The Aksumite Empire
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a trading empire centered in today Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, Yemen and Somaliland. It existed approximately 400BCE -10 CentAD, growing from the Iron Age proto-Aksumite period c. fourth century BC to achieve prominence by the first century AD.
Prospering thanks to agriculture, cattle herding, and control over trade routes which saw gold and ivory exchanged for foreign luxury goods, the empire's capital was located at Axum kingdom built lasting stone monuments and achieved a number of firsts.
It was the first sub-Saharan African state to mint its own coinage and, around 350 CE, the first to officially adopt Christianity. Axum even created its own script, Ge’ez, which is still in use in Ethiopia today.
The kingdom of Axum began to prosper from the 1st century CE thanks to its rich agricultural lands, dependable summer monsoon rains, and control of regional trade.
This trade network included links with Egypt to the north and the east, along the East African coast and Arabia.
Aksum was the original capital of the Kingdom of Aksum, a naval and trading power building stelae which were large stone towers that served as grave markers and reached up to 33 meters high.
In 1937, the 24-meter tall, 1,700-year-old Obelisk of Aksum was discovered. Today it is widely regarded as one of the finest examples of Ancient architectural engineering from the height of the Aksumite empire.
Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion Axum Ethiopia, houses the Ark of the Covenant, bears a design similar to that of Eastern Orthodox churches in Europe. Its most recent building, reconstructed in the 1950s, has a dome similar to the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.
It is heavily guarded.
Lalibela one of a holy town of the Aksumite Empire was famous for its churches carved from the living rock, which play an important part in the history of rock-cut architecture.
The kingdom went into decline from the 7th century CE due to increased competition from Muslim Arab traders and the rise of rival local peoples such as the Bedja.
Surviving as a much smaller territory to the south, the remnants of the once great kingdom of Axum would eventually rise again and form the great kingdom of Abyssinia/ Ethiopian Empire in the 13th century CE.
Ancient African Civilization (Astronomy)
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Based on the translation of 14 Timbuktu ancient manuscripts, Timbuktu astronomical science during the 12th–16th centuries:
They made use of the Julian Calendar, Generally speaking they had a heliocentric view of the solar system.
Diagrams of planets and orbits made use of complex mathematical calculations, Scientists developed an algorithm that accurately oriented Timbuktu to Mecca.
They recorded astronomical events, including a meteor shower in August 1583.
At this time, Mali also had a number of astronomers including the emperor and scientist Askia Mohammad I, there is still teaching ongoing till date in Timbuktu. 🤗
The Dogon Tribe is a tribe in Mali specialise in Astronomy.
Here is the Men Traditional attire 📸third frame.
African King who Developed writing Alphabet for his Kingdom.
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King Ibrahim Mbouombouo Njoya (1867-1933) of Bamum, Western Cameroon, he had 600 wives and 117 children, with fear that important historical facts of the Bamum could be erased/corrupted...
He developed the Bamum alphabet of 70 symbols and a writing system to preserve his kingdom's oral history which the French later destroyed.
Njoya, as part of ways to ensure the written language was widely adopted, established schools and directed that the Bamum language is used as a form of instruction along with the German language.
Njoya was a very brilliant king who also invented a hand-powered corn grinder.
Akwa Akpa Kingdom (Ata Akpa)
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Akwa Akpa, known to European as Old Calabar or Duke Town, was an Efik city-state that flourished in the 17th to 19th century in what is now southern Nigeria. By the 19th Century they had become a power on the coast of the Bight of Biafra.
The Efik speak a language in the Obolo subgroup of the Niger–Congo language group. Ancient Efik people engage mostly in trading fish, palm oil and palm wine in along the coast mostly with their Portuguese / kongo Kingdom in exchange for guns and clothing in the early 1600s.
The Efiks created the Manillas Currency are form of money, an African civilization usually made of bronze or copper, which were being in used especially in West Africa and Africa, in the early 15th Cent.
African Sahara Desert History
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The Sahara was once a lush and fertile environment sustaining a diversified human population, fauna, and flora, the Sahara experienced an irreversible process of desertification from 3000 BCE onward.
Since then, two events significantly marked the history of the Sahara which is introduction of camel in the 1st cent. A.D. and facilitated occupation by nomads. Today Sahara is the largest desert in the world covering Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritnia, Morocco..
Niger, Sudan and Tunisia.
Scientists also discover that the Sahara Desert contained the world's largest lake named Mega Chad until it evaporated in just a few hundred years to what we have has lake Chad.
The Rise Of Warri Kingdom
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The Kingdom of Warri is a traditional state based on the town of Warri in Delta State, Nigeria. Warri is an inland port on one of the Niger River channels in the Niger Delta. The Olu (king) of Warri is the head of the Itsekiri people.
According to Bini and Itsekiri histories Ginuwa, a prince of Benin founded the Iwerre (Warri) Kingdom about 1480. In the 15th century Warri was visited by Portuguese missionaries.
At the beginning of the 17th century, a son of the reigning Olu was sent to Portugal and returned with a Portuguese wife.
Queen Idia, The First Queen Mother Of The Benin Kingdom.
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Ending 15th Cent, the kingdom of Benin was plunged into a state of unrest when Oba Ozolua died. He left two powerful sons who were said to have been born on the same day which bring a dispute on who to succeed him.
One son, Esigie controlled Benin City, while the other son, Arhuaran, was based in the equally important city of Udo. Neither prince was prepared to yield to the other and soon after, a war ensued. The war severely compromised the kingdom of Benin’s status as a regional power.
Exploiting this weakness, the neighbouring Igala people sent warriors across the Benue River to seize control of Benin’s northern territories. Queen Idia was the mother of Esigie and she was said to have possessed mystical powers as well as medicinal knowledge.