The name of a gold coin issued by the califs of Damascus: it was also applied to the gold coins of various Arab dynasties and soon became the generic term of all arab gold coins.

The mausoleum is built of immense marble blocks, joined together without cement. Its total height, including the seven steps, is about 35 feet. A solitary pillar near the tomb still bears the inscription: 'I am Cyrus, the King, the...

San-speaking peoples do not constitute an ethnic group in the usual sense. The most widely known are those who call themselves "Zhu I oasi" (!Kung or Juwasi in most ethnographies), although the other peoples mentioned above have also...

During the colonial period, the Pokot were called "Suk" by Europeans. To some Pokot, the older designation is a reminder of an era in which Africans lacked the power to name themselves; to others, it represents the clever ruse of a...

The Fulani are found in twenty nations in a wide swath of Africa -- from Mauritania and Senegal to Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kenya. The Fulani form the largest pastoral nomadic group in the world. The Bororo'en are noted for the size of their...

The Nyamwezi and Sukuma are two closely related ethnic groups that live mostly in the region to the south of Lake Victoria in west-central Tanzania. Beliefs in a High God are widely held but involve no special cult. Belief in witchcraft...