copper and ivory between other parts of Africa and the Middle East. Historians think Great Zimbabwe flourished until it was eclipsed in the 15th century by the rising kingdom of Mutapa ...

The artifacts are thought to date to the 15th century. One of the carved marble ... most of southeastern Europe as well as parts of North Africa and the Middle East, including the territory ...

A Vatican statement said the 15th-century papal bulls ... kingdoms the religious backing to expand their territories in Africa and the Americas for the sake of spreading Christianity.