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 …
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.
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 …
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 …
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 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 …
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 …
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 …
