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AFRICAN 
CIVILIZATIONS
MTRA. CARMEN TATAY FERNÁNDEZ
1205 | ORIGINS OF CIVILIZATION
LLM-I / FLL-UAQ
HUMAN ORIGIN
• THE AFRICAN CONTINENT IS NOW
RECOGNISED AS THE BIRTHPLACE OF
HUMANITY AND THE CRADLE OF
CIVILIZATION.
• ALL THE EARLIEST EVIDENCE OF HUMAN
EXISTENCE AND OF OUR IMMEDIATE HOMINID
ANCESTORS HAS BEEN FOUND IN AFRICA. 
• THE LATEST SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH POINTS
TO THE FACT THAT ALL HUMAN BEINGS ARE
LIKELY TO HAVE AFRICAN ANCESTORS.
AFRICA CRADDLE 
OF HUMANDKIND
TRADITIONAL AFRICAN SOCIETIES
• BEFORE 1500, SOME OF THE
WORLD'S OTHER GREAT
CIVILISATIONS, SUCH AS KUSH (IN
PRESENT-DAY SUDAN), AXUM (IN
PRESENT-DAY ETHIOPIA) AND
GREAT ZIMBABWE, FLOURISHED IN
AFRICA. 
• HOWEVER, MANY OF ITS
INHABITANTS LIVED IN SOCIETIES
WITH NO GREAT STATE APPARATUS. 
• THEY WERE OFTEN GOVERNED BY
COUNCILS OF ELDERS OR BY
OTHER KINSHIP- OR AGE-BASED
INSTITUTIONS. 
http://www.understandingslavery.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=423:asante-stool&catid=143&Itemid=253
TRADITIONAL SOCIAL 
ORGANIZATION
• MANY OF THESE SOCIETIES WERE SMALL SCALE, 
OCCUPIED WITH FARMING, HERDING AND
PRODUCING ENOUGH FROM AGRICULTURE TO
SURVIVE AND EXCHANGE IN LOCAL MARKETS. 
• THEY COULD ALSO BE PART OF LARGER EMPIRES
AND, AS SUCH, WERE EXPECTED TO PRODUCE A
SURPLUS OR PERFORM OTHER DUTIES FOR AN
OVERLORD. 
• THESE SOCIETIES VARIED GREATLY AND WERE
GOVERNED IN DIFFERENT WAYS, BUT THEY WERE
ALL DEVELOPING ACCORDING TO THEIR OWN
INTERNAL DYNAMICS.
RELIGION 
IN TRADITIONAL SOCIETIES
• RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL BELIEFS
CONCENTRATED ON MAINTAINING
COMMUNICATION WITH ANCESTORS WHO COULD
INTERCEDE WITH GODS ON BEHALF OF THE
LIVING AND ENSURE THE SMOOTH FUNCTIONING
OF SOCIETY. 
• THE ETHIOPIAN KINGDOM WAS UNUSUAL
BECAUSE THERE THE ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN
CHURCH, WHICH WAS OF ANCIENT ORIGIN, 
PERFORMED INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT STATE
FUNCTIONS. 
EARLY STATE ORGANIZATION
• EVEN BEFORE THE RISE OF KEMET (EGYPT) IT
SEEMS LIKELY THAT AN EVEN MORE ANCIENT
KINGDOM, KNOWN AS TA SETI, WAS FOUNDED
IN NUBIA, IN WHAT IS PRESENT-DAY SUDAN. 
• THIS MAY WELL HAVE BEEN THE EARLIEST
STATE TO EXIST ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD. 
• THE EXISTENCE OF WHICH DEMONSTRATES
THAT, THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO, AFRICANS
WERE DEVELOPING SOME OF THE MOST
ADVANCED POLITICAL SYSTEMS ANYWHERE IN
THE WORLD.
TA SETI KINGDOM, SUDAN
EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION
• THE MOST NOTABLE EXAMPLE OF AN AFRICAN EARLY
STATE IS KEMET – THE ORIGINAL NAME OF ANCIENT
EGYPT – WHICH FIRST DEVELOPED IN THE NILE VALLEY
MORE THAN 5,000 YEARS AGO AND WAS ONE OF THE
FIRST MONARCHIES.
• THE EGYPT OF THE PHARAOHS IS WELL KNOWN FOR ITS
GREAT MONUMENTS AND FEATS OF ARCHITECTURE AND
ENGINEERING, SUCH AS THE PLANNING AND
CONSTRUCTION OF THE PYRAMIDS, BUT IT ALSO MADE
GREAT ADVANCES IN MANY OTHER FIELDS.
• THE EGYPTIANS PRODUCED EARLY TYPES OF PAPER, 
DEVISED A WRITTEN SCRIPT AND DEVELOPED A
CALENDAR. 
EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION
• EGYPTIANS MADE IMPORTANT
CONTRIBUTIONS IN VARIOUS
BRANCHES OF MATHEMATICS, 
SUCH AS GEOMETRY AND
ALGEBRA.
• IT SEEMS LIKELY THAT THEY
UNDERSTOOD AND PERHAPS
INVENTED THE USE OF ZERO. 
• THEY ALSO MADE IMPORTANT
CONTRIBUTIONS TO MECHANICS, 
PHILOSOPHY AND AGRICULTURE, 
ESPECIALLY IRRIGATION.
AFRICA BEFORE COLONIZATION
• AFRICA HAD ITS OWN FORMS OF COMMERCE, 
SCIENCE, ART AND OTHER MEASURES OF
CIVILISATION LONG BEFORE THE ARRIVAL OF
THE EUROPEAN COLONISERS.
• AFRICA CAN THEREFORE BE CREDITED NOT
ONLY WITH GIVING RISE TO THE MANY
SCIENTIFIC DEVELOPMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH
EGYPT, ENGINEERING, MATHEMATICS, 
ARCHITECTURE, MEDICINE, ETC. BUT ALSO WITH
IMPORTANT EARLY POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS
SUCH AS STATE FORMATION AND MONARCHY.
AFRICAN MEDICINE
• THE HEALERS OF AFRICA WERE VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT HERBS, 
TREES, ROOTS AND THEIR MEDICINAL PURPOSES. 
• IN MEDICINE, THE EGYPTIANS UNDERSTOOD THE BODY'S DEPENDENCE
ON THE BRAIN MORE THAN 1,000 YEARS BEFORE THE GREEK SCHOLARS
CAME UP WITH THE SAME IDEA. 
• ONE CASE WHICH WELL ILLUSTRATES THE GREATNESS OF AFRICAN
MEDICINE IS THAT OF CHILDBIRTH. 
• IT IS ALMOST CERTAIN THAT AFRICANS MASTERED CAESAREAN AS FAR
BACK AS 1897, AS RECORDED BY ROBERT FELKIN IN THE DEVELOPMENT
OF SCIENTIFIC MEDICINE IN THE AFRICAN KINGDOM OF BUNYORO
KITARA. 
• BANANA WINE WAS USED AS AN ANAESTHETIC, REEDS WERE USED TO
PERFORM EPISIOTOMIES AND BLEEDING WAS STOPPED BY CAUTERISING
WITH HOT IRONS. 
• THE PATIENT WAS STITCHED UP WITH IRON SPIKES (REMOVED AFTER SIX
DAYS, ROOT PASTE APPLIED AND BARK USED TO BANDAGE THE WOUND.
AFRICAN KNOWLEDGE
• THE LEGENDARY KINGDOMS OF EGYPT AND KUSH
PREDATE ANY KNOWN TO MAN. 
• IN ALEXANDRIA OF EGYPT, WHERE ALEXANDER THE
GREAT LIES (AND SO THE CITY WAS NAMED AFTER HIM), 
WAS THE GREATEST LIBRARY IN THE CLASSICAL WORLD, 
FOUNDED IN 295 BC. 
• EGYPT WAS ALSO THE FIRST CIVILISATION TO DEVISE A
365 DAY/ TWELVE MONTH CALENDAR. 
• THE EGYPTIANS WERE SO ADVANCED IN FIELDS SUCH
AS ASTRONOMY, PHYSICS AND MATHEMATICS THAT THE
THREE PYRAMIDS OF GIZA ALIGN DIRECTLY WITH THE
THREE KINGS CONSTELLATION. 
THEGREAT SPHINX OFGIZA
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AFRICAN ARCHITECTURE
• THE EGYPTIAN PYRAMIDS ARE NOT THE ONLY
GREAT EXAMPLES OF ARCHITECTURAL ACHIEVEMENT
OF AFRICAN CIVILISATIONS.
• THE GREAT ZIMBABWE RUINS IN MASVINGO
COUNTRY ARE ANOTHER EXAMPLE. 
• THE STRUCTURES BOAST HIGH WALLS AND A
CONICAL TOWER MADE OF GRANITE STACKED ON
GRANITE WITHOUT THE USE OF MORTAR. 
• THEY ARE ESTIMATED TO BE OVER FIVE HUNDRED
YEARS OLD AND ARE STILL STANDING AS TESTAMENT
TO THE GENIUS OF THE BUILDERS. 
THE GREAT ZIMBABWE , ETHIOPIA
AFRICAN LITERACY
• THE WEST AFRICA REGION HAD GRIOTS, WANDERING
HUMAN ENCYCLOPAEDIAS WHO WERE CAPABLE OF
RECALLING EVENTS AND PEOPLE LONG-LONG PASSED; THEY
WERE THE CUSTODIANS OF HISTORY. 
• ETHIOPIA WAS ALSO LITERATE AND EVEN HAD POETIC FORMS
SUCH AS THE QENE AND MAWANDES AS EARLY AS 1BC, 
PREDATING CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM MISSIONARIES. 
• THE BANTU OF SOUTHERN AFRICA HAD A LANGUAGE OF
SYMBOLS SIMILAR TO THE EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPHS. 
• THE WANDERING NOMADS OF SOUTHERN AFRICA, OR
‘BUSHMEN’ ALSO LEFT CAVE PAINTINGS WHICH TELL STORIES
OF HUNTS REVEALING THEIR DIETS, HUNTING METHODS AND
PREFERRED PREY AMONG OTHER CULTURAL PRACTICES IN
PICTOGRAMS. 
SAN BUSHMEN 
CAVE PAINTINGS
SOUTH AFRICA
BANTU SIGNS
AFRICAN GRIOTS
EGYPTIAN INFLUENCES
• SOME HISTORIANS NOW BELIEVE THAT EGYPT
HAD AN IMPORTANT INFLUENCE ON ANCIENT
GREECE, POINTING TO THE FACT THAT GREEK
SCHOLARS SUCH AS PYTHAGORAS AND
ARCHIMEDES STUDIED THERE AND THAT THE
WORK OF ARISTOTLE AND PLATO WAS LARGELY
BASED ON EARLIER EGYPTIAN SCHOLARSHIP. 
• FOR EXAMPLE, WHAT IS COMMONLY KNOWN AS
PYTHAGORAS' THEOREM WAS WELL KNOWN TO
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS HUNDREDS OF YEARS
BEFORE PYTHAGORAS' BIRTH.
AFRICAN 
CIVILIZATIONS
EARLY AFRICAN CIVILIZATIONS
• THE AFRICAN CONTINENT CONTINUED ON ITS OWN PATH OF
DEVELOPMENT, WITHOUT SIGNIFICANT EXTERNAL
INTERVENTION UNTIL THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY OF OUR ERA. 
• SOME OF THE WORLD’S OTHER GREAT CIVILISATIONS SUCH
AS KUSH, AXUM, MALI, AND GREAT ZIMBABWE, 
FLOURISHED IN AFRICA IN THE YEARS BEFORE 1500. 
• IN THIS EARLY PERIOD AFRICANS PARTICIPATED IN
EXTENSIVE INTERNATIONAL TRADING NETWORKS AND IN
TRANS-OCEANIC TRAVEL. 
• SOME AFRICAN STATES HAD ESTABLISHED IMPORTANT
TRADING RELATIONS WITH INDIA, CHINA AND OTHER PARTS
OF ASIA LONG BEFORE THESE WERE DISRUPTED BY
EUROPEAN INTERVENTION.
GREAT ZIMBABWE
• ONE SOURCE WRITES: “THE
SHADOW OF THE MOON
APPEARS BETWEEN 0610 
AND 0620 NEAR THE SITE.”
• MEGALITHS EAST OF THE
GREAT ENCLOSURE ALIGN
WITH THE MOON, THE SUN, 
AND STARS DURING
IMPORTANT ASTRONOMICAL
EVENTS OF THE YEAR.
• ONE MEGALITH COULD BE AN
ECLIPSE PREDICTOR. 
• THE CONICAL STRUCTURE
ALIGNS WITH A SUPERNOVA
IN THE VELA, 700–800 
YEARS AGO.
THE KINGDOM OF KUSH 
(1650 TO 1500 B.C.)
• THE KINGDOM OF KUSH — WHICH WAS ALSO
CALLED NUBIA, THE LAND OF GOLD — WAS
LOCATED ON THE NILE RIVER SOUTH OFANCIENT
EGYPT. 
• IT WAS A STATE THAT EXISTED (TWICE) IN WHAT IS
NOW THE NORTHERN PART OF THE SUDAN. 
• NUBIA WAS ALSO KNOWN AS THE LAND OF THE BOW
BECAUSE OF ITS EXPERT ARCHERS. 
• IN 671 B.C., THE ASSYRIANS WERE ABLE TO RUN
THE KUSHITES OUT OF EGYPT AND GAIN RULE OF IT
FOR THEMSELVES.
http://atlantablackstar.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/kush.jpg
EGYPTIAN EMPIRE
(1570 B.C. – 1070 B.C.)
• THE NEW KINGDOM WAS EGYPT’S MOST
PROSPEROUS TIME AND MARKED THE ZENITH OF ITS
POWER. 
• IT EXPANDED FAR SOUTH INTO NUBIA AND HELD
WIDE TERRITORIES IN THE NEAR EAST. 
• EGYPTIAN ARMIES FOUGHT HITTITE ARMIES FOR
CONTROL OF MODERN-DAY SYRIA. 
• THE 18TH DYNASTY CONTAINED SOME OF EGYPT’S
MOST FAMOUS PHARAOHS INCLUDING AHMOSE I, 
HATSHEPSUT, THUTMOSE III, AMENHOTEP III, 
AKHENATEN AND TUTANKHAMUN.
http://atlantablackstar.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/egypt.jpg
NUMIDIA 
(202 B.C. – 46 B.C.)
• NUMIDIA, UNDER THE ROMAN REPUBLIC AND EMPIRE, A
PART OF AFRICA NORTH OF THE SAHARA, THE
BOUNDARIES OF WHICH AT TIMES CORRESPONDED
ROUGHLY TO THOSE OF MODERN WESTERN TUNISIA AND
EASTERN ALGERIA.
• NUMIDIAN HORSEMANSHIP, ANIMAL BREEDING, AND
CAVALRY TACTICS EVENTUALLY CONTRIBUTED TO LATER
DEVELOPMENTS IN ROMAN CAVALRY. 
• NUMIDIAN SUPERIORITY WAS DEMONSTRATED BY THE
CAVALRY LEADERSHIP OF MAHARBAL UNDER HANNIBAL AT
TRASIMENE AND CANNAE AND LATER BY MASINISSA AT
ZAMA UNDER SCIPIO AFRICANUS.
WEST AFRICA CIVILIZATIONS 
400 B.C.
AFRICAN CIVILIZATIONS 
AFTER 600 B.C.
AFRICAN EMPIRES
NOK CULTURE 
(500 B.C. TO 200 A.D.)
• THE NOK CULTURE SPANNED THE END OF THE
NEOLITHIC (STONE AGE) AND START OF THE IRON
AGE IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA.
• ONE OF THE EARLIEST AFRICAN CENTERS OF IRON-
WORKING AND TERRACOTTA FIGURE PRODUCTION, 
THE NOK CULTURE REMAINS AN ENIGMA. 
• THE NOK WERE AN EXTREMELY ADVANCED SOCIETY, 
WITH ONE OF THE MOST COMPLEX JUDICIAL
SYSTEMS OF THE TIME, AND THE EARLIEST
PRODUCERS OF LIFE-SIZED TERRACOTTA IN THE
SUB-SAHARA.
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ZAGWE DYNASTY (900 TO 1270)
• ZAGWE DYNASTY, ALSO SPELLED ZAGUE, WAS THE LINE OF
12TH- AND 13TH-CENTURY ETHIOPIAN KINGS WHO
COMBINED A NOMADIC MILITARY LIFE WITH AN IMPASSIONED
DESIRE TO BUILD MONUMENTS TO THEIR CHRISTIAN
RELIGION. 
• THE ZAGWE KINGS RULED MUCH OF WHAT IS NOW
NORTHERN AND CENTRAL ETHIOPIA. 
• ZAGWE RULE WAS, HOWEVER, SHORT-LIVED. AT THE END OF
THE 13TH CENTURY, YEKUNO AMLAK, A PRINCE OF THE
AMHARA, INCITED SO SUCCESSFUL A REBELLION IN SHEWA
THAT THE ZAGWE KING, YITBAREK, WAS DRIVEN OUT AND
MURDERED. 
• A NEW ZAGWE KING STIRRED UP A COUNTER REBELLION BUT
WAS DEFEATED.
http://atlantablackstar.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/zage.jpg
KINGDOM OF GHANA 
(9TH TO 13TH CENTURY)
• IT WAS COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE “LAND OF
GOLD” SINCE THE GOLD TRADE WAS LARGELY
RESPONSIBLE IN DEVELOPING GHANA INTO A
POWERFUL AND CENTRALIZED KINGDOM. 
• THE RESIDENTS DEVELOPED THEIR OWN
MINING TECHNIQUES AND TRADED WITH
OTHER REGIONS IN AFRICA AND EUROPE.
• AROUND 1054, THE ALMORAVID RULERS
CONQUERED THE KINGDOM OF GHANA AND
CONVERTED THE PEOPLE TO ISLAM.
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KINGDOM OF NRI 
(1043 -1911)
• NRI WAS AN ANCIENT IGBO CITY-STATE IN ANAMBRA
STATE, NIGERIA. 
• THE KINGDOM OF NRI WAS A CENTER OF LEARNING, 
RELIGION AND COMMERCE IN PRE-COLONIAL WEST
AFRICA. 
• HISTORIANS HAVE COMPARED THE SIGNIFICANCE OF
NRI, AT ITS PEAK, TO THE RELIGIOUS CITIES OF
ROME OR MECCA. 
• IN 1911, AN INVASION BY BRITISH TROOPS LED TO
THE WEAKENING AND DECLINE OF THE STATE.
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MOSSI KINGDOM 
(11TH CENTURY–1896)
• THE MOSSI KINGDOM WAS A COMPLEX MIX OF INDEPENDENT
WEST AFRICAN KINGDOMS WITHIN THE MODERN REPUBLICS
OF BURKINA FASO AND GHANA INCLUDING IN THE SOUTH
MAMPRUSI, DAGOMBA, AND NANUMBA, AND IN THE NORTH
TENKODOGO, WAGADUGU (OUAGADOUGOU),YATENGA AND
FADA-N-GURMA (FADA NGOURMA). 
• BY THE 1700S, THE MOSSI KINGDOMS HAD INCREASED
SIGNIFICANTLY IN TERMS OF ECONOMIC AND MILITARY POWER
IN THE REGION. 
• FOREIGN TRADE RELATIONS INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY
THROUGHOUT AFRICA WITH SIGNIFICANT CONNECTIONS TO
THE FULA KINGDOMS AND THE MALI EMPIRE. 
• THEY REMAINED INDEPENDENT UNTIL FRANCE INVADED IN THE
LATE 19TH CENTURY.
KINGDOM OF MALI 
(13TH TO 15TH CENTURY)
• THE KINGDOM OF MALI CONTROLLED THE SALT TRADE
IN NORTH AFRICA AS WELL AS MANY CARAVAN TRADE
ROUTES. 
• SEVERAL GREAT CENTERS OF ISLAMIC LEARNING
WERE ALSO ESTABLISHED DURING THE KINGDOM OF
MALI. 
• AMONG THEM WERE THE LEGENDARY TIMBUKTU, 
DJENNE AND GAO. 
• WHEN MANSA MUSA, THE LEADER OF MALI WHO HAD
CONTRIBUTED TO THE EXTENSION OF THE EMPIRE, 
DIED, THE SMALLER STATES IT HAD CONQUERED
BROKE OFF, AND THE EMPIRE CRUMBLED.
http://atlantablackstar.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mali.jpg
KINGDOM OF SONGHAY 
(1350-1600)
• THE EXACT ORIGINS OF THE KINGDOM OF SONGHAY ARE NOT
CLEAR TO HISTORIANS.
• THE FIRST OF TWO GREAT RULERS IN THE KINGDOM OF
SONGHAY WAS SONNI ALI. 
• HE CAME TO POWER IN 1464 AND MADE THE SONGHAY
PERHAPS THE MOST POWERFUL STATE IN WESTERN/CENTRAL
AFRICA AT THE TIME. 
• THEN HIS SUCCESSOR WAS MOHAMMED ASKIA, WHO CAME TO
POWER IN 1493. 
• HE EXPANDED THE KINGDOM EVEN FURTHER AND SET UP AN
EVEN MORE ADVANCED AND STRONGLY CENTRALIZED
GOVERNMENT. 
• HE DEVELOPED A NEW SYSTEM OF LAWS, EXPANDED THE
MILITARY AND ENCOURAGED SCHOLARSHIP AND LEARNING.
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THE RISE OF ISLAM
• THE CONTINENT PROGRESSED ON ITS OWN PATH OF
DEVELOPMENT WITHOUT MAJOR EXTERNAL
INTERVENTION APART FROM THE ARAB INVASIONS OF
NORTH AFRICA THAT BEGAN AFTER THE RISE OF ISLAM
IN THE MID-7TH CENTURY.
• THOSE INVASIONS AND THE INTRODUCTION OF ISLAM
SERVED TO INTEGRATE NORTH AFRICA, AS WELL AS
PARTS OF EAST AND WEST AFRICA, MORE FULLY INTO
THE MUSLIM-DOMINATED TRADING SYSTEM OF THAT
PERIOD AND GENERALLY ENHANCED THE LOCAL, 
REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL TRADING NETWORKS
THAT WERE ALREADY DEVELOPING THROUGHOUT THE
CONTINENT.
• ALTHOUGH SOMETIMES SPREAD BY MILITARY MEANS, ISLAM'S
EXPANSION WAS OFTEN FACILITATED BY TRADE AND THE
DESIRE OF AFRICAN RULERS TO UTILIZE ISLAMIC POLITICAL
AND ECONOMIC INSTITUTIONS. 
THE EMPIRE OF SONGHAY
• IT STRETCHED FROM MODERN-DAY MALI TO SUDAN –WAS
KNOWN FOR, AMONG OTHER THINGS, THE FAMOUS
ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY OF SANKORÉ BASED IN TIMBUKTU, 
WHICH WAS ESTABLISHED IN THE 14TH CENTURY. 
• THE WORKS OF THE GREEK PHILOSOPHER ARISTOTLE
WERE STUDIED THERE, AS WELL AS SUBJECTS SUCH AS
LAW, VARIOUS BRANCHES OF PHILOSOPHY, DIALECTICS, 
GRAMMAR, RHETORIC AND ASTRONOMY. 
• IN THE 16TH CENTURY, ONE OF ITS MOST FAMOUS
SCHOLARS, AHMED BABA (1564–1627), IS SAID TO HAVE
WRITTEN MORE THAN 40 MAJOR BOOKS ON SUCH
SUBJECTS AS ASTRONOMY, HISTORY AND THEOLOGY AND
HAD A PRIVATE LIBRARY THAT HELD OVER 1,500 VOLUMES.
TIMBUKTU
HOME TO THE WORLD'S OLDEST UNIVERSITY, 
IT IS A UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE
• ONE OF THE FIRST REPORTS OF TIMBUKTU TO
REACH EUROPE WAS BY THE NORTH AFRICAN
DIPLOMAT AND AUTHOR LEO AFRICANUS.
• IN HIS BOOK DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA, 
PUBLISHED IN 1550, HE SAYS OF THE TOWN:
“THERE YOU WILL FIND MANY JUDGES, 
PROFESSORS AND DEVOUT MEN, ALL
HANDSOMELY MAINTAINED BY THE KING, WHO
HOLDS SCHOLARS IN MUCH HONOUR. THERE, 
TOO, THEY SELL MANY HANDWRITTEN NORTH
AFRICAN BOOKS, AND MORE PROFIT IS TO BE
MADE THERE FROM THE SALE OF BOOKS THAN
FROM ANY OTHER BRANCH OF TRADE.”
TRADING SYSTEM
• BEFORE 1600, A MASSIVE REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL TRADING
SYSTEM STRETCHED FROM THE COAST OF WEST AFRICA, ACROSS
THE SAHARA TO NORTH AFRICA AND BEYOND. 
• IT WAS SUSTAINED BY THE MINING OF GOLD IN WEST AFRICA, AS
WELL AS THE PRODUCTION OF MANY OTHER GOODS THERE. 
• FOR MANY CENTURIES, IT WAS DOMINATED BY POWERFUL EMPIRES
SUCH AS GHANA, MALI AND SONGHAY, WHICH OFTEN CONTROLLED
BOTH GOLD PRODUCTION AND THE MAJOR TRADING TOWNS ON THE
SOUTHERN FRINGES OF THE SAHARA.
• A 9TH-CENTURY HISTORIANWROTE: 'THE KING OF GHANA IS A GREAT
KING. IN HIS TERRITORY ARE MINES OF GOLD.' WHEN AL-BAKRI, THE
FAMOUS HISTORIAN OF MUSLIM SPAIN, WROTE ABOUT GHANA IN THE
11TH CENTURY, HE REPORTED THAT ITS KING 'RULES AN ENORMOUS
KINGDOM AND HAS GREAT POWER'. HE WAS ALSO SAID TO HAVE AN
ARMY OF 200,000 MEN AND TO RULE OVER AN EXTREMELY WEALTHY
TRADING EMPIRE.