Challenging the view of eastern and southern Africa in the early eras of world history, the author demonstrates that, from 1000 BC through to the fourth century AD, eastern and southern African history was invigorated by technological change and reshaped by a clash of distinctive cultures.
In An African Classical Age, Christopher Ehret brings to light 1,400 years of social and economic transformation across Africa from Uganda and Kenya in the north to Natal and the Cape in the south. The book offers a much-needed portrait of this region during a crucial period in which basic features of precolonial African societies and cultures emerged. Combining the most recent findings of archaeology and historical linguistics, the author demonstrates that, from 1000 B.C. through the fourth century A.D., eastern and southern African history was invigorated by technological change and intricately reshaped by the clash of distinctive cultures. Contrary to common presumption, he argues, Africans of this period were not isolated actors on their own historical stage, but direct and indirect participants in the major trends of contemporary world history, such as the Iron Age and the first great rise of long-distance commercial enterprise. In telling their important story, Ehret shows how powerful yet delicate a tool language evidence can be in detecting both the details and the long-term contours of the past. The culmination of twenty-five years of research, this sweeping historical survey fundamentally challenges how we view the place not only of eastern and southern Africa, but of Africa as a whole, in the early eras of world history. Now available in paperback, An African Classical Age has become an essential resource for scholars of linguistics, archaeology, world history, and African studies.
This book gives serious play to ancient history right across the African continent and it ties these eras into the currents of wider world history. Chris Ehret has skilfully woven archaeology and linguistics into the historical narrative to provide a text from the deep past until 1800. North America: University Press of Virginia
Since its initial publication, The Civilizationsof Africa has established itself as the most authoritative text available on early African history. Addressing the glaring lack of works concentrating on earlier African eras, Christopher Ehret’s trailblazing book has been paired with histories of Africa since 1800 to build a full and well-rounded understanding of the roles of Africa’s peoples in human history. Examining inventions and civilizations from 22,000 BCE to 1800 CE, Ehret explores the wide range of social and cultural as well as technological and economic change in Africa, relating all these facets of African history to developments in the rest of the world. This updated edition incorporates new research, as well as an extensive new selection of color images.
This book is about history and the practical power of language to reveal historical change. Christopher Ehret offers a methodological guide to applying language evidence in historical studies. He demonstrates how these methods allow us not only to recover the histories of time periods and places poorly served by written documentation, but also to enrich our understanding of well-documented regions and eras. A leading historian as well as historical linguist of Africa, Ehret provides in-depth examples from the language phyla of Africa, arguing that his comprehensive treatment can be applied by linguistically trained historians and historical linguists working with any language and in any area of the world.
The "Primer" gives information that spans the millennia and the world to illuminate and supply the reader a thought provoking and comprehensive record of the life of the homo sapiens Africanus, i.e., the Black and African people on the earth. This is the only exhaustive history of classical African civilizations published anywhere in the world. The "Primer's” prose is readable and definitions and pronunciations for many terms are found in the text and index. The "Primer" provides a chronological survey of African Civilizations . It is organized into separate chapters that offer an depth treatment of the ancient Black cultures of Africa. The "Primer" has been designed primarily for use by the private student. This is due to the fact that there are very few centers of higher learning where students can pursue Africalogical studies. It can also be used as an introductory text of Africana history.
Investigates the participation of black Africans, usually referred to as "Ethiopians," by the Greek and Romans, in classical civilization, concluding that they were accepted by pagans and Christians without prejudice.
Intended for those interested in the African continent and the diversity of human history, this work looks at Africa's past and reflects on the changing ways it has been imagined and represented. It illustrates key themes in modern thinking about Africa's history with a range of historical examples.
This book was conceived as a study guide and text book for the student of African civilizations globally. It is broken down into four sections: Nile Valley Civilizations (ancient Egypt) in which a short history of Ramses, the royal dynasties, the geography, and a wide-ranging, selected bibliography of Kemet (ancient Egypt) is offered; The African Presence in Asia in which the author analyses the work of Cheikh Anta Diop on Asia, adding significantly to our knowledge of the area, a selected bibliography, The Dalits (untouchables) of India; the most startling information in this book is the author's evidence of The African Presence in Prehistoric America which goes back to 30,000 years ago. This essay is based on the innovative archaeology of Harold Sterling Gladwin and is accomplished with careful attention to detail. Here the author also examines the prehistorical presence of Africans in Britain, based on the work of MacRitchie.