Science and technology in Africa
Encyclopedia
Science and technology in Africa has a history stretching to the beginning of the human species, stretching back to the first evidence of tool use
by hominid ancestors in the areas of Africa where humans are believed to have evolved.
Forty percent of African scientists live in OECD countries, predominantly western countries. This has been described as an African brain drain
.
Sub-Saharan African countries spent an average of just 0.3% of their GDP on S&T(Science and Technology) in 2007. This represent and increase from US$1.8bn in 2002 to US$2.8bn in 2007. North Africa
n countries spend 0.4% of GDP on S&T, an increase from US$2.6bn in 2002 to US$3.3bn in 2007. This represent an increase of 50% in spending in S&T in Africa. South Africa
is the sole exception. South Africa
spends 0.87% of GDP on S&T.
Although technology parks have a long history, first in the US and later in Europe and the rest of the
world, their presence in Africa is still limited, as Africa continues to lag behind other regions of the
world in terms of technological development and innovation. Only six countries (Morocco
, Egypt
, Senegal
, Madagascar
, Tunisia
and South Africa
) have initiated programmes of technology parks as an integral strategy of their sustainable development.
In recent years more African countries have embraced technology as a driver of development e.g. Kenya
's Vision 2030 and Rwanda
's rapid ICT growth. The growth especially in mobile telephony and ICT across sub-Saharan Africa has improved living standards greatly. Membership in social networking sites such as Facebook
and Tokea! has risen from a few hundreds to over 100,000.
of Africa, the first development of tools is found there as well:
was founded in Egypt. It was considered the largest library in the classical world.
Al-Azhar University
, founded in 970~972 as a madrasa, is the chief centre of Arabic literature and Sunni Islamic learning in the world. The oldest degree-granting university in Egypt after the Cairo University
, its establishment date may be considered 1961 when non-religious subjects were added to its curriculum.
.
By the end of Mansa Musa's reign, the Sankoré University had been converted into a fully staffed University with the largest collections of books in Africa since the Library of Alexandria
. The Sankoré University was capable of housing 25,000 students and had one of the largest libraries in the world with between 400,000 to 700,000 manuscripts.
Timbuktu
was a major center of book copying, with scholars visiting from throughout the Muslim world.
in Fes, Morocco is founded by the princess Fatima al-Fihri. It is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest academic degree-granting university in the world.
One of the world's oldest known archeoastronomical devices is located in the Nabta Playa
basin. About 1000 years older than Stonehenge
, the device may have been a prehistoric calendar which accurately marked the summer solstice
.
/ Big Dipper
which was known to Egyptians as the thigh. It is thought that a vertical alignment between these two stars checked with a plumb bob was used to ascertain where North lay. The deviations from true North using this model reflect the accepted dates of construction.
Egyptians were the first to develop a 365 day, 12 month calendar. It was a stellar calendar,created by observing the stars.
Some have argued that the pyramids were laid out as a map of the three stars in the belt of Orion, although this theory has been criticized by reputable astronomers.
During the 12th century, the astrolabic quadrant is invented in Egypt.
2. They had a helio-centric view of the solar system 3. Diagrams of planets and orbits made use of complex mathematical calculations 4. Developed algorithm that accurately orient Timbuktu to Mecc. 5. They recorded astronomical events, including a meteor shower in August 1583.
a group of megaliths, dated 300 BCE, was used by Cushitic speaking people as an alignment with star systems tuned to a lunar calendar of 354 days. This discovery was made by B.N. Lynch and L. H. Robins of Michigan State University.
Great Zimbabwe
could have been an astronomical observatory contends Richard Wade, of the Nkwe Ridge Observatory, South Africa after 30 years of researching the site. In southern Zimbabwe 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 Megaliths could be an eclipse predictor. The conical structure aligns with a supernova in the Vela, 700–800 years ago.
Three types of calendars can be found in Africa: 1. Lunar 2. Solar 3. Stellar. Most African calendar are a combination of the three.
African Calendars: Akan Calendar
, Egyptian calendar
, Berber calendar
, Ethiopian Calendar
, Igbo calendar
, Yoruba Calendar
, Shona calendar
, Swahili calendar, Xhosa calendar, Borana calendar
, Luba calendar
South Africa
has cultivated a burgeoning astronomy community. It hosts the Southern African Large Telescope
, the largest optical telescope in the southern hemisphere. South Africa
is currently building the Karoo Array Telescope as a pathfinder for the $20 billion Square Kilometer Array project. South Africa
is a finalist, with Australia, to be the host of the SKA.
. It dates from 35,000 BCE and consists of 29 distinct notches that were deliberately cut into a baboon
's fibula.
The Ishango bone
is a bone tool
, dated to the Upper Paleolithic
era, about 18,000 to 20,000 BCE. It is a dark brown length of bone, the fibula of a baboon, with a sharp piece of quartz affixed to one end, perhaps for engraving or writing. It was first thought to be a tally stick
, as it has a series of tally marks
carved in three columns running the length of the tool, but some scientists have suggested that the groupings of notches indicate a mathematical understanding that goes beyond counting. These are the function postulated about the Ishango bones:
1. A tool for multiplication, division, and simple mathematical calculation 2. A six month lunar calendar 3. a construct of a woman, keeping track of her menstrual cycle
In the book How Mathematics Happened: The First 50,000 Years, Peter Rudman argues that the development of the concept of prime numbers could only have come about after the concept of division, which he dates to after 10,000 BC, with prime numbers probably not being understood until about 500 BC. He also writes that "no attempt has been made to explain why a tally of something should exhibit multiples of two, prime numbers between 10 and 20, and some numbers that are almost multiples of 10."
period, and show a fully developed numeral system
. The importance of mathematics to an educated Egyptian is suggested by a New Kingdom fictional letter in which the writer proposes a scholarly competition between himself and another scribe regarding everyday calculation tasks such as accounting of land, labor and grain. Texts such as the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus
and the Moscow Mathematical Papyrus
show that the ancient Egyptians could perform the four basic mathematical operations—addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division—use fractions, compute the volumes of boxes and pyramids, and calculate the surface areas of rectangles, triangles, circles and even spheres. They understood basic concepts of algebra
and geometry
, and could solve simple sets of simultaneous equations
.
Mathematical notation
was decimal, and based on hieroglyphic signs for each power of ten up to one million. Each of these could be written as many times as necessary to add up to the desired number; so to write the number eighty or eight hundred, the symbol for ten or one hundred was written eight times respectively. Because their methods of calculation could not handle most fractions with a numerator greater than one, ancient Egyptian fractions had to be written as the sum of several fractions. For example, the fraction two-fifths was resolved into the sum of one-third + one-fifteenth; this was facilitated by standard tables of values. Some common fractions, however, were written with a special glyph; the equivalent of the modern two-thirds is shown on the right.
Ancient Egyptian mathematicians had a grasp of the principles underlying the Pythagorean theorem
, knowing, for example, that a triangle had a right angle opposite the hypotenuse
when its sides were in a 3–4–5 ratio. They were able to estimate the area of a circle by subtracting one-ninth from its diameter and squaring the result:
a reasonable approximation of the formula π
r2.
The golden ratio
seems to be reflected in many Egyptian constructions, including the pyramids
, but its use may have been an unintended consequence of the ancient Egyptian practice of combining the use of knotted ropes with an intuitive sense of proportion and harmony.
Based on engraved plans of Meroitic King Amanikhabali's pyramids, Nubians had a sophisticated understanding of mathematics and an appreciation of the harmonic ratio. The engraved plans is indicative of much to be revealed about Nubian mathematics.
geometry. The knowledge of fractal
geometry can be found in a wide aspect of African life from art, social design structures, architecture, to devination systems. With the discovery of fractal mathematics in widespread use in Africa, Ron Eglash had this to say,
to the Iron Age
. The Iron Age
and Bronze Age
occurred simultaneously. North Africa
and the Nile Valley imported its iron technology from the Near East
and followed Near Eastern course of Bronze Age
and Iron Age
development.
Many Africanist accept an independent development of the use of iron in Sub-Saharan Africa. Among archaeologists, it is a debatable issue. The earliest dating of iron in Sub-Saharan Africa is 2500 BCE at Egaro, west of Termit, making it contemporary to the Middle East
. The Egaro date is debatable with archaeologists, due to the method used to attain it. The Termit date of 1500 BCE is widely accepted. Iron use, in smelting
and forging for tools, appears in West Africa by 1200 BCE, making it one of the first places for the birth of the Iron Age. Before the 19th century, African methods of extracting iron was employed in Brazil
, until more advanced Europe
an methods were instituted.
In Aïr Mountains
region of Niger
, copper smelting was independently developed between 3000–2500 BCE. The undeveloped nature of the process indicates that it was not of foreign origin. Smelting in the region became mature around 1500 BCE.
Around 500 BCE, Nubia, in her Meroitic phase
, became a major manufacturer and exporter of iron. This was after being expelled from Egypt by Assyrians, who used iron weapons.
The Aksumites produced coins
around 270 CE, under the rule of king Endubis. Aksumite coins were issued in gold, silver, and bronze.
routes. They provided 2/3 of the gold in Europe and North Africa. The Almoravid dinar and the Fatimid dinar were printed on gold from the Sahelian empires. The ducat of Genoa and Venice and the florine of Florence were also printed on gold from the Sahelian empires. When gold sources were depleted in the Sahel, the empires turned to trade with the Ashante Kingdom.
The Swahili traders in East Africa, were major suppliers of gold to Asia in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean trade routes. The trading port cities and city-states of the Swahili East African coast were among the first African cities to come into contact with European explorers and sailors during the European Age of Discovery
. Many were documented and praised in the recordings of North African explorer Abu Muhammad ibn Battuta
.
Anthropologist Peter Schmidt discovered through the communication of oral tradition that the Haya have been forging steel
for nearly 2000 years. This discovery was made accidentally while Schmidt was learning about the history of the Haya via their oral tradition. He was led to a tree which was said to rest on the spot of an ancestral furnace used to forge steel. When later tasked with the challenge of recreating the forges, a group of elders who at this time were the only ones to remember the practice, due to the disuse of the practice due in part to the abundance of steel flowing into the country from foreign sources. In spite of their lack of practice, the elders were able to create a furnace
using mud and grass which when burnt provided the carbon needed to transform the iron into steel. Later investigation of the area yielded 13 other furnaces similar in design to the recreation set up by the elders. These furnaces were carbon dated and were found to be as old as 2000 years, whereas steel of this caliber did not appear in Europe
until several centuries later.
Two types of iron furnaces were used in Sub-Saharan Africa: the trench dug below ground and circular clay structures built above ground. Iron ores were crushed and placed in furnaces layered with the right proportion of hardwood. A flux such as lime sometimes from seashells were added to aid in smelting. Bellows on the side would be used to add oxygen. Clay pipes on the sides called tuyéres would be used to control oxygen flow.
remarked that there was a high degree of specialization among Egyptian physicians, with some treating only the head or the stomach, while others were eye-doctors and dentists. Training of physicians took place at the Per Ankh or "House of Life" institution, most notably those headquartered in Per-Bastet
during the New Kingdom and at Abydos
and Saïs
in the Late period. Medical papyri
show empirical knowledge
of anatomy, injuries, and practical treatments. Wounds were treated by bandaging with raw meat, white linen, sutures, nets, pads and swabs soaked with honey to prevent infection, while opium was used to relieve pain. Garlic and onions were used regularly to promote good health and were thought to relieve asthma
symptoms. Ancient Egyptian surgeons stitched wounds, set broken bones
, and amputated diseased limbs, but they recognized that some injuries were so serious that they could only make the patient comfortable until he died.
Around 800, the first psychiatric hospital and insane asylum in Egypt is built by Muslim physicians in Cairo.
Around 1100, the ventilator is invented in Egypt.
In 1285, the largest hospital of the Middle Ages and pre-modern era is built in Cairo, Egypt, by Sultan Qalaun al-Mansur. Treatment was given for free to patients of all backgrounds, regardless of gender, ethnicity or income.
Tetracycline was being used by Nubians, based on bone remains between 350 AD and 550 AD. The antibiotic was in wide commercial use only in the mid 20th century. The theory is earthen jars containing grain used for making beer contained the bacteria streptomycedes, which produced tetracycline. Although Nubians were not aware of tetracycline, they could have notice people fared better by drinking beer. According to Charlie Bamforth, a professor of biochemistry and brewing science at the University of California, Davis, said "They must have consumed it because it was rather tastier than the grain from which it was derived. They would have noticed people fared better by consuming this product than they were just consuming the grain itself."
the mosquito was identified to be the cause of malaria, and the removal of cataracts was a common surgical procedure.
The dangers of tobacco smoking were known to African Muslim scholars, based on Timbuktu manuscripts.
The knowledge of inoculating oneself against smallpox seems to have been known to West Africans, more specifically the Akan. A slave name Onesimus explained the inoculation procedure to Cotton Mather during the 1700, he reported to have gotten the knowledge from Africa.
European travelers in the Great Lakes region of Africa
(Uganda
and Rwanda
) during the 19th century observed Caeserean sections being performed on a regular basis. The expectant mother was normally anesthetized with banana wine, and herbal mixtures were used to encourage healing. From the well-developed nature of the procedures employed, European observers concluded that they had been employed for some time.
A South African, Max Theiler
, developed a vaccine against Yellow Fever in 1937.
The first human-to-human heart transplant was performed by South African cardiac surgeon Christiaan Barnard
at Groote Schuur Hospital
in December 1967.
During the 1960s, South African Aaron Klug
developed crystallographic electron microscopy techniques, in which a sequence of two-dimensional images of crystals taken from different angles are combined to produce three-dimensional images of the target.
South African, Allan McLeod Cormack
develop the theoretical underpinnings of CT scanning and co-invented the CT-scanner.
Africa may have been the third region of independent cattle domestication and also the first. The first location of cattle domestication in Africa agreed upon is Capeletti, Algeria, about 6500 BP, but Bos cattle remains have been found in Nabta Playa
and Bir Kiseiba as far back as 9000 BP, making it the first location of domestication. Scholars are divided as to independent and earliest domestication of cattle.
Between 13,000 and 11,0000 BCE wild grains began to be collected as source of food in the cataract region of the nile, south of Egypt. The collecting of wild grains as source of food spread to Syria, parts of Turkey and Iran by the eleventh millennium BCE. By the tenth and ninth millennia southwest Asians domesticated their wild grains, wheat and barley after the notion of collecting wild grains was spread from the nile.
The donkey
was domesticated in the Red Sea Hill and the Horn of Africa
in 4000 BCE and spread to southwest Asia.
Ethiopians, particularly the Oromo people
, were the first to have discovered and recognized the energizing effect of the coffee
bean plant.
Cotton(Gossypium herbaceum Linnaeus) was domesticated 5000 BCE in eastern Sudan
near the Middle Nile Basin region, and cotton cloth was being produced.
Teff
is believed to have originated in Ethiopia between 4000 and 1000 BCE. Genetic evidence points to E. pilosa as the most likely wild ancestor.Noog(Guizotia abyssinica) and ensete
(E. ventricosum) are two other plants domesticated in Ethiopia.
was developed independently from the Middle East
in the Sahel
.
The first instances of domestication of plants for agricultural purposes in Africa occurred in the Sahel
region c. 5000 BCE, when sorghum
and african rice
(Oryza glaberrima) began to be cultivated. Around this time, and in the same region, the small Guineafowl
was domesticated. Other African domesticated plants were oil palm, raffia palm
, black eyed peas, groundnuts, and kola nuts.
African method of cultivating rice was used in North Carolina introduced by enslaved African. african rice cultivation was a factor in the prosperity of the North Carolina colony.
Yam
was domesticated 8000 BCE in West Africa. Between 7000 and 5000 BCE, pearl millet
, gourds, watermelons, and beans, and farming and herding practices were spread westward across the southern Sahara.
West Africans were probably the first people to start using the method of fish lines and hook in fishing. The hooks were made of bone , hard wood, or shell between 16,000 to 9000 BCE.
Between 6500 and 3500 BCE knowledge of domesticated sorghum, castor beans, and two species of gourd spread from Africa to Asia, later pearl millet, black eyed peas, watermellon and okra to the rest of the world.
Pottery was first made in the Sahel around 9000 to 8000 BCE, making it one of the earliest region of independent pottery development.
is a ruined settlement on the slopes of Mount Ngorongoro in northern Tanzania.
Seven stone terraced villages along the mountainside comprised the settlement. A complex
structure of stone channel irrigation was used to dike, dam, and level surrounding river
waters. The stone channels run along the mountainside and base. Some of these channels were
several kilometers long channelling and feeding individual plots of land. The irrigation channels fed a total area of 5000 acres (20.2 km²).
from the flax
plant, which were beaten and combed. The priest and pharaohs wore leopard skin. The ancient Egyptians used looms as early as 4000 BCE.
Nubians mainly wore cotton, beaded leather, and linen
. Nubia was also a center of cotton manufacturing. Cotton was domesticated 5000 BCE in eastern Sudan
near the Middle Nile Basin region, and cotton cloth was being produced.
Shemma, shama, and kuta are all cotton base cloth used for making Ethiopian
clothing.
The textile of choice in the sahel
is cotton. It is widely used in making the boubou
(male) and kaftan
(female), a style of West African clothing.
Bògòlanfini
(mudcloth) is cotton textile dyed with fermented mud of tree sap and teas, hand made by the Bambara people of the Beledougou region of central Mali
.
By the 12th century, so-called Moroccan leather, which actually came from the Hausa
area of northern Nigeria
, was supplied to Mediterranean markets and found their way to the fairs and markets of such places as Normandy and Britain.
, kente cloth
, raffia cloth, barkcloth
, kanga
, kitenge
, and lamba mpanjaka. The Djellaba
was made typically of wool and worn in the Maghreb. Kente used silk from the Anaphe moth and was produced by the Akan people
(Ashante, Fante, Enzema) in the countries of Ghana
and Ivory Coast. Raffia cloth was the innovation of the Kuba
people, present day Democratic Republic of Congo. It used the fibers of the leaves on the raffia palm
tree. Barkcloth
was used by the Baganda
in Uganda
from the Mutuba tree (Ficus natalensis). Kanga
are Swahili
cloth that comes in rectangular shapes, made of pure cotton, and put together to make clothing. It is as long as ones outstretch hand and wide to cover the length of ones neck. Kitenges are similar to kangas and kikoy, but are of a thicker cloth, and have an edging only on a long side. Kenya
, Uganda
, Tanzania
, and Sudan
are some of the African countries where kitenge is worn. In Malawi
, Namibia
and Zambia
, kitenge is known as Chitenge. Lamba Mpanjaka was cloth made of multicolored silk, worn like a toga on the island of Madagascar.
Camel hair
was also used to make cloth in the Sahel
and North Africa
.
In Southern Africa one finds numerous use of animal hide and skins for clothing. The Ndau in central Mozambique and the Shona mixed hide with barkcloth, cotton cloth. Cotton weaving was practiced by the Ndau and Shona. Cotton cloth was referred to as machira. The Venda, Swazi, Basotho, Zulu, Ndebele], and Xhosa also made extensive use of hides. Hides came from cattle, sheep, goat, elephant, and from jangwa( part of the mongoose family). Leopard skins were coveted and was a symbol of kingship in Zulu society. Skins were tanned to form leather, dyed, and embedded with beads.
Three types of loom
s are used in Africa: 1. the double heddle loom for narrow strips of cloth, 2. the single heddle loom for wider spans of cloth 3. the ground or pit loom. The double heddle loom and single heddle loom might be of indigenous origin. The ground or pit loom is used in the Horn of Africa
, Madagascar
, and North Africa
and is of Middle Eastern origins.
by fulani herdsmen, near the Yobe river, in the village of Dufuna. It was dated 8000 years, cut out of African mahogany. Based on "stylistic sophistication", the tradition of canoe building must have gone further back in time, noted one archaeologist.
knew how to assemble planks
of wood into a ship hull as early as 3000 BC. The Archaeological Institute of America
reports that the oldest ships yet unearthed, a group of 14 discovered in Abydos
, were constructed of wooden planks which were "sewn" together. Discovered by Egyptologist David O'Connor of New York University
. woven strap
s were found to have been used to lash the planks together, and reeds
or grass
stuffed between the planks helped to seal the seams. Because the ships are all buried together and near a mortuary belonging to Pharaoh Khasekhemwy
, originally they were all thought to have belonged to him, but one of the 14 ships dates to 3000 BC, and the associated pottery jars buried with the vesse The ship dating to 3000 BC was 75 feet (22.9 m) long and is now thought to perhaps have belonged to an earlier pharaoh. Professor O'Connor, the 5,000-year-old ship may have even belonged to Pharaoh Aha
.
Early Egyptians also knew how to assemble planks of wood with treenail
s to fasten them together, using pitch
for caulking
the seams
. The "Khufu ship
", a 43.6-meter vessel sealed into a pit in the Giza pyramid complex
at the foot of the Great Pyramid of Giza
in the Fourth Dynasty
around 2500 BCE, is a full-size surviving example which may have fulfilled the symbolic function of a solar barque. Early Egyptians also knew how to fasten the planks of this ship together with mortise and tenon
joints.
It is known that ancient Axum
traded with India
, and there is evidence that ships from Northeast Africa may have sailed back and forth between India/Sri Lanka and Nubia trading goods and even to Persia, Himyar and Rome
. Aksum was known by the Greeks
for having seaports for ships from Greece and Yemen
. Elsewhere in Northeast Africa, the Periplus of the Red Sea
reports that Somalis
, through their northern ports such as Zeila
and Berbera
, were trading frankincense
and other items with the inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula
well before the arrival of Islam
as well as with then Roman
-controlled Egypt
.
of the Mali Empire
is thought to have had a great armada of ships sitting on the coast of West Africa
. This is corroborated by ibn Battuta himself who recalls several hundred Malian ships off the coast. The ships would communicate with each other by drums. This has led to great speculation, that Malian sailors may have reached the coast of Pre-Columbian
America under the rule of Abubakari II, nearly two hundred years before Christopher Columbus.
Numerous sources attest that the inland waterways of West Africa saw extensive use of war-canoes and vessels used for war transport where permitted by the environment. Most West African canoes were of single log construction, carved and dug-out from one massive tree trunk. The primary method of propulsion was by paddle and in shallow water, poles. Sails were also used to a lesser extent, particularly on trading vessels. The silk cotton tree provided many of thesui most table logs for massive canoe building, and launching was via wooden rollers to the water. Boat building specialists were to emerge among certain tribes, particularly in the Niger Delta.
Some canoes were 80 feet (24.4 m) in length, carrying 100 men or more. Documents from 1506 for example, refer to war-canoes on the Sierra Leone river, carrying 120 men. Others refer to Guinea coast peoples using canoes of varying sizes – some 70 feet (21.3 m) in length, 7–8 ft broad, with sharp pointed ends, rowing benches on the side, and quarter decks or focastles build of reeds, and miscellaneous facilities such as cooking hearths, and storage spaces for crew sleeping mats.
's fleet included large numbers of quadriremes and quinqueremes, warships with four and five ranks of rowers. Its ships dominated the Mediterranean. The Romans however were masters at copying and adapting the technology of other peoples. According to Polybius, the Romans seized a shipwrecked Carthaginian warship, and used it as a blueprint for a massive naval build-up, adding their own refinement - the corvus – which allowed an enemy vessel to be "gripped" and boarded for hand-to-hand fighting. This negated initially superior Carthaginian seamanship and ships.
Middle Age Swahili kingdoms
are known to have had trade port islands and trade routes with the Islamic world and Asia and were described by Greek historians are "metropolises". Famous African trade ports such as Mombasa
, Zanzibar
, Mogadishu
and Kilwa
were known to Chinese sailors such as Zheng He
and medieval Islamic historians such as the Berber Islamic voyager Abu Abdullah ibn Battuta
. The dhow
was the ship of trade used by the Swahili. They could be massive. It was a dhow that transported a giraffe to Chinese Emperor Yong Le's court, in 1414. Although the dhow is often associated with Arabs, it is of Indian roots.
The Great Pyramid
was the tallest man-made structure in the world for over 3,800 years.
The earliest style of Nubian architecture
included the speos, structures carved out of solid rock, an A-Group
(3700–3250 BCE) achievement. Egyptians made extensive use of the process at Speos Artemidos
and Abu Simbel
.
Sudan
, site of ancient Nubia
, has more pyramids than anywhere in the world, even more than Egypt
, a total of 223 pyramids exist.
Aksumites built in stone. Monolithic stelae on top of the graves of kings like King Ezana's Stele
. Later, during the Zagwe Dynasty
Churches carved out of solid rocks like Church of Saint George at Lalibela.
is the oldest surviving archaeological settlements in West Africa
and the oldest all-stone settlement south of the Sahara. It is thought to have been built by Soninke people and is thought to be the precursor of the Ghana empire
.
Adobe, mudbrick
, and earth were the medium of West African and Sahelian architecture. Some notable structures are as follows:
The Great Mosque of Djenné
is the largest mud brick or adobe building in the world and is considered by many architects to be the greatest achievement of the Sudano-Sahelian architectural style, albeit with definite Islamic influences.
The Walls of Benin
City are collectively the world's largest man-made structure and were semi-destroyed by the British in 1897. Fred Pearce wrote in New scientist:
Sungbo's Eredo
is the second largest pre-colonial monument in Africa, larger than the Great Pyramids or Great Zimbabwe
. Built by the Yoruba people
in honour of one of their titled personages, an aristocratic widow known as the Oloye Bilikisu Sungbo, it is made up of sprawling mud walls and the valleys that surrounded the town of Ijebu-Ode in Ogun state, Nigeria.
Around 1000 AD, cob (tabya) first appears in the Maghreb and al-Andalus.
In Southern Africa one finds ancient and widespread traditions of building in stone. Two broad categories of these traditions have been noted: 1. Zimbabwean style 2. Transvaal Free State style. North of the Zambezi one finds very little stone ruins.Great Zimbabwe
, Khami
, Thulamela uses the Zimbabwean style. Tsotho/Tswana architecture represents the Transvaal Free State style. ||Khauxa!nas stone settlement in Namibia represents both traditions. The Kingdom of Mapungubwe (1075–1220) was a pre-colonial Southern African state located at the confluence of the Shashe and Limpopo rivers which marked the center of a pre-Shona kingdom which preceded the culmination of southeast African urban civilization in Great Zimbabwe
.
Africa's first writing system and the beginning of the alphabet was Egyptian hieroglyphs
. Two scripts have been the direct offspring of Egyptian hieroglyphs
, the Proto-Sinaitic script and the Meroitic alphabet. Out of Proto-Sinaitic came the South Arabian alphabet
and Phoenician alphabet
, out of which the Aramaic alphabet
, Greek alphabet
, the Brāhmī script
, Arabic alphabet
were directly or indirectly derived.
Out of the South Arabian alphabet
came the Ge'ez alphabet
which is used to write Blin
(cushitic), Amharic, Tigre
, and Tigrinya in Ethiopia
and Eritrea
.
Out the Phoenician Alphabet
came tifinagh
, the berber alphabet mainly used by the Tuaregs.
The other direct offspring of Egyptian hieroglyphs
was the Meroitic alphabet. It began in the Napatan phase of Nubian history, Kush
(700–300 BCE). It came into full fruition in the 2nd century, under the successor Nubian kingdom of Meroë
. The script can be read but not understood, with the discovery at el-Hassa, Sudan of ram statues bearing meroitic inscriptions might assist in its translation.
in the Sahel
. Arabic writing is widespread in the Sahel
. The Arabic script was also used to write native African languages called Ajami. The Ajami languages include Hausa
, Mandinka
, Fulani, Wolofal
, Tamazight, Nubian
, Yoruba
, Songhai
, and Kanuri
. In East Africa Swahili
and Somali
were also written in Arabic script. So too was the Malagasy language
in Madagascar.
N'Ko
a script developed by Solomana Kante
in 1949 as a writing system for the Mande languages of West Africa. It is used in Guinea
, Côte d'Ivoire
, and actively used by the Bambara in Mali
.
Nsibidi
is ideographic set of symbols developed by the Ekpe people of Southeastern coastal Nigeria for communication. A complex implementation of Nsibidi is only known to initiates of Ekpe secret society.
Adinkra
is a set of symbols developed by the Akan
(Ghana
and Cote d'Ivoire
), used to represent concepts and aphorisms.
Vai
is syllabic script invented by Mɔmɔlu Duwalu Bukɛlɛ in Liberia during the 1830s.
Niger-Congo Languages are tonal in nature. Talking drums exploit the tonal aspect of Niger-Congo languages to convey very complicated messages. Talking drums can send messages 15 to 25 miles (40.2 km). Bulu, a bantu language, can be drummed as well as spoken. In a Bulu village, each individual had a unique drum signature. A message could be sent to an individual by drumming his drum signature. It has been noted that a message can be sent 100 miles (160.9 km) from village to village within two hours or less using a talking drum.
Griots are repositories of African history, especially in African societies with no written language. Griots can recite genealogies going back centuries. They recite epics that reveal historical occurrences and events. Griots can go for hours and even days reciting the histories and genealogies of societies. They have been described as living history books.
Adamorobe Sign Language
is an indigenous sign language developed in the Adamorobe Akan
village in Eastern Ghana
. The village has a high incident of genetic deafness.
In 1260, the first portable hand cannons (midfa) loaded with explosive gunpowder, the first example of a handgun and portable firearm, were used by the Egyptians to repel the Mongols at the Battle of Ain Jalut
. The cannons had an explosive gunpowder composition almost identical to the ideal compositions for modern explosive gunpowder. They were also the first to use dissolved talc for fire protection, and they wore fireproof clothing, to which Gunpowder cartridges were attached.
Aksumite weapons were mainly made of iron: iron spears, iron swords, and iron knives called poniards. Shields were made of buffalo hide. In the latter part of the 19th century, Ethiopia made a concerted effort to modernize her army. She acquired repeating rifles, artillery, and machine guns. This modernization facilitated the Ethiopian victory over the Italians at the Tigray town of Adwa in the 1896
Battle of Adwa. Ethiopia was one of the few African countries to use artillery in colonial wars.
The Sahelian military consisted of cavalry and infantry. Cavalry consisted of shielded, mounted soldiers. Body armor was chain mail or heavy quilted cotton. Helmets were made of leather, elephant, or hippo hide. Imported horses were shielded. Horse armor consisted of
quilted cotton packed with kapok fiber and copper face plate. The stirrups could be used as weapon to disembowel enemy infantry or mounted soldiers at close range. Weapons included the sword, lance, battle-axe, and broad-bladed spear. The infantry were armed with bow and iron tipped arrows. Iron tips were usually laced with poison, from the West African plant Strophantus hispidus. Quivers of 40–50 arrows would be carried into battle. Later, muskets were introduced.
in 1274, according to 14th-century historian Ibn Khaldun
.
Most of tropical Africa
did not have a cavalry. Horses would be wiped out by tse-tse fly. The zebra
was never domesticated. The army of tropical Africa
consisted of mainly infantry. Weapons included bows and arrows with low bow strength that compensated with poison tipped arrows. Throwing knives were made use of in central Africa, spears that could double as thrusting cutting weapons, and swords were also in use. Heavy clubs when thrown could break bones,battle axe, and shields of various sizes were in widespread use. Later guns, muskets such as flintlock, wheelock, and matchlock. Against popular perception guns were in widespread use in Africa. They typically were of poor quality, a policy of European nations to provide poor quality merchandise. One reason the slave trade was so successful was the widespread use of guns in Africa.
Fortification was a major part of defense, integral to warfare. Massive earthworks were built around cities and settlements in West Africa, typically defended by soldiers with bow and poison tipped arrows. The earthworks are some of the largest man made structures in Africa and the world such as the wall of Benin and Sungbo's Eredo
. In Central Africa, the Angola region, one find preference for ditches, which were more successful for defense against wars with Europeans.
African infantry did not just include men. The state of Dahomey included all female units, who were personal body guards of the king. The Queen Mother of Benin had her own personal army,'Queens Own'.
Battle of Isandhlawana, Zulu army defeats British invading troops, on January 22, 1879.
From the 1960s to the 1980s, South Africa
pursued research into weapons of mass destruction
, including nuclear
, biological, and chemical weapons. Six nuclear weapons were assembled. With the anticipated changeover to a majority-elected government in the 1990s, the South African government dismantled all of its nuclear weapons, the first nation in the world which voluntarily gave up nuclear arms it had developed itself.
imported ivory, gold, incense, hardwood, and ostrich feather.
Nubia
exported gold, cotton/cotton cloth, ostrich feathers, leopard skins, ivory, ebony, and iron/iron weapons.
Aksum exported ivory, glass crystal, brass, copper, myrrh, and frinkincense. She imported silver, gold, olive oil, and wine.
The Aksumites produced coins around 270 CE, under the rule of king Endubis. Aksumite coins were issued in gold, silver, and bronze.
, Mali Empire
, and Songhay Empire were major exporters of gold, iron, tin, slaves, spears, javelin, arrows, bows, whips of hippo hide. They imported salt, horses, wheat, raisins, cowries, dates, copper, henna, olives, tanned hides, silk, cloth, brocade, Venetian pearls, mirrors, and tobacco.
Some of the currencies used in the Sahel are as follows:
1. Paper debt or IOU's were used for long distance trade.
2. Gold coins were also in use.
3. The mitkal(gold dust) currency was in use. It was gold dust that weighed 4.6 grams equivalent to 500 or 3,000 cowries.
4. Square cloth, four spans on each side, called chigguiya was used around the Senegal River.
In Kanem
cloth was the major currency. A cloth currency called dandi was in widespread use.
imported gold, copper, ivory, and slaves from tropical Africa. Carthage exported salt, cloth, metal goods.
Before camels were used in the trans-saharan trade pack animals, ox, donkeys, mules, and horses were utilized. Extensive use of camels began in the 1st century CE. Carthage minted gold, silver, bronze, and electrum
(mix gold and silver) coins mainly for fighting wars with Greeks and Romans. Most of their fighting force were mercenaries, who had to be paid.
Islamic North Africa made use of the Almoravid dinar
and Fatimid
dinar
, gold coins. The Almoravid dinar and the Fatimid
dinar were printed on gold from the Sahelian empires. The ducat
of Genoa and Venice and the florine of Florence were also printed on gold from the Sahelian empires.
The Swahilis served as middlemen. They connected African goods to Asian markets and Asian goods to African markets. Their most in demand export was Ivory. They exported ambergis, gold, leopard skins, slave, and tortoise shell. They imported from Asia oriental pottery and glassware. They also manufactured items such as cotton, glass and shell beads. Imports and locally manufactured goods were used as trade to acquire African goods. Trade links included the Arabian Peninsula, Persia, India, and China. The Swahili also
minted silver and copper coins.
Numerous metal objects and other items were used as currency in Africa. They are as follows: cowrie shells, salt, gold(dust or solid), copper, ingots, iron chains, tips of iron spears, iron knives, cloth in various shapes(square, rolled)etc. Copper
was as valuable as gold in Africa. Copper was not as widespread and more difficult to acquire, except in Central Africa, than gold. Other valuable metals included lead and tin. Salt
was also as valuable as gold. Because of its scarcity, it was used as currency.
The use of cowries as currency in West Africa has been since the 11 century when it was first recorded near Old Ghana. Its use has been much older. Sijilmasa
in present day Morocco seems to be a major source of cowries in the trans-saharan trade. In western Africa, shell money was usual tender up until the middle of the 19th century. Before the abolition of the slave trade there were large shipments of cowry shells to some of the English ports for reshipment to the slave coast. It was also common in West Central Africa as the currency of the Kingdom of Kongo called locally nzimbu. As the value of the cowry was much greater in West Africa than in the regions from which the supply was obtained, the trade was extremely lucrative. In some cases the gains are said to have been 500%. The use of the cowry currency gradually spread inland in Africa. By about 1850 Heinrich Barth found it fairly widespread in Kano, Kuka, Gando, and even Timbuktu. Barth relates that in Muniyoma, one of the ancient divisions of Bornu, the king's revenue was estimated at 30,000,000 shells, with every adult male being required to pay annually 1000 shells for himself, 1000 for every pack-ox, and 2000 for every slave in his possession. In the countries on the coast, the shells were fastened together in strings of 40 or 100 each, so that fifty or twenty strings represented a dollar; but in the interior they were laboriously counted one by one, or, if the trader were expert, five by five. The districts mentioned above received their supply of kurdi, as they were called, from the west coast; but the regions to the north of Unyamwezi, where they were in use under the name of simbi, were dependent on Muslem traders from Zanzibar. The shells were used in the remoter parts of Africa until the early 20th century, but gave way to modern currencies. The shell of the land snail, Achatina monetaria, cut into circles with an open center was also used as coin in Benguella, Portuguese West Africa.
In 953, the earliest historical record of a reservoir pen dates back to 953, when Ma'ad al-Mu'izz, the caliph of Egypt, demanded a pen which would not stain his hands or clothes, and was provided with a pen which held ink in a reservoir and delivered it to the nib, as recorded by Qadi al-Nu'man al-Tamimi (d. 974) in his Kitdb al-Majalis wa'l-musayardt.
Ahmed Zewail
, in 1999 won the Nobel Prize
in chemistry for his work in femtochemistry
, methods that allow the description of change states in femtoseconds or very short seconds.
, Henri Matisse
, and Jacques Lipchitz
. The Democratic Republic of the Congo
has a rocket
ry program called Troposphere.
Stone Age
The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...
by hominid ancestors in the areas of Africa where humans are believed to have evolved.
Forty percent of African scientists live in OECD countries, predominantly western countries. This has been described as an African brain drain
Brain drain
Human capital flight, more commonly referred to as "brain drain", is the large-scale emigration of a large group of individuals with technical skills or knowledge. The reasons usually include two aspects which respectively come from countries and individuals...
.
Sub-Saharan African countries spent an average of just 0.3% of their GDP on S&T(Science and Technology) in 2007. This represent and increase from US$1.8bn in 2002 to US$2.8bn in 2007. North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
n countries spend 0.4% of GDP on S&T, an increase from US$2.6bn in 2002 to US$3.3bn in 2007. This represent an increase of 50% in spending in S&T in Africa. South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
is the sole exception. South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
spends 0.87% of GDP on S&T.
Although technology parks have a long history, first in the US and later in Europe and the rest of the
world, their presence in Africa is still limited, as Africa continues to lag behind other regions of the
world in terms of technological development and innovation. Only six countries (Morocco
Science and technology in Morocco
Science and technology in Morocco has significantly developed in recent years. The Moroccan government has been implementing reforms to encourage scientific research in the Kingdom. While research has yet to acquire the status of a national priority in Morocco, the country does have major assets...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
, Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
, Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
and South Africa
Science and technology in South Africa
-Astronomy:The first significant work in astronomy in South Africa was performed by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille between 1751 and 1753, culminating in the measurement of the arc of the southern meridian and a catalog of almost 10 000 southern stars, later published as Coelum Australe Stelliferum.The...
) have initiated programmes of technology parks as an integral strategy of their sustainable development.
In recent years more African countries have embraced technology as a driver of development e.g. Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
's Vision 2030 and Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
's rapid ICT growth. The growth especially in mobile telephony and ICT across sub-Saharan Africa has improved living standards greatly. Membership in social networking sites such as Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
and Tokea! has risen from a few hundreds to over 100,000.
Early man
As modern man was first developed in the Great Rift ValleyGreat Rift Valley
The Great Rift Valley is a name given in the late 19th century by British explorer John Walter Gregory to the continuous geographic trench, approximately in length, that runs from northern Syria in Southwest Asia to central Mozambique in South East Africa...
of Africa, the first development of tools is found there as well:
- Homo habilisHomo habilisHomo habilis is a species of the genus Homo, which lived from approximately at the beginning of the Pleistocene period. The discovery and description of this species is credited to both Mary and Louis Leakey, who found fossils in Tanzania, East Africa, between 1962 and 1964. Homo habilis Homo...
, residing in East AfricaEast AfricaEast Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
, developed the first toolmaking industry, the OlduwanOlduwanThe Oldowan, often spelled Olduwan or Oldawan, is the archaeological term used to refer to the stone tool industry that was used by Hominines during the Lower Paleolithic period...
, around 2.3 million BCE. - Homo ergasterHomo ergasterHomo ergaster is an extinct chronospecies of Homo that lived in eastern and southern Africa during the early Pleistocene, about 2.5–1.7 million years ago.There is still disagreement on the subject of the classification, ancestry, and progeny of H...
developed the AcheuleanAcheuleanAcheulean is the name given to an archaeological industry of stone tool manufacture associated with early humans during the Lower Palaeolithic era across Africa and much of West Asia, South Asia and Europe. Acheulean tools are typically found with Homo erectus remains...
stone tool industry, specifically hand-axes, in Africa, 1.5 million BCE. This tool industry spread to the Middle East and Europe around 800,000 to 600,000 BCE. Homo erectusHomo erectusHomo erectus is an extinct species of hominid that lived from the end of the Pliocene epoch to the later Pleistocene, about . The species originated in Africa and spread as far as India, China and Java. There is still disagreement on the subject of the classification, ancestry, and progeny of H...
begins using fire. - Homo sapiens sapiens or modern man created bone tools and the back blade around 90,000 to 60,000 BCE, in Southern and East Africa. The use of bone tools and back blades became characteristic of later stone tool industries. The appearance of abstract art is during this period. The oldest abstract art in the world is a shell necklace dated 82,000 years in the Cave of Pigeons in Taforalt, eastern Morocco. The second oldest abstract art and the oldest rock art is found in the Blombos CaveBlombos CaveBlombos Cave is a cave in a calcarenite limestone cliff on the Southern Cape coast in South Africa. It is an archaeological site made famous by the discovery of 75,000-year-old pieces of ochre engraved with abstract designs and beads made from Nassarius shells, and c. 80,000-year-old bone tools...
at the cape in South AfricaSouth AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, dated 77,000 years.
Nile Valley
In 295 BC, the Library of AlexandriaLibrary of Alexandria
The Royal Library of Alexandria, or Ancient Library of Alexandria, in Alexandria, Egypt, was the largest and most significant great library of the ancient world. It flourished under the patronage of the Ptolemaic dynasty and functioned as a major center of scholarship from its construction in the...
was founded in Egypt. It was considered the largest library in the classical world.
Al-Azhar University
Al-Azhar University
Al-Azhar University is an educational institute in Cairo, Egypt. Founded in 970~972 as a madrasa, it is the chief centre of Arabic literature and Islamic learning in the world. It is the oldest degree-granting university in Egypt. In 1961 non-religious subjects were added to its curriculum.It is...
, founded in 970~972 as a madrasa, is the chief centre of Arabic literature and Sunni Islamic learning in the world. The oldest degree-granting university in Egypt after the Cairo University
Cairo University
Cairo University is a public university located in Giza, Egypt.The university was founded on December 21, 1908, as the result of an effort to establish a national center for educational thought...
, its establishment date may be considered 1961 when non-religious subjects were added to its curriculum.
Sahelian
Three philosophical schools in Mali existed during her golden age (12th–16th centuries) University of Sankore, Sidi Yahya University, and Djinguereber UniversityDjinguereber Mosque
The Djinguereber Mosque in Timbuktu is a famous learning center of Mali built in 1327, and cited as Djingareyber or Djingarey Ber in various languages. Its design is accredited to Abu Es Haq es Saheli who was paid 200 kg of gold by Mansa Kankan Musa, emperor of the Mali Empire...
.
By the end of Mansa Musa's reign, the Sankoré University had been converted into a fully staffed University with the largest collections of books in Africa since the Library of Alexandria
Library of Alexandria
The Royal Library of Alexandria, or Ancient Library of Alexandria, in Alexandria, Egypt, was the largest and most significant great library of the ancient world. It flourished under the patronage of the Ptolemaic dynasty and functioned as a major center of scholarship from its construction in the...
. The Sankoré University was capable of housing 25,000 students and had one of the largest libraries in the world with between 400,000 to 700,000 manuscripts.
Timbuktu
Timbuktu
Timbuktu , formerly also spelled Timbuctoo, is a town in the West African nation of Mali situated north of the River Niger on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert. The town is the capital of the Timbuktu Region, one of the eight administrative regions of Mali...
was a major center of book copying, with scholars visiting from throughout the Muslim world.
Other African traditions
In 859 AD, the University of Al KaraouineUniversity of Al Karaouine
The University of Al-Karaouine or Al-Qarawiyyin is a university located in Fes, Morocco which was established in 1947. Its origins date back to 859, when it was founded as a mosque school or madrasa...
in Fes, Morocco is founded by the princess Fatima al-Fihri. It is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest academic degree-granting university in the world.
Astronomy
Nabta Playa
Nabta Playa was once a large basin in the Nubian Desert, located approximately 800 kilometers south of modern day Cairo or about 100 kilometers west of Abu Simbel in southern Egypt, 22° 32' north, 30° 42' east...
basin. About 1000 years older than Stonehenge
Stonehenge
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, about west of Amesbury and north of Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of a circular setting of large standing stones set within earthworks...
, the device may have been a prehistoric calendar which accurately marked the summer solstice
Summer solstice
The summer solstice occurs exactly when the axial tilt of a planet's semi-axis in a given hemisphere is most inclined towards the star that it orbits. Earth's maximum axial tilt to our star, the Sun, during a solstice is 23° 26'. Though the summer solstice is an instant in time, the term is also...
.
Nile Valley
Since the first modern measurements of the precise cardinal orientations of the pyramids by Flinders Petrie, various astronomical methods have been proposed for the original establishment of these orientations. It was recently proposed that this was done by observing the positions of two stars in the PloughPlough
The plough or plow is a tool used in farming for initial cultivation of soil in preparation for sowing seed or planting. It has been a basic instrument for most of recorded history, and represents one of the major advances in agriculture...
/ Big Dipper
Big Dipper
The Plough, also known as the Big Dipper or the Saptarishi , is an asterism of seven stars that has been recognized as a distinct grouping in many cultures from time immemorial...
which was known to Egyptians as the thigh. It is thought that a vertical alignment between these two stars checked with a plumb bob was used to ascertain where North lay. The deviations from true North using this model reflect the accepted dates of construction.
Egyptians were the first to develop a 365 day, 12 month calendar. It was a stellar calendar,created by observing the stars.
Some have argued that the pyramids were laid out as a map of the three stars in the belt of Orion, although this theory has been criticized by reputable astronomers.
During the 12th century, the astrolabic quadrant is invented in Egypt.
Sahelian
Based on the translation of 14 Timbuktu manuscripts, the following points can be made about Timbuktu astronomical science: 1. They made use of the Julian CalendarJulian calendar
The Julian calendar began in 45 BC as a reform of the Roman calendar by Julius Caesar. It was chosen after consultation with the astronomer Sosigenes of Alexandria and was probably designed to approximate the tropical year .The Julian calendar has a regular year of 365 days divided into 12 months...
2. They had a helio-centric view of the solar system 3. Diagrams of planets and orbits made use of complex mathematical calculations 4. Developed algorithm that accurately orient Timbuktu to Mecc. 5. They recorded astronomical events, including a meteor shower in August 1583.
Other African traditions
NamoratungaNamoratunga
Namoratunga represent an archaeoastronomical site at the west side of Lake Turkana in Kenya, believed to have been founded around 300 BC. Namoratunga II contains 19 basalt pillars, aligned with 7 star systems Triangulum, Pleiades, Bellatrix, Aldebaran, Central Orion, Saiph, and Sirius. Namoratunga...
a group of megaliths, dated 300 BCE, was used by Cushitic speaking people as an alignment with star systems tuned to a lunar calendar of 354 days. This discovery was made by B.N. Lynch and L. H. Robins of Michigan State University.
Great Zimbabwe
Great Zimbabwe
Great Zimbabwe is a ruined city that was once the capital of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe, which existed from 1100 to 1450 C.E. during the country’s Late Iron Age. The monument, which first began to be constructed in the 11th century and which continued to be built until the 14th century, spanned an...
could have been an astronomical observatory contends Richard Wade, of the Nkwe Ridge Observatory, South Africa after 30 years of researching the site. In southern Zimbabwe 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 Megaliths could be an eclipse predictor. The conical structure aligns with a supernova in the Vela, 700–800 years ago.
Three types of calendars can be found in Africa: 1. Lunar 2. Solar 3. Stellar. Most African calendar are a combination of the three.
African Calendars: Akan Calendar
Akan calendar
The Akan calendar is based on what the Akan call 'forty days'; Adaduanan . Close examination of the cycle reveals 42 different days, with the 43rd being the same as the first.-Nanson:...
, Egyptian calendar
Egyptian calendar
The ancient civil Egyptian calendar had a year that was 360 days long and was divided into 12 months of 30 days each, plus five extra days at the end of the year. The months were divided into three weeks of ten days each...
, Berber calendar
Berber calendar
The Berber calendar is the agricultural calendar that is traditionally used in North Africa regions. It is also known in Arabic as the fellāḥī "rustic" or ʿajamī "foreign" calendar...
, Ethiopian Calendar
Ethiopian calendar
The Ethiopian calendar , also called the Ge'ez calendar, is the principal calendar used in Ethiopia and also serves as the liturgical calendar for Christians in Eritrea belonging to the Eritrean Orthodox Church, Eastern Catholic Church and Lutheran Evangelical Church of Eritrea...
, Igbo calendar
Igbo calendar
The Igbo calendar is the traditional calendar system of the Igbo people which has 13 months in a year, 7 weeks in a month, and 4 days in a week. The calendar has its roots steeped in ritualism and symbolism; many parts of the Igbo calendar are named or dedicated to certain spirits and deities in...
, Yoruba Calendar
Yoruba calendar
The Yoruba calendar year starts from 3 June to 2 June of the following year. According to this calendar, the Gregorian year 2008 A. D. is the 10050th year of Yoruba culture. The traditional Yoruba week has four days...
, Shona calendar
Shona calendar
DaysSunday SvondoMonday MuvhuroTuesday ChipiriWednesday ChitatuThursday ChinaFriday ChishanuSaturday MugoveraMonthsJanuary Ndira KMZFebruary Kukadzi KMZMarch Kurume KMZApril Kubvumbi KMZMay Chivabvu KMZ...
, Swahili calendar, Xhosa calendar, Borana calendar
Borana calendar
The Borana calendar consist of 29.5 days and 12 months for a total 354 days in a year. It has no weeks. It is a lunar and stellar calendar.It is believed that the Borana of developed their own calendar around 300 BC. The Borana calendar is a lunar-stellar calendrical system, relying on astronomical...
, Luba calendar
Luba calendar
The Luba has a twelve month calendar. Each month is based on natural occurrences and human activity. It is not certain, but September is believed to be the beginning of the Luba year.1. Mvul'a Mbedi--first rains,the beginning of the rainy season...
South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
has cultivated a burgeoning astronomy community. It hosts the Southern African Large Telescope
Southern African Large Telescope
The Southern African Large Telescope is a 66m2 area optical telescope with a nominally 9.2 meter aperture but up to about 11.1m x ~9.8 m diameter aperture, and designed mainly for spectroscopy. It is located close to the town of Sutherland in the semi-desert region of the Karoo, South Africa...
, the largest optical telescope in the southern hemisphere. South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
is currently building the Karoo Array Telescope as a pathfinder for the $20 billion Square Kilometer Array project. South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
is a finalist, with Australia, to be the host of the SKA.
Mathematics
The Lebombo bone is the oldest known mathematical artifactHistory of computing hardware
The history of computing hardware is the record of the ongoing effort to make computer hardware faster, cheaper, and capable of storing more data....
. It dates from 35,000 BCE and consists of 29 distinct notches that were deliberately cut into a baboon
Baboon
Baboons are African and Arabian Old World monkeys belonging to the genus Papio, part of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. There are five species, which are some of the largest non-hominoid members of the primate order; only the mandrill and the drill are larger...
's fibula.
The Ishango bone
Ishango bone
The Ishango bone is a bone tool, dated to the Upper Paleolithic era. It is a dark brown length of bone, the fibula of a baboon, with a sharp piece of quartz affixed to one end, perhaps for engraving...
is a bone tool
Bone tool
Bone tools have been documented from the advent of Homo sapiens and are also known from Homo neanderthalensis contexts or even earlier. Bone is a ubiquitous material in hunter-gatherer societies even when other tool materials were not scarce or unavailable...
, dated to the Upper Paleolithic
Upper Paleolithic
The Upper Paleolithic is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. Very broadly it dates to between 40,000 and 10,000 years ago, roughly coinciding with the appearance of behavioral modernity and before the advent of...
era, about 18,000 to 20,000 BCE. It is a dark brown length of bone, the fibula of a baboon, with a sharp piece of quartz affixed to one end, perhaps for engraving or writing. It was first thought to be a tally stick
Tally stick
A tally was an ancient memory aid device to record and document numbers, quantities, or even messages. Tally sticks first appear as notches carved on animal bones, in the Upper Paleolithic. A notable example is the Ishango Bone...
, as it has a series of tally marks
Tally marks
Tally marks, or hash marks, are a unary numeral system. They are a form of numeral used for counting. They allow updating written intermediate results without erasing or discarding anything written down...
carved in three columns running the length of the tool, but some scientists have suggested that the groupings of notches indicate a mathematical understanding that goes beyond counting. These are the function postulated about the Ishango bones:
1. A tool for multiplication, division, and simple mathematical calculation 2. A six month lunar calendar 3. a construct of a woman, keeping track of her menstrual cycle
In the book How Mathematics Happened: The First 50,000 Years, Peter Rudman argues that the development of the concept of prime numbers could only have come about after the concept of division, which he dates to after 10,000 BC, with prime numbers probably not being understood until about 500 BC. He also writes that "no attempt has been made to explain why a tally of something should exhibit multiples of two, prime numbers between 10 and 20, and some numbers that are almost multiples of 10."
Nile Valley
The earliest attested examples of mathematical calculations date to the predynastic NaqadaNaqada
Naqada is a town on the west bank of the Nile in the Egyptian governorate of Qena. It was known in Ancient Egypt as Nubt and in classical antiquity as Ombos. Its name derives from ancient Egyptian nub, meaning gold, on account of the proximity of gold mines in the Eastern Desert.Naqada comprises...
period, and show a fully developed numeral system
Numeral system
A numeral system is a writing system for expressing numbers, that is a mathematical notation for representing numbers of a given set, using graphemes or symbols in a consistent manner....
. The importance of mathematics to an educated Egyptian is suggested by a New Kingdom fictional letter in which the writer proposes a scholarly competition between himself and another scribe regarding everyday calculation tasks such as accounting of land, labor and grain. Texts such as the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus
Rhind Mathematical Papyrus
The Rhind Mathematical Papyrus , is named after Alexander Henry Rhind, a Scottish antiquarian, who purchased the papyrus in 1858 in Luxor, Egypt; it was apparently found during illegal excavations in or near the Ramesseum. It dates to around 1650 BC...
and the Moscow Mathematical Papyrus
Moscow Mathematical Papyrus
The Moscow Mathematical Papyrus is an ancient Egyptian mathematical papyrus, also called the Golenishchev Mathematical Papyrus, after its first owner, Egyptologist Vladimir Golenishchev. Golenishchev bought the papyrus in 1892 or 1893 in Thebes...
show that the ancient Egyptians could perform the four basic mathematical operations—addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division—use fractions, compute the volumes of boxes and pyramids, and calculate the surface areas of rectangles, triangles, circles and even spheres. They understood basic concepts of algebra
Algebra
Algebra is the branch of mathematics concerning the study of the rules of operations and relations, and the constructions and concepts arising from them, including terms, polynomials, equations and algebraic structures...
and geometry
Geometry
Geometry arose as the field of knowledge dealing with spatial relationships. Geometry was one of the two fields of pre-modern mathematics, the other being the study of numbers ....
, and could solve simple sets of simultaneous equations
Simultaneous equations
In mathematics, simultaneous equations are a set of equations containing multiple variables. This set is often referred to as a system of equations. A solution to a system of equations is a particular specification of the values of all variables that simultaneously satisfies all of the equations...
.
Mathematical notation
Mathematical notation
Mathematical notation is a system of symbolic representations of mathematical objects and ideas. Mathematical notations are used in mathematics, the physical sciences, engineering, and economics...
was decimal, and based on hieroglyphic signs for each power of ten up to one million. Each of these could be written as many times as necessary to add up to the desired number; so to write the number eighty or eight hundred, the symbol for ten or one hundred was written eight times respectively. Because their methods of calculation could not handle most fractions with a numerator greater than one, ancient Egyptian fractions had to be written as the sum of several fractions. For example, the fraction two-fifths was resolved into the sum of one-third + one-fifteenth; this was facilitated by standard tables of values. Some common fractions, however, were written with a special glyph; the equivalent of the modern two-thirds is shown on the right.
Ancient Egyptian mathematicians had a grasp of the principles underlying the Pythagorean theorem
Pythagorean theorem
In mathematics, the Pythagorean theorem or Pythagoras' theorem is a relation in Euclidean geometry among the three sides of a right triangle...
, knowing, for example, that a triangle had a right angle opposite the hypotenuse
Hypotenuse
In geometry, a hypotenuse is the longest side of a right-angled triangle, the side opposite the right angle. The length of the hypotenuse of a right triangle can be found using the Pythagorean theorem, which states that the square of the length of the hypotenuse equals the sum of the squares of the...
when its sides were in a 3–4–5 ratio. They were able to estimate the area of a circle by subtracting one-ninth from its diameter and squaring the result:
- Area ≈ [D]2 = r2 ≈ 3.16r2,
a reasonable approximation of the formula π
Pi
' is a mathematical constant that is the ratio of any circle's circumference to its diameter. is approximately equal to 3.14. Many formulae in mathematics, science, and engineering involve , which makes it one of the most important mathematical constants...
r2.
The golden ratio
Golden ratio
In mathematics and the arts, two quantities are in the golden ratio if the ratio of the sum of the quantities to the larger quantity is equal to the ratio of the larger quantity to the smaller one. The golden ratio is an irrational mathematical constant, approximately 1.61803398874989...
seems to be reflected in many Egyptian constructions, including the pyramids
Egyptian pyramids
The Egyptian pyramids are ancient pyramid-shaped masonry structures located in Egypt.There are 138 pyramids discovered in Egypt as of 2008. Most were built as tombs for the country's Pharaohs and their consorts during the Old and Middle Kingdom periods.The earliest known Egyptian pyramids are found...
, but its use may have been an unintended consequence of the ancient Egyptian practice of combining the use of knotted ropes with an intuitive sense of proportion and harmony.
Based on engraved plans of Meroitic King Amanikhabali's pyramids, Nubians had a sophisticated understanding of mathematics and an appreciation of the harmonic ratio. The engraved plans is indicative of much to be revealed about Nubian mathematics.
Sahelian
All of the mathematical learning of the Islamic world during the medieval period was available to Timbuktu scholars: arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and trigonometry.Other African traditions
One of the major achievements found in Africa was the advance knowledge of fractalFractal
A fractal has been defined as "a rough or fragmented geometric shape that can be split into parts, each of which is a reduced-size copy of the whole," a property called self-similarity...
geometry. The knowledge of fractal
Fractal
A fractal has been defined as "a rough or fragmented geometric shape that can be split into parts, each of which is a reduced-size copy of the whole," a property called self-similarity...
geometry can be found in a wide aspect of African life from art, social design structures, architecture, to devination systems. With the discovery of fractal mathematics in widespread use in Africa, Ron Eglash had this to say,
-
- "We used to think of mathematics as a kind of ladder that you climb, and we would think of counting systems – one plus one equals two – as the first step and simple shapes as the second step. Recent mathematical developments like fractal geometry represented the top of the ladder in most Western thinking. But it's much more useful to think about the development of mathematics as a kind of branching structure and that what blossomed very late on European branches might have bloomed much earlier on the limbs of others. When Europeans first came to Africa, they considered the architecture very disorganized and thus primitive. It never occurred to them that the Africans might have been using a form of mathematics that they hadn't even discovered yet."
Metallurgy
Most of Sub-Saharan Africa moved from the Stone AgeStone Age
The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...
to the Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
. The Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
and Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
occurred simultaneously. North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
and the Nile Valley imported its iron technology from the Near East
Near East
The Near East is a geographical term that covers different countries for geographers, archeologists, and historians, on the one hand, and for political scientists, economists, and journalists, on the other...
and followed Near Eastern course of Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
and Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
development.
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
. The Egaro date is debatable with archaeologists, due to the method used to attain it. The Termit date of 1500 BCE is widely accepted. Iron use, in smelting
Smelting
Smelting is a form of extractive metallurgy; its main use is to produce a metal from its ore. This includes iron extraction from iron ore, and copper extraction and other base metals from their ores...
and forging for tools, appears in West Africa by 1200 BCE, making it one of the first places for the birth of the Iron Age. Before the 19th century, African methods of extracting iron was employed in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, until more advanced Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an methods were instituted.
In Aïr Mountains
Aïr Mountains
The Aïr Mountains is a triangular massif, located in northern Niger, within the Sahara desert...
region of Niger
Niger
Niger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...
, copper smelting was independently developed between 3000–2500 BCE. The undeveloped nature of the process indicates that it was not of foreign origin. Smelting in the region became mature around 1500 BCE.
Nile Valley
Nubia was a major source of gold in the ancient world. Gold was a major source of Kushitic wealth and power. Gold was mined East of the Nile in Wadi Allaqi and Wadi Cabgaba.Around 500 BCE, Nubia, in her Meroitic phase
Meroë
Meroë Meroitic: Medewi or Bedewi; Arabic: and Meruwi) is an ancient city on the east bank of the Nile about 6 km north-east of the Kabushiya station near Shendi, Sudan, approximately 200 km north-east of Khartoum. Near the site are a group of villages called Bagrawiyah...
, became a major manufacturer and exporter of iron. This was after being expelled from Egypt by Assyrians, who used iron weapons.
The Aksumites produced coins
Aksumite currency
Aksumite currency was the first native currency to be issued in Africa without direct control by an outside culture like the Romans or Greeks. It was issued and circulated from the middle of the height of the Kingdom of Aksum under King Endubis around AD 270 until it began its decline in the first...
around 270 CE, under the rule of king Endubis. Aksumite coins were issued in gold, silver, and bronze.
Sahelian
Africa was a major supplier of gold in world trade during the Medieval Age. The Sahelian empires became powerful by controlling the Trans-Saharan tradeTrans-Saharan trade
Trans-Saharan trade requires travel across the Sahara to reach sub-Saharan Africa. While existing from prehistoric times, the peak of trade extended from the 8th century until the late 16th century.- Increasing desertification and economic incentive :...
routes. They provided 2/3 of the gold in Europe and North Africa. The Almoravid dinar and the Fatimid dinar were printed on gold from the Sahelian empires. The ducat of Genoa and Venice and the florine of Florence were also printed on gold from the Sahelian empires. When gold sources were depleted in the Sahel, the empires turned to trade with the Ashante Kingdom.
The Swahili traders in East Africa, were major suppliers of gold to Asia in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean trade routes. The trading port cities and city-states of the Swahili East African coast were among the first African cities to come into contact with European explorers and sailors during the European Age of Discovery
Age of Discovery
The Age of Discovery, also known as the Age of Exploration and the Great Navigations , was a period in history starting in the early 15th century and continuing into the early 17th century during which Europeans engaged in intensive exploration of the world, establishing direct contacts with...
. Many were documented and praised in the recordings of North African explorer Abu Muhammad ibn Battuta
Ibn Battuta
Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Battuta , or simply Ibn Battuta, also known as Shams ad–Din , was a Muslim Moroccan Berber explorer, known for his extensive travels published in the Rihla...
.
Other African traditions
Besides being masters in iron, Africans were masters in brass and bronze. Ife produced life-like statues in brass, an artistic tradition beginning in the 13th century. Benin mastered bronze during the 16th century, produced portraiture and reliefs in the metal using the lost wax process. Benin also was a manufacturer of glass, glass beads.Anthropologist Peter Schmidt discovered through the communication of oral tradition that the Haya have been forging steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
for nearly 2000 years. This discovery was made accidentally while Schmidt was learning about the history of the Haya via their oral tradition. He was led to a tree which was said to rest on the spot of an ancestral furnace used to forge steel. When later tasked with the challenge of recreating the forges, a group of elders who at this time were the only ones to remember the practice, due to the disuse of the practice due in part to the abundance of steel flowing into the country from foreign sources. In spite of their lack of practice, the elders were able to create a furnace
Furnace
A furnace is a device used for heating. The name derives from Latin fornax, oven.In American English and Canadian English, the term furnace on its own is generally used to describe household heating systems based on a central furnace , and sometimes as a synonym for kiln, a device used in the...
using mud and grass which when burnt provided the carbon needed to transform the iron into steel. Later investigation of the area yielded 13 other furnaces similar in design to the recreation set up by the elders. These furnaces were carbon dated and were found to be as old as 2000 years, whereas steel of this caliber did not appear in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
until several centuries later.
Two types of iron furnaces were used in Sub-Saharan Africa: the trench dug below ground and circular clay structures built above ground. Iron ores were crushed and placed in furnaces layered with the right proportion of hardwood. A flux such as lime sometimes from seashells were added to aid in smelting. Bellows on the side would be used to add oxygen. Clay pipes on the sides called tuyéres would be used to control oxygen flow.
Nile Valley
Ancient Egyptian physicians were renowned in the ancient Near East for their healing skills, and some, like Maddie, remained famous long after their deaths. HerodotusHerodotus
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
remarked that there was a high degree of specialization among Egyptian physicians, with some treating only the head or the stomach, while others were eye-doctors and dentists. Training of physicians took place at the Per Ankh or "House of Life" institution, most notably those headquartered in Per-Bastet
Bubastis
Bubastis , also known as Tell Basta or Egyptian Per-Bast was an Ancient Egyptian city, the capital of its own nome, located along the River Nile in the Delta region of Lower Egypt...
during the New Kingdom and at Abydos
Abydos, Egypt
Abydos is one of the most ancient cities of Upper Egypt, and also of the eight Upper Nome, of which it was the capital city. It is located about 11 kilometres west of the Nile at latitude 26° 10' N, near the modern Egyptian towns of el-'Araba el Madfuna and al-Balyana...
and Saïs
Sais, Egypt
Sais or Sa el-Hagar was an ancient Egyptian town in the Western Nile Delta on the Canopic branch of the Nile. It was the provincial capital of Sap-Meh, the fifth nome of Lower Egypt and became the seat of power during the Twenty-fourth dynasty of Egypt and the Saite Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt ...
in the Late period. Medical papyri
Medical papyri
Egyptian medical papyri are ancient Egyptian texts written on papyrus which permit a glimpse at medical procedures and practices in ancient Egypt. The papyri give details on disease, diagnosis, and remedies of disease, which include herbal remedies, surgery, and magical spells. It is thought there...
show empirical knowledge
A priori and a posteriori (philosophy)
The terms a priori and a posteriori are used in philosophy to distinguish two types of knowledge, justifications or arguments...
of anatomy, injuries, and practical treatments. Wounds were treated by bandaging with raw meat, white linen, sutures, nets, pads and swabs soaked with honey to prevent infection, while opium was used to relieve pain. Garlic and onions were used regularly to promote good health and were thought to relieve asthma
Asthma
Asthma is the common chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and bronchospasm. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath...
symptoms. Ancient Egyptian surgeons stitched wounds, set broken bones
Broken Bones
Broken Bones are a Hardcore punk band with a distinct sound that is heavily influenced by other UKHC punk bands such as Discharge, and in later cases, crossover thrash.-Career:...
, and amputated diseased limbs, but they recognized that some injuries were so serious that they could only make the patient comfortable until he died.
Around 800, the first psychiatric hospital and insane asylum in Egypt is built by Muslim physicians in Cairo.
Around 1100, the ventilator is invented in Egypt.
In 1285, the largest hospital of the Middle Ages and pre-modern era is built in Cairo, Egypt, by Sultan Qalaun al-Mansur. Treatment was given for free to patients of all backgrounds, regardless of gender, ethnicity or income.
Tetracycline was being used by Nubians, based on bone remains between 350 AD and 550 AD. The antibiotic was in wide commercial use only in the mid 20th century. The theory is earthen jars containing grain used for making beer contained the bacteria streptomycedes, which produced tetracycline. Although Nubians were not aware of tetracycline, they could have notice people fared better by drinking beer. According to Charlie Bamforth, a professor of biochemistry and brewing science at the University of California, Davis, said "They must have consumed it because it was rather tastier than the grain from which it was derived. They would have noticed people fared better by consuming this product than they were just consuming the grain itself."
Sahelian
In DjennéDjenné
Djenné is an Urban Commune and town in the Inland Niger Delta region of central Mali. In the 2009 census the commune had a population of 32,944. Administratively it is part of the Mopti Region....
the mosquito was identified to be the cause of malaria, and the removal of cataracts was a common surgical procedure.
The dangers of tobacco smoking were known to African Muslim scholars, based on Timbuktu manuscripts.
Other African traditions
European travelers in the Great Lakes region of Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
(Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
and Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
) during the 19th century observed Caeserean sections being performed on a regular basis. The expectant mother was normally anesthetized with banana wine, and herbal mixtures were used to encourage healing. From the well-developed nature of the procedures employed, European observers concluded that they had been employed for some time.
A South African, Max Theiler
Max Theiler
Max Theiler was a South African/American virologist. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1951 for developing a vaccine against yellow fever.-Career development:...
, developed a vaccine against Yellow Fever in 1937.
The first human-to-human heart transplant was performed by South African cardiac surgeon Christiaan Barnard
Christiaan Barnard
Christiaan Neethling Barnard was a South African cardiac surgeon who performed the world's first successful human-to-human heart transplant.- Early life :...
at Groote Schuur Hospital
Groote Schuur Hospital
Groote Schuur Hospital is a large, government-funded, teaching hospital situated on the slopes of Devil's Peak in the city of Cape Town, South Africa...
in December 1967.
During the 1960s, South African Aaron Klug
Aaron Klug
Sir Aaron Klug, OM, PRS is a Lithuanian-born British chemist and biophysicist, and winner of the 1982 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his development of crystallographic electron microscopy and his structural elucidation of biologically important nucleic acid-protein complexes.-Biography:Klug was...
developed crystallographic electron microscopy techniques, in which a sequence of two-dimensional images of crystals taken from different angles are combined to produce three-dimensional images of the target.
South African, Allan McLeod Cormack
Allan McLeod Cormack
Allan MacLeod Cormack was a South African-born American physicist who won the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on X-ray computed tomography ....
develop the theoretical underpinnings of CT scanning and co-invented the CT-scanner.
Nile Valley
Nabta Playa
Nabta Playa was once a large basin in the Nubian Desert, located approximately 800 kilometers south of modern day Cairo or about 100 kilometers west of Abu Simbel in southern Egypt, 22° 32' north, 30° 42' east...
and Bir Kiseiba as far back as 9000 BP, making it the first location of domestication. Scholars are divided as to independent and earliest domestication of cattle.
Between 13,000 and 11,0000 BCE wild grains began to be collected as source of food in the cataract region of the nile, south of Egypt. The collecting of wild grains as source of food spread to Syria, parts of Turkey and Iran by the eleventh millennium BCE. By the tenth and ninth millennia southwest Asians domesticated their wild grains, wheat and barley after the notion of collecting wild grains was spread from the nile.
The donkey
Donkey
The donkey or ass, Equus africanus asinus, is a domesticated member of the Equidae or horse family. The wild ancestor of the donkey is the African Wild Ass, E...
was domesticated in the Red Sea Hill and the Horn of Africa
Horn of Africa
The Horn of Africa is a peninsula in East Africa that juts hundreds of kilometers into the Arabian Sea and lies along the southern side of the Gulf of Aden. It is the easternmost projection of the African continent...
in 4000 BCE and spread to southwest Asia.
Ethiopians, particularly the Oromo people
Oromo people
The Oromo are an ethnic group found in Ethiopia, northern Kenya, .and parts of Somalia. With 30 million members, they constitute the single largest ethnic group in Ethiopia and approximately 34.49% of the population according to the 2007 census...
, were the first to have discovered and recognized the energizing effect of the coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
bean plant.
Cotton(Gossypium herbaceum Linnaeus) was domesticated 5000 BCE in eastern Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
near the Middle Nile Basin region, and cotton cloth was being produced.
Teff
Eragrostis tef, known as teff, taf , or khak shir , is an annual grass, a species of lovegrass native to the northern Ethiopian Highlands of Northeast Africa....
is believed to have originated in Ethiopia between 4000 and 1000 BCE. Genetic evidence points to E. pilosa as the most likely wild ancestor.Noog(Guizotia abyssinica) and ensete
Ensete
Ensete, or Enset, is a genus of plants, native to tropical regions of Africa and Asia. It is one of the three genera in the banana family, Musaceae.- Domesticated enset in Ethiopia :...
(E. ventricosum) are two other plants domesticated in Ethiopia.
Sahelian
AgricultureAgriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
was developed independently from the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
in the Sahel
Sahel
The Sahel is the ecoclimatic and biogeographic zone of transition between the Sahara desert in the North and the Sudanian Savannas in the south.It stretches across the North African continent between the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea....
.
The first instances of domestication of plants for agricultural purposes in Africa occurred in the Sahel
Sahel
The Sahel is the ecoclimatic and biogeographic zone of transition between the Sahara desert in the North and the Sudanian Savannas in the south.It stretches across the North African continent between the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea....
region c. 5000 BCE, when sorghum
Sorghum
Sorghum is a genus of numerous species of grasses, one of which is raised for grain and many of which are used as fodder plants either cultivated or as part of pasture. The plants are cultivated in warmer climates worldwide. Species are native to tropical and subtropical regions of all continents...
and african rice
African rice
Oryza glaberrima, commonly known as African rice, is a domesticated rice species. African rice is believed to have been domesticated 2,000-3,000 years ago in the inland delta of the Upper Niger river, in what is now Mali...
(Oryza glaberrima) began to be cultivated. Around this time, and in the same region, the small Guineafowl
Guineafowl
The guineafowl are a family of birds in the Galliformes order, although some authorities include the guineafowl as a subfamily, Numidinae, of the family Phasianidae...
was domesticated. Other African domesticated plants were oil palm, raffia palm
Raffia palm
The Raffia palms are a genus of twenty species of palms native to tropical regions of Africa, especially Madagascar, with one species also occurring in Central and South America. They grow up to 16 m tall and are remarkable for their compound pinnate leaves, the longest in the plant kingdom;...
, black eyed peas, groundnuts, and kola nuts.
Yam
Yam (vegetable)
Yam is the common name for some species in the genus Dioscorea . These are perennial herbaceous vines cultivated for the consumption of their starchy tubers in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Oceania...
was domesticated 8000 BCE in West Africa. Between 7000 and 5000 BCE, pearl millet
Millet
The millets are a group of small-seeded species of cereal crops or grains, widely grown around the world for food and fodder. They do not form a taxonomic group, but rather a functional or agronomic one. Their essential similarities are that they are small-seeded grasses grown in difficult...
, gourds, watermelons, and beans, and farming and herding practices were spread westward across the southern Sahara.
West Africans were probably the first people to start using the method of fish lines and hook in fishing. The hooks were made of bone , hard wood, or shell between 16,000 to 9000 BCE.
Between 6500 and 3500 BCE knowledge of domesticated sorghum, castor beans, and two species of gourd spread from Africa to Asia, later pearl millet, black eyed peas, watermellon and okra to the rest of the world.
Pottery was first made in the Sahel around 9000 to 8000 BCE, making it one of the earliest region of independent pottery development.
Other African tradition
EngarukaEngaruka
Engaruka is an abandoned system of ruins in the Great Rift Valley of northern Tanzania , famed for its irrigation and cultivation system. It is considered one of the most important Tanzanian archaeological sites.-Site:...
is a ruined settlement on the slopes of Mount Ngorongoro in northern Tanzania.
Seven stone terraced villages along the mountainside comprised the settlement. A complex
structure of stone channel irrigation was used to dike, dam, and level surrounding river
waters. The stone channels run along the mountainside and base. Some of these channels were
several kilometers long channelling and feeding individual plots of land. The irrigation channels fed a total area of 5000 acres (20.2 km²).
Nile Valley
Egyptians wore linenLinen
Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....
from the flax
Flax
Flax is a member of the genus Linum in the family Linaceae. It is native to the region extending from the eastern Mediterranean to India and was probably first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent...
plant, which were beaten and combed. The priest and pharaohs wore leopard skin. The ancient Egyptians used looms as early as 4000 BCE.
Nubians mainly wore cotton, beaded leather, and linen
Linen
Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....
. Nubia was also a center of cotton manufacturing. Cotton was domesticated 5000 BCE in eastern Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
near the Middle Nile Basin region, and cotton cloth was being produced.
Shemma, shama, and kuta are all cotton base cloth used for making Ethiopian
Culture of Ethiopia
Ethiopian culture is multi-faceted, reflecting the ethnic diversity of the country; refer the articles on the Ethnic groups of Ethiopia for details of each group.Among many traditional customs, respect is important...
clothing.
Sahelian
Sahel
The Sahel is the ecoclimatic and biogeographic zone of transition between the Sahara desert in the North and the Sudanian Savannas in the south.It stretches across the North African continent between the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea....
is cotton. It is widely used in making the boubou
Boubou (clothing)
The Grand Boubou/Bubu is one of the names for a flowing wide sleeved robe worn by men in much of West Africa, and to a lesser extent in North Africa, related to the Dashiki suit...
(male) and kaftan
Wrapper (clothing)
The wrapper or pagne is a colorful women's garment widely worn in West Africa. It has formal and informal versions and varies from simple draped clothing to fully tailored ensembles. The formality of the wrapper depends on the fabric used to create it. The wrapper is called an Iro in the Yoruba...
(female), a style of West African clothing.
Bògòlanfini
Bògòlanfini
Bògòlanfini or bogolan is a handmade Malian cotton fabric traditionally dyed with fermented mud. It has an important place in traditional Malian culture and has, more recently, become a symbol of Malian cultural identity...
(mudcloth) is cotton textile dyed with fermented mud of tree sap and teas, hand made by the Bambara people of the Beledougou region of central Mali
Mali
Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...
.
By the 12th century, so-called Moroccan leather, which actually came from the Hausa
Hausa people
The Hausa are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa. They are a Sahelian people chiefly located in northern Nigeria and southeastern Niger, but having significant numbers living in regions of Cameroon, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Chad and Sudan...
area of northern Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
, was supplied to Mediterranean markets and found their way to the fairs and markets of such places as Normandy and Britain.
Other African traditions
Other African indigenous textile traditions included djellabaDjellaba
Djellaba is a traditional long, loose-fitting outer robe with full sleeves worn in the Maghreb region of North Africa and in Arabic-speaking countries along the Mediterranean.Traditionally djellabas are made of wool in different shapes and colors though nowadays...
, kente cloth
Kente cloth
Kente cloth, known locally as nwentoma, is a type of silk and cotton fabric made of interwoven cloth strips and is native to the Akan people of Ghana and the Ivory Coast.- Etymology :...
, raffia cloth, barkcloth
Barkcloth
Barkcloth or bark cloth is a versatile material that was once common in Asia, Africa, Indonesia, and the Pacific. Barkcloth comes primarily from trees of the Moraceae family, including Broussonetia papyrifera, Artocarpus altilis, and Ficus...
, kanga
Kanga (African garment)
The kanga which comes from the old Bantu verb ku-kanga to wrap or close, is a colourful garment similar to kitenge, worn by women and occasionally by men throughout Eastern Africa...
, kitenge
Kitenge
Kitenge or chitenge is an African garment similar to sarong, often worn by women wrapped around the chest or waist, over the head as a headscarf, or as a baby sling....
, and lamba mpanjaka. The Djellaba
Djellaba
Djellaba is a traditional long, loose-fitting outer robe with full sleeves worn in the Maghreb region of North Africa and in Arabic-speaking countries along the Mediterranean.Traditionally djellabas are made of wool in different shapes and colors though nowadays...
was made typically of wool and worn in the Maghreb. Kente used silk from the Anaphe moth and was produced by the Akan people
Akan people
The Akan people are an ethnic group found predominately in Ghana and The Ivory Coast. Akans are the majority in both of these countries and overall have a population of over 20 million people.The Akan speak Kwa languages-Origin and ethnogenesis:...
(Ashante, Fante, Enzema) in the countries of Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
and Ivory Coast. Raffia cloth was the innovation of the Kuba
Kuba Kingdom
The Kuba Kingdom was a pre-colonial Central African state bordered by the Sankuru, Lulua, and Kasai rivers in the southeast of what is today the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
people, present day Democratic Republic of Congo. It used the fibers of the leaves on the raffia palm
Raffia palm
The Raffia palms are a genus of twenty species of palms native to tropical regions of Africa, especially Madagascar, with one species also occurring in Central and South America. They grow up to 16 m tall and are remarkable for their compound pinnate leaves, the longest in the plant kingdom;...
tree. Barkcloth
Barkcloth
Barkcloth or bark cloth is a versatile material that was once common in Asia, Africa, Indonesia, and the Pacific. Barkcloth comes primarily from trees of the Moraceae family, including Broussonetia papyrifera, Artocarpus altilis, and Ficus...
was used by the Baganda
Baganda
The Ganda are an ethnic group native to Buganda, a subnational kingdom within Uganda. Traditionally comprising 52 tribes the Ganda have a rich history and culture...
in Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
from the Mutuba tree (Ficus natalensis). Kanga
Kanga (African garment)
The kanga which comes from the old Bantu verb ku-kanga to wrap or close, is a colourful garment similar to kitenge, worn by women and occasionally by men throughout Eastern Africa...
are Swahili
Swahili people
The Swahili people are a Bantu ethnic group and culture found in East Africa, mainly in the coastal regions and the islands of Kenya, Tanzania and north Mozambique. According to JoshuaProject, the Swahili number in at around 1,328,000. The name Swahili is derived from the Arabic word Sawahil,...
cloth that comes in rectangular shapes, made of pure cotton, and put together to make clothing. It is as long as ones outstretch hand and wide to cover the length of ones neck. Kitenges are similar to kangas and kikoy, but are of a thicker cloth, and have an edging only on a long side. Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
, Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
, and Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
are some of the African countries where kitenge is worn. In Malawi
Malawi
The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi. Its size...
, Namibia
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...
and Zambia
Zambia
Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
, kitenge is known as Chitenge. Lamba Mpanjaka was cloth made of multicolored silk, worn like a toga on the island of Madagascar.
Camel hair
Camel hair
Camel hair is, variously, the hair of a camel; a type of cloth made from camel hair; or a substitute for authentic camel hair; and is classified as a specialty hair fibre. When woven into haircloth, using the outer protective fur called guard hair, camel hair is coarse and inflexible...
was also used to make cloth in the Sahel
Sahel
The Sahel is the ecoclimatic and biogeographic zone of transition between the Sahara desert in the North and the Sudanian Savannas in the south.It stretches across the North African continent between the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea....
and North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
.
In Southern Africa one finds numerous use of animal hide and skins for clothing. The Ndau in central Mozambique and the Shona mixed hide with barkcloth, cotton cloth. Cotton weaving was practiced by the Ndau and Shona. Cotton cloth was referred to as machira. The Venda, Swazi, Basotho, Zulu, Ndebele], and Xhosa also made extensive use of hides. Hides came from cattle, sheep, goat, elephant, and from jangwa( part of the mongoose family). Leopard skins were coveted and was a symbol of kingship in Zulu society. Skins were tanned to form leather, dyed, and embedded with beads.
Three types of loom
Loom
A loom is a device used to weave cloth. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the warp threads under tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads...
s are used in Africa: 1. the double heddle loom for narrow strips of cloth, 2. the single heddle loom for wider spans of cloth 3. the ground or pit loom. The double heddle loom and single heddle loom might be of indigenous origin. The ground or pit loom is used in the Horn of Africa
Horn of Africa
The Horn of Africa is a peninsula in East Africa that juts hundreds of kilometers into the Arabian Sea and lies along the southern side of the Gulf of Aden. It is the easternmost projection of the African continent...
, Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
, and North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
and is of Middle Eastern origins.
Maritime
In 1987 the third oldest canoe in the world and the oldest in Africa was discovered in NigeriaNigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
by fulani herdsmen, near the Yobe river, in the village of Dufuna. It was dated 8000 years, cut out of African mahogany. Based on "stylistic sophistication", the tradition of canoe building must have gone further back in time, noted one archaeologist.
Nile Valley
Egypt's earliest known boat goes back 5000 years. Early EgyptiansEgyptians
Egyptians are nation an ethnic group made up of Mediterranean North Africans, the indigenous people of Egypt.Egyptian identity is closely tied to geography. The population of Egypt is concentrated in the lower Nile Valley, the small strip of cultivable land stretching from the First Cataract to...
knew how to assemble planks
Lumber
Lumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....
of wood into a ship hull as early as 3000 BC. The Archaeological Institute of America
Archaeological Institute of America
The Archaeological Institute of America is a North American nonprofit organization devoted to the promotion of public interest in archaeology, and the preservation of archaeological sites. It has offices on the campus of Boston University and in New York City.The institute was founded in 1879,...
reports that the oldest ships yet unearthed, a group of 14 discovered in Abydos
Abydos, Egypt
Abydos is one of the most ancient cities of Upper Egypt, and also of the eight Upper Nome, of which it was the capital city. It is located about 11 kilometres west of the Nile at latitude 26° 10' N, near the modern Egyptian towns of el-'Araba el Madfuna and al-Balyana...
, were constructed of wooden planks which were "sewn" together. Discovered by Egyptologist David O'Connor of New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
. woven strap
Strap
A strap, sometimes also called strop, is an elongated flap or ribbon, usually of fabric or leather.Thin straps are used as part of clothing or baggage, or bedding such as a sleeping bag. See for example spaghetti strap, shoulder strap...
s were found to have been used to lash the planks together, and reeds
Cyperus papyrus
Cyperus papyrus is a monocot belonging to the sedge family Cyperaceae. It is a herbaceous perennial native to Africa, and forms tall stands of reed-like swamp vegetation in shallow water....
or grass
Grass
Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...
stuffed between the planks helped to seal the seams. Because the ships are all buried together and near a mortuary belonging to Pharaoh Khasekhemwy
Khasekhemwy
Khasekhemwy was the fifth and final king of the Second dynasty of Egypt. Little is known of Khasekhemwy, other than that he led several significant military campaigns and built several monuments, still extant, mentioning war against the Northerners...
, originally they were all thought to have belonged to him, but one of the 14 ships dates to 3000 BC, and the associated pottery jars buried with the vesse The ship dating to 3000 BC was 75 feet (22.9 m) long and is now thought to perhaps have belonged to an earlier pharaoh. Professor O'Connor, the 5,000-year-old ship may have even belonged to Pharaoh Aha
Hor-Aha
Hor-Aha is considered the second pharaoh of the first dynasty of ancient Egypt in current Egyptology. He lived around the thirty-first century BC.- Name :...
.
Early Egyptians also knew how to assemble planks of wood with treenail
Treenail
A treenail, also trenail or trunnel, is a wooden peg or dowel used to fasten pieces of wood together, especially in timber frame construction and wooden shipbuilding. It is an ancient technology. Covered bridges in the U.S. often use treenails as fasteners. Many such bridges are still in use...
s to fasten them together, using pitch
Pitch (resin)
Pitch is the name for any of a number of viscoelastic, solid polymers. Pitch can be made from petroleum products or plants. Petroleum-derived pitch is also called bitumen. Pitch produced from plants is also known as resin. Products made from plant resin are also known as rosin.Pitch was...
for caulking
Caulking
Caulking is one of several different processes to seal joints or seams in various structures and certain types of piping. The oldest form of caulking is used to make the seams in wooden boats or ships watertight, by driving fibrous materials into the wedge-shaped seams between planks...
the seams
Stitch (textile arts)
In the textile arts, a stitch is a single turn or loop of thread or yarn. Stitches are the fundamental elements of sewing, knitting, embroidery, crochet, and needle lace-making, whether by hand or machine...
. The "Khufu ship
Khufu ship
The Khufu ship is an intact full-size vessel from Ancient Egypt that was sealed into a pit in the Giza pyramid complex at the foot of the Great Pyramid of Giza around 2500 BC. The ship was almost certainly built for Khufu , the second pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom of Egypt...
", a 43.6-meter vessel sealed into a pit in the Giza pyramid complex
Giza pyramid complex
The Giza Necropolis is an archaeological site on the Giza Plateau, on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. This complex of ancient monuments includes the three pyramid complexes known as the Great Pyramids, the massive sculpture known as the Great Sphinx, several cemeteries, a workers' village and an...
at the foot of the Great Pyramid of Giza
Great Pyramid of Giza
The Great Pyramid of Giza is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis bordering what is now El Giza, Egypt. It is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only one to remain largely intact...
in the Fourth Dynasty
Fourth dynasty of Egypt
The fourth dynasty of ancient Egypt is characterized as a "golden age" of the Old Kingdom. Dynasty IV lasted from ca. 2613 to 2494 BC...
around 2500 BCE, is a full-size surviving example which may have fulfilled the symbolic function of a solar barque. Early Egyptians also knew how to fasten the planks of this ship together with mortise and tenon
Mortise and tenon
The mortise and tenon joint has been used for thousands of years by woodworkers around the world to join pieces of wood, mainly when the adjoining pieces connect at an angle of 90°. In its basic form it is both simple and strong. Although there are many joint variations, the basic mortise and tenon...
joints.
It is known that ancient Axum
Axum
Axum or Aksum is a city in northern Ethiopia which was the original capital of the eponymous kingdom of Axum. Population 56,500 . Axum was a naval and trading power that ruled the region from ca. 400 BC into the 10th century...
traded with India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, and there is evidence that ships from Northeast Africa may have sailed back and forth between India/Sri Lanka and Nubia trading goods and even to Persia, Himyar and Rome
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
. Aksum was known by the Greeks
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
for having seaports for ships from Greece and Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
. Elsewhere in Northeast Africa, the Periplus of the Red Sea
Periplus of the Erythraean Sea
The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea or Periplus of the Red Sea is a Greco-Roman periplus, written in Greek, describing navigation and trading opportunities from Roman Egyptian ports like Berenice along the coast of the Red Sea, and others along Northeast Africa and India...
reports that Somalis
Somali people
Somalis are an ethnic group located in the Horn of Africa, also known as the Somali Peninsula. The overwhelming majority of Somalis speak the Somali language, which is part of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family...
, through their northern ports such as Zeila
Zeila
Zeila, also known as Zaila , is a port city on the Gulf of Aden coast, situated in the northwestern Awdal region of Somalia.Located near the Djibouti border, the town sits on a sandy spit surrounded by the sea. It is known for its offshore islands, coral reef and mangroves. Landward, the terrain is...
and Berbera
Berbera
Berbera is a city and seat of Berbera District in Somaliland, a self-proclaimed Independent Republic with de facto control over its own territory, which is recognized by the international community and the Somali Government as a part of Somalia...
, were trading frankincense
Frankincense
Frankincense, also called olibanum , is an aromatic resin obtained from trees of the genus Boswellia, particularly Boswellia sacra, B. carteri, B. thurifera, B. frereana, and B. bhaw-dajiana...
and other items with the inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula
Arabian Peninsula
The Arabian Peninsula is a land mass situated north-east of Africa. Also known as Arabia or the Arabian subcontinent, it is the world's largest peninsula and covers 3,237,500 km2...
well before the arrival of Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
as well as with then Roman
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
-controlled Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
.
Sahelian
In the 14th century CE King Abubakari II, the brother of King Mansa MusaMansa Musa
Musa I , commonly referred to as Mansa Musa, was the tenth mansa, which translates as "king of kings" or "emperor", of the Malian Empire...
of the Mali Empire
Mali Empire
The Mali Empire or Mandingo Empire or Manden Kurufa was a West African empire of the Mandinka from c. 1230 to c. 1600. The empire was founded by Sundiata Keita and became renowned for the wealth of its rulers, especially Mansa Musa I...
is thought to have had a great armada of ships sitting on the coast of West Africa
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
. This is corroborated by ibn Battuta himself who recalls several hundred Malian ships off the coast. The ships would communicate with each other by drums. This has led to great speculation, that Malian sailors may have reached the coast of Pre-Columbian
Pre-Columbian
The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during...
America under the rule of Abubakari II, nearly two hundred years before Christopher Columbus.
Numerous sources attest that the inland waterways of West Africa saw extensive use of war-canoes and vessels used for war transport where permitted by the environment. Most West African canoes were of single log construction, carved and dug-out from one massive tree trunk. The primary method of propulsion was by paddle and in shallow water, poles. Sails were also used to a lesser extent, particularly on trading vessels. The silk cotton tree provided many of thesui most table logs for massive canoe building, and launching was via wooden rollers to the water. Boat building specialists were to emerge among certain tribes, particularly in the Niger Delta.
Other African traditions
CarthageCarthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
's fleet included large numbers of quadriremes and quinqueremes, warships with four and five ranks of rowers. Its ships dominated the Mediterranean. The Romans however were masters at copying and adapting the technology of other peoples. According to Polybius, the Romans seized a shipwrecked Carthaginian warship, and used it as a blueprint for a massive naval build-up, adding their own refinement - the corvus – which allowed an enemy vessel to be "gripped" and boarded for hand-to-hand fighting. This negated initially superior Carthaginian seamanship and ships.
Swahili culture
Swahili culture is the culture of the Swahili people living on the east coast of Tanzania, Kenya, and Mozambique as well as on the islands in the area, from Zanzibar to Comoros, who speak Swahili as their native language....
are known to have had trade port islands and trade routes with the Islamic world and Asia and were described by Greek historians are "metropolises". Famous African trade ports such as Mombasa
Mombasa
Mombasa is the second-largest city in Kenya. Lying next to the Indian Ocean, it has a major port and an international airport. The city also serves as the centre of the coastal tourism industry....
, Zanzibar
Zanzibar
Zanzibar ,Persian: زنگبار, from suffix bār: "coast" and Zangi: "bruin" ; is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, in East Africa. It comprises the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja , and Pemba...
, Mogadishu
Mogadishu
Mogadishu , popularly known as Xamar, is the largest city in Somalia and the nation's capital. Located in the coastal Benadir region on the Indian Ocean, the city has served as an important port for centuries....
and Kilwa
Kilwa Kisiwani
Kilwa Kisiwani is a community on an island off the coast of East Africa, in present day Tanzania.- History :A document written around AD 1200 called al-Maqama al Kilwiyya discovered in Oman, gives details of a mission to reconvert Kilwa to Ibadism, as it had recently been effected by the Ghurabiyya...
were known to Chinese sailors such as Zheng He
Zheng He
Zheng He , also known as Ma Sanbao and Hajji Mahmud Shamsuddin was a Hui-Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat and fleet admiral, who commanded voyages to Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and East Africa, collectively referred to as the Voyages of Zheng He or Voyages of Cheng Ho from...
and medieval Islamic historians such as the Berber Islamic voyager Abu Abdullah ibn Battuta
Ibn Battuta
Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Battuta , or simply Ibn Battuta, also known as Shams ad–Din , was a Muslim Moroccan Berber explorer, known for his extensive travels published in the Rihla...
. The dhow
Dhow
Dhow is the generic name of a number of traditional sailing vessels with one or more masts with lateen sails used in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean region. Some historians believe the dhow was invented by Arabs but this is disputed by some others. Dhows typically weigh 300 to 500 tons, and have a...
was the ship of trade used by the Swahili. They could be massive. It was a dhow that transported a giraffe to Chinese Emperor Yong Le's court, in 1414. Although the dhow is often associated with Arabs, it is of Indian roots.
Nile Valley
The Egyptian step pyramid built at Saqqara is the oldest major stone building in the world.The Great Pyramid
Great Pyramid of Giza
The Great Pyramid of Giza is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis bordering what is now El Giza, Egypt. It is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only one to remain largely intact...
was the tallest man-made structure in the world for over 3,800 years.
The earliest style of Nubian architecture
Nubian architecture
Nubian architecture is diverse and ancient. Permanent villages have been found in Nubia which date from 6000 BC. These villages were roughly contemporary with the walled town of Jericho in Palestine.-Early Period:...
included the speos, structures carved out of solid rock, an A-Group
A-group
A-Group is the designation for a distinct culture that arose between the First and Second Cataracts of the Nile in Nubia betweenthe Egyptian 1st dynasty and the 3rd millennium BC.The A-Group settled on very poor land with scarce natural resources, yet...
(3700–3250 BCE) achievement. Egyptians made extensive use of the process at Speos Artemidos
Speos Artemidos
The Speos Artemidos is an archaeological site in Egypt. It is located about 2 km south of the Middle Kingdom tombs at Beni Hasan, and about 28 km south of Al Minya. Today, the site is a small village known as Istabl Antar....
and Abu Simbel
Abu Simbel
Abu Simbel temples refers to two massive rock temples in Abu Simbel in Nubia, southern Egypt on the western bank of Lake Nasser about 230 km southwest of Aswan...
.
Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
, site of ancient Nubia
Nubia
Nubia is a region along the Nile river, which is located in northern Sudan and southern Egypt.There were a number of small Nubian kingdoms throughout the Middle Ages, the last of which collapsed in 1504, when Nubia became divided between Egypt and the Sennar sultanate resulting in the Arabization...
, has more pyramids than anywhere in the world, even more than Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, a total of 223 pyramids exist.
Aksumites built in stone. Monolithic stelae on top of the graves of kings like King Ezana's Stele
King Ezana's Stele
King Ezana's Stele is the central obelisk still standing in the Northern Stelae Park in the ancient city of Axum, in modern-day Ethiopia. This stele is probably the last erected one and the biggest of those remained unbroken...
. Later, during the Zagwe Dynasty
Zagwe dynasty
The Zagwe dynasty was an historical kingdom in present-day Ethiopia. It ruled large parts of the territory from approximately 1137 to 1270, when the last Zagwe King Za-Ilmaknun was killed in battle by the forces of Yekuno Amlak...
Churches carved out of solid rocks like Church of Saint George at Lalibela.
Sahelian
TichitTichit
Tichit is a partly abandoned village at the foot of the Tagant Plateau in central southern Mauritania that is known for its vernacular architecture...
is the oldest surviving archaeological settlements in West Africa
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
and the oldest all-stone settlement south of the Sahara. It is thought to have been built by Soninke people and is thought to be the precursor of the Ghana empire
Ghana Empire
The Ghana Empire or Wagadou Empire was located in what is now southeastern Mauritania, and Western Mali. Complex societies had existed in the region since about 1500 BCE, and around Ghana's core region since about 300 CE...
.
Adobe, mudbrick
Mudbrick
A mudbrick is a firefree brick, made of a mixture of clay, mud, sand, and water mixed with a binding material such as rice husks or straw. They use a stiff mixture and let them dry in the sun for 25 days....
, and earth were the medium of West African and Sahelian architecture. Some notable structures are as follows:
The Great Mosque of Djenné
Great Mosque of Djenné
The Great Mosque of Djenné is the largest mud brick or adobe building in the world and is considered by many architects to be the greatest achievement of the Sudano-Sahelian architectural style, with definite Islamic influences. The mosque is located in the city of Djenné, Mali on the flood plain...
is the largest mud brick or adobe building in the world and is considered by many architects to be the greatest achievement of the Sudano-Sahelian architectural style, albeit with definite Islamic influences.
The Walls of Benin
Walls of Benin
The Walls of Benin were a combination of ramparts and moats, called Iya in the local language, used as a defense of the historical Benin City, formerly of the now defunct Kingdom of Benin and now the capital of the present-day Edo State of Nigeria...
City are collectively the world's largest man-made structure and were semi-destroyed by the British in 1897. Fred Pearce wrote in New scientist:
-
-
- "They extend for some 16,000 kilometres in all, in a mosaic of more than 500 interconnected settlement boundaries. They cover 6500 square kilometres and were all dug by the EdoEdo, also romanized as Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo, and was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868...
people. In all, they are four times longer than the Great Wall of China, and consumed a hundred times more material than the Great Pyramid of Cheops. They took an estimated 150 million hours of digging to construct, and are perhaps the largest single archaeological phenomenon on the planet.
- "They extend for some 16,000 kilometres in all, in a mosaic of more than 500 interconnected settlement boundaries. They cover 6500 square kilometres and were all dug by the Edo
-
Sungbo's Eredo
Sungbo's Eredo
Sungbo's Eredo is a rampart or system of walls and ditches that is located to the south-west of the Yoruba town of Ijebu-Ode in Ogun state, southwest Nigeria . It was built in honour of the Ijebu noblewoman Oloye Bilikisu Sungbo, and is reputed to be the largest single pre-colonial monument in...
is the second largest pre-colonial monument in Africa, larger than the Great Pyramids or Great Zimbabwe
Great Zimbabwe
Great Zimbabwe is a ruined city that was once the capital of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe, which existed from 1100 to 1450 C.E. during the country’s Late Iron Age. The monument, which first began to be constructed in the 11th century and which continued to be built until the 14th century, spanned an...
. Built by the Yoruba people
Yoruba people
The Yoruba people are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa. The majority of the Yoruba speak the Yoruba language...
in honour of one of their titled personages, an aristocratic widow known as the Oloye Bilikisu Sungbo, it is made up of sprawling mud walls and the valleys that surrounded the town of Ijebu-Ode in Ogun state, Nigeria.
Other African traditions
One common theme in much traditional African architecture is the use of fractal scaling: small parts of the structure tend to look similar to larger parts, such as a circular village made of circular houses.Around 1000 AD, cob (tabya) first appears in the Maghreb and al-Andalus.
In Southern Africa one finds ancient and widespread traditions of building in stone. Two broad categories of these traditions have been noted: 1. Zimbabwean style 2. Transvaal Free State style. North of the Zambezi one finds very little stone ruins.Great Zimbabwe
Great Zimbabwe
Great Zimbabwe is a ruined city that was once the capital of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe, which existed from 1100 to 1450 C.E. during the country’s Late Iron Age. The monument, which first began to be constructed in the 11th century and which continued to be built until the 14th century, spanned an...
, Khami
Khami
Khami is a ruined city located in what is now Zimbabwe. It was once the capital of the Kingdom of Butua of the Torwa dynasty. It is located 22 kilometers west of the modern city of Bulawayo, capital of the province of Matabeleland North. Its ruins are now a national monument in Zimbabwe. Khami is...
, Thulamela uses the Zimbabwean style. Tsotho/Tswana architecture represents the Transvaal Free State style. ||Khauxa!nas stone settlement in Namibia represents both traditions. The Kingdom of Mapungubwe (1075–1220) was a pre-colonial Southern African state located at the confluence of the Shashe and Limpopo rivers which marked the center of a pre-Shona kingdom which preceded the culmination of southeast African urban civilization in Great Zimbabwe
Great Zimbabwe
Great Zimbabwe is a ruined city that was once the capital of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe, which existed from 1100 to 1450 C.E. during the country’s Late Iron Age. The monument, which first began to be constructed in the 11th century and which continued to be built until the 14th century, spanned an...
.
Nile Valley
Egyptian hieroglyphs
Egyptian hieroglyphs were a formal writing system used by the ancient Egyptians that combined logographic and alphabetic elements. Egyptians used cursive hieroglyphs for religious literature on papyrus and wood...
. Two scripts have been the direct offspring of Egyptian hieroglyphs
Egyptian hieroglyphs
Egyptian hieroglyphs were a formal writing system used by the ancient Egyptians that combined logographic and alphabetic elements. Egyptians used cursive hieroglyphs for religious literature on papyrus and wood...
, the Proto-Sinaitic script and the Meroitic alphabet. Out of Proto-Sinaitic came the South Arabian alphabet
South Arabian alphabet
The ancient Yemeni alphabet branched from the Proto-Sinaitic alphabet in about the 9th century BC. It was used for writing the Yemeni Old South Arabic languages of the Sabaean, Qatabanian, Hadramautic, Minaean, Himyarite, and proto-Ge'ez in Dʿmt...
and Phoenician alphabet
Phoenician alphabet
The Phoenician alphabet, called by convention the Proto-Canaanite alphabet for inscriptions older than around 1050 BC, was a non-pictographic consonantal alphabet, or abjad. It was used for the writing of Phoenician, a Northern Semitic language, used by the civilization of Phoenicia...
, out of which the Aramaic alphabet
Aramaic alphabet
The Aramaic alphabet is adapted from the Phoenician alphabet and became distinctive from it by the 8th century BC. The letters all represent consonants, some of which are matres lectionis, which also indicate long vowels....
, Greek alphabet
Greek alphabet
The Greek alphabet is the script that has been used to write the Greek language since at least 730 BC . The alphabet in its classical and modern form consists of 24 letters ordered in sequence from alpha to omega...
, the Brāhmī script
Brāhmī script
Brāhmī is the modern name given to the oldest members of the Brahmic family of scripts. The best-known Brāhmī inscriptions are the rock-cut edicts of Ashoka in north-central India, dated to the 3rd century BCE. These are traditionally considered to be early known examples of Brāhmī writing...
, Arabic alphabet
Arabic alphabet
The Arabic alphabet or Arabic abjad is the Arabic script as it is codified for writing the Arabic language. It is written from right to left, in a cursive style, and includes 28 letters. Because letters usually stand for consonants, it is classified as an abjad.-Consonants:The Arabic alphabet has...
were directly or indirectly derived.
Out of the South Arabian alphabet
South Arabian alphabet
The ancient Yemeni alphabet branched from the Proto-Sinaitic alphabet in about the 9th century BC. It was used for writing the Yemeni Old South Arabic languages of the Sabaean, Qatabanian, Hadramautic, Minaean, Himyarite, and proto-Ge'ez in Dʿmt...
came the Ge'ez alphabet
Ge'ez alphabet
Ge'ez , also called Ethiopic, is a script used as an abugida for several languages of Ethiopia and Eritrea but originated in an abjad used to write Ge'ez, now the liturgical language of the Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Church...
which is used to write Blin
Blin language
The Blin language , Bilin or Bilen has approximately 70,000 speakers in and around the city of Keren in Eritrea. It is the only Central Cushitic language which is spoken in Eritrea....
(cushitic), Amharic, Tigre
Tigre language
For other uses please see Tigre Tigre is a Semitic language, which, along with Tigrinya, is believed to be one of direct descendants of the extinct Ge'ez language...
, and Tigrinya in Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
and Eritrea
Eritrea
Eritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...
.
Out the Phoenician Alphabet
Phoenician alphabet
The Phoenician alphabet, called by convention the Proto-Canaanite alphabet for inscriptions older than around 1050 BC, was a non-pictographic consonantal alphabet, or abjad. It was used for the writing of Phoenician, a Northern Semitic language, used by the civilization of Phoenicia...
came tifinagh
Tifinagh
Tifinagh is a series of abjad and alphabetic scripts used by some Berber peoples, notably the Tuareg, to write their language.A modern derivate of the traditional script, known as Neo-Tifinagh, was introduced in the 20th century...
, the berber alphabet mainly used by the Tuaregs.
The other direct offspring of Egyptian hieroglyphs
Egyptian hieroglyphs
Egyptian hieroglyphs were a formal writing system used by the ancient Egyptians that combined logographic and alphabetic elements. Egyptians used cursive hieroglyphs for religious literature on papyrus and wood...
was the Meroitic alphabet. It began in the Napatan phase of Nubian history, Kush
Kingdom of Kush
The native name of the Kingdom was likely kaš, recorded in Egyptian as .The name Kash is probably connected to Cush in the Hebrew Bible , son of Ham ....
(700–300 BCE). It came into full fruition in the 2nd century, under the successor Nubian kingdom of Meroë
Meroë
Meroë Meroitic: Medewi or Bedewi; Arabic: and Meruwi) is an ancient city on the east bank of the Nile about 6 km north-east of the Kabushiya station near Shendi, Sudan, approximately 200 km north-east of Khartoum. Near the site are a group of villages called Bagrawiyah...
. The script can be read but not understood, with the discovery at el-Hassa, Sudan of ram statues bearing meroitic inscriptions might assist in its translation.
Sahelian
With the arrival of Islam, came the Arabic alphabetArabic alphabet
The Arabic alphabet or Arabic abjad is the Arabic script as it is codified for writing the Arabic language. It is written from right to left, in a cursive style, and includes 28 letters. Because letters usually stand for consonants, it is classified as an abjad.-Consonants:The Arabic alphabet has...
in the Sahel
Sahel
The Sahel is the ecoclimatic and biogeographic zone of transition between the Sahara desert in the North and the Sudanian Savannas in the south.It stretches across the North African continent between the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea....
. Arabic writing is widespread in the Sahel
Sahel
The Sahel is the ecoclimatic and biogeographic zone of transition between the Sahara desert in the North and the Sudanian Savannas in the south.It stretches across the North African continent between the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea....
. The Arabic script was also used to write native African languages called Ajami. The Ajami languages include Hausa
Hausa language
Hausa is the Chadic language with the largest number of speakers, spoken as a first language by about 25 million people, and as a second language by about 18 million more, an approximate total of 43 million people...
, Mandinka
Mandinka language
The Mandinka language is a Mandé language spoken by millions of Mandinka people in Mali, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea-Bissau and Chad; it is the main language of The Gambia. It belongs to the Manding branch of Mandé, and is thus fairly...
, Fulani, Wolofal
Wolofal
Wolofal is a derivation of the Arabic script for writing the Wolof language. It is basically the name of a West African Ajami script as used for that language.Wolofal was the first script for writing Wolof language...
, Tamazight, Nubian
Nubian languages
The Nubian language group, according to the most recent research by Bechhaus-Gerst comprises the following varieties:# Nobiin ....
, Yoruba
Yoruba language
Yorùbá is a Niger–Congo language spoken in West Africa by approximately 20 million speakers. The native tongue of the Yoruba people, it is spoken, among other languages, in Nigeria, Benin, and Togo and in communities in other parts of Africa, Europe and the Americas...
, Songhai
Songhay languages
The Songhay, Songhai, or Songai languages are a group of closely related languages/dialects centered on the middle stretches of the Niger River in the west African states of Mali, Niger, Benin, Burkina Faso, and Nigeria. They have been widely used as a lingua franca in that region ever since the...
, and Kanuri
Kanuri language
Kanuri is a dialect continuum spoken by some four million people, as of 1987, in Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon, as well as small minorities in southern Libya and by a diaspora in Sudan. It belongs to the Western Saharan subphylum of Nilo-Saharan...
. In East Africa Swahili
Swahili language
Swahili or Kiswahili is a Bantu language spoken by various ethnic groups that inhabit several large stretches of the Mozambique Channel coastline from northern Kenya to northern Mozambique, including the Comoro Islands. It is also spoken by ethnic minority groups in Somalia...
and Somali
Somali language
The Somali language is a member of the East Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Its nearest relatives are Afar and Oromo. Somali is the best documented of the Cushitic languages, with academic studies beginning before 1900....
were also written in Arabic script. So too was the Malagasy language
Malagasy language
Malagasy is the national language of Madagascar, a member of the Austronesian family of languages. Most people in Madagascar speak it as a first language as do some people of Malagasy descent elsewhere.-History:...
in Madagascar.
N'Ko
N'Ko
N'Ko is both a script devised by Solomana Kante in 1949 as a writing system for the Mande languages of West Africa, and the name of the literary language itself written in the script. The term N'Ko means 'I say' in all Manding languages....
a script developed by Solomana Kante
Solomana Kante
Soulemayne Kante or Solomana Kante was an African writer and inventor of the N'Ko alphabet for the Mande languages of West Africa...
in 1949 as a writing system for the Mande languages of West Africa. It is used in Guinea
Guinea
Guinea , officially the Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea , it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau. Guinea is divided into eight administrative regions and subdivided into thirty-three prefectures...
, Côte d'Ivoire
Côte d'Ivoire
The Republic of Côte d'Ivoire or Ivory Coast is a country in West Africa. It has an area of , and borders the countries Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana; its southern boundary is along the Gulf of Guinea. The country's population was 15,366,672 in 1998 and was estimated to be...
, and actively used by the Bambara in Mali
Mali
Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...
.
Other African Traditions
Nsibidi
Nsibidi is a system of symbols indigenous to what is now southeastern Nigeria that is apparently ideographic, though there have been suggestions that it includes logographic elements...
is ideographic set of symbols developed by the Ekpe people of Southeastern coastal Nigeria for communication. A complex implementation of Nsibidi is only known to initiates of Ekpe secret society.
Adinkra
Adinkra
Adinkra are visual symbols, originally created by the Akan of Ghana and the Gyaman of Cote d'Ivoire in West Africa, that represent concepts or aphorisms. Adinkra are used extensively in fabrics, pottery, logos and advertising. They are incorporated into walls and other architectural features. ...
is a set of symbols developed by the Akan
Akan people
The Akan people are an ethnic group found predominately in Ghana and The Ivory Coast. Akans are the majority in both of these countries and overall have a population of over 20 million people.The Akan speak Kwa languages-Origin and ethnogenesis:...
(Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
and Cote d'Ivoire
Côte d'Ivoire
The Republic of Côte d'Ivoire or Ivory Coast is a country in West Africa. It has an area of , and borders the countries Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana; its southern boundary is along the Gulf of Guinea. The country's population was 15,366,672 in 1998 and was estimated to be...
), used to represent concepts and aphorisms.
Vai
Vai language
The Vai language, alternately called Vy or Gallinas, is a Mande language, spoken by roughly 104,000 in Liberia and by smaller populations, some 15,500, in Sierra Leone. It is noteworthy for being one of the few sub-Saharan African languages to have a writing system that is not based on the Latin...
is syllabic script invented by Mɔmɔlu Duwalu Bukɛlɛ in Liberia during the 1830s.
Griots are repositories of African history, especially in African societies with no written language. Griots can recite genealogies going back centuries. They recite epics that reveal historical occurrences and events. Griots can go for hours and even days reciting the histories and genealogies of societies. They have been described as living history books.
Adamorobe Sign Language
Adamorobe Sign Language
Adamorobe Sign Language is an indigenous sign language used in Adamorobe, an Akan village in eastern Ghana. It is used by about 30 deaf and 1370 hearing people.”...
is an indigenous sign language developed in the Adamorobe Akan
Akan people
The Akan people are an ethnic group found predominately in Ghana and The Ivory Coast. Akans are the majority in both of these countries and overall have a population of over 20 million people.The Akan speak Kwa languages-Origin and ethnogenesis:...
village in Eastern Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
. The village has a high incident of genetic deafness.
Nile Valley
Ancient Egyptian weaponry include bows and arrow, maces, clubs, swords, scimitars, battle axe, spears, shields, and scabbard. Body armor was made of bands of leathers and sometimes laid with scales and sleeves. Horse drawn chariots were used to deliver archers into the battle field. Weapons would be made initially with stone, wood, and copper, later bronze, and later iron.In 1260, the first portable hand cannons (midfa) loaded with explosive gunpowder, the first example of a handgun and portable firearm, were used by the Egyptians to repel the Mongols at the Battle of Ain Jalut
Battle of Ain Jalut
The Battle of Ain Jalut took place on 3 September 1260 between Mamluks and the Mongols in eastern Galilee, in the Jezreel Valley, not far from Ein Harod....
. The cannons had an explosive gunpowder composition almost identical to the ideal compositions for modern explosive gunpowder. They were also the first to use dissolved talc for fire protection, and they wore fireproof clothing, to which Gunpowder cartridges were attached.
Aksumite weapons were mainly made of iron: iron spears, iron swords, and iron knives called poniards. Shields were made of buffalo hide. In the latter part of the 19th century, Ethiopia made a concerted effort to modernize her army. She acquired repeating rifles, artillery, and machine guns. This modernization facilitated the Ethiopian victory over the Italians at the Tigray town of Adwa in the 1896
Battle of Adwa. Ethiopia was one of the few African countries to use artillery in colonial wars.
Sahelian
quilted cotton packed with kapok fiber and copper face plate. The stirrups could be used as weapon to disembowel enemy infantry or mounted soldiers at close range. Weapons included the sword, lance, battle-axe, and broad-bladed spear. The infantry were armed with bow and iron tipped arrows. Iron tips were usually laced with poison, from the West African plant Strophantus hispidus. Quivers of 40–50 arrows would be carried into battle. Later, muskets were introduced.
Other African traditions
The first use of cannons as siege machine at the siege of SijilmasaSijilmasa
Sijilmasa was a medieval trade entrepôt at the northern edge of the Sahara Desert in Morocco. The ruins of the town lie along the River Ziz in the Tafilalt oasis near the town of Rissani...
in 1274, according to 14th-century historian Ibn Khaldun
Ibn Khaldun
Ibn Khaldūn or Ibn Khaldoun was an Arab Tunisian historiographer and historian who is often viewed as one of the forerunners of modern historiography, sociology and economics...
.
Most of tropical Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
did not have a cavalry. Horses would be wiped out by tse-tse fly. The zebra
Zebra
Zebras are several species of African equids united by their distinctive black and white stripes. Their stripes come in different patterns unique to each individual. They are generally social animals that live in small harems to large herds...
was never domesticated. The army of tropical Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
consisted of mainly infantry. Weapons included bows and arrows with low bow strength that compensated with poison tipped arrows. Throwing knives were made use of in central Africa, spears that could double as thrusting cutting weapons, and swords were also in use. Heavy clubs when thrown could break bones,battle axe, and shields of various sizes were in widespread use. Later guns, muskets such as flintlock, wheelock, and matchlock. Against popular perception guns were in widespread use in Africa. They typically were of poor quality, a policy of European nations to provide poor quality merchandise. One reason the slave trade was so successful was the widespread use of guns in Africa.
Fortification was a major part of defense, integral to warfare. Massive earthworks were built around cities and settlements in West Africa, typically defended by soldiers with bow and poison tipped arrows. The earthworks are some of the largest man made structures in Africa and the world such as the wall of Benin and Sungbo's Eredo
Sungbo's Eredo
Sungbo's Eredo is a rampart or system of walls and ditches that is located to the south-west of the Yoruba town of Ijebu-Ode in Ogun state, southwest Nigeria . It was built in honour of the Ijebu noblewoman Oloye Bilikisu Sungbo, and is reputed to be the largest single pre-colonial monument in...
. In Central Africa, the Angola region, one find preference for ditches, which were more successful for defense against wars with Europeans.
African infantry did not just include men. The state of Dahomey included all female units, who were personal body guards of the king. The Queen Mother of Benin had her own personal army,'Queens Own'.
Battle of Isandhlawana, Zulu army defeats British invading troops, on January 22, 1879.
From the 1960s to the 1980s, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
pursued research into weapons of mass destruction
Weapons of mass destruction
A weapon of mass destruction is a weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to a large number of humans and/or cause great damage to man-made structures , natural structures , or the biosphere in general...
, including nuclear
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
, biological, and chemical weapons. Six nuclear weapons were assembled. With the anticipated changeover to a majority-elected government in the 1990s, the South African government dismantled all of its nuclear weapons, the first nation in the world which voluntarily gave up nuclear arms it had developed itself.
Nile Valley
Ancient EgyptAncient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
imported ivory, gold, incense, hardwood, and ostrich feather.
Nubia
Nubia
Nubia is a region along the Nile river, which is located in northern Sudan and southern Egypt.There were a number of small Nubian kingdoms throughout the Middle Ages, the last of which collapsed in 1504, when Nubia became divided between Egypt and the Sennar sultanate resulting in the Arabization...
exported gold, cotton/cotton cloth, ostrich feathers, leopard skins, ivory, ebony, and iron/iron weapons.
Aksum exported ivory, glass crystal, brass, copper, myrrh, and frinkincense. She imported silver, gold, olive oil, and wine.
The Aksumites produced coins around 270 CE, under the rule of king Endubis. Aksumite coins were issued in gold, silver, and bronze.
Sahelian
The Ghana EmpireGhana Empire
The Ghana Empire or Wagadou Empire was located in what is now southeastern Mauritania, and Western Mali. Complex societies had existed in the region since about 1500 BCE, and around Ghana's core region since about 300 CE...
, Mali Empire
Mali Empire
The Mali Empire or Mandingo Empire or Manden Kurufa was a West African empire of the Mandinka from c. 1230 to c. 1600. The empire was founded by Sundiata Keita and became renowned for the wealth of its rulers, especially Mansa Musa I...
, and Songhay Empire were major exporters of gold, iron, tin, slaves, spears, javelin, arrows, bows, whips of hippo hide. They imported salt, horses, wheat, raisins, cowries, dates, copper, henna, olives, tanned hides, silk, cloth, brocade, Venetian pearls, mirrors, and tobacco.
Some of the currencies used in the Sahel are as follows:
1. Paper debt or IOU's were used for long distance trade.
2. Gold coins were also in use.
3. The mitkal(gold dust) currency was in use. It was gold dust that weighed 4.6 grams equivalent to 500 or 3,000 cowries.
4. Square cloth, four spans on each side, called chigguiya was used around the Senegal River.
In Kanem
Kanem Empire
The Kanem Empire was located in the present countries of Chad, Nigeria and Libya. At its height it encompassed an area covering not only much of Chad, but also parts of southern Libya , eastern Niger and north-eastern Nigeria...
cloth was the major currency. A cloth currency called dandi was in widespread use.
Other African traditions
CarthageCarthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
imported gold, copper, ivory, and slaves from tropical Africa. Carthage exported salt, cloth, metal goods.
Before camels were used in the trans-saharan trade pack animals, ox, donkeys, mules, and horses were utilized. Extensive use of camels began in the 1st century CE. Carthage minted gold, silver, bronze, and electrum
Electrum
Electrum is a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver, with trace amounts of copper and other metals. It has also been produced artificially. The ancient Greeks called it 'gold' or 'white gold', as opposed to 'refined gold'. Its color ranges from pale to bright yellow, depending on the...
(mix gold and silver) coins mainly for fighting wars with Greeks and Romans. Most of their fighting force were mercenaries, who had to be paid.
Islamic North Africa made use of the Almoravid dinar
Dinar
The dinar is the official currency of several countries.The history of the dinar dates to the gold dinar, an early Islamic coin corresponding to the Byzantine denarius auri...
and Fatimid
Fatimid
The Fatimid Islamic Caliphate or al-Fāṭimiyyūn was a Berber Shia Muslim caliphate first centered in Tunisia and later in Egypt that ruled over varying areas of the Maghreb, Sudan, Sicily, the Levant, and Hijaz from 5 January 909 to 1171.The caliphate was ruled by the Fatimids, who established the...
dinar
Dinar
The dinar is the official currency of several countries.The history of the dinar dates to the gold dinar, an early Islamic coin corresponding to the Byzantine denarius auri...
, gold coins. The Almoravid dinar and the Fatimid
Fatimid
The Fatimid Islamic Caliphate or al-Fāṭimiyyūn was a Berber Shia Muslim caliphate first centered in Tunisia and later in Egypt that ruled over varying areas of the Maghreb, Sudan, Sicily, the Levant, and Hijaz from 5 January 909 to 1171.The caliphate was ruled by the Fatimids, who established the...
dinar were printed on gold from the Sahelian empires. The ducat
Ducat
The ducat is a gold coin that was used as a trade coin throughout Europe before World War I. Its weight is 3.4909 grams of .986 gold, which is 0.1107 troy ounce, actual gold weight...
of Genoa and Venice and the florine of Florence were also printed on gold from the Sahelian empires.
The Swahilis served as middlemen. They connected African goods to Asian markets and Asian goods to African markets. Their most in demand export was Ivory. They exported ambergis, gold, leopard skins, slave, and tortoise shell. They imported from Asia oriental pottery and glassware. They also manufactured items such as cotton, glass and shell beads. Imports and locally manufactured goods were used as trade to acquire African goods. Trade links included the Arabian Peninsula, Persia, India, and China. The Swahili also
minted silver and copper coins.
Numerous metal objects and other items were used as currency in Africa. They are as follows: cowrie shells, salt, gold(dust or solid), copper, ingots, iron chains, tips of iron spears, iron knives, cloth in various shapes(square, rolled)etc. Copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
was as valuable as gold in Africa. Copper was not as widespread and more difficult to acquire, except in Central Africa, than gold. Other valuable metals included lead and tin. Salt
Salt
In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...
was also as valuable as gold. Because of its scarcity, it was used as currency.
The use of cowries as currency in West Africa has been since the 11 century when it was first recorded near Old Ghana. Its use has been much older. Sijilmasa
Sijilmasa
Sijilmasa was a medieval trade entrepôt at the northern edge of the Sahara Desert in Morocco. The ruins of the town lie along the River Ziz in the Tafilalt oasis near the town of Rissani...
in present day Morocco seems to be a major source of cowries in the trans-saharan trade. In western Africa, shell money was usual tender up until the middle of the 19th century. Before the abolition of the slave trade there were large shipments of cowry shells to some of the English ports for reshipment to the slave coast. It was also common in West Central Africa as the currency of the Kingdom of Kongo called locally nzimbu. As the value of the cowry was much greater in West Africa than in the regions from which the supply was obtained, the trade was extremely lucrative. In some cases the gains are said to have been 500%. The use of the cowry currency gradually spread inland in Africa. By about 1850 Heinrich Barth found it fairly widespread in Kano, Kuka, Gando, and even Timbuktu. Barth relates that in Muniyoma, one of the ancient divisions of Bornu, the king's revenue was estimated at 30,000,000 shells, with every adult male being required to pay annually 1000 shells for himself, 1000 for every pack-ox, and 2000 for every slave in his possession. In the countries on the coast, the shells were fastened together in strings of 40 or 100 each, so that fifty or twenty strings represented a dollar; but in the interior they were laboriously counted one by one, or, if the trader were expert, five by five. The districts mentioned above received their supply of kurdi, as they were called, from the west coast; but the regions to the north of Unyamwezi, where they were in use under the name of simbi, were dependent on Muslem traders from Zanzibar. The shells were used in the remoter parts of Africa until the early 20th century, but gave way to modern currencies. The shell of the land snail, Achatina monetaria, cut into circles with an open center was also used as coin in Benguella, Portuguese West Africa.
Nile Valley
Around 650 Calid, an Umayyad prince, translated the literature of Egyptian alchemy into the Arabic language.In 953, the earliest historical record of a reservoir pen dates back to 953, when Ma'ad al-Mu'izz, the caliph of Egypt, demanded a pen which would not stain his hands or clothes, and was provided with a pen which held ink in a reservoir and delivered it to the nib, as recorded by Qadi al-Nu'man al-Tamimi (d. 974) in his Kitdb al-Majalis wa'l-musayardt.
Ahmed Zewail
Ahmed Zewail
Ahmed Hassan Zewail is an Egyptian-American scientist who won the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on femtochemistry. He is the Linus Pauling Chair Professor Chemistry and Professor of Physics at the California Institute of Technology.- Birth and education :Ahmed Zewail was born on...
, in 1999 won the Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
in chemistry for his work in femtochemistry
Femtochemistry
Femtochemistry is the science that studies chemical reactions on extremely short timescales, approximately 10–15 seconds .-Introduction:...
, methods that allow the description of change states in femtoseconds or very short seconds.
Other African traditions
African art was highly influential on the Modernist art movement. African art was very influential on the works of Pablo PicassoPablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
, Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse was a French artist, known for his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primarily as a painter...
, and Jacques Lipchitz
Jacques Lipchitz
Jacques Lipchitz was a Cubist sculptor.Jacques Lipchitz was born Chaim Jacob Lipchitz, son of a building contractor in Druskininkai, Lithuania, then within the Russian Empire...
. The Democratic Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
has a rocket
Rocket
A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine. In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction...
ry program called Troposphere.
See also
- Advocate for the Revolution of Science and Technology in Africa
- Science in medieval Islam
- Timeline of Islamic science and technologyTimeline of Islamic science and technologyThis timeline of science and engineering in the Islamic world covers the time period from the 7th century AD to the introduction of European science to the Islamic world in the 19th and 20th centuries...
External links
- Timbuktu: Recapturing the Wisdom and History of a Region at Youtube, created and posted by the Ford Foundation
- Ancient Manuscripts from the Desert Libraries of Timbuktu at the Library of Congress, US
- African Fractals: Modern computing and indigenous design by Ron EglashRon EglashRon Eglash is an American cyberneticist, university professor, and author widely known for his work in the field of ethnomathematics, which aims to study the diverse relationships between math and culture...
, at ted.com - brief description of the Yoruba number system at the Prentice HallPrentice HallPrentice Hall is a major educational publisher. It is an imprint of Pearson Education, Inc., based in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, USA. Prentice Hall publishes print and digital content for the 6-12 and higher-education market. Prentice Hall distributes its technical titles through the Safari...
website - Cambridge Museum: African Textile Collection
- Profile of William KamkwambaWilliam KamkwambaWilliam Kamkwamba is a Malawian inventor and author. He gained fame in his country when, in 2002, he built a windmill to power a few electrical appliances in his family's house in Masitala using blue gum trees, bicycle parts, and materials collected in a local scrapyard...
, TED Fellow, at Wired.com - African Influences in Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum of ArtMetropolitan Museum of ArtThe Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...