African history essays, links and reviews
Information, essays, links, and reviews for anyone interested in African history. I earned two MAs in the subject, speak Zulu and Afrikaans, but have never been to South Africa... I used to teach world history and enjoy helping students find answers to their history questions, and I think the value of historical knowledge to democracy is vastly underrated, so I teach history for free so my kids won't have to live in a dictatorship
My special interests were planning in the context of Apartheid, Zulu politics, preindustrial iron technology, the differentiation of African languages, and music, especially mbaqanga (South African township jive). I've got another lens on African music ? http://www.squidoo.com/africanmusic.WHAT'S ON THIS PAGE: languages of Africa, links to African history websites and books, a newsfeed from African papers, a growing list of African charities, and original summaries and short histories, such as a description of the eras or periods of African history, and (soon) an account of the trial of Andries Botha, South Africa's first treason defendant.
Poll: learning African history
Poll about when your first learned about African history in school. Not just a mention here or there, but at least a real unit about Africa in a world history context.
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maps of Africa
Links to maps of Africa - interactive, informative, historical, political, and more
- National Geographic interactive Africa map
- National Geographic Magazine Online, resource for research, updates, photography, global issues, geography, maps and multimedia. Geographical online story index.
- Northwestern University Africana Library: Map of Africa
- Herskovits Library of African Studies
Facts about African Countries
- This is a clickable image map. Click on a country and link to facts about that country.
- All information and maps on these pages are extracted from the 2006 CIA World Factbook. - The Africa Guide - Map of Africa
- Africa Image Map
If you would like to view information for a particular country click on that country name. - Interactive Map of Africa
- On-line interactive map of African borders, countries, capitals and surroundings.
- Africa's multiple regional (Adobe Acrobat document)
- Africa Recovery map of multiple regional economic groups
- Afriterra cartographic free library
- The AFRITERRA Foundation is a non-profit Cartographic Library and Archive assembling and preserving the original rare maps of Africa in a definitive place for education and interpretation. We view cartography as a medium that uniquely links art, technology, and history.
Atlases of Africa
The Penguin Atlas of African History: Revised Edition
Amazon Price: $12.75 (as of 12/28/2009) 
Geological Atlas of Africa: With Notes on Stratigraphy, Tectonics, Economic Geology, Geohazards and Geosites of Each Country
Amazon Price: (as of 12/28/2009)
Cultural Atlas of Africa
Amazon Price: (as of 12/28/2009)
Debates on African history
My essays and forums - a variety of issues
Check out these links to articles of interest on African history and politics!
- Why African leaders are power hungry - Helium
- Few African leaders since independence have given up power peacefully. Then again, few of the colonizers did, either. We may no...
- What should be done about the Zimbabwean president? - Helium
- President Mugabe once stuck out his neck to save his people. He has ridden his own revolutionary coattails as a President-for-L...
- The importance of river valleys to ancient civilizations - Helium
- Four of the worlds ancient civilizations emerged along large rivers in dry climates, around 6000-4000 BCE, and it was not by ch...
Ancient African History
Egypt in Africa
Ancient African history begins with early organized and sedentary societies in serveral parts of the continent, and concludes with the emergence of great states beyond the Nile Valley.
Perhaps the most basic issue in Ancient African history is how to treat Egypt. When I grew up, it was taught as almost part of Greece and Rome. However, its roots were very deep in Africa, and the appearance and language of Egyptians today represent ennormous change since Ancient Egypt.
Long before Egypt distinguished itself, when the world was warmer and wetter than today, about 8000 BCE, the Sahara was characterized by grasses and lakes, much like the Serengeti of today, or even wetter. Remains of hippos, elephants and lions attest to the different climate.
That climate supported hunting and gathering bands. These were migratory groups, who like us had language, but who used stone tools and owned few possessions. As the Sahara became a desert, as part of a worldwide cooling and drying phase, water, then plants, then animals, and last humans largely left the desert, and became concentrated aroud sources of water and food.
One of these was the Nile. Below the confluence of the White and Blue Niles, there emerged settled villages and even small states, around 5000 BCE. Confronted with the task of getting along together in permanent settlements, they developed rules and status differentiation, which eventually developed into small states with monarchs.
Through conquest, treaty, marriage and other means, these small states had merged into two large states by about 3500 BC. Then the kingdom of the Upper Nile with its king, Narmer, conquered and assimilated the Kingdom of the Lower Nile.
The traditions of rule, the language and technology, the biological ancestry and culture, all had roots generally to the west, in what is now the Sahara. The distant cousins (but close, linguistically) of Ancient Egypt are the Berbers of Morocco. They are part of a language family called "Afro-Asiatic" or "Afrasian," along with Hebrew, Arabic, and Amharic (Ethiopia).
Later conquests and contacts left their marks on Egypt, and today the main language is Arabic, and the dominant religion, Islam. These are domesticized imports, like the Spanish language and Christianity in Central and South America.
But Egypt was not the only move and shaker in Ancient Africa. Next, I'll write about another type of society, great in its own way.
Perhaps the most basic issue in Ancient African history is how to treat Egypt. When I grew up, it was taught as almost part of Greece and Rome. However, its roots were very deep in Africa, and the appearance and language of Egyptians today represent ennormous change since Ancient Egypt.
Long before Egypt distinguished itself, when the world was warmer and wetter than today, about 8000 BCE, the Sahara was characterized by grasses and lakes, much like the Serengeti of today, or even wetter. Remains of hippos, elephants and lions attest to the different climate.
That climate supported hunting and gathering bands. These were migratory groups, who like us had language, but who used stone tools and owned few possessions. As the Sahara became a desert, as part of a worldwide cooling and drying phase, water, then plants, then animals, and last humans largely left the desert, and became concentrated aroud sources of water and food.
One of these was the Nile. Below the confluence of the White and Blue Niles, there emerged settled villages and even small states, around 5000 BCE. Confronted with the task of getting along together in permanent settlements, they developed rules and status differentiation, which eventually developed into small states with monarchs.
Through conquest, treaty, marriage and other means, these small states had merged into two large states by about 3500 BC. Then the kingdom of the Upper Nile with its king, Narmer, conquered and assimilated the Kingdom of the Lower Nile.
The traditions of rule, the language and technology, the biological ancestry and culture, all had roots generally to the west, in what is now the Sahara. The distant cousins (but close, linguistically) of Ancient Egypt are the Berbers of Morocco. They are part of a language family called "Afro-Asiatic" or "Afrasian," along with Hebrew, Arabic, and Amharic (Ethiopia).
Later conquests and contacts left their marks on Egypt, and today the main language is Arabic, and the dominant religion, Islam. These are domesticized imports, like the Spanish language and Christianity in Central and South America.
But Egypt was not the only move and shaker in Ancient Africa. Next, I'll write about another type of society, great in its own way.
books about Egypt
Culture and Customs of Egypt (Culture and Customs of Africa)
A look at the people of Egypt in the modern era, and what life is like for them.
Amazon Price: $38.03 (as of 12/28/2009)
The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (Oxford Illustrated Histories)
Beautifully illustrated and historically accurate preserntation of Ancient Egyptian history (the period of the great kingdoms).
Amazon Price: (as of 12/28/2009)
Pyramid
Brilliant David Macaulay book on how pyramids were constructed, what was inside them, and how people might have built them. A real classic!
Amazon Price: $9.95 (as of 12/28/2009)
Ancient African history links
from human origins to the expansion of Islam
links to academic and general-interest sites with genuine and useful information - use at your own risk, but this isn't just a search result
- African History from History for Kids
- Summary information with internal links to related issues and topics, and with internal links to regional African histories. This is a good place to start, but not good as the basis of a school report past - say - third grade.
- Central Oregon Community College Ancient Africa site
- Very organized set of links - by timeline and some by extra topics - of external resources for use in a college level course, and definitely usable by secondary students.
- lesson plans for school-aged researchers (Mr. and Mrs. Donn)
- Nicely organized, friendly site with brief resources, but good ones. Does not rely on external links.
- Stanford linnks on Ancient Africa
- Sranford University in CA has a good African studies program. This is a link the library put together of Ancient African history on the web.
- McIntoshes' brochure on Jenne-Jeno
- Two of the key archaeologists of Jenne-jeno in West Africa, Susan & Roderick McIntosh, have put together this brief and informative brochure on what's going on in Jenne.
Stateless societies in Africa
hard-to-find history, hard-to-miss significance
Outsiders often denigrate Africa's accomplishments. They say African history isn't important because of the Continent's condition today or because of the relative lack of big kingdoms in Africa's past.
What if you turned part of this on its head? Could you not also argue that African history is full of examples of smaller societies, often governed by consensus - that is, real democracies - rather than by kings.
What if the failure of small, stateless, egalitarian societies is an indictment of large, stratified states? Does African history contain a moral compass for the world today?
The European colonizers in parts of Africa were confused by what they found. How could large numbers of people organize themselves without central rulers? The Tiv and Igbo of Nigeria and many other small-scale societies challenged colonial rule in the most democratic of fashions - by refusing to recognize unjust rule.
Even in larger-scale societies, such as the hierarchical Nguni states in southern Africa (including the famously well organized Zulus), colonizers had centuries of difficulty getting Africans to be governable. There's something hopeful for the human spirit when people resist unjust rule, and African history - even in independent Africa - is full of such examples.
How did stateless societies stay together, at peace? One way was by generating a sense of shared identity and "investment" through age-grades. Age-grades unite young people from different areas and groups within a society for the purpose of performing public works and observing rituals. They are created often at adolescence, in the traditional "coming of age" ceremonies of eastern and southern Africa.
This was a method used by states such as the 19th century Tswanas, who had a king, and for an unknown time by Oromo and others in the Great Rift (Kenya and Ethiopia).
Many of the benefits of a state, such as organizing trade and defense, were managed without a state by the Igbo and the Tiv of Nigeria.
And for you libertarians not yet convinced of the worth of Africa's stateless societies, not having a state means not having taxes.
[Some examples drawn from Philip Curtin. "Africa North of the Forest in the Early Islamic Age." African History, 2d Ed. London: Longman, 1996.
What if you turned part of this on its head? Could you not also argue that African history is full of examples of smaller societies, often governed by consensus - that is, real democracies - rather than by kings.
What if the failure of small, stateless, egalitarian societies is an indictment of large, stratified states? Does African history contain a moral compass for the world today?
The European colonizers in parts of Africa were confused by what they found. How could large numbers of people organize themselves without central rulers? The Tiv and Igbo of Nigeria and many other small-scale societies challenged colonial rule in the most democratic of fashions - by refusing to recognize unjust rule.
Even in larger-scale societies, such as the hierarchical Nguni states in southern Africa (including the famously well organized Zulus), colonizers had centuries of difficulty getting Africans to be governable. There's something hopeful for the human spirit when people resist unjust rule, and African history - even in independent Africa - is full of such examples.
How did stateless societies stay together, at peace? One way was by generating a sense of shared identity and "investment" through age-grades. Age-grades unite young people from different areas and groups within a society for the purpose of performing public works and observing rituals. They are created often at adolescence, in the traditional "coming of age" ceremonies of eastern and southern Africa.
This was a method used by states such as the 19th century Tswanas, who had a king, and for an unknown time by Oromo and others in the Great Rift (Kenya and Ethiopia).
Many of the benefits of a state, such as organizing trade and defense, were managed without a state by the Igbo and the Tiv of Nigeria.
And for you libertarians not yet convinced of the worth of Africa's stateless societies, not having a state means not having taxes.
[Some examples drawn from Philip Curtin. "Africa North of the Forest in the Early Islamic Age." African History, 2d Ed. London: Longman, 1996.
African History: from Earliest Times to Independence
African History (2nd Edition)
This is my key African history reference. The four contributors are among the most influential North American historians of Africa - Philip Curtin, Steven Feierman, Leonard Thompson and Jan Vansina. AP/College level readability.
Amazon Price: $63.00 (as of 12/28/2009)
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Language families in Africa
The Four African languages families with some representative modern and archaic languages.
- Afrasian, aka Afro-Asiatic, sometimes referred to as Semitic, centered in Ethiopia, Egypt, Libya, Sudan, Somalia, Djibuti, Eritrea, and off-continent in the Arabian Peninsula and the Middle East. Langauges in this family include Coptic (archaic), Arabic, Amharic, Tigrayan, Berber and Hebrew. "Afrasian" is a term coined by Prof. Chris Ehret of UCLA, who has reconstructed proto-Afrasian and added much to our understanding of African history through groundbreaking linguistic research.
- KhoiSan, centered in southern Africa, with the fewest speakers of all African language families. Languages in this family include KhoiKhoi, or Cape Khoi, Hadsa and Sandawe from East Africa (with only hundreds or even tens of speakers each), and the old langauge of the disappearing San, mainly of Botswana.
- Niger-Kordofanian, often referred to by its major compoenent, Niger-Congo, or by its 150-year-old name (c.f. Wilhelm Bleek), "Bantu." The Bantu languages are the primary speech of over half of Africa's people, with the remainder of the Niger-Kordifanian languages accounting for another roughly 10%. (Get the stats from Ethnologue, if you want precision.) Niger-Kordofanian languages are spoken from Senegal in the nortwest through cenral Sudan in the north, Kenya in the East, and almost universally everywhere south of those places. Languages in this family include Mande, kiSwahili, Igbo, kinyaRwanda, and isiZulu. (Hate conjugating Spanish verbs? So did I. Then I studied Zulu. It has 14 genders.)
- Nilo-Saharan, formerly called Nilo-Hamitic (to distinguish from the Afrasian or "Semitic" languages) languages are spoken in the Nile region and in the more southern parts of the Sahara. Languages in the Nilo-Saharan family include Mangbetu in the democratic Republic of the Congo (where most langauges are from the Niger-Kordofanian family), and most of the langauges of Chad and the Central African Republic.
Learn an African Language
![Talk Now! Learn Igbo - Beginning Level [Old Version]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41OPh3CWePL._SL75_.jpg)
Talk Now! Learn Igbo - Beginning Level [Old Version]
Amazon Price: $29.95 (as of 12/28/2009)
Talk Now! Setswana
Amazon Price: (as of 12/28/2009)
Teach Yourself Swahili Complete Course Package (Book + 2 CDs) (TY: Complete Courses)
Amazon Price: $17.79 (as of 12/28/2009)
African languages resources on the web
Check 'em out, vote, and nominate your own (squids only)
Ethnologue country index
Ethnologue index of countries in Africa - click to more...1 point
Learn Egyptian Hieroglyphs
Decipher one of the World's oldest writings!1 point
Learn to Speak African Languages with African Voices
learn isixhosa and isizulu with african voices0 points
isiZulu.net - Zulu online dictionary
Zulu/English online dictionary0 points
Igbo language, alphabet and pronunciation
omniglot - handwriting aroudn the world0 points
Translation | Morocco
Most travelers to Morocco don't bother to learn Be more...0 points
Hear Swahili Survival Phrases
This Swahili language resource from Transparent La more...0 points
African History: Nilo-Saharan Language Group
A look at the Nilo-Saharan Language group, one of more...0 points
The Khoisan Language Family
Resource on characteristics of and relations among more...0 points
Linguist List - Languages of Africa and the Middle East
Map-driven page with information about African lan more...0 points
African latest news
from allafrica.com
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byDel.icio.us Africa
Resources for helping Africans today
charities, organizations, agencies
These websites and organizations exist to help Africans overcome some of the difficulties of life on the Continent. Some are faith based, some are charities, some are information clearninghouses or lobbying / publicity efforts. Some are individuals crying out in the gloom. I hope this will help bring them support.
- Save Lives In Africa
- Fellow Lensmaster with links to several faith-based projects. Sounds like a good place to start.
- Oxfam - Africa at the Crossroads: Time to Deliver
- Africa is at a crossroads. Despite the development efforts of the past two decades, Africans are getting poorer. Over 300 million people live on less than US$1 dollar per day. Life expectancy is 48 years and falling. Twenty-eight million people are living with HIV/AIDS, and 40 per cent of children are out of school. The responsibility for this crisis lies within the continent and outside it. [excerpt from site]
- Charity Navigator - Africa: In Need and In the News
- If you would like to do your part in lending a helping hand we recommend that you contribute directly to a charity working in Africa.
- Asante Africa Foundation
- Asante Africa Foundation helps children and families in rural Kenya and Tanzania by building schools and providing critical supplies and scholarships. The Foundation works closely with IntoAfrica Ecotourism.
Interested in African history? - please drop me a line
suggestions, compleaints, howdies, etc.
submit
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Reply
- Herman Wheeler Herman Wheeler Sep 22, 2008 @ 9:47 am
- Most African Americans do not know enough about African History, so I appreciate the information you gave. I am also glad that you mention Egypt. Even today many people think that Egypt is in the "middle east" and not in Africa.
Herman
http://www.theafricanartwheel.com
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Reply
- spirituality spirituality Jun 24, 2008 @ 2:03 am
- Great lens. Congrats on making it on 'Lens of the Week' :)
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Reply
- razorback razorback Jul 25, 2007 @ 8:19 pm
- I have only been to the African continent once. But it is a most fascinating place with history that few appreciate in the West and even less in the East. Thanks for putting this up!
African history links PLEXO
submit your own, or vote on the links here
links for understanding the history of Africa, including books, websites, blogs, shows, and other sources about the histories, languages, politics, and cultures of the continent of Africa
Internet African History Sourcebook
Paul Halsall's excellent Internet History Sourcesb more...2 points
Language maps of Africa
Ethnologue is one of my favorite websites - get lo more...2 points
African Studies Center | K-12 Guide, Languages
information on languages of Africa1 point
The Story of Africa| BBC World Service
Nice overview, typically strong BBC production1 point
The history of Africa as a whole
Mostly internal links to text-rich pages on differ more...1 point
Ancient Africa - History for Kids!
Ancient Africa - African history, art, architectur more...1 point
http://www.africaguide.com/
The Africa Guide is a mixture of proprietary infor more...0 points
African History at Amazon
books on African history, mainly
The Civilizations of Africa: A History to 1800 by Christopher Ehret
I was Chris Ehret's TA when this was in developmen more...0 points
An African Classical Age: Eastern and Southern Africa in World History, 1000 B.C. to A.D. 400 by Christopher Ehret
Chris Ehret's even deeper look into African histor more...0 points
Work, Culture, and Identity: Migrant Laborers in Mozambique and South Africa, c. 1860-1910 (Social History of Africa Series) by Patrick Harries
This is a close, careful look at mining and migran more...0 points
History of Africa: Revised 2nd Ed by Kevin Shillington
One of the best general histories of Africa. Usefu more...0 points
UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. VIII: Africa since 1935 (unabridged paperback) (General History of Africa, 8)
The UNESCO African History series is a classic - t more...0 points
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