It took me some time to make sense of the map, as I was originally looking for the shape of the whole continent of Africa. It seems that the mapmaker was particularly interested in (or only knew about) just North Africa though. The size and glory of the king holding the gold nugget shows how much the Europeans were interested in this natural resource and its wealth in the cities in West Africa. I wondered if the path with the brown circles was indication of a trade route from the gold riches in West Africa out to the eastern part of the continent and beyond. I also think I understand there to be 3 kings and 1 queen depicted in Africa and am guessing the mapmaker saw the importance of these individuals in the governing of different African kingdoms.
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Module 2.3: Abraham Cresques Catalan Atlas
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19/10/2026 4:48 pm
