BRIEF HISTORY OF AFRICA

 Africa is considered by most paleoanthropologists to be the oldest inhabited territory

on Earth, with the human species originating from the continent. During the mid-20th
century, anthropologists discovered many fossils and evidence of human occupation
perhaps as early as 7 million years ago.
 Portuguese explorer Prince Henry, known as the Navigator, was the first European to
methodically explore Africa and the oceanic route to the Indies.
 One theory suggests that the name ‘Africa’ is derived from the name of a famous
European traveler named Leo Africanus. 
 BRIEF HISTORY OF AFRICA

 The name Africa came into Western use through the Romans, who used the name
Africa terra — "land of the Afri“ (Afer) — for the northern part of the continent, as
the province of Africa with its capital Carthage, corresponding to modern-day
Tunisia.
 The origin of Afer may either came from:
• afar
• afri
• aphrike
• aprica
 BRIEF HISTORY OF AFRICA

ORIGINAL NAME OF AFRICA

   Africa is said to be known initially as ‘Alkebulan’ which is said to mean “mother

of mankind” or “garden of Eden”.
 Alkebulan was called many names including Libya, Corphye, Ortegia, and Ethiopia
with Africa being the latest.
 It is the oldest name that has indigenous African origins and was used by Moors, the
Nubians, the Numidians, the people of the Carthaginian Empire (Khart-Haddans),
and finally the people of Ethiopia.
 HOW AFRICA BECAME BLACK?
 Most Americans think of native Africans as black and of white Africans as recent
intruders; and when they think of Africa's racial history they think of European
colonialism and slave trading. But very different types of peoples occupied much of
Africa until as recently as a few thousand years ago. Even before the arrival of white
colonialists, the continent harbored five of what many consider to be the world's six
major divisions of humanity, the so-called human races, three of which are native to
Africa. To this day nearly 30 percent of the world's languages are spoken only in
Africa. No other continent even approaches this human diversity, and no other
continent can rival Africa in the complexity of its human past.
GEOGRAPHIC FACTS
ABOUT AFRICA
Africa is the
world's
second
largest
continent
Africa is the
world’s
second most
populous
continent
Africa is the
hottest
continent in
the world
 Africa lies
on all four
hemisphere
s of the
Earth
 Africa is
home to the
longest
river in the
world
 Africa has
the world’s
largest non-
polar
desert
Africa has
many
mineral
resources
 Africa is rich with
varied wildlife
including elephants,
penguins, lions,
cheetahs,
seals, giraffes,
gorillas, crocodiles,
and hippos
AFRICAN FLAGS:
COLORS AND
MEANING
RED – blood shed by
African

BLACK – people of
Africa

GREEN – fertility
RELIGIONS IN AFRICA

CHRISTIANITY
ISLAM
HINDUISM
JUDAISM
NATIONAL
COSTUME
KANGA
KANZU
17 AFRICAN CULTURAL
VALUES
1. Greeting – Hello and a Handshake
2. Show Respect to Elders
3. Pointing At Things
4. Overhand Motion Calling
5. Sole of the Foot
6. Eat with the Right Hand
7. Hissing and Kissing Sounds
8. Silence is an African Value
 17 AFRICAN CULTURAL
VALUES
9. Time – A Little Less Important
10. Use Flexibility
11. Do NOT Publicly Show Anger, Frustration, or Impatience
12. Positive Communication
13. Relationships Matter
14. Don’t Talk Too Much During a Meal
15. Receive a Gift With Both Hands
16.  The Un-Stated – “Sorry We’re Out”
17. Personal Space
 TRADITIONAL
AFRICANS’ WAY OF
WORSHIPPING GOD
 Worship is the means through which human beings
communicate with God. It may be public or private, formal
or informal, communal or individual and direct or indirect.

PLACES TO WORSHIP WAYS OF WORSHIPPING

 Under sacred trees – Mugumo tree  Through sacrifices
 On hilltops and rocks  Through offerings
 In caves  Through singing and dancing
 At riverbanks and on the shores  Through prayers
 In the sacred forests
 In graveyards
 At crossroads
 In the homes of some religious specialists
8 AFRICAN’S
WEDDING
TRADITIONS
1. KNOCKING ON THE DOOR
2. LIBATION CEREMONY
3. TASTING THE FOUR ELEMENTS
4. KOLA NUTS
5. JUMPING THE BROOM
6. CROSSING STICKS
7. TYING THE KNOT
8. MONEY SPRAY
 AFRICANS’
DEATH RITUALS
 HOME RITUALS BEFORE THE BURIAL

 Turning all pictures to face the wall and covering all mirrors, windows and reflective
surfaces so the dead can't view themselves. In South Africa, the windows are smeared
with ashes.
 Removing the bed from the deceased person's bedroom
 Holding a vigil in the home where the whole community comes to pay respect and
offer condolences to the family
 In the period before the burial, when community mourners arrive at the home, there
may be loud distinctive crying. There is also a gathering of food and other supplies,
cooking, eating, and assignment of tasks to prepare for the funeral.
 REMOVING THE BODY FROM THE
HOUSE FOR BURIAL
Death rituals for removing the body from the house to take to a morgue or the burial site are meant to
confuse the dead so he can't find his way back home or into the house too soon. Some customs, according
to Macmillan Encyclopedia of Death and Dying, include:
 Hole in the wall: Take the deceased out of the house through a hole in the wall instead of a door and
seal the hole so he cannot find his way back in. This also symbolizes he is now a part of the ancestral
community.
 Feet first: Take the dead out feet first so he is facing away from the location of the house.
 Zigzag path: Take a zigzag path to the burial site to confuse the dead if he tries to go back home.
 Obstacles: Throw such obstacles as thorns, branches, or other barriers on the path, again to make it
difficult for him to find his way home.
 THE BURIAL

 The deceased may be wrapped in his clothes for burial and covered with the skin of a
slaughtered animal. In some groups, the body is wrapped in a linen shroud. Personal
items are often buried with the deceased to help him on his journey.
 At the burial people request a favor for the family, a strengthening of life, and
protection from trouble from the deceased. There might be a ritual killing of an ox or
cow so it can accompany the deceased to the land of his ancestors ("the home
bringing"), and to act as a protector for the living.
 AFTER-FUNERAL RITUALS AND
MOURNING CUSTOMS
 After the funeral, people go back to the family home to eat. Mourning Rituals and Practices states that
people are expected to wash off the graveyard dust and may go through a ritual cleansing at the gate.
Some mourners put pieces of the aloe plant in water as this is said to ward off evil. Christians may also
sprinkle mourners with holy water to purify them.
 MOURNING CUSTOMS
• Not leaving the house or socializing
• Abstaining from sexual activity
• Not talking or laughing loudly
• Wearing black clothes, armbands or pinning pieces of black cloth to the mourner's clothing
• Men and women of the family shaving their hair (new life)
 AFRICAN
LITERATURE
 The African Literature module contextualizes the development of literature
within the paradigm of responding to colonialism, but will also highlight that
Africans had oral forms of literature before the advent of colonialism.
 It outlines the ramifications of colonialism on African identities; identity
crisis, alienation, emasculation of male Africans. There is also need to explore
economic marginalization and how African politics and nationalism in
particular emerge out of all this.
 Chinua Achebe

 When Chinua Achebe died in

March, he was mourned around
the world, proclaimed as the
“Patriarch of African Novel,” as
the author of contemporary
classics such as Things Fall Apart
and No Longer at Ease, and as a
perennial Nobel Prize candidate.
But he was far more than that.
 African Literature:

AFRICA
by David Diop
 DAVID DIOP
 He is a revolutionary African poet born in France but
with parents of West African descent. His poems
highlighted problems of Africa brought about by
colonialism and gave message to Africans to bring
about change and freedom. He was known for his
involvement in the negritude movement in France, a
movement started by Black writers and artists
protesting against French colonialism and its effects
of African culture and values.