The Ancient Kingdoms of Africa: The History and Legacy of the African Continent’s Most Prominent Kingdoms in Antiquity

\*Includes pictures \*Includes ancient accounts \*Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading \*Includes a table of contents Africa may have given rise to the first human beings, and Egypt probably gave rise to the first great civilizations, which continue to fascinate modern societies across the globe nearly 5,000 years later. From the Library and Lighthouse of Alexandria to the Great Pyramid at Giza, the Ancient Egyptians produced several wonders of the world, revolutionized architecture and construction, created some of the world’s first systems of mathematics and medicine, and established language and art that spread across the known world. With world-famous leaders like King Tut and Cleopatra, it’s no wonder that today’s world has so many Egyptologists. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of ancient Egyptian civilization was its inception from the ground up, as the ancient Egyptians had no prior civilization which they could use as a template. In fact, ancient Egypt itself became a template for the civilizations that followed. The Greeks and the Romans were so impressed with Egyptian culture that they often attributed many attributes of their own culture‒usually erroneously‒to the Egyptians. With that said, some minor elements of ancient Egyptian culture were, indeed, passed on to later civilizations. Egyptian statuary appears to have had an initial influence on the Greek version, and the ancient Egyptian language continued long after the pharaonic period in the form of the Coptic language. By the 4th century BCE, it appeared as though ancient Egypt was in its final death throes. It had long ceased to be an influential kingdom in the Near East and Mediterranean regions, and it had been ruled over by a succession of foreign peoples including Libyans, Nubians, Assyrians, and Persians. But just when Egypt seemed was doomed to pass forever into obscurity, it was reinvigorated by outsiders, most notably Alexander the Great. While in the process of campaigning to destroy the Achaemenid Persian Empire and conquer the world in 331 BCE, he made a pit stop in Egypt that forever changed the course of Egyptian history. Although his understanding of ancient Egyptian chronology and religion was minimal, Alexander was intrigued by ancient pharaonic culture, knowing, as the 5th century BCE Greek historian Herodotus once wrote, “Egypt is the gift of the Nile.” As a result, Alexander endeavored to incorporate the land of the pharaohs into Hellenic Civilization. The three primary enemies of the Egyptians were the Libyans who occupied the Western Desert and its oases, the so-called Asiatics who lived in the Levant, and finally the Nubians to Egypt’s south. Among the three peoples, the Nubians were the most “Egyptianized” and at times were integral to the development of Egyptian history. Truly, the Nubians were the greatest of all sub-Saharan peoples in pre-modern times and deserve to be studied in their own right, apart from ancient Egyptian history. In 1515, a Portuguese missionary explorer by the name of Father Francisco Álvares entered Ethiopia and took note in the interior of the remnants of a civilization of obviously Christian origin, with living adherents conforming to a branch of the faith clearly founded in antiquity. Could this be the Kingdom of Prester John? Father Álvares was intrigued, but he was wary of too fanciful a construction, and he speculated more practically on the legend of King Solomon, the Queen of Sheba, and other such muses. As for the city at the center of the civilization, he called it Aquasumo. Thus, the existence of the Kingdom of Aksum came to the notice of Christian Europe after almost 1,000 years of isolation. The Ancient Kingdoms of Africa: The History and Legacy of the African Continent’s Most Prominent Kingdoms in Antiquity chronicles the tumultuous rise and fall of kingdoms like Egypt, Nubia, Aksum, and more. Since its publication in the Soviet Union this work has been highly praised by historians and archaeologists around the world. This English translation now makes it available to a wider audience. The author worked closely with the editor and translator, adding much new material, to make this an expanded and revised edition, not just a translation. It is now the most up-to-date and authoritative work available in any language on the history and culture of the Axumite civilization of highland Ethiopia. The Axumites played a major role in trade between the classical world of the Mediterranean and countries bordering the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. With its origins in the civilization of South Arabia, the Axumite Kingdom evolved by the fourth century AD, into one of the most powerful states in contact with the classical world. It took a thousand years for the Axumite Kingdom to run its course. Although it collapsed with the onset of the Medieval period, it profoundly affected the more recent history of Ethiopia. Kobishchanov covers such major topics as political history, political and economic organization, ideology, and the social system. The section on political history reveals unexpected and fascinating details regarding relations between Axum and such major powers as Rome, Byzantium, and Persia. He vividly reports the military expeditions which enabled Axum to carve out an empire extending from Nubia to Somalia, and South Arabia to southern Ethiopiaby which Axum secured total hegemony over the southern half of the Red Sea. With a broad anthropological perspective, the author reconstructs from ancient historical texts the structure and functioning of Axumite culture. In addition to adding new material to various parts of the book, the author has prepared a special appendix which critically discusses the documentary sources available to Axumite scholars. A special feature of the volume is Michels's introductory essay on Axumite archaeology which not only summarizes seventy-five years of excavations but also reports the recent efforts at archaeological interpretation. This book will prove to be of major interest to all concerned with Ancient and Near Eastern History, African history, African archaeology, and Black studies. This two-volume work provides a detailed account of five seasons' archaeological research at Aksum, which Dr Phillipson directed on behalf of the British Institute in Eastern Africa, supported by a major research grant from the Society of Antiquaries. Aksum was, during the first seven centuries AD, the capital of a major state, centred on the highlands of northern Ethiopia, Eritrea, which exercised a powerful influence on international trade. Christianity was adopted in the 4th century and Aksum played a vitally important role in the rise of Ethiopian civilisation. The research here described was designed to provide a comprehensive view of ancient Aksum, including aspects which had received little attention. Dr Phillipson and his colleagues describe royal tombs and commoner graves, domestic economy and international trade, monumental architecture and farming settlements, finely carved ivory and flaked stone tools. A secure chronological framework is provided and the whole picture is set in its Ethiopian, African and international context. A survey of the architecture, artistic life, culture, history and religion of the Ethiopian kingdom of Aksum, which in the 3rd century AD ranked with Persia and Rome as one of the most powerful civilizations in the world. The text includes a chronology of the kingdom's first seven centuries. Yuri M. Kobishchanov ; Joseph W. Michels, Editor ; Lorraine T. Kapitanoff, Translator. Translation Of Aksum. Includes Index. Bibliography: P. [315]-334.