Resumo
Between the 13th to the 16th centuries, the Horn of Africa went through major transformations that marked the future and dynamics of this region of the Horn of Africa. One of this transformations was the introduction of Islam through the Red Sea’s trade circuits that linked the Horn of Africa with the rest of the world. The evolution of the socio-political and cultural context that took place as a result of these changes can be seen in many aspects such as the materiality, the conception and construction of the landscape, the relations between different groups of the region, etc.In this comunication, my intention is to analyse the modifications that occurred on the above mentioned items through the study of diverse factors such as the toponymy, the hybridisation between pre-islamic and islamic elements, the maintenance of the sacred nature of some places or characters from a time before the arrival of Islam in the region, etc. But, above all of these factors, I will focus the paper in emphasising the role of mosques as places of aggregation through which the pre-islamic tradition and the new introduced religion came into contact. We find the case of study of the mosques as “common grounds” (as we like to refer to them) as very relevant because because we see them as material proof of the capacity of two very different traditions to come into contact without the resulting tension leading to conflict. The mosques became so one of the key factors of cohesion and stability in an increasingly conflictive world. This study will allow me to define how and to what extent materiality, territory, sacred sites and relations between human groups with very different lifestyles and cultures changed after the introduction of Islam in the Horn of Africa, as well as what degree of syncretism and combination there may have been between the preceding cultures of the peoples of the region and that new one introduced by Islam.
Palabras chave
Mosque. Horn of Africa. Archaeology. Medieval Period. Islam.