Category: Great Civilizations

A Heritage of great civilizations on the African soil

The Importance of the Timbuktu’s Manuscripts and their Return

On By Dr. Y.In Great Civilizations, Great Literature, Great Moments, Great People, Great Science2 Comments
Manuscripts a Tombouctou (Mali) montrant de l'astronomie et mathematique
Manuscripts a Tombouctou (Mali) montrant de l’astronomie et mathematique

The Timbuktu’s Manuscripts are Returning Home to their rightful owners, after over 10 years away. It is so beautiful that the families who own these multi-centennial parts of African history get to have them back as it is not only part of their heritage, but ours also, and we are thankful for them to have protected throughout the centuries.

At the Ahmed Baba Institute in Bamako, people have been actively working on digitalizing all the manuscripts for humanity’s sake. These challenge the eurocentric views that “Africans have not entered enough in history” as the former French president Sarkozy said, even though many scholars from around the world used to travel to Timbuktu to find the best teachers. Through these manuscripts, we discover brilliant scholars, doctors, lawmakers, astronomers, mathematicians, geologists, and much more. After all, Timbuktu, was one of the world’s first and oldest university.

Excerpts below are from Africanews, and check out the Google Arts & Culture (Timbuktu Manuscripts now Available Online, The Lost Libraries of Timbuktu).

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Timbuktu from a terrace by Heinrich Barth 1858

… Among the manuscripts are medical texts, legal rulings, letters, astronomical notes and chronicles of West African empires.

In some pages, scholars debate whether smoking tobacco was moral or forbidden.

In others, officials urge reducing dowries so poorer men could marry.

Marginal notes record earthquakes and local events long forgotten elsewhere.

Sane Chirfi Alpha is the founding member of SAVAMA DCI, which is a local nonprofit organisation dedicated to the safeguarding, preservation, and promotion of the ancient Timbuktu manuscripts. He says the collection reveals a depth of scholarship that challenges assumptions about the region’s past.

“According to old documents, there were doctors here in Timbuktu who performed surgery to treat cataracts. The same manuscript also says that a doctor from Timbuktu saved the French throne. The crown prince was sick, and French doctors could not cure him. It was the doctor from Timbuktu who cured him.”

…  One important tradition still documented in many manuscripts is the chain of teaching, where scholars recorded who taught whom through generations.

Dr Mohamed Diagayaté, general director of the Ahmed Baba Institute says: “When a student finishes studying with a scholar, that scholar gives him a certificate saying he has taught him a subject, which the student has mastered. The certificate also says that the student learned it from a certain scholar, and that this scholar learned it from another scholar, going right back to the person who wrote the original document.”

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Speech from Andrianampoinimerina, the First King of the Unified Merina Kingdom

On By Dr. Y.In Great Civilizations, Great PeopleLeave a comment
Andrianampoinimerina, portrait painted around 1905 by Ramanankirahina

As we learned, Andrianampoinimerina is known as the first Ruler of the Kingdom of Imerina in Madagascar, the one who unified the Merina people of Central Madagascar. His reign was marked by the reunification of the Imerina after 77 years of civil war, and he also led the subsequent expansion of his kingdom to nearby territories, thereby initiating the unification of Madagascar under Merina rule. His legacy was followed by his son Radama I who successfully continued it, unifying 2/3 of the great island under his rule.

Tantara ny Andriana

Below is an excerpt of Andrianampoinimerina’s speech, taken from the Tantára ny Andriána, edition 1968. It is an immense collection of the oral traditions of Madagascar collected by R.P. Callet, a Jesuit priest from 1868 to 1881. The book is in Malagasy. A French translation was published in 4 volumes by the Malagasy Academy from 1935 to 1958. The numbers at the head of each excerpt indicate the page numbers of the original. 

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One of King Andrianampoinimerina’s residences within the Rova of Antananarivo, Madagascar

Excerpts from Andrianampoinimerina’s Speech

708.« I see the different castes: all belong to me and all have my affection, he said, and I will unite you; I will make of Imerina a guinea fowl of a single color.»

728.« This is what I will tell you, O Merina: the country and the kingdom are mine; I will share the land with you… to allow you to live… I will give a rice field to each man; I will see to it that all the Ambaniandros1 have the same belly. »

731.« Here is the forest: I make it the great undivided heritage, the means of subsistence for orphans, for single women, for all the unfortunate… whoever goes there, do not prevent them: all will be able to take and act as they please. »

757.« The men guilty of these crimes, even if they were great figures, even if they were caste leaders, even if they were my relatives…, I will put them to death; I will reduce their women and children to slavery and I will confiscate their property… The Merina, my subjects, are like a lámba without inside or back, like the circular and uniform edges of a pot. »

Radama I (c. 1810 – 1828)

802.« There is no other enemy to my kingdom than famine, because one cannot, when hungry, think of the State: the great, then, seek to devour the small, and the small to steal… If there are people who do not work, I invite you, oh my subjects, to cultivate their lands… you will take the harvests, but will give them back their land when they are determined to work it. »

1054.(Excerpt from his recommendations before his death) « O my friends, let Radama be for you a young gosling to whom you will bring what you have conquered… Do not present him with unfaithful reports, do not deceive him. For the King has no parents; he has no brothers; those who obey his instructions and who trust in his laws are his parents… »

1056.«  … and I declare to you too, O Radama, that Imerina is now unified and that the sea will be the limit of your rice field. »

1 « People in the daylight », synonym of Merina

Inauguration of the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD)

On By Dr. Y.In Great Civilizations, Great MomentsLeave a comment
Flag of Ethiopia

Africa has inherited arbitrary boundaries delineating countries from the colonial era, and even water supplies! This is the case for the Nile River, the world’s longest river, which flows through several countries in North and East Africa, including Egypt, Sudan, South Sudan, and Ethiopia. Nobody presents the Nile River anymore, as it is a River which has been part of this planet’s history since time immemorial with its critical place in one of the greatest civilizations of the world, that of Ancient Egypt and its pharaohs, and in the Bible, the most read book in the world.

Map of the Nile River flow and the location of Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in Africa

Yesterday marked the inauguration and official opening of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). This is Africa’s largest hydro-electric dam, measuring 1.8 km (1.1 miles) wide and 145 m (0.1 mile) tall, and is located on the Blue Nile in Western Ethiopia near the border with Sudan. It is expected to generate 5,100 MW of power, and more than double Ethiopia’s current capacity. It is designed to supply power to Ethiopia, but also to neighboring countries. 

The dam’s location on a Nile tributary has sparked tensions between Ethiopia and Egypt, which relies heavily on Nile waters. The Nile River has long been governed by a series of historical treaties, many of which were shaped during colonial times and have sparked ongoing disputes—especially between Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia. The 1929 Anglo-Egyptian Treaty gave Egypt veto power over upstream projects, and allocated the majority of the Nile waters to Egypt and Sudan, excluding upstream countries like Ethiopia. Later, the 1959 Nile Waters agreement between Egypt and Sudan divided the Nile’s flow between Egypt and Sudan, not including Ethiopia and other upstream nations in the deal. This last deal remains the primary legal framework used by Egypt to assert its water rights! Picture this? A river flows through your country and others, and the others share the river’s flow among themselves and forget you in the equation, like you did not exist, or like the river never flowed through your country, and was also a source of existence for your people. What the …? Such injustice!

Flag of Egypt
Flag of Egypt

No wonder there are issues! Egypt relies on the Nile for over 90% of its freshwater. Any disruption in the flow could threaten agriculture, drinking water, and industry. Egypt fears that the GERD would reduce water availability, especially during droughts. It has since then reduced the area cultivated for certain crops like rice which are water greedy.

Ethiopia feels that it has the right to use its own water resources, and rightfully so. Ethiopia today is a growing nation, and one of Africa’s strongest economies. The GERD is seen as a great symbol of national unity. It is a national development project, which will double Ethiopia’s electricity output, provide power to millions, and boost regional exports.

For Ethiopians, the GERD is seen as a victory: victory against all preconceived ideas that they could not seat at the table, or even design such amazing engineering feats. Because of the tensions, Egypt (which has always been the partners of all these foreign colonial powers in the region) had lobbied the world bank and other world funding organizations against financing the dam; thus the dam has been almost entirely domestically funded through bonds and donations. The GERD has also united citizens across ethnic and political divides.

After 14 years of continuous work, the GERD was officially launched by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed who called it “the greatest achievement in the history of the Black race.” I would not go as far, but I agree that this is a great historical achievement indeed!

To learn more, check out articles in BBC, Al-Jazeera, The Conversation, and many others.

 

Timbuktu’s Manuscripts are Returning Home

On By Dr. Y.In Great Civilizations, Great MomentsLeave a comment
Map of Mali with its capital Bamako

Last week, the Malian government started returning the famous Timbuktu’s manuscripts home to Timbuktu after over 10 years away. As you remember, we prayed for the manuscripts to be kept safe, as Timbuktu was under Attacks by ‘Muslim fundamentalists’, Timbuktu Manuscripts now Available Online. You know the AES is working hard, when it is safe for the Timbuktu manuscripts to return home after over 10 years away! This is a testimony to the hard work of the Malian troops, its people, and its government. The Malian people have shown that an African country can protect itself, recover its territory, and free its own people. Yes… there has been strong collaborations with Russia, and their neighboring brothers of Burkina Faso and Niger, and the formation of the Alliance of the Etats du Sahel (AES). Mali did what France and all its allies could not do with their multiple operations, operation Barkhane, Operation Serval, Task Force Takuba, etc, … wait they were not really there to free the country from terrorism, but rather to finance/protect terrorism, divide the country, so as to be free to do their business. We are proud of Mali, and pray that these manuscripts remain safe as they have been for centuries, in the hands of their very own people.

Excerpts below are from Africanews.

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Manuscripts a Tombouctou (Mali) montrant de l'astronomie et mathematique
Manuscripts a Tombouctou (Mali) montrant de l’astronomie et mathematique

The Malian military government on Monday started returning home the historic manuscripts of Timbuktu, which were spirited out of their fabled northern city when it was occupied by al-Qaida-linked militants more than a decade ago.

Islamic radicals destroyed more than 4,000 manuscripts, some dating back to the 13th century, after they seized Timbuktu in 2012, according to the findings of a United Nations expert mission. They also destroyed nine mausoleums and a mosque’s door — all but one of the buildings on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

The majority of the documents dating back to the 13th century — more than 27,000 — were saved by the devotion of the Timbuktu library’s Malian custodians, who carried them out of the occupied city in rice sacks, on donkey carts, by motorcycle, by boat and four-wheel drive vehicles.

Manuscript of Timbuktu (Google Arts and Culture)

… About 706 kilometers (439 miles) from Bamako, Timbuktu sits on the edge of the Sahara desert and has a dry climate. For years, the local municipal and religious authorities have asked for the return of the manuscripts. Diahara Touré, Timbuktu’s deputy mayor, said the famous documents are important to the local people as they “reflect our civilization and spiritual and intellectual heritage.”

… In February, the military government made a commitment to return the manuscripts, according to Bouréma Kansaye, the Malian Minister of Higher Education. He described them as as a “legacy that bears witness to the intellectual greatness and crossroads of civilization” of the city of Timbuktu — “a bridge between the past and the future.”

“We now have a responsibility to protect, digitize, study, and promote these treasures so that they continue to enlighten Mali, Africa, and the world,” Kansaye said during Monday’s return ceremony.

…

Bamako! By Agostinho Neto

On By Dr. Y.In Great People, Great Civilizations, Great LiteratureLeave a comment
Map of Mali with its capital Bamako

In 1954, Agostinho Neto, Angola’s first president (before he became president) wrote a chez d’oeuvre titled Bamako, after the capital of the country of Mali. The poem appeared in his collection Sagrada Esperança (Sacred Hope), in 1974. The poem is an ode to African unity, resilience, and rebirth, all based on the rich history of the great Empire of Mali, and the continent as a whole. Neto refers to Africa’s tallest mountain, Mt Kilimanjaro. In his poem, he weaves in the great rivers of the continent, Niger and Congo, particularly focusing on the soil’s fertility from the abundant flow of the river Niger, and the tantalizing immensity of the river Congo. Above all, he highlights the warmth of its people, their friendship, their resilience (‘strong roots’), and their kindness. He builds on the pain of slavery and centuries of hurt to offer hope, the living fruit of Africa’s future; in Bamako, he says, we will conquer death! Why Bamako, one may ask? Bamako is special as it was part of the great Empire of Mali, where the oldest constitution in the world saw the light (Kouroukan Fouga, la Constitution de l’Empire du Mali – la plus vieille constitution republicaine au monde?), and is also known as the crossroad of West Africa, where germinated centuries’ old history of great West African kingdoms in Mali, and its rich traditions.

Below is Bamako! by Agostinho Neto, published in Sagrada Esperança, in 1974. You can find it on AgostinhoNeto.org

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Bamako by Agostinho Neto

Bamako!

ali onde a verdade gotejante sobre o brilho da folha

se une à frescura dos homens

como as raízes fortes sob a tépida superfície do solo

e onde crescem amor e futuro

fertilizados na generosidade do Níger

sombreados na imensidão do Congo

ao sabor da aragem africana dos corações

 

Bamako!

ali nasce a vida e cresce

e desenvolve em nós fogueiras impacientes de bondade

 

Bamako!

ali estão os nossos braços

ali soam as nossas vozes

ali o brilho esperança dos nossos olhos

se transforma imenso numa força irrepreensível da amizade

 

secas as lágrimas choradas nos séculos

na África escrava de outros dias

vivificado o sumo nutritivo do fruto

o aroma da terra

em que o sol desencanta kilimanjaros gigantes

sob o céu azul da paz.

 

Bamako!

fruto vivo da África de futuro

germinado nas artérias vivas de África

 

Ali a esperança se tornou árvore

e rio

e fera

e terra

 

ali a esperança se vitoria amizade

na elegância da palmeira

e na pele negra dos homens

 

Bamako!

ali vencemos a morte

e o fruto cresce – cresce em nós

na força irresistível do natural e da vida

connosco viva em Bamako.

 

Bamako!

There, where the dripping truth on the leaf’s shine

unites with the freshness of men

like strong roots beneath the warm surface of the soil

and where love and future grow

fertilized in the generosity of the Niger

shaded in the immensity of the Congo

to the taste of the African breeze of hearts

 

Bamako!

there life is born and grows

and develops within us impatient fires of kindness

 

Bamako!

There are our arms

There our voices sound

There the hopeful glow of our eyes

Immensely transforms into an irrepressible force of friendship

 

dry the tears cried for centuries

in the enslaved Africa of other days

vivified the nutritious juice of the fruit

the aroma of the earth

where the sun disenchants giant Kilimanjaros

under the blue sky of peace.

 

Bamako!

living fruit of Africa’s future

germinated in the living arteries of Africa

 

There hope became tree

and river

and beast

and earth

 

There hope triumphs over friendship

in the elegance of the palm tree

and in the black skin of men

 

Bamako!

There we conquer death

and the fruit grows – it grows within us

in the irresistible force of nature and life

living with us in Bamako.

 

 

Fetishism in Africa : A European Creation ?

On By Dr. Y.In Great Art, Great CivilizationsLeave a comment
Pendant Ivory mask representing Queen Idia, Iyoba of Benin City (16th Century)
Pendant Ivory mask representing Queen Idia, Iyoba of Benin City (16th Century), exposed at the MET

Just like Cheikh Anta Diop, Leo Frobenius, the German ethnologist and archaeologist who visited Africa in the 1900s saw fetishism as a creation of Europe, made to dehumanize Africans to justify and normalize slavery of the Black man [Dum Diversas or The Vatican’s Authorization of Slavery]. In all his travels throughout Africa, he had never seen natives worship fetishes!

“The new country of America needed slaves and Africa offered them: hundreds, thousands, full shiploads of slaves. “However, the slave trade was never a matter of peace; it required its justification ; so the Negro was made into a half-animal, a commodity. And this is how the notion of the fetish was invented (Portuguese : feticeiro) as a symbol of an African religion. European trademark. As for me, I have not seen in any part of black Africa the natives worship fetishes.

The idea of ​​the “barbarian Negro” is a European invention which, as a consequence, dominated Europe until the beginning of this century.”

Leo Frobenius, La Civilisation africaine, Le Rocher, Paris, “Civilisation et Traditions”, Jean-Paul Bertrand Editeur, p. 16-17 (1984). Translated to English by Dr. Y, Afrolegends.com.

Fetishism in Africa: Its Origins ?

On By Dr. Y.In Great Art, Great Civilizations, Great People2 Comments
Senufo face mask (Kpeliye’e) exposed at the MET

In Africa, there is the concept of fetishism which has been prevalent as a description of African beliefs. Thus, a fetish is an object which holds spiritual power or supernatural significance. Given that African statues hold deep cultural, spiritual, and symbolic significance [Authorship in African Art: The Case of Yoruba Art], the term fetishism has been historically associated to them. Early European anthropologists have linked African religions and statues to fetishism. However, we are learning that this was a technique designed by Europeans to denigrate and dehumanize the African person so as to justify slavery [Dum Diversas or The Vatican’s Authorization of Slavery] early on, and colonialism later on. 

Cheikh Anta Diop, the great Senegalese historian, anthropologist, philosopher, physicist, and politician, showed in his book, Nations Nègres et Culture: de l’Antiquite nègre égyptienne aux problèmes culturels de l’Afrique noire d’aujourd’hui, that fetishism in Africa is not an inherent school of thought, but rather arose from the disconnection of modern Africans to their original religions due to violent exposure to centuries of attacks (slavery) from the West. Thus, he said, 

Cheikh Anta Diop
Cheikh Anta Diop

“From one end of Black Africa to the other, passing through Egypt, the statues were originally intended to be the support of the immortal “double” of the ancestor after his earthly death. Placed in a sacred place, the statue was the object of offerings and libations: this fact, misinterpreted by Westerners, created the false idea of ​​fetishism. In reality, there is a tendency towards fetishism, that is, idolatry, only where the meaning of the cult has been forgotten through a break in tradition.”

Cheikh Anta Diop, Nations Nègres et Culture, Présence Africaine, Paris p. 339 (1954). Translated to English by Dr. Y, Afrolegends.com.

Bone Tools found in Tanzania dated 1.5 million years ago

On By Dr. Y.In Great Civilizations, Great Moments2 Comments
Ishango Bones
Ishango Bones

We have previously talked about the Ishango bone, or rather the first evidence of a calculator in the world.  Named after the place where it was found in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the Ishango bone is what is called a bone tool or the craddle of mathematics, and dates as far back as 22,000 years ago, in the Upper Paleolitic era;  It is the oldest attestation of the practice of arithmetic in human history. 

Map of Tanzania

This month, archaeologists have published in the journal Nature their discovery of the earliest known bone tools, showing evidence of their use 1.5 million years ago. These bone tools were found in the Olduvai Gorge, in Tanzania. The tools were carved from elephant and hippopotamus bones.  The article, Systematic bone tool production at 1.5 million years ago by de la Torre et al., was published on March 5, 2025, and provides new insights into the intelligence and innovation of East African hominins who showed “a transfer and adaptation of knapping skills from stone to bone,” which until now were thought to be restricted only to European sites dating back 500,000 years. 

Excerpts below are from AfricaNews. To read in depth, please check out the original article of de la Torre, I., Doyon, L., Benito-Calvo, A. et al. Systematic bone tool production at 1.5 million years ago. Nature (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08652-5 and the Nature Podcast by N.P. Howe & S. Bundell .

As the authors say in the Nature article, “… East African hominins developed an original cultural innovation that entailed a transfer and adaptation of knapping skills from stone to bone. By producing technologically and morphologically standardized bone tools, early Acheulean toolmakers unravelled technological repertoires that were previously thought to have appeared routinely more than 1 million years later.”

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Flag of Tanzania

Archaeologists have discovered the earliest known bone tools, pushing back evidence of their use by around a million years.

The find suggests early humans had more advanced tool-making skills than previously thought. These 27 fossilised bones, shaped into tools 1.5 million years ago, are rewriting the history of early human technology.

The collection, found in Tanzania’s Olduvai Gorge, provides the earliest evidence of deliberate bone tool-making by ancient hominins. Carved from the thick leg bones of elephants and hippos, the implements reveal that early humans were using more complex toolkits than previously thought.

Researchers know that simple stone tools were being made as far back as 3.3 million years ago. But until now, bone tools were believed to be a much later innovation. The well-preserved artifacts, some measuring up to 40 centimetres, show clear signs of intentional shaping. At the time they were created, our ancestors lived a precarious hunter-gatherer existence on the plans of the Serengeti region, a landscape teeming with wildlife. They made them using a technique similar to how stone tools are made, by chipping off small flakes to form sharp edges, revealing skilled craftsmanship.

… The tools were likely used as handheld axes for butchering animal carcasses, particularly scavenged remains of elephants and hippos. Unlike later tools, they were not mounted on handles or used as spears. Researchers say the uniform selection of bones, primarily large leg bones from specific animals, suggests early humans deliberately sought out the best raw materials for making tools.

… The discovery dates back more than a million years before Homo sapiens emerged. At the time, at least three different hominin species lived in the region, including Homo erectus, Homo habilis, and Paranthropus boisei.

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The Kente Cloth is now in the UNESCO Cultural Heritage List

On By Dr. Y.In Great Civilizations2 Comments

Kente scarf

Last week, the Kente cloth, Ghana’s national textile, has been recognized and added to the UNESCO list of Intangibla Cultural Heritage of Humanity. A few years ago, we published the article Kente Cloth: An Ashanti Tradition dating Centuries back. Here, we will go down memory lane.

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Have you ever seen those beautiful bright multicolored scarves worn on graduation day by thousands of African Americans and African students across the United States?  Those scarves are usually hand-woven, bright, and multicolored, worn to represent the membership to a Black sorority, fraternity, or to just an African student organization at the different colleges and universities.

Kente cloth
Kente cloth

Well, those scarves are made from a material commonly known as Kente cloth, which originates from the Ashanti people of Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire.  The Ashanti people used to (and still do) hand weave these bright multicolored clothes for their kings and noblemen.  The tradition of kente cloth is said to have been developed in the 17th century, and stems from ancient Akan weaving techniques dating as far back as the 11th century AD (this is one of Africa’s textile tradition).  Kente cloth is known as nwentoma (meaning woven cloth) in Akan language, and is a type of silk, cotton, or rayon fabric made of interwoven cloth strips which is native to the Akan/Ashanti ethnic group of Southern Ghana (and also Cote d’Ivoire).  It is woven on a wooden loom, which produces a band about 10 cm wide; several bands will then be sewn together to make a larger cloth.  The elaborate patterns arise from the mixture of different weaving techniques applied to the same band of cloth.  The quality of the fabric, and weaving indicates the rank of the person, the best being reserved for the kings.  It is worn by men as a toga, and by women as upper and lower wrappers.  The art of weaving kente is passed down only to males, from generation to generation.  The main center of weaving kente is around the Kumasi region of Ghana.

Continue reading “The Kente Cloth is now in the UNESCO Cultural Heritage List” →

Fenus unciarum in the African Slave Trade

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Inspection of a slave for sale

Fenus unciarum refers to an ancient Roman concept of interest on loans. The term “unciarum” comes from the latin “uncia,” which means “twelfth,” and “fenus” means interest. Essentially, it was a legal term used to describe the interest rate of 1/12 (or about 8.33%) per month, which translates to an annual interest rate of approximately 100%. The Twelve Tables, an early Roman legal code, established this rate to protect borrowers from exorbitant interest rates. This was a common practice in Roman law which was applied in Africa during the slave trade. The debtor who cannot redeem himself becomes a slave: he can redeem himself by selling his son to the creditor. According to the law of the XII tables, the creditor can sell the debtor beyond the Tiber.

The fidelity of this scheme in Black Africa under the slave system is corroborated by Mungo Park, the Scottish explorer who visited West Africa in the 1790s. After an exploration of the upper Niger River around 1796, he wrote a popular and influential travel book titled Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa in which he theorized the Niger and Congo merged to become the same river, though it was later proven that they are different rivers. In this book, he shed a light also on the fenus unciarum use in Africa. 

Slave capture

“When a Negro takes goods on credit from Europeans on the coast and does not pay at the agreed time, the creditor has the right, according to the laws of the country, to seize the debtor or, if he cannot find him, someone from his family, or finally, as a last resort, someone from the same kingdom. The person thus seized is detained while his friends are sent to search for the debtor. When the latter is found, an assembly of the chiefs of the place is called, and the debtor is forced, by paying his debt, to release his relative. If he cannot do this, he is immediately seized: he is sent to the coast, and the other is set free. If the debtor is not found, the arrested person is obliged to pay double the amount of the debt, or he himself is sold as a slave…”

From this, one can easily see how an entire kingdom could be captured.