Ancient African Civilisations
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4000 to 1000 BC
Ancient African civilizations of the Nile Valley are established & flourish.
Ancient Egyptians traced their origins to the Mount Rwenzori range in East Africa known as "the Mountains of the Moon" (see Hum 211 African Film description of the movie by that title), and some accounts to "Ethiopia," a term variously designating land south of Egypt (the Upper Nile Valley), or the entire African continent. Thus, Nubia, Egypt’s southern neighbor with its own civilization, probably preceded ancient Egyptian (Kemet) civilization.
Ancient Egyptians traced their origins to the Mount Rwenzori range in East Africa known as "the Mountains of the Moon" (see Hum 211 African Film description of the movie by that title), and some accounts to "Ethiopia," a term variously designating land south of Egypt (the Upper Nile Valley), or the entire African continent. Thus, Nubia, Egypt’s southern neighbor with its own civilization, probably preceded ancient Egyptian (Kemet) civilization.
By 2500 BC
Centers of early civilization flourish in Mesopotamia, Egypt, northeastern India, and northern China.
2900 to 2280 BC
Old Kingdom of ancient Egypt & Upper Nile.
Old Kingdom-era master architect Imhotep was also chief physician, prime minister, teacher, philosopher, priest & astronomer. Equated by the Greeks with their god of healing, Imhotep is regarded by many as the father of medicine.
ca. 2300- 2100 BC
Heliopolis Creation Narrative of the Kemetic priests of On, and the Memphite Declaration of the Deities (carved on a granite slab carving at the order of Nubian King Shabaka, ca. 710 BCE, recopied from earlier papyrus version), are the earliest written human accounts of creation.
In the Memphis theology, the deity Ptah unites "heart and tongue" to create all "through utterance"—the spoken word. Creation narratives are found throughout Africa passed down through across centuries and generations through oral traditions (Asante and Abarry 12-13).
In the Memphis theology, the deity Ptah unites "heart and tongue" to create all "through utterance"—the spoken word. Creation narratives are found throughout Africa passed down through across centuries and generations through oral traditions (Asante and Abarry 12-13).
2280 - 2060 BC
First Internediate Period in Ancient Egypt history.
2060 - 1785 BC
The Middle Kingdom of ancient Egypt & Upper Nile.
1785 - 1580 BC
Second Intermediate Period in Ancient Egypt history.
1580 - 1085 BC
The New Kingdom.
1085 - 658 BC
Period of decline of the Ancient Egyptian Kingdom starting appr. with the 21st Dynasty until the 25th Dynasty. Follows a Saitic Period and a Persian Period.
ca. 1000 - 800 BC
- Bantu ("the people") migration spreads through sub-Saharan Africa (Africa south of the Sahara Desert), over some 2,000 years.
- Bantu, a linguistically related group of about 60 million people living in equatorial and southern Africa, probably originated in West Africa, migrating downward gradually into southern Africa. The Bantu migration was one of the largest in human history.
- The cause of this movement is uncertain, but is believed related to population increase, a result of the introduction of new crops, such as the banana (native to south Asia), allowing more efficient food production.
- Societies typically depended on subsistence agriculture or, in the savannas, pastoral pursuits. Political organization was normally local, although large kingdoms would later develop in western and central Africa.
- Early in their history, the Bantu split into two major linguistic branches—the Eastern and Western Bantu. The Eastern Bantu migrated through present-day Zimbabwe and Mozambique, down to South Africa. The Western Bantu moved into what is now Angola, Namibia, and northwestern Botswana.
- Today, among the Bantu language groups, the most widely spoken Bantu-derived language is Arab-influenced Swahili, which is used as a lingua franca (a language used in common by different peoples to facilitate commerce and trade) by up to 50 million speakers on the eastern coast of Africa.
- Ethnic groups descended from the Bantu include the Shona, the Xhosa, the Kikuyu, and the Zulu, of the Eastern Bantu language branch; and the Herero and Tonga peoples, of the Western Bantu language branch.
750 – 600 BC
Kush or Nubia (upper or southern reaches of Nile River) rules Egypt from capital Meroe; with metal technology, widened economic influence in sub-Saharan Africa.
500 BC
Ancient Nok culture thrives in forests of central Nigeria (to CE 200). Ancestors claimed by the Yoruba peoples, the Nok are justly revered for their art and terra cottas.
500 BC
Ancient Nok culture thrives in forests of central Nigeria (to CE 200). Ancestors claimed by the Yoruba peoples, the Nok are justly revered for their art and terra cottas.
350 BC - AD 1000: Early African Iron Age
350 BC
- Origins of earliest yet known Iron Age culture south of Sahara: Nok culture of Central Nigeria.
- Early trans-Saharan trade, between Western Sudan and North Africa, by way of Berber middlemen, well established.
- Rice cultivation well established in some western areas (Mandinka). Spread of early forms of forest agriculture.
- Rise of the city and nearby satellites of Meroe as political and cultural centre of the Kushite Kingdom (formerly centred on Napata to the north).
- Origins of Axumite culture in northeast Ethiopia by synthesis of local people and immigrants from southern Arabia.
- Carthage a major power, though soon to be challenged by Roman Republic.
332 BC
Alexander enters Egypt: Ptolemaic dynasty follows.
100 BC
- Further spread of metal-using cultures in western Africa, principally of iron.
- Trans-Saharan trade expands with growing use of camels in place of horses and donkeys.
- Northerly points of East African Coast become peripheral parts of Idian Ocean/Red Sea carrying trade, but as yet on very small scale.
- Early Iron Age cultures in Central Africa (e.g. Katanga, Zambia, Zimbabwe) begin to unfold.
- Egypt, Tunesia and Algeria become Roman colonies. Development of synthesis of Roman, Punic and Berber cultures in Tunesia and Algeria.
- Meroitic Kush remains powerful state with widespread interests in the long-distance trade.
- Origins of Axumite kingdom of North Eastern Ethiopia after 100 BCE.
400 AC
- Presumed emergence of early states of Western and Central Sudan, notably Ghana in the former, as centrally ruled polities with systemic interest in long-distance trade.
- Continued spread of iron-using cultures associated with formation of Bantu-speaking peoples south of the Congo Basin. First settlements at the site of Great Zimbabwe. These cultures have developed early forms of agricultures, but have not yet spread south of Limpopo River.
- Byzantine culture in Egypt Lower Nubia (formerly Kush) under kings of X-Group (beginning in third and fourth century).
325 AC
- King Ezana of Axum invades Meroitic Kush.
- Axum has accepted Christianity as state religion (beginning with Ezana in early fourth century); origins of Ethiopian Christianity.
ca. 600 (to 1000)
Bantu migration extends to southern Africa; Bantu languages will predominate in central and southern Africa. Emergence of southeastern African societies, to become the stone city-states of Zimbabwe, Dhlo-Dhlo, Kilwa, and Sofala, which flourish through 1600.
From 610 AD
Rise of Islam
622 AD
Hijra of Muhammad.
639-641 AD
Khalif Omar conquers Egypt with Islamic troups
670 AD
Uqba ibn Nafi occupies Ifriqiya (Tunesia)
683 AD
Arabs reach Moroccan Atlantic.