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Chapter 3
Early African Societies and the Bantu Migrations
Africa: Geography n 5,000 miles northsouth, eastwest n North:
n West:
n East:
n Central:
n South:
n People of Africa developed depending on where they lived
Development of African Agriculture n Sahara desert originally highly fertile region
n Western Sudan region nomadic herders, c. 9000 BCE q Domestication of cattle c. 7500 BCE
q Later, cultivation of sorghum, yams, increasingly diverse
n Widespread dessication of the Sahara c. 5000 BCE
“The Gift of the Nile”
n Gradual, predictable flooding q Innundation (JulyOctober)
n Geography q Borders q Natural Resources q Communication n NubiaEgypt
q Current: north q Winds: south
n Upper and Lower Egypt n The Red Land and the Black Land
Ancient Nubia
n Nubia, the 1000 mile stretch of the Nile between Aswan and Khartoum
n Why do we know so little about ancient Nubian cultures?
n That is, why haven’t you heard about them before?
Egypt: The Beginnings
n Agricultural Revolution c. 6000 BCE n PreDynastic Period, c. 55003100 BCE q Sudanese cultivators, herders migrate to Nile river valley
q Adaptation to seasonal flooding of Nile through construction of dikes, waterways
q Villages dot Nile by 4000 BCE n Impact on Political Organization q Mesopotamia: grand public works to control flash floods
q Egypt: simple, local irrigation projects q Rural rather than heavily urban development q Trade networks develop
The Span of Egyptian History
n Early Nubian domination n Manetho, 3 rd century BCE Egyptian priest/historian n 31 Dynasties
q Archaic Period, Dynasties 13 (31002660 BCE) q Old Kingdom, Dynasties 46 (26602160 BCE)
n 1 st Intermediate Period, Dynasties 710 q Middle Kingdom, Dynasties 1112 (20401640 BCE)
n 2 nd Intermediate Period, Dynasties 1317 q Hyksos Invasion
q New Kingdom, Dynasties 1820 (15501075 BCE) q 3 rd Intermediate and Late Period, Dynasties 2131
Unification of Egypt, c. 3100 BCE n Narmer (also known as Menes) and the
Unification of Egypt, c. 3100 BCE q 1st king of Dynasty 1 q Narmer Palette q Capital at Memphis (in the north)
Archaic Period and Old Kingdom Egypt
n Divinity of the pharaoh q Absolute rulers n Buried with slaves, 2600 BCE
n Ma’at n Egyptian religion q Continuum of life
n Belief in afterlife q Tombs, mummification q Ka (life soul force) persists after the body dies
Pyramids at Giza
n Khufu (Cheops in Greek) q The Great Pyramid q See Bentley & Ziegler, p. 58
n Khafre (Chephren in Greek) q Sphinx
n Menkaure (Mycerinus in Greek) n Queen’s Pyramids n Temple Complex
Old Kingdom Relations with Nubia
n Competition over Nile trade n Military conflict between 3100 2600 BCE
n Drives Nubians to the south q Established Kingdom of Kush, c. 2500 BCE
n Trade, cultural influences continue despite military conflict
Old Kingdom Relations with Nubia n Harkhuf’s Expedition to Nubia
q Governor of Upper Egypt, 6 th Dynasty, c. 2300 BCE q Bentley & Ziegler, p. 65 q How does Harkhuf’s autobiography illuminate early Egyptian interest in Nubia and the processes by which Egyptians of the Old Kingdom developed knowledge of Nubia?
Tomb of Harkhuf
End of the Old Kingdom
n Pepi II (c. 22692175 BCE) q Harkhuf worked for Pepi II
n First Intermediate Period, Dynasties 7 10 q circa 21602040 BCE q 22 Nomes of Upper Egypt
q 20 Nomes of Lower Egypt
q Nomarchs
Middle Kingdom, Dynasties 11-12
n Mentuhotep II (c. 20612010 BCE)
n New capital at Thebes (south) n Important god = Amen (Amon, Amun)
n Extended power into Nubia in the south
n Stability n No more pyramids q Rockcut tombs
Ancient Nubia: Egypt’s Rival in Africa n Middle Kingdom Egypt invaded Nubia q Capital at Kerma q Royal tombs, 18 th 16 th centuries BCE n One king was buried under a
huge circular mound (as wide as a football field). He was laid on a goldcovered bed and the finest objects of gold, bronze, ivory and faience were placed beside him. Inside the tomb’s main corridor were 400 followers and concubines who, dressed in their best clothes, came to be buried alive with their master.
Second Intermediate, Dynasties 13-17 n Hyksos, “rulers from a foreign land” q Semites from southwest Asia q Chariot warfare q Sophisticated bronze technology q Capital in the north (Delta region)
n Kicked out by Ahmose I, founder of the New Kingdom q Capital reestablished at Thebes (South)
New Kingdom, Dynasties 18-20, circa 1570-1074 BCE
n Imperial Egypt q Engaged in empire building to protect against foreign invasion
q Controlled upper Nile up to 4 th cataract
q Nubia became “Egyptianized”
Early New Kingdom Pharaohs
n Thutmosis I n Thutmosis II (r. 14911473 BCE) and Hatshepsut (r. 14731458 BCE) q Expedition to Punt (Somalia?)
n Thutmosis III (r. 14791425 BCE) q 17 military campaigns to SyriaPalestine
Detail of Hatshepsut’s fleet (see B &Z, p. 75)
Hatshepsut
Height of the New Kingdom n Amenhotep III q Huge temples at Luxor and Karnak
n Amenhotep IV (r. 1353 1335 BCE) q Akhenaten q Sun god Aten q New capital at Akhetaten (Tel elAmarna)
q Wife Nefertiti
Akhenaten and Nefertiti worship Aten
Nefertiti
The Later New Kingdom, Dynasty 19
n Rameses II (r. 1279 1213 BCE) q “The Great” q Battle with the Hittites at Kadesh in Syria
q Pharaoh of the Exodus?
Rameses II at the Battle of Kadesh
The End of the New Kingdom Dynasty 19
n Merneptah q Stele of Merneptah – 1 st mention of “Israel”
n Invasion of the “Sea Peoples” n Rameses III n End of the New Kingdom by 1085 BCE
Stele of Merneptah
Egyptian Religion
n Polytheistic n Continuum of human and animal world n Principal gods = sun gods q Re, Amen
n Important myth of Osiris, Isis, Seth, and Horus
n Afterlife q Measuring the heart against the feather of Ma’at
q Book of the Dead n The “Declaration of Innocence” n See B & Z, p. 78
The Culture of Egypt
n Writing q Hieroglyphs, “Sacred Writings” q Hieratic (priestly) script q Demotic (popular) script n Rosetta Stone, discovered 1799
q See B & Z, p. 76, “Deciphering Hieroglyphic Writing”
q Papyrus n Literature q Love Poetry q Wisdom Literature
The Rosetta Stone, 196 B.C.E Inscription in Hieroglyphics,
Demotic, and Greek
The End of the New Kingdom
n Local resistance drives Egypt out of Nubia
n Kingdom of Kush revives c. 1100 BCE
n Invasions of Kushites, Assyrians destroy Egypt mid 6 th century BCE
Ancient Nubia: The Kingdom of Kush
n 800 BCE – 350 CE n Early capital at Napata n Conquered Egypt and ruled
as the 25 th Dynasty (712 660 B.C.E.)
n Egyptian influence q Pyramids n [More royal pyramids in
the Sudan than in all of Egypt]
q Mummies q Hieroglyphs
n By 4 th century, capital moved further south to Meroë
Ancient Nubia: The Kingdom of Meroë
n Meroë q Huge city q Leader in iron industry
n After 4 th century, culture shows influence of Egypt and SubSaharan Africa
n Literate q Meroitic language and script with 23 sign
alphabet are undeciphered n Religion
q Worshipped the major Egyptian gods and regional, nonEgyptian gods
q Main god = liongod Apedemak n Prominence of women and queens
Ancient Nubia: Egypt’s Rival in Africa
n Meroë collapsed in the 4 th century CE n Nubia is the longest continuously related civilization in the world q 3800 BCE 400 CE
n Recent work in the Sudan by French archaeologists suggests there may be as many as 1,000,000 ancient mounds
Bantu Migrations, 2000 BCE-1000 CE
n Bantu: “people” n Settled agriculture came late to Africa – 2 nd 1 st millennium BCE
n Migration throughout subSaharan regions q Population pressures
n Slash and burn agriculture to clear forest q Millet q Sorghum q Yams
Bantu Migrations, 2000 BCE-1000 CE
n Bantu migrations q Spread of agriculture q Spread of iron metallurgy q Bantu language family n 1500 years n Reached southern Africa
in the 1 st millennium C.E. n Over 500 variations of
original Bantu language n 90 million speakers today
n By 1000 CE, occupied most of Africa south of the equator
Bantu Religions
n Evidence of early monotheism n Deistic views as well q Prayers to intercessors, e.g. ancestor spirits
n Great variations among populations