million
BCE |
Fossils, rocks, ancient skeletal remains have been uncovered in the
Rift Valley and surrounding areas
Photo of an African rift (Univ. of Pennsylvania):
http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/Misc_GIFS/African_rift.gif
Evidence points to a common human ancestry originating in Africa
from the emergence of a humanlike species in eastern African some 5
million years ago. From Hadar, Ethiopia, the 3.18 million year-old
remains of "Lucy" were unearthed in 1974.
Resources for African Archeology (ArchNet-WWW Archeology)
http://archnet.uconn.edu/regions/africa.php3
Human Origins and Evolution in Africa (Jeanne Sept, Indiana
Univ.-Bloomington): http://www.indiana.edu/~origins/index.html |
600,000
to 200,000
|
Wide spread of species across Asia, Europe, and Africa. Fire use
develops. The earliest true human being in Africa, Homo sapiens,
dates from more than 200,000 years ago.. A hunter-gatherer capable
of making crude stone tools, Homo sapiens banded together
with others to form nomadic groups; eventually nomadic San peoples
spread throughout the African continent.
African
Nomads (1) & (2) : http://www.unesco.org/whc/exhibits/afr_rev/africa-c.htm
from UNESCO's World
Heritage Centre: Africa Revisited - Nouveaux Regards Sur
L'Afrique (In English and French):
http://www.unesco.org/whc/exhibits/afr_rev/africa-c.htm
Discoveries suggest Africa was the primary gene-center for
cultivated plants like cotton, sorghum, watermelon, kola-nuts and
coffee, and first site of the domestication of certain plants for
food.
Agricultural Revolution Student Module (Richard Law, Washington
State U)
http://www.wsu.edu:8001/vwsu/gened/learn-modules/top_agrev/agrev-index.html |
25,000 -
10,000 |
Rock paintings of North and South Africa
African Art in Antiquity: Rock Art (Dr. Olu Oguibe, formerly of U of
South Florida):
The Olu Oguibe Art
History Class (1996-1999)
http://www.camwood.org/oluart.htm
Olu Oguibe Home Page
http://www.camwood.org/index.html
Student Internet
Projects & Exhibitions
http://www.camwood.org/projects.htm |
6000-4000 |
The River People emerge along Nile, Niger, and Congo Rivers
(West-Central Africa); the Isonghee of Zaire (Republic of Congo)
introduce mathematical abacus; and Cyclopian stone tombs built in
Central African Republic area. Spread of agriculture south of the
Sahara Desert supporting a growing population, which mastered animal
domestication and agriculture, and forced the San groups into the
less hospitable areas. |
ca. 4500 |
Ancient Egyptians begin using burial texts to accompany their dead,
first known written documents. Ancient Egyptians, who called their
land Kemet (Land of the Blacks) and Ta-Meri (Beloved Land), were
primarily agriculturists who, with the practice of irrigation and
animal husbandry, transformed the Nile Valley into a vibrant
food-producing economy by 5000 B.C. Their settled lifestyle allowed
them to develop skills in glass making, pottery, metallurgy,
weaving, woodworking, leather work, and masonry. In this latter
craft, ancient Egyptian practitioners excelled in architecture, as
the pyramids attest. |
4000 to 1000 |
Ancient African civilizations of the Nile Valley are established
& flourish.
Ancient Egyptians
traced their origins to the Mount Rwenzori range in East Africa
known as "the Mountains of the Moon" (see Hum 211 African
Film description of the movie by that title), and some accounts
to "Ethiopia," a term variously designating land south of
Egypt (the Upper Nile Valley), or the entire African continent.
Thus, Nubia, Egypt’s southern neighbor with its own civilization,
probably preceded ancient Egyptian (Kemet) civilization.
- Explore the
Wonders (clickable map opens up the Wonders of the African
World, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., 1999): Temples of Abu Simbel,
Black Pharaohs; City of Jebel Barkal; City of Meroë, &
Pyramids at Giza http://www.pbs.org/wonders/fr_wn.htm
- Ancient Nubia
(Freeman Institute, Severn MD; & Return to Glory Film
Project Joel Freeman & Don Griffin, 2000): photo gallery
& commentary: http://www.freemaninstitute.com/Gallery/nubia.htm
- "Neither
Goddesses nor Doormats: The Role of Women in Nubia" (Tara
L. Kneller, Syracuse Univ., 1993), Don Mabry's Historical Text
Archive: http://historicaltextarchive.com/sections.php?op=viewarticle&artid=23
|
By 2500 |
Centers of early civilization flourish in Mesopotamia, Egypt,
northeastern India, and northern China.
Ancient Egyptian & Nubian Art (Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory
Univ., 2001):
http://carlos.emory.edu/COLLECTION/EGYPT/
"The
Great Sphinx of Giza"
(Mysteries of the Nile, Nova Online Adventures, PBS Online-WGBS,
2000): "The most enigmatic of sculptures, the Sphinx was carved
from a single block of limestone left over in the quarry used to
build the Pyramids. Scholars believe it was sculpted about 4,600
years ago by the pharaoh Khafre, whose Pyramid rises directly behind
it and whose face may be that represented on the Sphinx.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/egypt/explore/sphinx.html
The Great
Sphinx (Getty Conservation Institute, 1990-1992):
http://www.getty.edu/conservation/activities/sphinx/index.html
Egyptian
Artifacts Exhibit - Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms (Univ. of
Memphis): http://www.memphis.edu/egypt/artifact.html
University of Memphis Institute of Egyptian Art and Archaeology home
page:
http://www.memphis.edu/egypt/
World Cultures' Egyptian Timeline & links (Richard Hooker, WSU,
1997):
http://www.wsu.edu:8000/~dee/EGYPT/TIMELINE.HTM
|
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