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Which city supplied African ivory to China through Arab traders during the Song dynasty?
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ivory carving
Kinugumiut Inupiat incised walrus ivory shaman's figure, c. 1890; in the National Museum of the American Indian, George Gustav Heye Center, Smithsonian Institution, New York City.
During the Song dynasty, as local sources of ivory in China became scarce, new supplies were sought overseas. According to historical records, the first African elephant tusks were brought to China from Zanzibar by Arab traders.1