Cute lil' pachyderm present from the Caliph!

Explanation: In the ‘Dark Ages’ of the Early Medieval Period, the Christian Franco-German Emperor Charlemagne recieved a message from his diplomat to the Muslim Abbasid Caliphate - an elephant was coming over the Alps!

The elephant was coming as a gift, rather than as part of a war band, unlike the other famous time (Hannibal’s invasion of Italy) elephants crossed the Alps.

Charlemagne received the elephant in the spirit it was intended, and had it cared for and displayed with him in his travels across his empire, so that the common people might see such an exotic beast. The elephant, Abdul-Abbas, lived until his 40s, and died of what is suspected by some to be pneumonia after some bad northern weather.

Relations between the Christian Emperor Charlemagne and the Muslim Abbasid Caliphate remained warm, and a handful of other embassies and trade missions are recorded, despite the vast distance between the two polities.