Patterns of State Formation in Africa, 600–1450 CE

Term used in this chapter to denote Muslims in Swahili society claiming Middle Eastern descent and, by virtue of profiting from long-distance trade with the countries around the Indian Ocean, either ascending to the throne of their cities as kings or governing their cities in councils, together with other patricians.

Myths, tales, and stories (e.g., the foundation myth of Wagadu) handed down from generation to generation. In the absence of other sources, oral traditions should not be equated with documented history.

A branch of Christianity centered in Egypt that emphasizes the single, divine nature of Jesus, into which his human nature was incorporated, in contrast to Catholic Western and Orthodox Eastern Christianities, in which Jesus is believed to have been endowed with both a divine and human, albeit unified, nature.

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