World History I

Chapter 14: Patterns of State Formation in Africa
600-1450 CE

65: Wed, May 6, 2026

Please post in the forum for the day a short essay in response to this question:

Read as much of the Epic of Sundiata as time allows. Sundiata, as you know, lived in the 13th century, but the Epic of Sundiata was not recorded in any written version until the 19th century at the earliest.

• What can you learn about resources, community, and power in the empire of Mali using the epic of Sundiata as a source text?
• What can you infer about the community that created it and preserved it over the years?
• What questions does it raise for you about oral traditions as historical sources?

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