in West Africa as evidence of widespread Islam

Allow students to select and/or assign students to learn about one of the three key mosques/architectural markers on the The Gold Road Map and through independent research. Ask students to identify the location, the materials used, role in history, and how it provides insight into West African life and society. Note that the three mosques below are part of the same complex of Mosques in Mali and are listed as a UNESCO World heritages site.

  • Djinguereber Mosque
  • Sankore Mosque
  • Sidi Yahya Mosque

You could also select other Architectural Markers as desired:

  • Ancient Mosque at Manfara, Mali
  • Friday Mosque of Chinguetti
  • Gidan Rumfa, the Emir’s Palace at Kano
  • Larabanga Mosque
  • Old Town of Djenné & Grand Mosque
  • ​​Tomb/Mosque of Askia Muhammad Touré
  • University al-Qarawiyyin

A final wrap-up to this activity would be to ensure students’ research revealed key points about religion in West Africa.

  • Trade also went beyond North Africa, as far as Europe and what is known in modern times as the Middle East and Asia. Language, religion, culture and trade iteratively supported each other’s development. 
  • After the 8th century, trade brought Arabic and Islam to the region and West Africans took up and adapted Islam and Arabic in creative ways. 
  • Although the early rulers of the empire of Ghana retained indigenous religions, Ghana partially converted, with evidence of coexistence of Muslims and those practicing ancestral religions in the twin cities of Kumbi-Saleh. By the time the Mali kingdom rose to power, Islam was widespread.

The Catalan Atlas