Al-Mas'udi, Meadows of Gold: Sea Serpents and Marine Marvels
- Date of account
- 10th century CE
- Location
- Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean and wider Islamic geographical imagination
- Source
- model_recalled_reference
- Record updated
- 2026-10-10
Record summary
Al-Mas‘udi’s Meadows of Gold combines history, geography, reports from sailors and accounts of extraordinary animals. Its marine notices are valuable for tracing how Arabic authors transmitted stories of giant fish, serpentine beings and dangerous waters across the Indian Ocean world. The work is a compilation with uneven source criticism, and specific creature identifications must be established from the Arabic text and reliable translations. It should be treated as evidence for medieval belief and information networks, not biological confirmation. AI-recalled; source quality 5; corroboration 0.
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