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Georgia College &
State University
Africa
objectives: 1. Gain an understanding of the geographical features of Africa. 2. Gain an understanding of the interpretive issues surrounding the development of African society. 3. Be able to discuss the principal features of early African societies.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Why has Africa's African history been ignored by the West in the modern era? Why is Africentrism, the theory that Africa has a purely African history before the western intrusion, been so controversial? Consider the beauty of the Nok sculpture in your reader. Imagine the life's history of your subject and the artist who carved this life in terra cotta. Africa is the world's second largest continent, and produced the ancient culture of Egypt. Yet African history did not end here, for the Kushites and Nok are just a few of the hundreds of other groups who inhabited the continent in antiquity. Although Africa is home to hundreds of languages and racial groups, the west has assumed that the history of Africa begins with western intrusion on the African continent. In this unit, we will dispel that myth, and explore the Africa that was African in antiquity. We carry with us the wonders we seek without us: There is all Africa and her prodigies in us. Sir Thomas Browne, Religio Medici There is always something new out of Africa. Pliny the Elder, Natural History, VIII, 17. On Africentrism: Africa for the Africans means Africa for the Africans and not Africa as a hunting ground for alien ambitions. Adlai Stevenson, Speech of February 18, 1961, before the United Nations.
OUTLINE I. The geography of Africa A. Its size: 30 million square kilometers = 1/5 of the earth's surface second largest continent B. Difficulty of traversing the continent: wide variations in terrain: a. deserts The Sahara (Arabic word "al-sahra" = the desert) world's largest desert from 2500 b.c., the Sahara became increasingly desiccated and uninhabitable. led to the separation of the north from the south and the relative isolation of south Africa until a.d. 1000, although trade was maintained between Egypt, the sub-sahara, India and Saudi Arabia. The Kalahari: isolates south African plateau and coast from central Africa b. rain forests are dense and difficult to traverse high rainfall here contrasts with the dry and arid desert regions c. swamplands d. high mountains e. rivers are difficult to traverse: The Nile The Niger The Congo C. The Equator Africa is the only continent equally bisected by the equator D. tropical soil is devoid of humus and nutrients are easily exhausted E. crop pests and insects F. The 7 Regions of Africa: 1. north Africa: north of the Sahara caucasoid population settled by: The Phoenicians at Carthage The Romans The Arabs (the spread of Islam) famous North Africans of antiquity: Augustine of Hippo, bishop of Hippo and author of The City of God 2. Nilotic Africa (regions of the Nile) The Egyptians modern Sudan 1/3 population may have been Negroid 3. The Sudan (the savannah area below the Sahara) area below the sahara dominated by Negroid peoples: the Greeks called all blacks of Africa "Ethiopians", or those with burnt skins the Arabs called all Africa south of the Sahara "Bilad al-Sudan", the land of the Blacks. (Sudan) spoke languages that belonged to the Bantu family. Bantu negroids displaced the bushmen, pushing them further south. 4. West Africa 5. East Africa The Horn of Africa (modern Kenya and Tanzania) 6. Central Africa north of the Kalahari 7. South Africa yellow-brown peoples in southern Africa known as Bushmen, or Khoisan from Kalahari to the Cape of Good Hope, reached by Bartholomew Dias sailing for Portugal in 1488 G. Mineral Wealth of Africa salt gold iron copper II. Africa's historic isolation A. The ancient Egyptians isolation of the Old Kingdom B. internal isolation: difficulty of transversing the continent difficulty in exploration C. Western ignorance of Africa: "the history of Africa starts with western intrusion/presence" i. achievements of Africans long-credited to: The "Hamites" The Phoenicians The Greeks and others ii. theories that attribute achievements to racial characteristics cannot be substantiated, especially given the fact that due to inbreeding, racial classification is at best problematic iii. the rejection of western ethnocentrism and the development of Africentrism: the history of Africa starts with indigenous African cultures rather than with western achievements in Africa. III. African centered history: A. the earliest hominids found in Tanzania's Olduvai Gorge human migration to europe and Asia and later to Americas began in Africa. B. Africa can be said to be where society itself originated: the tribal relationships C. the origin of aesthetics in body painting D. The Neolithic cultures of the Sudan i. The Noks agriculture developed in first millennium b.c. by negroids the development of Iron as early as 500 b.c. burial masks of terra cotta ii. The Kushites earliest known literate and unified society outside of Egypt in Africa the negroids of Nubia and trade with the Egyptians: ivory, slaves, gold and building materials kings influenced by Egyptian culture: practiced pharaohs' custom of marrying their sisters king a living god buried royalty in pyramids used Egyptians customs and titles conquered Egypt itself in 8th century b.c.: the 25th pharaonic dynasty defeated by Assyrians in 7th century b.c. iii. Meroe location further south after Assyrian conquest iron smelting spread west and south from Meroe traded with west Africa through the Sudan traded with Rome, south Arabia, and India major source of gold for Egypt and the Mediterranean world pottery: male dominated pottery for market female produced for home defeat in the fourth century by Aksum, another African state the government: kings chosen by god from pool of candidates and ruled by customary law succession from within the royal family and often from the female line long line of queens starting in the 2nd c. b.c. E. Aksum Christianized in the fourth century a.d.: King Ezana monophysite Christianity and the Ethiopian church use of native language Ge'ez in services vs. Greek blend of Kushite people and semitic people from south Arabia major ivory, elephant, slaves and gold dust market through port of Adulis used by the Romans IV. The Coming of Islam A. Sundiata Mali: African gold The life of Sundiata B. Timbuktu C. Songhay D. Ghana V. African Culture A. Lineage B. African Folk Tales of Creation C. African Music as Communication