Egyptian Pharaohs ruled over
a vast, centralized empire that
stretched northward from the Nile's
tropical origins.
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The history of Black Africa has attracted far less attention from those interested in the development of the nation-state than from scientists engaged in the study of cultural anthropology. Whether or not this involved a degree of ethnic bias among academicians is subject to considerable debate. We are only now beginning to appreciate the considerable role of African societies in the ascent of man and advance of civilization.
In the study of Western civilization, the northern Africans -- though dark in skin color -- have received greater attention by Western-oriented scholars because of their dominant role among Mediterranean societies and their impact on Eurasian civilization. Among the ancient empire-builders, northern Africans ruled over vast territories from their centers of power in Egypt and Carthage.
During the earliest period of
human migrations from northeastern
Africa, small groups traveled
westward and to the south; others in
larger numbers moved northward and
eastward. Over tens of thousands of
years the descendants of these people
formed new tribes, developed distinct
languages and inherited individualized
physical characteristics that
distinguished them in appearance from
one another. By 4000 B.C. both the
domestication of animals and
agriculture were well established in
the lower Nile valley and throughout
much of northern Africa. Changes in
climate forced large numbers of
people from this region, leaving only
small groups that survived by
migratory herding of animals in
conjunction with the arrival of dry and
wet periods. From around 2000 B.C.,
when the Sahara region reached the
stage of an expanding desert, the
southern African population adapted
to a tropical existence and established
large settlements along the continent's
riverbanks and inland lakes. Along the
Nile, the
Egyptian Pharaohs ruled over
a vast, centralized empire that
stretched northward from the Nile's
tropical origins.
The inhabitants of the Nile valley
-- possibly as long as forty centuries
before Christ -- cleared the
encroaching jungles and drained
swamps to establish agriculture. By
4000 B.C. the intermarriage of peoples
from several tribal groups resulted in
the emergence of what we think of as
Egyptian culture. Egyptian merchants
gradually became an important factor
in Mediterranean commerce, and
mining generated much of the wealth
upon which the Pharaohs built their
dynasties. All of Egypt was claimed as
the personal property of the Pharaoh,
and the land was dispensed in feudal
fashion to the Pharaoh's favorites. At
the bottom were the peasants, tied to
the land and taxed heavily for the
privilege of producing food. Such was
the state of Egyptian society that
historian Will Durant wondered "that
a civilization so ruthless in its
exploitation of labor should have
known -- or recorded -- so few
revolutions." The empire declined
after the priests acquired virtual
secular power in the twelfth century
B.C. A Nubian (Ethiopian) army
invaded Egypt from the south in the
eighth century B.C., ruling over Egypt
until the Assyrians displaced them a
century later. Persian invaders soon
followed and remained until defeated
by
Alexander the Great in 332 B.C.,
after which Alexandria was
constructed on the Mediterranean
coast and became the Egyptian capital.
One important result of these tribal invasions and wars was that in this part of Africa the cultures of Black Africa, the Arabian peninsula and the Mediterranean interacted and influenced one another in greater or lesser degrees. This long-term contact among the sub-Saharan tribes is thought by some analysts to have brought about the monarchical socio-political structure that swept the adjacent regions. In any event, the pattern of settlement and dependence on agriculture resulted in the warrior-protector dominated hierarchy that arose in similar fashion throughout the Mediterranean and Eurasian tribal societies. The collection of tribute from the producers as well as subversion of their rights under feudal arrangements followed.
What changed the course of
history for Africans was, in part, the
collapse of the Roman empire, which
resulted in a long period of isolation of
Europeans from African affairs.
Contact was renewed only at the
beginning of the European
Renaissance by Venetian and other
Italian traders after the Crusades.
Italian wealth was then employed in
the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries
to construct the ocean-going vessels
capable of exploiting the possibilities
of trade with the peoples of western
Africa. The Portuguese, after defeating
the Moors, were anxious to secure a
foothold on the African continent and
in 1415 attacked and captured Ceuta
on the Moroccan coast. Spain
followed in the sixteenth century;
however, the Moors successfully
limited their penetration to a few
coastal areas. The Portuguese king,
John I, appointed his youngest son,
Henry, as governor over Ceuta. From
this base on the African continent,
Henry began an aggressive campaign
to explore the Atlantic coast of Africa
and in doing so became known as
the
Navigator.
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