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Summary: Africa in World History, Erik T. Gilbert & Jonathan T. Reynolds 3rd ed.
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Africa: History book summaryChapter 1 Physical context of African history: geography and environment
Africa’s past and present has been profoundly shaped by geography and environment.
Africa was almost certainly the home of the first modern humans.
Physical features of the continent
It is an enormous continent. And its terrain and climate are widely available. There is no such thing as
an African environment, it is much too varied.
Challenges of the African Environment
Most African soils are rather poor. There is not a lot of organic material in the soils. So hard to farm
these lands. There are some areas that do have rich soils, the volcanic highlands.
Another limitation is rainfall. Rainfall is cyclical, some parts of the year it rains a lot, other parts of the
year it barely rains.
Another challenge is disease. The microbes in Africa have evolved in astonishing ways to prey on
humans. But this also, up until a certain time, protected them from invasion. Malaria and yellow
fever most important.
Chapter 4(p. 52-56) Settled life: food production, technology and migrations
The Bantu Expansion
In the area between the Cameroun Highlands (border between Cameroun and Nigeria) and where
the equator crosses the East African coast the languages spoken are very closely related. These are
the Bantu languages.
Most of the area where Bantu languages are spoken now was once inhabited by Khoisan speakers. A
great folk migration had taken place. The Bantu people, iron-wielding farmers, displaced the smaller
foragers. This Bantu migration was a deliberate, conscious, and military affair. This seems convenient
for Europeans imperialists. Saying that once a superior race occupied another within Africa as a sort
of legitimizing their own actions when they occupy the Bantu.
The Bantu migration started around 3000 B.C.E. and took place over millennia. It was not a classic
military conquest, but farmers were just occupying ‘unused’ lands. There must have been some
conflicts, but mostly the Bantu absorbed, subordinated or just squeezed out the Pygmies and other
peoples. The root cause of the expansion was probably ‘farmer power’.
The farmers moved into new territories for a number of reasons.
- Needed new fields because old ones were exhausted or population growth.
- Farmer power: farming supported more people so they had military advantage over foragers.
- They also brought diseases with them.
The Bantu did not completely remove the aboriginal foragers. Oral traditions often credits Pygmies
with teaching the Bantu how to live in their new environments. But they are also looked down upon.
Chapter 5 North and Northeast Africa in Early World History
Egypt in Early World History
There is a debate about where Egyptian history belongs: African history, Mediterranean, Middle
Eastern, European.
The origins of Egypt represent some of the first instances of complex human societies. The Nile Valley
is the perfect place to start a state-level society.
3600 – 3300 B.C.E.: settlements along the upper-Nile (Southern part of Egypt) have started to create
complex societies by developing a specialization of labour and moving toward more hierarchical
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,political and economic systems. They were controlling the flow of water and expanding the amount
of arable land. Economic activity also increased. This created differences between rich and poor.
Unification and the Rise of the Old Kingdom
The successful unification of Upper and Lower Egypt set the stage for the development of a
remarkable centralized state. The pharaoh was responsible for balancing the power of the two rival
gods form Lower and Upper Egypt.
3100 – 2575 B.C.E.: Archaic Period. The ruling class had complete authority over the whole of the Nile
Valley and established their right to regulate the economy and society. During the early period the
stage was set for the remarkable centralization of power that was to characterize the Old Kingdom.
The difference between the Archaic period and the Old Kingdom is mostly scale.
The pyramids represent the increase in power and wealth. But also the ability of the pharaohs’
command. They also represented the change in the religious identity of the pharaohs.
The Old Kingdom’s rulers were supported by a cadre of educated scribes with high status and
authority.
First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom
Several factors led to the decline of the Old Kingdom:
- Droughts: decline in agricultural productivity and increased migration.
- Famines
- Central authority weakened and collapsed. Nile Valley was divided in small states with local
rulers.
The reunification of the Nile and the formation of the Middle Kingdom came from the upper Nile.
During the Middle Kingdom the power of Ancient Egypt reached a new high.
The Second Intermediate Period and the New Kingdom
Lower Egypt was invaded by the Hyksos and the government was unable to maintain the unity of the
Nile. Thebes lost control over lands both north and south.
1530 B.C.E.: unity of the Nile Valley is restored. There was a lot of cultural exchange with Nubia, and
there was a shift in the religious symbolism of power in Egypt.
The Late Period 1070 to 332 B.C.E.
Egypt face growing power from its rivals. They were conquered several times by different peoples.
They also started exploring distant coastal regions of Africa. But overall, a period of declining
fortunes.
Ancient Egypt and Greece
Debate about the origins of western philosophy:
- George James: Greek philosophy was ‘repackaged’ Egyptian thought, and true credit for the
source of western philosophy belongs to Africa.
- Black Athena: “Africans or people of African descent have made many significant
contributions to world progress and for the past two centuries, these have been
systematically played down by Europeans and North American (art)historians.” The Egyptians
were the ones bringing civilization to the Europeans, not the other way around.
Carthage and Rome in Early Northern Africa
Carthage was one of the most important western Mediterranean states. After several conflicts with
Rome, Carthage was defeated. Then Rome developed the North Africa region as a colony.
31 B.C.E.: Egypt also defeated and added to Roman’s territories.
Ancient Nubia and the Horn of Africa in the Ancient World
Egypt was not the only source of influence in these regions.
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,Nubia:
Around 2400 B.C.E.: formation of a state-level society. Wealthy and a complex society. Around 1500
B.C.E. Egypt subjugated this this state (Kerma). Around 1000 B.C.E a new independent state
developed, Kush. Had a lot of similarities with Egypt. Around 730 B.C.E. they invaded the Upper Nile
and ruled the Nile Valley. But they were later driven out by the Assyrian. Kush was invaded by the
Egyptians and the center of Nubian power shifted to Meroë. Merotic culture diverged from the
Quasi-Egyptian roots that characterized Kush.
The Horn had long been a region of significant economic and cultural exchange. The land of Punt was
an important trading partner of Egypt.
There was a growing exchange with southern Arabia, made possible by the decline of Egypt.
Around 100 C.E. the state Aksum rose in the Horn. It became a wealthy and powerful state.
Ancient Africa United: The Afrocentric Argument
Afrocentrism argues that the Nile Valley played a central role in the history of Africa and the western
world. Central is the belief that Africa represents not so much a great diversity of human cultures,
but rather a single cultural unit within which there are many expressions of commonly held beliefs.
Thus, although some Africanists may stress African cultural diversity, Afrocentric scholars argue that
similarities are what define the continent.
To argue for a common culture there must be a root. For Afrocentrists this is the Nile Valley. Some
people have dubbed Afrocentrism as Nilocentrism, saying that there is an overemphasis on the Nile
and denying the agency of other African regions.
Ancient North and Northeastern Africa in Global Perspective.
The most important point is that the study of these early African societies show the degree to which
they existed not in isolation, but rather in complex economic, political, cultural and genetic systems
of interaction with their neighbours.
Chapter 6 Africa and the Early Christian World
The Spread of Christianity in Africa
Christianity spread into Africa because:
- Jesus’ message of salvation and redemption, combined with the strong communal focus of
early Christianity, held a powerful appeal to many whose lives were filled with struggle.
- Christianity offered a form of rebellion to the often repressive rule of the Roman Empire.
- Geographical proximity and trade links helped spread the news of Christianity.
- Significant minority of Jews living in North Africa. Many early converts were Jewish and
Christians accepted Jewish scripture.
Some scholars argue that Christianity incorporated spiritual elements from ancient Egyptian religion.
There are similarities with Horus and Isis.
The spread of Christianity in Egypt and North Africa was relatively fast. It spread quickly among the
poor and politically oppressed in particular. Often, North African Christians chose to worship in public
and accept persecution/martyrdom.
Christianity spread into the upper Nile Valley and the highlands of Ethiopia somewhat slowly.
Possibly because it was beyond the borders of the Roman Empire. But trade links along the Nile, Red
Sea and Indian Ocean facilitated the movement of Christianity deeper into Africa.
Christianity gained a growing acceptance by political elites, as kings and Emperors converted to
Christianity.
African contributions to early Christian Thought
Early Christianity faced a number of theological challenges.
- The need to deal with classical philosophy. Particularly Neoplatonism.
Neoplatonism: ideas existed on a higher level than the material world. Ideas were perfect
and permanent, while the material world was imperfect and temporary. There were
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, similarities between Neoplatonism and Christianity in the idea the human soul struggled for
eternal salvation and the need to put aside the temptations of the physical world.
Gnosticism was a challenge: they were contradicting that Christ was a perfect union of God
and humanity.
- To define the nature of the Divine.
To what degree was Jesus divine and to what degree human?
- To work out a system of authority that would define the nature of the church itself.
In North Africa there was a group of bishops, the Donatists, they came into conflict with the Roman
church. They were unforgiving to people who collaborated with Roman persecutors, they were not
just allowed back into Christianity. The Donatists argued that the Roman church had sold out by
aligning itself with the Roman state.
The Decline of African Christianity
North African Christians sometimes welcomed the advancing Islamic armies as liberators from the
political and spiritual oppression of Byzantium. In the north, Christians were encouraged, but not
forced to convert.
Early African Christianity in Global Perspective
North Africans and inhabitants of the Nile Valley played a central role in the development of early
Christianity, both as some of the religion’s first converts and as theologians who helped guide the
development of the faith in its crucial first centuries.
- Christianity is not a ‘foreign’ religion to Africa.
- Christianity is often seen as a western religion, but early Christianity of Africa shows us a
much richer, multifaceted and complex understanding of the religion’s early forms.
Chapter 7 North and West Africa and the Spread of Islam
The Origins of Islam
There are some shared religious traditions with Judaism and Christianity, but the key difference is
that Muslims believe that Muhammed was the final prophet of God (Allah). He was born in 570 C.E.
in 632 C.E. the Muslim community had grown string enough to defeat the authorities in Mecca. The
religion and the Islamic state continued to grow rapidly.
Islam in North Africa
Muslims almost never tried to convert people by force, voluntary conversion is seen as the only
legitimate acceptance of Islam. The early expansion of Islam in North Africa was the expansion of a
political system that was followed by a slow process of conversion.
Islamic conquest of Egypt (639-642) was relatively easy. The Byzantine rulers were unpopular, so the
Egyptians welcomed the Muslims as their liberators.
Expansion beyond Egypt was much more difficult.
The expansion of the Islamic state was largely facilitated by the Muslims’ building of fortified towns,
ribats. By the turn of the 8th century, they were able to lay claim to all of North African coast.
In this early era of Islam, there was no single Islamic orthodoxy. North Africa was a safe haven for
those Muslims who didn’t agree with the growing Sunni orthodoxy of the central Islamic state.
In the 12th century North and Saharan Africa came to increasingly embrace the Sunni and Sufi
traditions of Islam.
Empires, Trade, and Islam in the West African Savannah
The Savannah was a ‘border’ region between the distinct environments of the forests of the south
and the Sahel and desert to the north and allowed the population to mediate not only between the
gold-producing regions of the forests and the salt mines of the Sahara, but also trade between North
Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. Well before the advent of Islam in north Africa, the West African
savannah was already a region of vibrant economic, political, and cultural life.
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