Ancient Africa's many cultural complexes are often forgotten or slighted in the annals of history. While Egypt may be discussed, and most ancient Nubia sometimes mentioned, little is known of the many other states that have contributed to African history. The Medieval states of West Africa, the ancient state of Zimbabwe and the antiquity and power of Abysinnia are little known features of history. On this page we will provide links to pages dealing with these ancient but fortunately not forgotten cultures.
Up to the point of European contact, African states continued to flourish.
When they (European navigators) reached the Bay of Guinea and alighted at Vaida, the captains were astonished to find well-planned streets bordered for several leagues by two rows of trees; for days they traversed a countryside covered by magnificent fields, inhabited by men in colorful attire that they had woven themselves! More to the south, in the Kingdom of the Congo, a teeming crowd clad in silk and velvet, large States, well ordered down to the smallest detail, powerful rulers, prosperous industries. Civilized to the marrow of their bones...This flowering the European conquistadors destroyed as they advanced.
In fact, quite a few historians have postulated that African civilization follows along a continuous path.
...there was no interruption of African history. It is evident that, if starting from Nubia and Egypt, we had followed a continental geographical direction, such as Nubia-Gulf of Benin, Nubia-Congo, Nubia-Mozambique, the course of African history would still have appeared uninterruptied. This is the perspective in which the African past should be viewed.
Ancient Ghana
Ancient Mali
Ancient Mali
Ancient Songhay
Kanem-Bornu and the Hausa Kingdoms
