Built on diversity: Statehood in Medieval Somaliland (12th-16th centuries AD)

This article presents an overview of the current situation of the medieval Islamic

archaeology of the Horn of Africa, paying especial attention to the role of the medieval states that for more than three centuries were able to integrate peoples with very different beliefs, lifestyles, languages and ethnicities. The study combines historical and archaeological sources to analyze a specific case in western Somaliland, a region where nomads and urban dwellers –two groups with very different material cultures- lived together for centuries. The analysis of the relationships between these two groups is the base for a proposal to define a framework to understand how the Muslim sultanates were able to generate a cohesive superstructure that provided a remarkable stability for the region during the Middle Ages.

Horn of Africa. Middle Ages. States. Islam. Medieval Archaeology. Nomads.