We all know glass, that amorphous inorganic solid substance that is usually translucent or transparent. Although glass can occur naturally, as in the case of obsidian, it is still one of the oldest and most important man-made materials in the world. There are hundreds, probably thousands, of types of glass, with their different colours and […]
Africa’s inventions: glass-making Read More »
Africa’s Civilizations: Paving The Path For The Growth Of Other Civilizations World Wide Most of the people have been falsely taught that the ancient Africans had little or nothing to do with the development and progression of civilization. This couldn’t be more wrong, for a massive number of sources shows that the origins of several
African Civilisations Read More »
9 African writing systems which predate Latin; and 15 writing systems which predate Modern English.
African Writing (3200 BC – 1500 AD) Read More »
Many news outlets when introducing Africa’s cities often explain the population size, the significance of the city and for context will often explain what proportion of Africa’s cities live in slums to give an idea to readers or viewers of wealth and income inequality. The time slot over which people take in information is so
Myths about Africa: Slums are unique to poor countries Read More »
Europe often claims that it is an advocate of democracy. It is claimed that the Athenian constitution and the British Parliament are the earliest examples of democracy but written history says otherwise. Africa has Meroe, Carthage, the Gada system of the Oromo and the Kalenji system to point to for evidence of pre-colonial democracy. Furthermore,
Africa’s Independence Dates Read More »
The Fulani people, numbering about 38 million, are found mostly in the western part of Africa. They are also known as the Fulbe or Peuls and in the Middle Ages (covering the 5th to the 15th century of the Common Era) were very reliant on cattle herding. The Fulani people trace their origin far back
The Kingdom of Altava was a Berber Kingdom, with the city of Altava as its capital. It existed from the year 578 AD to 708 AD. It was located in Northern Africa, in present-day Algeria. It was called a Berber kingdom as its majority population belonged to the Berber ethnicity, which is an ethnic group
The Christian Kingdom of Altava (578 AD – 708 AD), Algeria Read More »
During the history of mankind, there was a point when humans began planting and growing their foods, there was a shift from hunting animals and gathering food sources to farming and animal domestication. This period is referred to as the Neolithic revolution. With the Neolithic revolution came inevitable changes in the social life of humans.
Food series: Africa’s domestication of 2000+ foods Read More »
Impact craters are referred to the circular depression caused on the surface of the earth, planetary body, or other solid bodies in the solar system, by a hypervelocity impact of a smaller body or a meteorite. The energy released during this impact is usually very enormous as the velocity ranges between 11 and 72 Kilometers
Story of the oldest Deep Impact: the Vredefort Crater Read More »
TOOLS OF AFRICAN HISTORY: 10 METHODS In the investigation and study of the history and life of earlier Africans and indeed humans generally, certain tools or techniques are employed without which most findings would be useless since nothing can be deduced from them. With the help of these techniques or tools, information can be obtained
Tools of African History: 10 Methods Read More »
Africa is faced with many challenges. A non-exhaustive list includes: sorting out increased access to education and health; job creation; raising gross income per capita inclusively; gender equality; establishing national and local security; developing global partnerships; tackling child mortality; sorting out power supply and other infrastructure problems; and strengthening public institutions. The public and difficult
Myths about Africa : The you-can’t-do-business in Africa myth Read More »
Have you ever thought, “Why can’t farmers in African nations study the richer countries and imitate what they did to become wealthier”? Phrased another way the question is “Couldn’t Africa do today what the developed economies like the United States, France and the United Kingdom did to create wealth?” The answer is no and yes,
Question: Could African farmers copy Rich Countries for wealth creation? Read More »
Africa is an ancient and great continent, the first home of humans. A continent in which its ancient peoples through numerous foundational inventions opened the doors of advancement to the world. Over time a great many of her contributions to human development and advancement has been lost, forgotten or unjustly denied credit. Some of the
Myths about Africa: the Suez Canal was first built by France myth Read More »
When you look up world history as it is currently taught, the narrative is often misleading when it comes to development of agriculture. While certain crops were domesticated in the Near East and Asia between 10,000 BCE and 3,000 BCE – such as wheat and barley in the Near East, and Oryza sativa (Asian rice)
Myths about Africa: the “Europeans and Arabs brought Africa agriculture” myth Read More »
There are a few myths about African history and a few reasons why some European writers – not all – felt the need to malign brown-skinned people and claim Africans came from a continent without history. It probably gave them moral peace of mind to believe that they were not committing physical, mental and moral
Myths about African HISTORY Read More »
Modern scientists believe the universe has been around for 13.8 billion years, the sun for 4.57 billion years, the earth for 4.56 billion years and the moon for 4.53 billion years. Anatomically modern humans however only occupy the last 340,000 years of that story of cosmogony and originated out of Africa. Homo erectus (bipedal Humans)
Tools of African History: Geological periods Read More »
Specialists in Egyptian History have divided the time period of Ancient Egypt, covering 4,500 BCE to 664 BCE, into eight periods: Badarian culture, Naqada (prewriting), Old kingdom, First Intermediate kingdom, Middle kingdom, Second Intermediate Period, New kingdom and the Third Intermediate Period. In this article we look at the key events of the New Kingdom.
Ancient Egypt’s New Kingdom (key events from 1550 BCE to 1075 BCE) Read More »
Bread is one of the most common and widely consumed food across all parts of the globe. It comes in various forms, shapes, sizes and even composition. From ancient times up till present-day, it has continued to be a staple food source for many people. The reason bread is very popular apart from its nutritional
Africa’s inventions: bread (11,600 BC) Read More »
The Kingdom of Luba is an ancient African Kingdom which was based in current day Democratic Republic of Congo. It was founded in the Upemba depression, which is a large area of marshes, and comprises of over 50 lakes. The Kingdom was founded by King Kongolo (also called Nkongolo) in 1585 and would last over
Tools of African History: the Lukasa Memory Board of the Luba Kingdom Read More »
“During the 19th century, many European writers, limited by ethnocentrism and racism, decided that black Africa could have had nothing to do with Europe’s rise to greatness,” wrote Gloria Dickson, A professor of African-American studies at The College of New Jersey.
Africa’s inventions: algorithms Read More »
Humans evolved from the continent of Africa which makes Africa the longest inhabited continent on the planet. It is therefore not surprising that people from this continent originated and invented many things present-day humans built on, progressed and advanced. The history of African inventions dates to as far back as before modern humans even existed.
Africa’s inventions: abstract art (82,000 years ago) Read More »
To understand the pre-history of Africa, we need to understand the language of archaeologists, geologists and geneticists. See Geological periods article for how geologists describe historic time periods. The common periods used by archaeologists are covered in this article along with an explanation of the weaknesses of this system, when it is applied to Africa.
Tools of African History: Archaeological periods Read More »
Democracy has been flourishing under different systems in parts of Africa since ancient times. One example of a pre-colonial political and social system devised within Africa is the Kalenji’s Ibinda system practiced by the Kalenji in Kenya. It is an ancient system that is democratic in nature. The Kalenjin People The Kalenjin are a group
African Pre-Colonial Democracies: The Ibinda System of the Kalenji Read More »
Many non-Africans sometimes wonder, “Did Africa invent anything?” The unambiguous answer is yes: a lot of things. One of these inventions was a calendar system by Borana people of Ethiopia at a date as old as when Greece invented the Athenian calendar (an ancient calendar also known as the Attic Calendar). Unlike the Athenian calendar,
The Borana Calendar and How it works (Existing from 300 BC until Today) Read More »
AFRICAN ARTWORKS AND EARLY EUROPEAN CONTACT African arts today have come to be admired by art aficionados from all over the world, but it has not always been this way. There was a time when artworks from Africa was not considered worthy enough to be even displayed in European art museums. The Europeans at the
Africa’s influence on modern art Read More »
forestsMany non-Africans think Africa is a country with most of the ‘continent’ covered in grasslands. The stereotypical image is white Africans live North of the Sahara, and black Africans live south of the Sahara. This image is mainly due to the content non-Africans consume and how non-Africans get their information: from the television, nature programmes,
Ancient Egypt is known for many things: its monuments, its inventions, and its extensive historical records. Its historical records are among the oldest top 2 in the world. MONUMENTS Five of the most visited monuments in Egypt are: The Great Sphinx The great sphinx is carved out of limestone, believed to be built over 4,000
History of Ancient Egypt (4,500 BCE to 664 BCE in 10 mins) Read More »
Children in the UK sometimes take away from classrooms an over-simplistic narrative about how slavery was abolished in the UK. While the actions of William Wilberforce in persuading the British Parliament to abolish the “slave trade” were honourable and noteworthy, an incomplete story is unfortunately provided to posterity. Slavery involved slave ownership whereas abolishing the
The “Other” Abolitionists Read More »
Coca Cola is the most recognizable beverage brand in the world. Pepsi Co (a short form of Pepsi Cola) is the second most recognizable beverage brand in the world. Both Coke and Pepsi brands have their origins in soft drink recipes based on Kola nuts (the “Cola” in Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola). Although Western
Kola Nut, the untold African story behind Coke and Pepsi Read More »
African political systems In the time before the 19th century from 4,000 BCE to 1800 CE, African societies developed no fewer than fifteen unique political systems of government and property rights. In this article we look at what those systems were, examples of states that used them and over what length of time. Fundamentally political
Africa’s 15 Pre-Colonial Political Systems Read More »
Africa’s indulgence in art predates history. Tens of thousands of years ago they were the first humans to create works of art (see Africa’s inventions: art and paints). Until the renaissance which coincided with European contact and more intensive trade with Africa, Africa’s artworks were traditionally and intentionally created to serve purposes, and not necessarily
Twelve Ways Africa Used Art Read More »
Africa’s contributions to the development of the world are immense. Sadly, her achievements and inputs are downplayed or misrepresented, but it still does not change the fact that most of Africa’s inventions were the foundation upon which human development advanced. Many people are not aware that most inventions and skills which today have positively changed
Africa’s contributions to the development of the world are immense. Sadly, her achievements and inputs are downplayed or misrepresented, but it still does not change the fact that most of Africa’s inventions were the foundation upon which human development advanced. Many people are not aware that most inventions and skills which today have positively changed
Africa’s inventions: art and paint (73,000 years ago) Read More »
African art predates written history. From tens of thousands of years before recorded history people in Africa have been creating various works of art utilizing different materials. This is not particularly surprising given that the modern homo sapiens originated from Africa. The oldest art in the world was a shell necklace found in the Cave
Africa’s art materials Read More »
Myths about Africa: the hunter gatherers were not smart Travellers, anthropologists and historians from 1500 CE to 1800 CE that wrote about Africa sometimes recounted that some African people lived as hunter gatherers, when Europeans came across them. It must be remembered that not all Africans lived this way; based on the eye-witness accounts of
Myths about Africa: the hunter gatherers were not smart (200 BCE – 1950 CE) Read More »
Democracy literally means Rule by the people and is seen as a relatively recent Western phenomenon. However, democracy has been practiced in parts of Africa for many millenia. One such example is the Oromo Gada system practiced by the Oromo people in Ethiopia. It is an ancient system that is democratic in nature. Oromo Nation
African Pre-Colonial Democracies: The Gada System of the Oromo Read More »
The Kingdom of Mauretania came into existence around 225 BC, in the third century. Its inhabitants come from Berber ancestry, based on modern day ethnic taxonomies, and currently it belongs to the Western part of present day Algeria. Formation Mauretania was a kingdom of the Berber Mauri people, who would become renowned in history. It
Kingdom of Mauretania Read More »
“Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth.” Many educated people often perpetuate the idea that Africa had no history in the periods when certain kingdoms had no writing. And When evidence of writing is highlighted, they shift the boundaries by creating artificial distinctions between white and black Africans by using the group
Myths About Africa: The World Can’t Work Out Reliable History Without Written Works Read More »
Over the years as humans continue to advance, making new discoveries in science, technological breakthroughs, and other new modern findings. Inevitably these achievements have had a profound effect on the ways and methods of man’s search to uncover his origins, Particularly in bioarchaeology; from the times of sociocultural anthropology methods to cranial suture ossification to
Tools of Discovering African History: Bio-archaeology Read More »
Many non-Africans think Africa is a country with most of the continent covered in grasslands. The stereotypical image is white Africans live North of the Sahara and black Africans live south of the Sahara. This image is mainly due to the television content, on-demand video content and film content that non-Africans get their information from.
Africa’s mountains Read More »
