Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of I Heart Radio
Speaker 1: and Grim and Mild from Aaron Mankey listener discretion advised.
Speaker 1: Hey guys, this is Danishwards, the host of the podcast
Speaker 1: Noble Blood. First, just thank you so much for listening.
Speaker 1: Before the episode, just a few quick announcements. I have
Speaker 1: a book coming out in February called Immortality a Love Story.
Speaker 1: It's a sequel to my last book, Anatomy a Love Story,
Speaker 1: which is about a young woman who's a surgeon in
Speaker 1: eighteen hundred Scotland. And if you like this podcast, I
Speaker 1: really think you would like it, check it out, and please,
Speaker 1: if you're at all interested, pre order Immortality a Love Story.
Speaker 1: All the links are in the episode description, along with
Speaker 1: links to official Noble Blood merch and the Noble Blood Patreon,
Speaker 1: where I post episode scripts and have access to monthly
Speaker 1: bonus episodes. But as always, the best support is just
Speaker 1: listening to the show. I am so grateful we've officially
Speaker 1: made a hundred episodes of the show and it just
Speaker 1: feels so surreal. So thank you so much for your
Speaker 1: interest in history and for joining me on this journey,
Speaker 1: and let's do a hundred more. In July of the
Speaker 1: year thirteen twenty four, the citizens of Cairo were waiting.
Speaker 1: For weeks. Conversation in the city had been dominated by
Speaker 1: the imminent arrival of one man, though by this point
Speaker 1: man heartily seemed inadequate enough term to encompass a figure
Speaker 1: as impressive as the fabled Melian Sultan Mansa Musa. Tales
Speaker 1: of his exploits had started as simple rumor singular whispers
Speaker 1: carried over desert roads by merchants and scholars, each story
Speaker 1: eventually stitched together in ports of trade until their subject
Speaker 1: became more myth than man. He was said to be
Speaker 1: passing through Cairo on his way to complete Hajj, or
Speaker 1: pilgrimage to Mecca, as required by the Islamic faith. This
Speaker 1: typically would have been news enough, though oddly speculation surrounding
Speaker 1: his arrival had much less to do with his destination
Speaker 1: and more to do with the methods in which he
Speaker 1: decided to travel. Had you been walking through Cairo's market
Speaker 1: place that summer, as you examined the countless wares from
Speaker 1: all over the continent or even beyond, each vendor likely
Speaker 1: would have regaled you with their own sliver of gossip
Speaker 1: that they had gleaned from their time on the road.
Speaker 1: I hear he travels with ten thousand men, One of
Speaker 1: the vendors might have said, only for another merchant across
Speaker 1: the way to cut in ten No. I heard it
Speaker 1: was at least fifty, if not sixty thousand to others.
Speaker 1: The size of his party likely mattered little compared to
Speaker 1: the treasures said to have made the trip along with him.
Speaker 1: Upwards of eighty camels were rumored to have been brought
Speaker 1: for the sole purpose of transporting a combined total of
Speaker 1: seventeen tons or over thirty four thousand pounds of gold. This,
Speaker 1: of course, was in addition to the five hundred enslaved
Speaker 1: workers who were each tasked with carrying a gold staff
Speaker 1: for the duration of the over four thousand mile trek
Speaker 1: from Molly on the western coast of Africa to Mecca
Speaker 1: in what is today Saudi Arabia. Now, when considering the
Speaker 1: vast distance Mansa Musa had to travel in order to
Speaker 1: complete the Hajj, it makes sense that he and his
Speaker 1: party would need ample resources and manpower to reach their destination.
Speaker 1: But at the same time, you and hardly reason that
Speaker 1: the transport of eighty camel loads of gold and sixty
Speaker 1: thousand men were for the sole purpose of practicality, and
Speaker 1: just as the resources Musa acquired for his journey were
Speaker 1: not necessarily essential to complete the journey. If the whispers
Speaker 1: in the streets of Cairo were anything to go by,
Speaker 1: his hajj was likely not the sole reason for his
Speaker 1: pilgrimage across the African continent. Religious piety may have been
Speaker 1: the impetus for his travels, but it's clear through the
Speaker 1: level of extravagance by which he chose to travel then
Speaker 1: Mansa Musa's much anticipated stay in Cairo had one goal
Speaker 1: above all else. He wanted to make a statement, and
Speaker 1: so as the iconic red silk banners of monts A
Speaker 1: Musa's caravan finally crested the western horizon, the citizens of
Speaker 1: Kai Eurow waited with bated breath and a gold hungry
Speaker 1: glint in their eyes to see exactly what type of
Speaker 1: statement he would make. I'm Dani Schwartz and this is
Speaker 1: noble blood. Now, before we get started, I want to
Speaker 1: take a moment to speak to the importance of oral
Speaker 1: histories in the African tradition. Today, when we tend to
Speaker 1: think of history, our minds are often pulled toward images
Speaker 1: of dusty libraries filled top to bottom with heavy leather
Speaker 1: bound tons. But the truth is this image is something we,
Speaker 1: as a largely Eurocentric culture, have been conditioned to believe
Speaker 1: is the quote right way to record history. It's true
Speaker 1: that there are not many written records of monts Amusa's reign,
Speaker 1: at least not from medieval West African sources, but that
Speaker 1: is largely because the history of West Africa was passed
Speaker 1: down through oral tradition rather than written tradition. There's a
Speaker 1: harmful misconception that quite honestly, was likely perpetuated by many
Speaker 1: of the institutions behind a fair number of the subjects
Speaker 1: of this podcast that histories passed down through spoken word
Speaker 1: are quote inferior or less civilized than that of written record.
Speaker 1: But it simply isn't true. In fact, in West Africa,
Speaker 1: oral historians were often prized scholars also known as griots,
Speaker 1: who were expressly forbidden from physically recording historical moments so
Speaker 1: as to prove their intellect when recalling the moment back
Speaker 1: to be passed down for future generations. And if for
Speaker 1: some reason you need further proof that oral traditions are
Speaker 1: not some signifier of quote uncivilized culture. Just think of
Speaker 1: the Odyssey or the Iliad, both of which were passed
Speaker 1: down through oral tradition for hundreds of years before ever
Speaker 1: being put to paper. Or if you want a more
Speaker 1: relevant example, this very podcast and by extension, podcasting as
Speaker 1: a whole, could be considered a certain kind of oral history.
Speaker 1: All this is to say, though these oral histories may
Speaker 1: lack specificity in terms of dates and times the way
Speaker 1: we might expect from written history, I think it's important
Speaker 1: to analyze the lens by which we've traditionally been taught
Speaker 1: to understand events from the past in the first place.
Speaker 1: It's also important to recognize the benefits to oral histories
Speaker 1: that written histories often lack. In the case of Mansa, Musa,
Speaker 1: the inherent mythos around the Hajjs you went on, as
Speaker 1: well as his empire's incredible riches, would, for better or worse,
Speaker 1: go on to shape Molly for generations after Musa's passing.
Speaker 1: Now back to our story. It's unclear exactly when Mussa
Speaker 1: was born or the specific year he him into power,
Speaker 1: but historian degree, he became Manta or sultan around thirteen twelve,
Speaker 1: likely when Musa was in his early to mid twenties.
Speaker 1: Though perhaps more interesting than his age was the circumstances
Speaker 1: by which Musa was given the throne in the first place.
Speaker 1: In an account recorded by the scholar al Umari, Musa
Speaker 1: made it clear that he was never meant to have
Speaker 1: inherited the throne. When he did, his unlikely rise was
Speaker 1: thanks to a previous sultan's interest in exploration. Quote. The
Speaker 1: king who was my predecessor did not believe that it
Speaker 1: was impossible to discover the furthest limits of the Atlantic Ocean.
Speaker 1: The sultan is quoted saying to the governor of Cairo,
Speaker 1: well before the couplet in Columbus sailed the ocean Blue,
Speaker 1: ever came into relevance leaders around the world, we're already
Speaker 1: looking to the horizons off their coastlines, ready to discover
Speaker 1: possible worlds unknown. This is evidenced by the ex lauration
Speaker 1: of figures like the Chinese mariner Janghay, who, under the
Speaker 1: guidance of the Ming dynasty in the late fourteenth and
Speaker 1: early fifteenth centuries, would travel as far as East Africa.
Speaker 1: It's also evidenced by Arab, Indian and East African explorers. However,
Speaker 1: unlike Janghay, or Christopher Columbus for that matter. Montsa, Musa's predecessor,
Speaker 1: would never be highlighted in history for his maritime exploration.
Speaker 1: In his first attempt, Musa's predecessor sent out two hundred
Speaker 1: ships into the Atlantic with enough gold and provisions to
Speaker 1: last years and directions quote not to return until they
Speaker 1: reached the end of it or their provisions and water
Speaker 1: gave out end quote in the end. Out of the
Speaker 1: two hundred ships, only one returned, stating that the rest
Speaker 1: of the ships had gone on without them. But this
Speaker 1: answer did not satisfy the Sultan. In fact, the loan
Speaker 1: surviving ship inspired Musa's predecessor to prepare an additional two
Speaker 1: thousand ships, half of which were to be filled with
Speaker 1: provisions for their travels and the other to carry the men,
Speaker 1: this time with the Sultan himself among their ranks. Though
Speaker 1: before he was set to depart, the Sultan appointed Musa
Speaker 1: to lead while he was out at sea. Quote, he
Speaker 1: left me to deputize for him, and embarked upon the
Speaker 1: Atlantic Ocean with his men Mantsa. Musa would eventually recount
Speaker 1: to the Governor of Cairo quote that was the last
Speaker 1: we saw of him and all those men who were
Speaker 1: with him, And so I became king in my own
Speaker 1: right end quote. To this day, no one knows for
Speaker 1: sure exactly what happened to Musa's predecessor. Many historians assume
Speaker 1: he simply got lost at sea, though some revisionist historians
Speaker 1: believe he could have potentially made it to the America's Regardless,
Speaker 1: the fact remained that Musa's predecessor never returned to Molly,
Speaker 1: therefore bestowing Musa himself with the title history would forever
Speaker 1: remember him by Manza Musa. As a young ruler, Montsa
Speaker 1: Musa had inherited a similarly young empire. He was only
Speaker 1: the ninth Manza to take the throne, and as such
Speaker 1: he was eager to establish not only himself but Molly
Speaker 1: as a nation on a global scale. And so, with
Speaker 1: a young empire under his command, and which surely must
Speaker 1: have felt like the eyes of the entire world watching
Speaker 1: his next move, Mantsa Musa chose to give those watching
Speaker 1: him something to look at. If the eighty cameloads of
Speaker 1: gold and sixty thousand person traveling party or any indicator,
Speaker 1: it should come as no surprise that the Hajj of
Speaker 1: Montsa Musa was by far the defining moment of his reign,
Speaker 1: though it should be noted an undertaking of this magnitude
Speaker 1: wasn't accomplished overnight. In reality, most historians agree Musa likely
Speaker 1: began planning for the Hajj not long after he was
Speaker 1: put on the throne, meaning he would have been orchestrating
Speaker 1: this truck for at least a decade before ever setting
Speaker 1: foot on the road. Historian Michael A. Gomez estimates quote,
Speaker 1: if ten years are allowed for preparations, some six thousand
Speaker 1: persons would have been captured per annum for this purpose
Speaker 1: end quote, a statement that is supported by the scholar
Speaker 1: Alumari saying of Montsa Musa quote, the king of this
Speaker 1: country wages a permanently holy war on the pagans of
Speaker 1: the Sudan, who are his neighbors end quote. On top
Speaker 1: of the quote, slaving campaigns Musa orchestrated in order to
Speaker 1: create an infrastructure by which to support the Hajj she
Speaker 1: was determined to complete. The eighty camel's worth of gold
Speaker 1: didn't appear overnight by the time Manta Musa reached Cairo.
Speaker 1: Rumors as to where exactly the gold came from had
Speaker 1: fully taken on lives of their own. The most common
Speaker 1: fallacy was the rumored gold plant, which, separate from Musa,
Speaker 1: had been circulating as early as the tenth century during
Speaker 1: the reign of the Ghanaian Empire. The gold plant varied
Speaker 1: in description depending on the source, one source saying it
Speaker 1: quote grows in the sand as carrots do and quote well,
Speaker 1: Musa himself spread the notion it grew quote in the
Speaker 1: spring and blossomed after the rains in open country and quote. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: as thrilling as the discovery of a medieval West African
Speaker 1: gold plant would no doubt be for geologists and jewelers everywhere,
Speaker 1: the reality of the gold's origin is likely a little
Speaker 1: less exciting. Well, there's no way to tell for sure
Speaker 1: where exactly gold came from. Most historians pose it the
Speaker 1: production and export of copper, as well as the trade
Speaker 1: of salt, could have been the source of the majority
Speaker 1: of Musa's fortune. And for those confused as to why
Speaker 1: anyone would trade copper or let alone salt for something
Speaker 1: as valuable as gold, I think it's important to remember
Speaker 1: gold as a metal has significantly less useful properties than copper,
Speaker 1: which could be made into a variety of tools or salt,
Speaker 1: which is quite literally necessary for human survival. Meanwhile, gold's
Speaker 1: primary uses were either as a type of cosmetic adornment or,
Speaker 1: more importantly, for Mansa Musa, a form of currency. And
Speaker 1: even though Mussa did not shy away from the lower
Speaker 1: that in Mali, gold basically grew on trees or in
Speaker 1: the ground like carrots. For him to amass as much
Speaker 1: wealth as he did was no small feet. Considering the
Speaker 1: substantial time and energy reserved solely for the preparations for
Speaker 1: the Hajj, it's worth asking why Mansa Musa chose to
Speaker 1: pursue a traveling caravan of this scale in the first place.
Speaker 1: Had he purely been wanting to complete the pilgrimage for
Speaker 1: the sake of his own religious practice, he could have
Speaker 1: easily traveled with a much smaller party that required a
Speaker 1: fraction of the resources. But clearly Musa had ulterior motives
Speaker 1: when preparing for his journey. The first motive might have
Speaker 1: had to do with Mansa Musa's claim to the throne.
Speaker 1: The line of succession for the early Malian Empire remains
Speaker 1: a point of contention with medieval West African historians. There
Speaker 1: was no clear path of inheritance the way we've become
Speaker 1: familiar with inheritance within the context of European monarchies. This
Speaker 1: could have been for a host of different reasons, though
Speaker 1: I think one of the most important to consider would
Speaker 1: be the simple fact that the Malian Empire as a
Speaker 1: whole was, for lack of a better term, young, and
Speaker 1: considering the untraditional methods by which Musa himself was left
Speaker 1: with a kingdom in his charge, he likely chose to
Speaker 1: use the Hajj as a way to exhibit his power
Speaker 1: and solidify his possibly precarious hold on the throne. In
Speaker 1: addition to securing his power as Molly's ruler, the Hajj
Speaker 1: also offered Musa ample opportunity to expand Molly's borders and
Speaker 1: influence far beyond the reaches of West Africa. It's clear
Speaker 1: through the preparations made for his journey, Mussa meant to
Speaker 1: project a certain image as he made his way across
Speaker 1: the African continent, though in all likelihood, the seventeen tons
Speaker 1: of gold eighteen tons of you include the gold staffs
Speaker 1: held by the enslaved workers in his caravan spoke for
Speaker 1: themselves as citizens of the cities he passed through Gaul.
Speaker 1: At his overt displays of wealth, it should be noted
Speaker 1: that while the impressive caravan was no doubt used to
Speaker 1: bolster his reputation, it did serve a practical purpose as well.
Speaker 1: After over a decade spent acquiring enough manpower and gold
Speaker 1: to make the impact he was seeking. When Montsa Musa
Speaker 1: finally began the Hajj in earnest, he used a fair
Speaker 1: amount of his gold and manpower to erect mosques as
Speaker 1: he went before all else. Monts A Musa was a
Speaker 1: devout Muslim and sought to spread the teachings of Islam
Speaker 1: as he set out to complete the Hajj he had
Speaker 1: so long prepared for. In this way, a good portion
Speaker 1: of the young Sultan's funds and slave labor went to
Speaker 1: the construction of mosques, which is also why reports as
Speaker 1: to exactly how many people and how much gold he
Speaker 1: brought on his journey very so wildly. It's likely that
Speaker 1: Musa began his pilgrimage with far more resources than he
Speaker 1: ended it with, but then again that was by design.
Speaker 1: The construction of mosques on Musa's truck across the African
Speaker 1: continent not only served as a way to parade his affluence,
Speaker 1: but more importantly, as a non violent expansion of his empire.
Speaker 1: Dissimilar to his slaving campaigns. Even for those who did
Speaker 1: not practice Islam, the mosques were more than just a
Speaker 1: space for religion. As Montsa Musa continued his travels, word
Speaker 1: began to spread about the wealth and prosperity of the
Speaker 1: Malayan Empire. As such, the mosques attracted scholars and merchants
Speaker 1: from outside Molly's borders, making what began as villages and
Speaker 1: towns evolve into urban marketplaces, ultimately stimulating Molly's economic growth.
Speaker 1: And as the chain of mosques left in the wake
Speaker 1: of his pilgrimage grew, word about the wildly rich and
Speaker 1: powerful Mansa Musa continued to spread east across the African
Speaker 1: continent until July thirteen, twenty four, when, finally, after weeks
Speaker 1: of waiting, the fabled Malian Sultan approached the city of Cairo.
Speaker 1: Even after funding a trail of mosques behind him, Musa
Speaker 1: still had plenty of gold and men to make the
Speaker 1: impact he wanted in Cairo. Upon his entrance in the city,
Speaker 1: monts AMusA immediately began spending exorbitant amounts of gold, resupplying
Speaker 1: his provisions, but also undoubtedly trying to flex his abundance
Speaker 1: to the dazzled crowd. One scholar is quoted as saying, quote,
Speaker 1: when monts AMusA first arrived in Cairo, he and his
Speaker 1: followers bought all kinds of things. They thought their money
Speaker 1: was inexhaustible, and quote so extravagant was his spend ending
Speaker 1: that in the end, Mansamusa would inevitably cause such mass
Speaker 1: inflation within Cairo that their economy would need a decade
Speaker 1: before it could fully recover. As the city attempted to
Speaker 1: gain some control over Musa's runaway inflation, the Malaean Sultan
Speaker 1: would leave Cairo to continue on to Mecca to complete
Speaker 1: his Hajj. It wouldn't be until Monsa Musa eventually returned
Speaker 1: to Cairo on his way home that the Sultan would
Speaker 1: be faced with a seemingly impossible truth. The money that
Speaker 1: he had once spent as if it were inexhaustible was gone,
Speaker 1: and he now had no means of funding his return home.
Speaker 1: When Mansa Musa met the city limits of Cairo for
Speaker 1: the second time, his reception was far more subdued than
Speaker 1: the parade his initial arrival. Had been. One scholar reported
Speaker 1: that after reaching Mecca and completing his pilgrimage, when he
Speaker 1: attempted to begin the journey back to Molly quote, many
Speaker 1: of his followers and camels perished from cold, so that
Speaker 1: only a third of them arrived in Cairo with him
Speaker 1: end quote. After a few wrong turns proved fatal for
Speaker 1: a significant portion of Musa's traveling party. The sultan was
Speaker 1: left not just shorthanded, but underfunded as well. In the
Speaker 1: wake of the Sultan's extreme spending that had essentially flooded
Speaker 1: Cairo's market with gold, Montsa Musa suddenly found himself with
Speaker 1: empty pockets, while the straits he had paraded down just
Speaker 1: months before glittered with the riches once carried by his
Speaker 1: now significantly smaller caravan. In order to return home, Mussa
Speaker 1: was forced to take out loans in the market that
Speaker 1: he himself had caused to massively inflate. Despite the Sultan's
Speaker 1: sudden hardships, Cairo's money unders were more than happy to
Speaker 1: extend lines of credit to the now penniless monts AMusA
Speaker 1: with steep interest rates. Of course, now, due to the
Speaker 1: nature of the sources surrounding these stories, there are some
Speaker 1: discrepancies as to if or when these loans were repaid.
Speaker 1: Some claim Montsa AMusA basically cheated the lenders in Cairo
Speaker 1: out of the substantial interest his loan would have, no
Speaker 1: doubt accrued by paying back everything he owned in its
Speaker 1: entirety as soon as he stepped back on mille and soil,
Speaker 1: while other sources claim that they never received any sort
Speaker 1: of repayment at all. It's impossible to say exactly what
Speaker 1: happened to the money after he left Cairo for the
Speaker 1: second time, but the fate of his loans ultimately made
Speaker 1: a little difference to the whole of monts Amusa's legacy.
Speaker 1: Even though Mussa's reign would end just thirteen years after
Speaker 1: his hajj and thirteen thirty seven, the ripple effects of
Speaker 1: his actions as Molly Sultan would be felt for countless
Speaker 1: generations to come. To this day, Montsa Musa is estimated
Speaker 1: to be the richest person to have ever lived, with
Speaker 1: a roughly estimated net worth of over four hundred billion dollars.
Speaker 1: I should note that due to the discrepancies and exactly
Speaker 1: how much gold he had, as well as the not
Speaker 1: exactly linear methods used to translate his supply of gold
Speaker 1: into inflation adjusted dollar amounts. This figure is far from
Speaker 1: what I would consider a solid number, but regardless, Montsa
Speaker 1: Musa's wealth did not carry clout just because of whatever
Speaker 1: dollar amount we place on it. The mosques he erected
Speaker 1: across his pilgrimage spread the practice of Islam, but they
Speaker 1: also worked to attract scholars and merchants from beyond Molly's borders,
Speaker 1: making urban centers of education and trade available in previously remote,
Speaker 1: isolated villages. Though Mousa may have ultimately lacked the funds
Speaker 1: for his return home, his initial display of power and
Speaker 1: affluence not only achieved his initial goal to solidify his
Speaker 1: place on the Malian throne, but secured his legacy far
Speaker 1: beyond the borders of West Africa. This is perhaps best
Speaker 1: exemplified in one of the prime examples of medieval map making,
Speaker 1: the Catalan Atlas, completed in thirteen seventy five. The Catalan
Speaker 1: Atlas was created by a Jewish map maker, Abraham Crescis,
Speaker 1: who had been commissioned by King John the First of
Speaker 1: Arragon to create the map as a gift for King
Speaker 1: Charles the fifth of France. When looking at the Atlas
Speaker 1: from Afar. One of the most striking elements about the
Speaker 1: piece is the amount of color used, and not just color,
Speaker 1: but the all too familiar warm sheen of gold from
Speaker 1: the MPUs on the first panel to flags denoting different nations.
Speaker 1: Your eyes can't move a few inches before being caught
Speaker 1: by the rich metallic adornment. However, the map's most interesting
Speaker 1: use of gold is down at the bottom of the
Speaker 1: first panel, where the image of a dark skinned royal
Speaker 1: sits on a throne. A gold crown is painted atop
Speaker 1: his head, while the man is holding a scepter in
Speaker 1: one hand and a golden orb in the other. When
Speaker 1: Mansa Musa inherited the throne, Molly was a thriving empire
Speaker 1: in its own right, but its borders held itself back
Speaker 1: from the rest of the world. Musa's inclusion in the
Speaker 1: Catalan Atlas, a piece that was created over fifty years
Speaker 1: after his legendary Hajj on an entirely different continent, exemplifies
Speaker 1: the reach his rain had on a global scale. Considering
Speaker 1: the lengths Massa Musa went to wire, the materials and
Speaker 1: manpower to complete his Hajj, it almost makes sense that
Speaker 1: Musa essentially put himself on the global map. That was
Speaker 1: the story of Mansa Musa and his legendary hajj. But
Speaker 1: stick around after a brief sponsor break to hear how
Speaker 1: his legend continues to persist in popular culture today. In
Speaker 1: these seven hundred years since his pilgrimage. Outside of Sid
Speaker 1: Meier's Civilization video game franchise, Mansa Musa's name has largely
Speaker 1: been kept out of our public consciousness. That is, unless
Speaker 1: you know where to look. Now. There is no official
Speaker 1: confirmation citing the inspiration for the scene, but if you
Speaker 1: remember the beloved ninety ninety two Disney animated film Aladdin,
Speaker 1: you may remember a certain song called Prince Ali. In
Speaker 1: a bid to win the heart of Princess Jasmine, Aladdin
Speaker 1: and the Genie concoct a plan to impress her by
Speaker 1: making Aladdin appear to be a rich and powerful Prince
Speaker 1: Ali a Babwa, a prince who proceeds to enter the
Speaker 1: city of Agriba, a top an elephant led by perhaps
Speaker 1: a familiar type of procession of men clearing the path
Speaker 1: for his arrival. If you haven't connected the dots already,
Speaker 1: allow me to direct you to some of the more
Speaker 1: obvious comparisons such as Aladdin dressing as Prince Ali literally
Speaker 1: flinging handfuls of gold coins from where he sits to
Speaker 1: top his elephant from a seemingly endless pile of money,
Speaker 1: or when Prince Ali's procession sings of all the riches
Speaker 1: he brings, including seventy five golden camels, to which, of
Speaker 1: course we all know Robin Williams as the genie parody
Speaker 1: is being an announcer like get the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade,
Speaker 1: saying don't they look lovely? June. Of course, Aladdin's golden
Speaker 1: camels are camels made of gold, as opposed to Mansa
Speaker 1: Musa's eighty camels, which were real live camels with gold
Speaker 1: on their backs. But the inclusion of this lyric is
Speaker 1: so specific that, at least in my opinion, it should
Speaker 1: be considered maybe a nod to the Malian king, whose
Speaker 1: legendary riches and affinity for showmanship continue to enthrall us
Speaker 1: to this day. Noble Blood is a production of I
Speaker 1: Heart Radio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Manky. Noble
Speaker 1: Blood is hosted by me Danish Worts. Additional writing and
Speaker 1: researching done by Hannah Johnston. Hannah's Wick, Mirra Hayward, Courtney Sunder,
Speaker 1: and Laurie Goodman. The show is produced by rema Il Kali,
Speaker 1: with supervising producer Josh Thaine and executive producers Aaron Manky,
Speaker 1: Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from I
Speaker 1: Heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.