Ancient Civilizations of the World | Timeline, People & Culture - Lesson
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ancient civilizations in Africa
Many of the <anchor>ancient civilizations in Africa</anchor> were founded based on trade routes that allowed them to use the rich natural resources available to them. Egypt rose out of two warring kingdoms, a northern and southern dynasty, unifying around 3100 BCE after the southern king conquered the north. Egypt would become the dominant economic and military power in the region for thousands of years, building the massive temple structures and complexes that still stand today. They remained the most powerful force in the Mediterranean region until the Macedonians conquered them in 332 BCE.
Ancient African Civilizations | Overview & Kingdoms | Study.com
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# Ancient African Civilizations | Overview & Kingdoms

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Contributors:
Joseph Cataliotti,
Jason McCollom,
Lesley Chapel

- Instructors

Joseph Cataliotti

- Jason McCollom
- Lesley Chapel

Learn about ancient African civilizations, including Egypt, Carthage, and Aksum. Understand the geographic and political influence of trade in these societies.

Updated: 11/21/2023

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Ancient Africa: Overview

The continent of Africa has a rich and vibrant history. Africa has been inhabited by anatomically modern humans since their evolution hundreds of thousands of years ago. The list of ancient African civilizations includes Egypt, Carthage, and Aksum. These societies were centers of commerce, religion, art, and culture. Ancient Egyptian art in particular remains preserved to this day, immortalized in the form of monumental pyramids.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, the ancient Bantu people spread across a vast expanse of territory, spreading their language and culture. During the ancient period, dozens of different polytheistic faiths rose across Africa. Later, the Abrahamic religions of Christianity and Islam were brought to the continent.

Ancient Egypt was located in northeastern Africa

Map of northeastern Africa depicting the various Egyptian polities over the centuries

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Ancient African Kingdoms & Civilizations

Over the course of human history, Africa has seen the rise and fall of several powerful kingdoms and civilizations. The earliest among these is Egypt, which developed agriculture in 5500 BC and gradually evolved into an advanced society. In modern-day Sudan, the ancient Kush civilization developed, while the Nok civilization developed in Nigeria and the Kingdom of Aksum arose in modern-day Ethiopia. Trade and commerce were key to these empires. Rather than being monopolar entities, these civilizations depended upon vast networks of commerce to survive or advance. As in the case of the Bronze Age Collapse, the collapse of these networks might also bring about the collapse of those civilizations which depended upon them.

### Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt is one of the oldest human civilizations to have ever existed. The Nile River was the heartline of this civilization, as its water provided fertility for agriculture. Around 5500 BC farming villages arose, and over the next three thousand years society gradually grew more complex, resulting in the establishment of what historians have named the Old Kingdom.

#### Historical Overview

Ancient Egyptian history stretches for thousands of years, for which modern historians have poor records. Nevertheless, thanks to those records that remain historians can divide ancient Egyptian history into three parts:

- Old Kingdom: 2686 to 2181 BC
- Middle Kingdom: 2134 to 1690 BC
- New Kingdom: 1459 to 1069 BC

Over the course of these thousands of years, many dynasties ruled over Egypt. The civilization also faced invasion from outsiders, whether from the north or south. These invaders, if successful, simply became the next dynasty. Egyptian society continued to exist after the New Kingdom, of course, though was never quite as powerful as it had once been.

#### Divine Kingship

Ancient Egypt was ruled by pharaohs. These were divine kings who were said to be incarnations of a god who were tasked with maintaining order in human society. As gods, pharaohs were buried in monumental tombs, which eventually ballooned into the gargantuan pyramids for which ancient Egypt is remembered. Alongside the pharaoh, Egypt worshipped a dynamic pantheon of deities such as Ra and Horus. Death rituals were an important part of the ancient Egyptian religion; for those who could afford it, mummification was viewed as a necessary step for a person to have a good afterlife.

The Pyramid of Khafre is the second largest of the pyramids of Giza, built during ancient Egypt

Photograph of the Pyramid of Khafre

#### Language and Art

The language of ancient Egypt is part of the Afro-Asiatic family. Hieroglyphics were the main writing system of Egypt, immortalized on the walls of tombs. However, a cursive script was developed in 2500 BC which had more widespread use.

Alongside the pyramids, ancient Egyptians produced other forms of art such as paintings and statues. The Sphinx is another example of Egyptian monumental art.

#### Society

Ancient Egypt, with a population of over one million, had an advanced and complex society. Beneath the pharaoh were the rulers of society, including nobles and priests. Beneath them were the bureaucrats and the warriors, and beneath those were the majority of Egyptians: peasants and farmers.

### The Carthaginian Civilization

North Africa was home to another great civilization: Carthage. Originally founded as a Phoenician colony in modern-day Tunisia in 814 BC, Carthage soon became a prominent city-state, then a sea empire that stretched from Spain to Sicily. As the head of a trade empire, Carthage became the wealthiest city in the Mediterranean. While Egypt was ruled by a pharaoh, Carthage was ruled by two suffetes, or judge-kings. These suffetes came to be elected annually, generally from the ruling class of Carthage; it was through these rulers that the wealthy merchants of Carthage controlled politics.

From 264 BC to 146 BC, Carthage fought a series of wars with the powerful Roman Empire. Despite its naval power, Carthage was eventually defeated and its capital city was burned to the ground.

### The Kingdom of Aksum

The Kingdom of Aksum, located around modern-day Ethiopia, was another prominent African civilization. In approximately the year 325, Emperor Ezana adopted Christianity as the official religion of the kingdom, making Aksum one of the earliest Christian civilizations in Sub-Saharan Africa. The legacy of this conversion can be identified in the fact that modern-day Ethiopia is still majority Christian. Aksum has also left behind buildings both built with and carved out of stone, including churches. Additionally, Aksum built towering stone pillars, or stelae, to mark graves or as part of palatial grounds. Aksum finally declined in the early Medieval period.

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Lesson Summary

Africa is home to some of the oldest and strongest civilizations on Earth. Ancient Africa was a dynamic place with advanced societies and large empires. The Bantu group spread across much of Sub-Saharan Africa in this period, spreading the Bantu language. The most prominent example of these civilizations is ancient Egypt, a society that first arose in roughly 5500 BC. Over the course of thousands of years, ancient Egypt was ruled by dynasties of pharaohs who constructed monumental pyramids.

Other prominent pre-modern African civilizations include Carthage and Aksum. Carthage, based around modern-day Tunisia, was a sea empire that rivaled classical Rome in power, though was finally defeated in the Punic Wars. Carthage was ruled by elected king-judges, or suffetes, through which the wealthy merchants of the city controlled politics. Aksum, based around modern-day Ethiopia, was one of the world's earliest Christian civilizations. Aksum is remembered through its stone architecture, including churches hewn into rock and stelae, or stone towers.

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## Additional Info

## Patterns of Development in Ancient Africa

The market was next week, and the smith needed to make dozens of plows for sale. Wheat farming was spreading across all the villages along the Nile River, and his iron plows were in demand. The smith watched as drafts of wind blew through openings in the furnaces, stoking the fire and increasing the heat, as iron ore melted in long clay tubes. As the iron melted and separated from the ore, he then began to shape it into his farming tool.

This ironsmith was part of the ancient African kingdom of Nubia, along the Lower Nile. Between 600 BCE and 600 CE, Nubia was one of the sub-Saharan African civilizations that exploited trade, irrigated agriculture, and regional connections to grow from chiefdoms to kingdoms. These civilizations built upon older ones, such as the Bantu, while in North Africa the city-state of Carthage reigned until the 2nd century BCE. But before them all was Egypt.

## Ancient Egypt

Between 5500 and 3500 BCE, Egypt developed an urban kingdom and became a major power in the Mediterranean. The Nile River made this possible, as predictable floods spread nutrient-rich silt across thousands of acres of farmland, making possible an agricultural surplus of crops like barley and wheat. With plenty of food, and then some, towns developed around markets, where farmers exchanged this surplus for outside goods. Some people accumulated more grain than others, thus creating wealth, and they took control of vast tracts of land beyond their regular family holdings. Over time, they became priests and other high-ranking officials, and built temples as shrines and tombs beginning around 3500 BCE.

Floodplain of the Nile River
nile floodplain__

By the second millennium BCE, these villages and towns became powerful cities. Hierankonpolis was one of the biggest of these early urban areas. Rulers became kings, and kings became pharaohs who unified all the villages and towns along the length of the Nile. This is the period that most people are familiar with (King Tut, anyone?). Ancient Egypt was a powerhouse in the Eastern Mediterranean, and had trade connections with the whole of the Near East. Egypt was the first major ancient African civilization.

## Nubia and Aksum

Between 600 BCE and 600 CE, two more major African civilizations emerged: the Kingdom of Nubia and Aksum in the Northeastern part of the sub-Saharan region. Due to the relative isolation of sub-Saharan Africa in the ancient period, most of the region remained a forager society with only small villages. But Nubia and Aksum adopted the agricultural techniques of the Near East (as did Egypt before them) and became the exceptions when they developed kingdoms and an urban society.

Nubia was located on the Middle Nile, and at its height between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE had over 20,000 mostly urban inhabitants. Nubian farmers used irrigation techniques adapted from Egyptian and Near East practices to produce cotton crop, and miners dug for iron ore. With these products, smiths made iron weapons and plows, and weavers used the cotton for cloth. Hunters from Nubia traveled to the savannas south of the city and brought back elephant tusks and ostrich feathers. Mule and camel caravans took these in-demand products down the Nile and traded them for Egyptian olive oil and wine. Boats traded the goods across the Red Sea and brought back frankincense and myrrh.

Nubian pyramids
nubbian

By around 300 CE, the kingdom of Aksum replaced Nubia as the regional powerhouse in Eastern Africa. Aksum was a unique ancient African civilization because king Ezana adopted Christianity in the early 4th century and made it the state religion. As a result, Aksum became one of the world's earliest Christian civilizations. Another market of Aksum's grandeur were the awe-inspiring stelae, some of which still stand. Stelae are monumental stone pillars, carved and ornamented. They were cut from granite quarries near the Aksumite capital, placed on logs and rolled to royal tombs, where wooden towers and ropes raised them up. Some of the stelae tower over 100 feet in the air.

## Bantu

As we've seen, the Nile River Valley was a place of thriving cities and civilizations in the ancient period. But what about further south, in sub-Saharan Africa? In the ancient period, this region was active with hunter-gatherers and larger societies. The most important were Bantu speakers.

Bantu-speaking people and groups spearheaded a massive human migration, moving from West-Central Africa south and east beginning in the third millennium BCE and continuing for at least another 2,000 years. Over this long span of time, Bantu groups moved across the West African rainforests, across the equator, and south toward the savannas. They developed thriving agriculture, built tools and weapons, and absorbed various hunter-gather peoples along the way.

Researchers have put together the story of this remarkable migration because they've found that hundreds of current languages spoken in sub-Saharan Africa belong to languages with roots in Bantu. In fact, in most of these languages, the world Bantu means 'many peoples.'

By the opening of the Common Era, Bantu traditions and practices had taken root across Africa south of the Sahara Desert. The descendants of the Bantu migrants lived along rivers or organized agricultural societies with clan-based villages, they grew and harvested yams or kept goats and raised fowl, while others commonly traded with the hunter-gatherer peoples of the forests in tropical Central Africa. The Bantu migrations formed the foundation of sub-Saharan civilizations.

Shown in red, Bantu languages spread across sub-Saharan Africa in the ancient period
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## Carthage

Our tour of ancient Africa ends with an epic battle between an African city-state and the young (but powerful) Romans. In what is today Tunisia, in North Africa along the Mediterranean, a trading peoples from the Near East called the Phoenicians settled and founded several port cities. The chief city was Carthage, and it makes its historical debut around the 7th century BCE.

Carthage was one of the richest cities in the ancient world. It was the center of Mediterranean commerce. Wealthy merchants and nobles grew fat off trade, and controlled the government through their chosen officials called suffetes. Even Carthaginian religion taught the inhabitants to respect and fear the government, as well as the gods. Local deities such as Tanit, Melkart, and Eshmoun demanded the people stay in line and follow the oligarchy.

But the wealthy and powerful rulers of Carthage met their match in the upstart empire of Rome. During the Punic Wars of 263-146 BCE, the armies of the city clashed in a series of dramatic battles. Eventually the Romans emerged victorious, conquering and then burning the destroying the once-great city of Carthage. Despite this, Carthaginian religion lasted for many more centuries. It wasn't until 421 CE, for instance, that the last temple devoted to the god Tanit was torn down by Roman armies.

## Lesson Summary

Ancient Africa was a continent of powerful civilizations and smaller groups of clan-based villages and hunter-gatherers. Egypt became Africa's first great civilization around the third millennium BCE. Later, between 600 BCE and 600 CE, farther south along the Nile River the Kingdom of Nubia and later Aksum in Eastern Africa became regional powerhouses. In sub-Saharan Africa, Bantu-speaking groups spread across the whole of the rainforests of Central Africa and into the savannas in the Southern part of the continent in an epic migration lasting thousands of years. Finally, a dramatic series of wars between the North African city-state of Carthage and Rome, the Punic Wars between the 3rd and 1st centuries BCE, highlighted the power and influence of Carthage.

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Ancient Africa Topics

FAQ

What is ancient Africa known for?

Ancient Africa is known for being the home of several prominent civilizations, such as Egypt, Carthage, and Aksum. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the Bantu culture spread across a vast expanse of area.

What were the major ancient civilizations of Africa?

The major ancient civilizations of Africa were Egypt, Carthage, and Aksum. Others include Nok and Nubia, though these were not as powerful as the others.

What is Africa's oldest civilization?

Egypt is Africa's oldest civilization. In fact, Egypt is one of the oldest civilizations in the world. It is remembered today through the pyramids.

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