European colonial powers in Africa called "Dark Continent" as they begin their exploration. They see it as a vast and dangerous place filled with savages, but Africa has been home to many advanced, exotic civilizations. Many have been buried under the sands of time, but we know others, and archaeologists continue to uncover more clues about ancient civilizations in Africa.''
West Africa has a great oral tradition. A griot is a learned storyteller, entertainer, and historian. Often griot will memorize the genealogy, or family history, everyone in the village going back centuries. American author Alex Haley met a griot in 1966 who had memorized the entire story of the village Juffure to date two centuries in the past when their ancestors had been enslaved. "The old griot talked for nearly two hours until then ... 'oldest child is crawling, Kunta, away from his village and he was never seen again' ... I sat as if carved from stone me my blood seems . has been frozen. People in the village life is back-African countries in the world have no way to know that he's just echoing what I've heard all year even though my childhood at my grandmother's front porch in Henning, Tennessee. "Many from what we know about the griots of West Africa comes from, but archaeologists often terejut by new findings. In the last fifteen years, scholars have concluded that civilization has grown in West Africa as much as a thousand years earlier than expected. We now know that Africa has the Iron Age culture in the cities and trade routes of about 250 years before the common era.''
This Nok
In 1928, archaeologists digging in the amazing cultural village Nok Nigeria. We know little about ancient Nok culture of West Africa. We do not even know what they call themselves, we know, however, that the mystery merekamenemukan iron. Iron is a metal found in rocks. Nok discovered that by heating certain rocks, they were able to iron "smell". Iron is a very useful substance. Iron is malleable (or moldable). This could be reshaped to make weapons and plows. Iron conducts heat very well and can be used for cooking and heating. A civilization that has found an iron will be more advanced than those without. The discovery of the use of iron is a major technological achievement of ancient Nok sub-Saharan Africa. Most ancient cultures discovered copper and bronze before iron, but the Nok apparently moved from the stone age to iron age. Does Nok teach themselves these skills, or they discover the secret of iron from other cultures? Pertayaan it remains a mystery to archaeologists may someday understand.
Phoenicia and Carthage
Phoenicians came from the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the land we now call Lebanon. Their soil is dry and inhospitable to agriculture, so they turned to the sea to become the largest tourist and traders of their time. Phoenician alphabet was found, and some cultures teach their advanced system of writing. Phoenicians expand their influence throughout North Africa and settled state of Carthage in modern Tunisia, as a trading post. Carthage word means "new city". Phoenicians chose Carthage because of its location in the middle of North Africa, not far from Sicily and peninsular Italy. When the Assyrians and Persians conquered the original homeland of the Phoenicians, Carthage became an independent state. It's against city rivals in Italy, Rome, Carthage who fought and lost three brutal wars that eventually destroyed the city. The war, known as the Punic Wars because Puncia is the Roman name for Carthage. The Roman navy was surprised the sea trade in the first perag in 238BC. Carthaginians gained a new base in Spain from where a great military leader named Hannibal led a team of elephants in southern France and to Italy. Hannibal won some early victories, but his troops were outnumbered, allowing Roma to win the war even more brutal that occurred almost fifteen years until 204BC. Carthage lost all political and military power at the end of the second Punic War, but the Romans moved half a century later to destroy the city. After a siege in 146BC, the Romans went from house to house cutting Carthaginians. Only a few survivors were sold into slavery, destroyed the city and harbor, and the Romans poured salt on agricultural land to ensure its sterility. People in the south of the Sahara Desert had little contact with the rest of the world.
Sahara desert is hot and dry. It was almost impossible to cross without modern transportation.
The rivers that flow from some sub-Saharan Africa contains high waterfalls that make travel difficult.
Both sub-Saharan Africa and the people north of the desert is afraid of venturing into the sea.
Tsetse flies that live on the edge of the desert carrying a deadly disease.
Trade
Civilization which flourished in ancient West Africa are all based on trade, West African leaders tend to be so successful conciliator, not a soldier. Caravans from North Africa across the Sahara beginning in the seventh century AD. Gold from West Africa were exchanged for something valuable that people of West Africa even more: salt. Salt is used as a flavoring, food preservative, and to retain body moisture.''
The first person who made the journey across the desert were the Berbers of North Africa, who brought their strict Islamic faith in the Sahara. Converted many Berber traders of West Africa with Islam, but most of the common people retain their traditional beliefs. Ancient West Africa, such as Native Americans and the Sumerians, believed that there are many gods in nature. They do not accept the Muslim faith in a god.
Merchants and traders in West Africa saw many advantages in converting to Islam
Literacy spread because belief in Islam requires you to learn the Koran.
Muslims all speak the language of the Quran. Arabic became the language of the merchants and traders of West Africa. All Muslims follow strict Islamic law. It is easier to resolve disputes when both parties agree on the law. Conversion to Islam opened the market in North Africa and in Arabia.
Ghana (AD300-AD1100?)
Ancient African civilization we call in Ghana West Africa between the Niger and Senegal River. The rivers are important for Ghana because their economies are based on trade, and before the modern era, the river is the fastest way to bring the goods. Ghana became rich by collecting taxes from traders who pass through the kingdom. People called them the Wagadu, we know as Ghana because that's the name of their war chief. Ghana managed the gold trade despite the fact that the empire had their own natural resources. Gold and salt mines all lie outside the borders of the empire, but Ghana is based on the strength of their superior expertise in metal work. Ghana used iron tipped spears beat neighbors who struggled with inefficient weapons made of stone, bone, and wood. Muslim warriors known as the Almoravids called a jihad ("holy war" in Arabic) in Ghana because of the people of Ghana kept their traditional beliefs. The Almoravids succeed in achieving weakened, but did not destroy the empire. Ghana remains a shadow of itself for more than a century, and soldiers from across the region formed a small country that threatens the vital trade routes through West Africa.''
Sundiata (born c 1200 -. Died 1255)
Samanguru is a warrior who conquered much of West Africa Ghana was weakened. Samanguru hostile to the Mandinka people who live in the region. High taxes, he felt it was a privilege to carry out the Mandinka women, and he failed to maintain law and order along the trade routes. The griots of West Africa are still talking about the story of a young boy who grew sick to be a great fighter. Sundiata is one of twelve children who are children of the Mandinka warrior. Samanguru killing twelve children, but spared Sundiata because he believed the boy would die as well. That is a mistake that would lead to the downfall Samanguru, because sickly child recovered, and eventually assembled an army to face the Samanguru. Sundiata Samanguru troops killed and destroyed his army in the Battle Kirina in 1235. Sundiata then became mansa, or king of the new empire we know today as Mali, or "where the king resides." Sundiata proved himself a great warrior, but he is only interested in removing Samanguru and once again making West Africa a safe place to travel and trade. He converted to Islam, but only sa gesture of goodwill for the merchants and traders. For the people
Seiri, Sundiata presented himself as a champion of traditional West African religions.''
Time Musa
Mansa Musa of the Arab world attention when he left home to make a pilgrimage to Mecca in the year 1324. Unlike Sundiata, Mansa Musa really is a Muslim. Islamic law requires that all faithful Muslims make the hajj, or holy visit, to the city on the Arabian Peninsula where the faith began. Mansa Musa is said to have taken more than 500 people with him, each carrying a staff of pure gold. When Mansa Musa passed Cairo, he gave away gold so gold prices go down and the economy entered into force for more than twenty years. The emergence of a wealthy king from a far country made a deep impression, and Mali began to appear on the map in the entire Middle East and Europe. Sub-Saharan Africa are known north of the Sahara Desert for the first time. Mansa Musa was followed by the leaders of the ruling is less capable and in time, another empire, Songhai, Mali replace. A bloody war with Morocco destroyed Songhai. Sultan of Morocco to the West Afria gold, so he sent 3000 troops across the desert in 1590. Spears and lances of the soldiers Songhai is not suitable for the Moroccan army cannon and rifles, but they continue to struggle long after the government destroyed Songhai. Bloody war lasted for more than ten years until the Sultan lost interest and left the army in Songhai. Moroccan soldiers either killed or absorbed into the local population. Moroccan invasion destroyed Songhai, and with it the trade routes that had brought prosperity to the region for hundreds of years.''
Timbuktu
The name does not make people think better of ancient Africa from Timbuktu. Timbuktu is the largest trading place in sub-Saharan Africa for more than four hundred years. Cities exist for a reason, and Timbuktu was no exception. Timbuktu is located at a bend in the River Niger. Traders mined salt in the desert. Miners would bring salt to the city where merchants would transport it in the river for a distance. Developed as a trading city of Timbuktu, but the wealth of this city to attract others. In time, Timbuktu became famous as the site of religion and education. Mansa Musa built a great mosque, or shrine of Islam in Timbuktu. Timbuktu began to decline in influence when the Portuguese showed that it is easier to sail around the coast of Africa than travel through the desert. The city was destroyed by the war between Morocco and Songhai. Today remains a shadow of its former self, mud town of 20,000 people built on the edge of the Sahara Desert.''
Zimbabwe
Karanga people ruled a great inland African empire from about AD1000 to AD1600. The Karanga are the wholesalers that smelted gold and traded on the shores of the Indian Ocean for glass beads and porcelain from China. European explorers discovered the stone ruins of the Karanga in 1867. Site called the Zimbabwe ruins, which means "stone dwelling" in the native Bantu language. The Europeans do not want to believe that sub-Saharan Africa can build Zimbabwe, they theorize that the ancient Phoenicians, Arabs, Romans, Hebrews, or create structures. Excavations in 1932 proved that indigenous Africans created the ruins, but the white Rhodesian colonial government tried to deny the African sites. Rhodesian leaders say the land was empty of people and culture before they arrive. When the government allows people of all races to vote in 1980, the nation's black majority discarded the name of Rhodesia and, looking to the past for the origins of the more noble, chose the name Zimbabwe.''
Many mysteries
Sub-Saharan Africa remains a land of many mysteries. When the Europeans invaded their lands destroyed many historical records, leaving us to ask many questions. Indigenous black people of sub-Saharan Africa have mastered the entire area for less than a decade. Colonial rulers who preceded them are not interested in exploring the glorious past of Africa, they even have a reason to deny that Africa has a proud history. Archaeologists find new artifacts and change what we know about ancient Africa. In the coming years, much of what we know about the history of the "Dark Continent" may be brought to light at all. Maybe someday a "Rosetta Stone" will unlock the mystery of sub-Saharan Africa and the Champollion of the future can tell us much about Africa south of the Sahara as we know about Egypt. One day that person could be you.''
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