Ivory and Rock Crystal Trade in East Africa, Eighth to Twelfth Centuries

The Swahili in East Africa exported precious commodities like gold, ivory, and rock crystal. Nowadays, these ‘commercial items’ are mostly invisible to the archaeologists because they are ‘by nature’ gross materials for export. Fortunately, the use of historical and ethnographic sources, combined with recent archaeological researches, allow us to trace the history of this trade, from the ʿAbbāsid to the late Fatimid period. Far from the well-known gold trade, the study of ivory and rock crystal allows us to present local and regional commercial networks and the trade in the Indian Ocean during the early medieval period.