Part 3

The Historical Period of the African Continent

(Ancient African civilizations)

The African continent witnessed the emergence of different magnificent civilizations

in different areas. Each civilization lasted for hundreds of years leaving behind great
accomplishments and achievements.

1. The Ancient Egyptian Civilization

Ancient Egyptian civilization is said to have flourished more than 5000 years ago for
more than 2000 years. This civilization has been credited with many inventions, social and
government structuring and profound architecture.

The origins of Ancient Egyptians

The origin of Ancient Egyptians has been a matter of debate for hundreds of years.
Many anthropological studies were made in an attempt to determine the composition and
classification of the ancient Egyptian population. However, the hypotheses differ from one
anthropologist to another. According to a study conducted by Thomson and Randall Maclver,
discoveries of ancient Egyptians were divided into three groups: black skulls, non- black
skulls, and intermediate skulls. On the other hand, Falkenburger reopened the anthropological
study of the Egyptian population in a recent work in which he discusses 1,787 male skulls
varying in date from the old Pre-Dynastic to our own day. He distinguishes four main groups:
36% black, 33% Mediterranean, 11% Cro-Magnoid and 20% of individuals not falling in any
of these groups but approximating either to the Cro-Magnoid or to the black.
In spite of these disparities, these studies are based on one common perception which
is the existence of the black race during the Paleolithic era. With reliance on the Gloger’s rule
which claims that variation in animal coloration is related to broad-scale climatic gradients. It
was named by Bernhard Rensch in 1929 to honour Constantin W.L. Gloger, who in 1833 was
one of the first to describe correlations between the pigmentation of animals and temperature.
In its modern version, Gloger’s rule states that birds and mammals should be darker in humid
and warm environments compared to colder and drier areas. Furthermore, they all agree on
the diversity of the ancient Egyptian population which was composed of different races.
 Even ancient Egyptians used to refer to themselves as black. The language and
literature left to us by the Egyptians of the Pharaonic epoch supply explicit answers to these
questions which the scholars cannot refrain from minimizing, twisting or 'interpreting'. The
Egyptians had only one term to designate themselves:_ kmt _ which, literally, means black.

Geographical Position
In large part parallel to the shores of the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, to which
depressions perpendicular to its course give it access, the Nile valley, is also wide open to the
west the Tibesti and the Ennedi and ending in its course. Lastly, the broad span of the Delta,
the Libyan oases and the Suez isthmus give it wide access to the Mediterranean. Thus open to
east and west, to south and north, the Nile Corridor is a zone of privileged contacts, not only
between the African regions bordering it, but also with the more distant centres of ancient
civilization of the Arabian peninsula, the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean world, western
as well as eastern.
The Nile valley derived its importance and advantages from its geographical position
in the north-eastern corner of the continent. The geographical position of the middle Nile
valley gave the Egyptian civilization a great priority over the surrounding civilizations. It was
the major route of communication between the continent's Mediterranean coast and what is
now called Africa south of the Sahara. It was via the Nile valley that raw materials,
manufactured objects and, no doubt, ideas moved from north to south and vice versa.

Education

In Egypt every one was at least taught the " three R's," At four years old the child
became a " writer in the house of books." Writing was the foundation of their education. The
daily task was generally three pages, and often on the reverse we find sums scribbled down,
or delightful little drawings of animals. After this elementary schooling, the boy was next
instructed by his father in a handicraft. Those children, however, who were destined for the
learned professions passed from the Writing School to the University. The favourite
profession of all was that of Scribe. It was a title, however, of very wide import, and
embraced all grades, from the obscure little clerk to the great heads of the Administrative
departments, and of the Army and the Navy ; it was the open door to success in life.

The Nile Valley

 The Nile is the biggest river in Africa and is the result of the joining of three rivers
from Sudan, Uganda and Ethiopia. It starts in south (Upper) Egypt and ends at the country's
northern border with the Mediterranean Sea (Lower Egypt).

So immense is the significance of the Nile River to the development of Egyptian

civilization, that we cannot separate the history of Egypt from its geography and other natural
aspects. The Nile was very important as a communication and trade route across a vast and
harsh land. Also, its annual flooding renewed farmlands that would otherwise be arid desert.

Since the Nile flooded its banks every year, the Egyptians built their houses close
together on high land and farmers were forced to move further inland. Farmers built canals
and created an irrigation system to water their crops. The Nile River also played an important
role in the economic, political and spiritual life of Egyptians. The river provided Egypt with
trade routes in both the east and the west. Small boats were first built from the papyrus plant
which grew on the banks of the Nile River, and was used for fishing and short trips. As the
Egyptians skills developed, they began building bigger boats from wood which were able to
transport cattle, stone, wood and people along the Nile.

Architecture

ancient Egyptian architecture is based mainly on religious monuments, massive

structures characterized by thick, sloping walls with few openings, possibly echoing a method
of construction used to obtain stability in mud walls. In a similar manner, the incised and
flatly modelled surface adornment of the stone buildings may have derived from mud wall
ornamentation. The Giza Necropolis stands on the Giza Plateau are the largest pyramids. This
Ancient Egyptian necropolis consists of the Pyramid of Khufu (also known as the Great
Pyramid and the Pyramid of Cheops), the somewhat smaller Pyramid of Khafre (or
Kephren/Chefren), and the relatively modest-sized Pyramid of Menkaure (or
Mykerinus/Mycerinus). In fact, the size of the building differs from one pyramid to another.
Measurements at the most significant temples may have been ceremonially undertaken by the
Pharaoh himself. The first known pyramid architect was Imhotep, an Ancient Egyptian
polymath, engineer and physician. He is considered the author of the first major pyramid – the
Pyramid of Djoser; the oldest Egyptian. The estimated number of workers involved in the
construction of the pyramids differs significantly but it might have been as many 100,000
people.
 Religion

The Egyptians as a race were profoundly religious. They recognized divinity in

everything around them; the whole universe breathed of God. Birds reptiles, animals and trees
were permeated with the divine essence; they saw God as a plurality in unity. The spirit of
God was infused into everything, so the powers of Nature, the elements, were also divine, and
were personified as the Elementals of earth, sky, air and water. There was therefore an
apparent polytheism, but accompanying it a well-defined and clearly expressed monotheism.

2. The Nubian Civilization

Introduction

In the case of Nubia and Egypt, it is somewhat difficult to determine whether Nubia
should be considered a literate culture, before the emergence of its Meroitic script, however
Nubians had been `Egyptianized' for centuries, and elites often wrote in hieroglyphic scripts
as well. At the same time, for example, Amenemhet I, who took the Egyptian throne around
1991 BCE, initiating the 12th Dynasty, had a Nubian mother named Nefret. "A commoner by
birth, Amenemhet was supposedly of Nubian descent on his mother's side. She was named
Nefret. ' Amenemhet I had at least four known wives, and one of them was his sister, thus
they shared a Nubian mother: Nefrutotenen, Sit Hathor-Yunet, Dedyet (Amenemhet's sister
and wife), and Nefru-Sobek (who later became one of Egypt's female pharaohs). Amenemhet
I's daughter Nefrusheri married his son Senwosret 1, therefore the second pharaoh and queen
of the 12th Dynasty had Nubian ancestry. " Therefore, any attempt to unequivocally separate
Nubians and Egyptians, and create separate histories for each civilization, presents
immeasurable difficulties; however, this fact has not deterred scholars from persisting in their
rigorous attempts to do so.

While conducting research on the field of Egyptology, it appears that eighteenth-

century and nineteenth-century researchers often viewed Nubia and Egypt as a continuum; an
example of is provided by Giovanni Battista Belzoni's Narrative of the Operations and Recent
Discoveries Within the Pyramids, Temples, Tombs, and Excavations, in Egypt and Nubia,
which was based on his 1815-17 fieldwork in the area, and published in 1820. Francois-
Chretien Gau was the first researcher to publish a specific piece on Nubian archaeology in
1819, Antiquites de la Nubie. Archaeologists and adventurers paid considerably more
attention to Egyptian sites than Nubian sites, during the Victorian era, in their quest for
treasure. The way that Egyptology coalesced as a discipline explains, in some ways, how and
why the dismemberment of this culture area may have occurred. (The construction of dams
along the Nile River has also caused devastating losses, of Nubian archaeological sites, over
the past century or so.)
.
The ancient civilization of Nubia has long been overlooked and and overshadowed
until recently. Archaeologists postponed projects and excavations. Curator Timothy Kendall
said Curator Timothy Kendall said “Scholars didn’t believe black Africa was capable of
producing a high civilization.”

Located south of Egypt in what is now Sudan, the civilization lasted for 2,600 Sudan,
the civilization lasted for 2,600 years.

There were 4 main stages of Nubia ’s historical developments historical development:

• Neolithic
• Kingdom of Kerma
• Kingdom of Kush
• Kingdom of Meroe

1. Neolithic Era 3,000 -2,000 B.C. The people of Nubia lived in small villages
and produced crops while continuing to hunt and gather as they continuing
to hunt and gather as they had done during the Palaeolithic Era.
Beginnings of trade with Egypt
Contact and trade with Egypt began when Nubia provided gold, ivory, ebony, giraffes,
leopards, oils, ebony, giraffes, leopards, oils, perfumes, and incense. perfumes, and
incense.

2. Kingdom of Kerma 2,000 - 1700 B.C. 1700 B.C. l Nubia ’s earliest

kingdom saw Kings living in palaces and claiming divine descent. Kerma
had magnificent pottery. The early Kingdom of Kerma was known for
exquisite red and black pottery. Gold was discovered in Kerma in a dry river
bed and was sought after by Egyptian pharaohs and merchants.
 3. Kingdom of Kush 1700 - 600 B.C. Kerma was destroyed around 1700 B.C.
The city was burned and temples and tombs were plundered. The next
kingdom was the Kingdom of Kush which lasted about 1,000 years.

Rule by Kushites interrupted by Egyptian invasion.

After the Kushites had ruled 200 years, the Egyptians invaded and conquered Nubia. They
dominated Nubia for 400 years introducing Egyptian gods, temples, hieroglyphics, and
pyramids.

Nubians placed Egyptian -like statues in their tombs.

4. Kingdom of Meroe 600 B.C. - 400 A.D.

Numerous Pyramids were built at Meroe

FROM EGYPTIAN COLONY TO THE NAPATAN 25TH DYNASTY OF EGYPT

Egypt’s first major physical expansion into Nubia (situated in modern southern Egypt
and northern Sudan) was the building of fortresses from its border south to the Second
Cataract of the Nile in response to the Kerma polity’s increasing strength in Upper Nubia
during the earlier Middle Kingdom period. (ca. 2040–1690 B.C.E.) The northernmost being
Egypt’s ancient southern boundary at the First Cataract, while Kerma recaptured Lower Nubia
(ca. 1690 B.C.E.), the kingdom eventually fell to Egyptian aggression. (ca. 1502 B.C.E.) In
Lower Nubia, Egyptian fortress-settlements were maintained. Egyptian government and
redistribution were centred in new temple towns in Upper Nubia.

The New Kingdom concluded with the decline of Egyptian power at the end of the
Ramesside period (ca. 1182– 1069 B.C.E.). Powerful leaders emerged at Napata by about 850
B.C.E., and within a hundred years the Napatan leaders of Nubia had conquered Egypt. These
rulers borrowed the symbolism of Egyptian kingship to legitimize their taking of the Egyptian
throne, representing themselves as saviours of Egyptian civilization, a theme that figures
prominently in Pharaoh Piankhi’s triumphal account of his Egyptian campaign. Along with
the selective adoption of Egyptian symbols, Nubian pharaohs also used elements drawn from
indigenous practices and merged some aspects of Egyptian and Nubian symbolism into new
forms.
 Ideas about ethnic and cultural identity are well documented in ancient Egyptian
society. Egyptians depicted themselves and people of the surrounding cultures as very
distinctive from each other. As an example, the documented practices of burials in Egypt and
Nubia are quite distinct, allowing us to identify characteristics from each culture. Egyptian
burials were in an extended position and placed in coffins, with rectilinear tomb chapels for
the wealthy that in the New Kingdom period often included small pyramids. Egyptian burials
included specialized grave goods designed to aid the deceased in the afterlife, reflecting
Egyptian theology. In contrast, Nubian burials at Kerma were in a flexed position, placed
upon beds and cowhide and buried under tumuli, circular mounds often decorated with stones.
Animal sacrifices were often associated with burials, a practice nearly absent in Egyptian
burials.

The resemblance between both groups is said to be due to cultural entanglement. The
origins of the Napatan rulers and the influences behind their Egyptianization have been hotly
contested.