Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn al-Husayn ibn Ali al-Mas'udi (transl: ) (born c. 896, Baghdad, died September 956, Cairo, Egypt), was an Arab historian and geographer, known as the "Herodotus of the Arabs." He was one of the first to combine history and scientific geography in a large-scale work, Muruj adh-dhahab wa ma'adin al-jawhar (The Meadows of Gold and Mines of Gems), a world history. Birth, travels and literary output Al-Mas'udi tells us that he was born in Baghdad. He was a descendant of… (More on Al-masudi)