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African History
African
Kingdoms
1. Ghana
2. Mali
3. Songhay
4. Kongo
5. Zimbabwe
6. Swahili
7. Bornu
8. Benin
9. Ethiopia in the Middle Ages
10. Ancient Nubia
-Government of
Napatan-Meroitic
-Nubia Under Egyptian Rule
-Economy and Wealth
-Military
-Architecture and
Techonology
-Egypt and Nubia
-Writing
-Fall of Meroe
-25th Dynasty: Nubian
Rulers of Egypt
-King Piankhi (Peye)
-King Shabaka
-King Taharqa
-King Tanoutamon
11. Ancient Aksum
Ancient and
Medieval Attitudes:
12. Black and White Morality
13. Black and White Intelligence
14. Blacks in Greece and Rome
15. Power and Origins of Blacks
16. African Architecutre
17. Wealth: Africa and Europe
18. Philosophy: Africa and Europe
19. Rise of Africa and Europe
20. Was Egyptian Culture African
21. Fall of Africa
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Ancient Nubia
Nubia was comprised of three regions: Lower
Nubia, Upper Nubia and Southern Nubia. Lower
Nubia is furthest north, bordering Egypt. Upper Nubia is south of Lower Nubia and Southern
Nubia is the southern most region. Upper Nubia is often called
Kerma, or Kush--a name many may recognize
from the Bible. Southern Nubia is often called Meroe,
because that is the region where the advanced and
powerful Meroe
kingdom later developed.
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Government of Napatan-Meroitic:
It was probably an absolute monarchy--sometimes
spiritual, sometimes secular. Women were often given prominent roles; some
even became rulers.1
Lower and Upper Nubia each had
a governor; the king ruled directly over the province
of Southern Nubia (Meroe), where he
resided. Each governor controlled the civil institutions and religious
temples of his province. The governors reported to a federal official
called the, "peker," who resided in Napata,
in Upper Nubia. The peker relayed the
governors' reports, as well as other information, to the King or Queen. The
King or Queen appointed officials to work under the governors. Each city or
town had a mayor who appointed his own staff and officials.
The King was the political
leader, warlord, and religious ritualistic. The king appointed the Minister
of the Treasury, seal bearers, heads of archives, Minister of granaries,
the chief scribe, and other lower
ranking scribes. For a time Nubian kings had power in choosing their
successor. For a short period--unlike most African societies--the Napatan
Kings broke free from a controlling council that acted as checks and
balances. This system remained in place for only
a short time; During the Merotic period in Ethiopia the council's power
once again surpassed that of the king's. The Greek historian Ergamenos
recorded that the Kushite priests had the power to even force an unjust
King to commit suicide!2
It was written that a King
should be a son or brother of the previous king. It was the job of the
military, priests, and high-ranking government officials to choose the next
King. Sometimes, if no candidate seemed worthy, they would choose outside
the pool.
Although many historians like
to call the kings of Nubia
chiefs, they did indeed rule over kingdoms, not Chieftains or tribes. The
rule of thumb for distinguishing a kingdom from chiefdom is whether the
ruler has more than 100,000 subjects. Nubia had a population between
175,000-200,000. "Egyptians," explained University of Pennsylvania
Egyptologist David O'Conner, "called
both Near Eastern and Nubian rulers heka or wer. Scholars translate these
words as, "ruler," or "king," for the Near Eastern
rulers, but as,"chief," for the Nubians, although nothing in the
Egyptian texts warrants the differentiation."3
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Nubia Under Egyptian Rule
Under Egyptian rule, the Nubian government functioned as if it were a province of Egypt; they provided revenue for the
Pharaohs, temples, and military, with mostly Nubians and mixed
Egyptian/Nubians as government officials. Egypt, needing qualified
government officials, allowed the native Nubians to retain their government
jobs. Although Nubia had
to pay Egypt
taxes, Nubians ruled themselves independently as a vassal state. The
"Viceroy of Kush," held so much power that he was essentially a
Pharaoh of Nubia. The Viceroy's power over the large and powerful Nubian
province became a growing threat to Egypt, who feared they might be
conquered by the vassal state.
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Economy and Wealth
Nubia
was known for its great wealth. In the age of Meroe the kingdom's "royal
city" included buildings with "palaces, audience chambers,
stores, and domestic quarters for the palace staff." They also had a
bath, which, "consisted of a large brick-lined tank with water
channels leading into it from a nearby well."4
Life was good for the people of Nubia
and Meroe,
but how did it happen?
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Nubia-Meroe had advanced and
efficient agricultural methods that generated large surpluses. The surplus
allowed for a variety of specialists, which spawned a great and wealthy
manufacturing economy.5
Nubia, "was a
factory, in the older sense of the word: a depot where the goods of the
south were assembled for shipment to Egypt, and where the
manufactures of the north were received (and to some extent produced) in
exchange."6
Later, in the age of Meroe,
entrepreneurs created a flourishing iron industry.7
Although industry and trade
were Nubia's
primary sources of wealth the advanced agricultural system was a vital
component. The Napatan-Meroitic Kingdom practiced "seasonal shifting
agriculture throughout the whole region," and "wide spread animal
husbandry" along the Blue Nile.
Irrigation and an animal powered water wheel increased productivity,
creating a substantial surplus.8
Although the agrarian society
helped produce the great wealth, trade brought in the greatest revenue.
Urban centers expanded and multiplied, acting as markets between the
African hinterland, Egypt,
the Mediterranean, and regional trading communities in Nubia.9
Nubian ports on the Red Sea also traded with Arabia,
India and China.
A middle class of skilled craftsmen, traders, metal workers, weavers,
architects, leatherworkers, boatmen, scribes, minor officials, and
religious figurers developed.10
Nubia
was actually one of the main gold producing nations of the ancient world.11
Under King Ergamenes Meroe
became, according to the well-known Harvard classicist Frank Snowden, a
Nubian Alexandria.12
Perhaps the foremost expert on Nubia, Professor William Adams,
concurred: "Ptolemaic Egypt and Meroitic Kush were provincial
expressions of a world civilization."13
Frank Snowden noted: "The
renaissance of temple building under Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt was
paralleled by Nubia."14
As quoted above Meroe had,
"palaces, audience chambers, stores, and domestic quarters for the
palace staff," a bath which, "consisted of a large brick-lined
tank with water channels leading into it from a nearby well."15
P.L. Shinnie believes that
Meroitic pottery ranks among the finest in the ancient world.16
Frank Snowden agreed, writing
that, "Meroitic decorated pottery…surpassed anything made in Egypt
at the time."17
Under Egyptian colonization
the Nubians were afforded a great deal of freedom. As long as the Nubians
paid their taxes (Gold, Cattle, and
goods-often achieved through trade with Southern
Africa), they could own their own land, own their own
business, and worship their own Gods. Many Nubians became and remained
wealthy under the loose Egyptian rule. Slaves were also imported to Egypt,
but only in very small amounts--usually under one hundred a year. It's even
likely that these slaves did not come from Egyptian-Nubia, but from an
independent Southern Nubia, who Egypt would never be able to
conquer.18
The ties between Egypt
and Nubia remained
close; many elite Nubians were educated in Egypt.
Nubian princes and the offspring of high-ranking government officials were
even educated in the Egyptian royal court.19
With the decline of the Roman
Empire many towns in Lower Nubia were
ruined because trade was interrupted. Because of the declining trade Meroe and Rome
could not afford to protect its trade from the Nomadic Blemyes and Nobades.20
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Military
Napatan-Meroitc armies used bows,
swords, spears, and leather body armor--some soldiers likely used metal
armory.21
Nubians also utilized chariots, horses, and elephants--ancient tanks on the
battlefield. Coins from ancient Rome commemorated the
Nubian elephant units by depicting an elephant on one side and the head of
a black man on the other.22
Rome gained control of part of Lower Nubia in the first century. Rome
wanted to make Nubia a
vassal state, but in 23BC Nubia
attacked Rome with 30,000 soldiers and
pushed the Romans back to the Southern border of Egypt. Rome quickly recognized Meroe-Nubian
independence. Friendly relations soon followed. The Blemmyes, a troublesome
clan on the outskirts of Nubia,
were such excellent soldiers they defeated Roman-Egypt troops and for,
"a considerable period," and ruled Upper Egypt to the present day
city of Tolmeta.23
Rome was forced to pay off the Nobades clan
and the Blemmyes for 200 years so that they wouldn't attack Egypt.24
Nubia and Rome
worked together in Lower Nubia to protect
the region's trade, sharing many administrative duties. This gave Nubia
a window into Roman-Egyptian intentions. Knowing that Rome
would attempt to regain Lower Nubia if they had the chance, Nubia sent many farmers to populate the
area, making it much denser, therefore more difficult for Rome to subdue.
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Architecture and Technology
Pyramid building began in Nubia
under the Nubian Pharaoh, Piye. Although inspired by Egypt, the Nubian pyramids were
constructed in a distinctly Nubian style: The Egyptians hadn't used
pyramids for a burial tomb for centuries, so the entire design was purely
Nubian. Nubian pyramids had singular celled chapels, rectangular
enclosures, they were designed to allow more sunlight inside than the
Egyptian pyramids, the interior was the same as ingenious Nubian temples,
and they averaged 13.5 meters in diameter. The Nubians never made it a
priority to build on a fanatic scale, as did Egypt, which would not have
been sensible, but they did build many more pyramids. The Nubian Pyramids
were built not only for kings, but queens, princes, nobles, and elite
commoners. The pyramids of Nubia
were made from stone masonry before AD50 and brick or rumble covered with
white plaster afterwards.25
Nubia had several impressive architectural
achievements. Nubia had
a three-story castle of mud brick, and Meroe had a two-story palace of fired
bricks.26
Archaeologists discovered a
King's burial mound that measures 77meters in diameter and 12 meters in
height. Meroe
constructed an incredible stone structure called the Great Enclosure, which
is, "a maze of enclosures, corridors, ramps, and chambers." This
was a completely Meroitic accomplishment because, as Connah notes, it
"has no Nubian or Egyptian parallel."28
In the time of Christian Nubia (6th to the 14th century) hundreds of stone
and brick churches were constructed, "Many of the buildings were
impressive structures with stone columns, masonry piers and brick
vaults."29
Archeologists have also discovered a bathroom with hot water pipes during
that period.30
As stated above, Meroitic pottery was among the finest in the world,
surpassing even Egypt.31
Many homes also possessed latrines.32
After using Egyptian hieroglyphs for hundreds
of years the Nubians developed their
own cursive writing system made up of 23 different signs, including vowels.
The sounds have been deciphered, but the language that was spoken remains
unknown.33
An,
"Extensive….iron-working industry flourished in Meroe," wrote Connah.34
Spears, arrowheads, hoe blades, adzes, axes, shears, tweezers, and alike
were all produced in the many iron furnaces that have been found in Meroe.35
Trees and shrubs in Ethiopia
provided fuel for the iron needed.
The Napatan-Meroitic kingdom
also used an animal powered water wheel, which allowed enormous irrigation
basins.36
The Nubians possessed sailing boats, and even today the region has some of
the world's most, "skilled boatmen," as Connah discovered on an
expedition to Aswan
in 1984.37
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Egypt and Nubia
Sedentary agriculturists from 3500BC to 2900BC inhabited Lower Nubia, yet
Egyptian aggression pushed the Nubians south causing Lower
Nubia to remain void of Nubians for nearly 600 years. The
Egyptians controlled Lower Nubia and raided Upper
Nubia in the 4th and 6th dynasties. Despite the raids, Upper
Nubia remained independent and developed into a strong centralized state,
which the Egyptians, Assyrians, Hebrews, and Persians called Kush--a name many may recognize from the
Bible. The kingdom of Kush took back Lower Nubia (Nothern Nubia)
from the Egyptians around 1680/1640BC.38
Roughly a century later, in
1550BC, Egypt conquered
both Lower and Upper Nubia. Despite the
Egyptian's successful campaign they could not defeat an independent
Southern Nubia, located in Ethiopia
and perhaps Uganda and Somalia.
Southern Nubia continued to trade and fight with Egypt
until Egypt was forced
to abandon Nubia
entirely in 1070BC. After 900BC Upper Nubia's
power grew stronger. They conquered Egypt,
forming Egypt's
25th dynasty. The 25th dynasty controlled Egypt from 747-656BC. By 747BC
Napatan-Nubia had taken control of Southern Egypt and by 715BC they took
control of all of Egypt.
Under the, "Ethiopian
Dynasty," as it is often called, Egypt experienced a cultural
renaissance. The Nubian rulers built and restored temples, and the economic
problems and instability the Nubians inherited were solved.39
Unfortunately, around 650BC the Nubian's were pushed back to their homeland
by an Assyrian army wielding iron weapons; despite practicing iron smelting
for years the Egyptians and Nubians used bronze weapons, which had been
successful for centuries. With the support of the Egyptian people the
Nubians reclaimed Egypt
for several years, but Assyria's power
proved too strong. The Nubian rulers returned to their homeland where they
still governed over a wealthy and powerful state. In the 4th century BC the
Nubians moved their capital further south to Meroe
in Ethiopia
where they ruled until AD 350.
In the early 2nd century BC
the Nubians developed an alphabet. Over eight hundred manuscripts
have been discovered. After 650 years Meroitic-Nubia's central government
weakened and split into three kingdoms. Soon, Christianity made its way
into Nubia,
and a new and fascinating history of the region began.
Despite a couple of Egyptian
raids in the 2nd and 4th dynasty, early Nubia
and Egypt
maintained friendly relations. Upper Nubia was the intermediate between Egypt and the valuable goods of Southern Africa; thus trade flourished. A grave of an
Upper Nubian in Egypt,
which is symbolic of the relationship between Nubia
and Egypt,
contained valuable gold jewelry and two valuable copper objects. He was a
man of great wealth who probably died while visiting Egypt. The Egyptian's took the
time and care to bury the elite foreigner near Memphis. Nubians and Egyptians were often
allies in war. In 925BC, for instance, there were a large number of,
"Kushites," that took part in Egypt's invasion of Judah and
Isreal under Pharaoh Shoshenq I. Shoshenq's son, Osorkon I, used
"Zerah the Kushite" as his general in continuing the invasions of
the region.40
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Writing
Meroitic written language:
After using Egyptian hieroglyphs for hundreds of years the Nubians
developed their own cursive writing system with 23 different signs,
including vowels. The sounds have been deciphered, but the language that
was spoken remains unknown.41
During the reign of King
Nastasen (328-308BC) Merotic-Nubia experienced fabulous culturally
enrichment; new and improved indigenous styles in architecture, art,
pottery, and religious practices took place. It was during this period that
Merotic-Nubia developed an original alphabet. In the past some historians
attempted to attribute Merotic-Nubia's cultural improvements to Egypt, but
in reality Merotic-Nubia's cultural became even more different than Egypt's
during this period: "The few traces of Egyptian culture that remained,
notably in royal ceremonials and in the use of Egyptian hieroglyphs on
royal tombs, lingered for much the same reasons that Latin did in Western
society," explained Davidson.42
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Fall
of Meroe
For hundreds of years Nubia
was able to push back its hostile neighbors: the Aksumites to the south,
the nomadic Nubas to the west, and the Blemmyes to the east--a powerful warlike and nomadic people. Nubia's dominance changed
around AD 330. With the decline of the Roman Empire, around AD200, many
towns in Lower Nubia were ruined because, without Egyptian-Roman support, Nubia
could not stop the nomadic Nubas and Blemmyes from interrupting trade.
Hitherto Meroe-Nubia and Egypt-Rome worked together to protect their
valuable trade routes, but without the aid of Egyptian-Roman soldiers it
proved too difficult for Meroe
alone.43
In AD 320 the last king of
Kush, King Malequerebar was placed in a tiny pyramid of brick; King
Malequerebar was the 72nd consecutive ruler of his line; an obvious symbol
of Meroe's
long and stable history. The Nubas took advantage of the weakened Meroe, conquering its
capital. The southern kingdom of Aksum quickly overtook the Nubas and gained
control of Meroe.
The Meroitic written and spoken language died after the Aksum invasion. The conquering king,
Ezana, converted to Christianity and a new era of the region began.
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25th Dynasty: Nubian Rulers of Egypt
The 25th dynasty was the largest kingdom ever in Africa.
The Nubians conquered Upper Egypt (southern Egypt) in 747BC. An inscription
found on the walls of the Nubian-Egyptian Pharaoh Piankhy proclaims:
"Forward against it! Mount the walls! Penetrate the houses!" It
boasts that the assault on Memphis
"was taken as a flood of water." Piankhy's brother Shabako later
brought the towns of the Nile Delta under Kushite control between 707-
696BC.44
The 21st-24th dynasties of Egypt
were a period of great decline and turmoil. But as mentioned above, an
Egyptian renaissance took place under the rulers of the 25th dynasty: Temple buildings were
restored, new ones were built, and the economic problems were solved.45
After a century of Nubian rule
the Assyrians allied themselves with jealous Egyptian princes. The
Assyrians, wielding iron weapons, pushed the Nubians back to Nubia.
With the support of the Egyptian people Nubia
regained Egypt,
but for only a short time. Taharqa's successor, King Tanoutamon, was the
last ruler of the 25th dynasty.
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King
Piankhi (Peye)
Piankhi was the first ruler of the 25th dynasty. A "Stele of
Victory" found in Napatan (Lower Nubia) described his functions
as Pharaoh and his successful military campaigns against the Libyan princes
who were rulers of Middle Egypt and the Delta. The stele contains one of
the longest and most detailed texts of the ancient Nile
kingdoms. He is portrayed as a sympathetic and merciful king, extremely
pious, and dutiful with his religious practice, paying great homage to the
religions of Egypt and Nubia.
A. Gardiner has stated that there seemed to be a, "moral and
intellectual atmosphere," in his court and, "behind the verbal
expression we cannot fail to discern…. a temperament which had also as
ingredients a fanatical piety and a real
generosity."46
Herodotus wrote about an
"Ethiopian" ruler of Egypt, Sabacos, who was likely
Piankhi. Sabacos refused to execute anyone, instead punishing criminals by
the severity of their crime and putting them to civic duty. King Sabacos
voluntarily retired as Pharaoh when he dreamed that he would put to death
the Egyptian high priests--that is likely a legend that was
created to demonstrate the piety of the pharaoh. The well-known ancient
Sicilian historian, Diodorus, also wrote of a King Sabacos. He wrote that
he abolished the death penalty and was good to his subjects while
demonstrating great morality and civic justice.47
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King
Shabaka
Piankhi was succeeded by his brother, Shabaka. In 713BC Shabaka captured
the entire Nile valley as far as the Delta.
He maintained good relations with Assyria and was the King who launched the
rebirth of temple and monument building in Egypt.48 His next two successors, Piankhi's sons,
Shabataka (700-690) and Taharqa (690-664), continued and expanded his
policies.
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King
Taharqa:
King Taharqa is perhaps the most famous Nubian ruler: Strabo lists him as
one of the world's greatest military strategists,49
his name appears in many places in Egypt and Nubia, and his name looms
large in the Bible (2 Kings 19:9 and Isaiah, 37:9) He also demonstrated a
sympathetic ear, coming to the aid of Israel when they were under attack by the Assyrians--that may have been done to
keep the valuable trade routes in the hands of a kingdom more dependent on the Nubians, like Israel, because Israel
had much less economic leverage than the powerful Assyrian kingdom.
Regarding the Assyrian attack
on Israel Taharqa proclaimed that it was unjust for any king to attempt to
conquer another country. The Assyrian king was angered by this statement
and sent an army to attack Egypt.
Before they could reach Egypt,
the army ran out of resources and resorted to cannibalism; many ancient
people believed that showed the Gods favored "Ethiopians." The
belief could have spawned Homer's stories about the Greek Gods who visited Ethiopia
because the blacks were the most loved by the Gods.
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King
Tanoutamon:
He was the last ruler of Egypt's
25th dynasty.
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