Nubia Essay

1. Nubia ca. 3100 B.C.- 350 C.E. (Early cultures, Egyptian domination 2300-1100 B.C, Meroë 800 B.C.-350 C.E.) a. Located in the Nile Valley, from Aswan south to Khartoum. Links Africa to Mediterranean. Development was dependent on need for irrigation and proximity to Egypt affected history and culture. i. Lower (borders Egypt), Upper (Kush or Kerma), and Southern Nubia (Kingdom of Meroë) b. Lower and Upper had governors. The governors reported to a monarch. Southern Nubia had a king. i. King= absolute authority. He is the political leader, warlord, and religious authority. ii. Nubia was under Egyptian rule during the Middle Kingdom period and functioned like a province. Ruled themselves independently as vassal→
Viceroy of Kush iii. New Kingdom Egypt destroyed Kush. “Overseer of Southern Lands” ruled Nubia from Napata. c. worshipped gods and goddesses, particularly Amon. Believed in afterlife, much like the Egyptians. d.
advanced, efficient agricultural methods. Had gold, precious stones, and copper. Trade with Egypt and had ports also. Skilled craftsmen and artisans. Iron smelting in Meroë. e. rulers of Meroë followed matrilineal family system (Son of King’s sister inherits throne) f. Major contributions like pyramids (distinctive Nubian), pottery, incredible stone structures as burial sites, animal powered water wheel, own cursive writing system of 23 different signs including vowels
2.Early Saharan and Sub-Saharan Cultures (300 B.C.- 600 C.E.) a. Sahara has sprawling sand dunes, sandy plains, exposed rock, rugged terrain vs. Sub-Sahara’s dramatically differing environments (steppes of the Sahel → savanna → tropical rain forest of lower Niger and in the Zaire Basin→ savanna→ steppe and desert→ temperate highlands at the very south) b. Kingdoms, Chieftains- ritually isolated kings c. animist (indigenous religions), but trade will soon bring in other religions (Islam, Christianity) d. Hunting, Cattle breeding/herding (even in the Sahara in wetter times, succeeded by horse breeders), trade made possible by camels, salt, middlemen in the Sahel connected different zones of
trading e. fixed social categories- age, kinship, gender roles, occupational, women were relatively respected f.
copper, iron smelting, Tuareg saddle, cave drawings, pottery, language from the Bantu in the Niger- Congo family (more than 300 different languages are spoken south of the equator) g. interesting: broad commonalities underlying African life and culture i. Music (different instruments but common features like rhythms that has distinctive African feel) ii. common cultivation technique by hoe and digging stick and in art
3. Tropical Africa (1200 C.E.-1500 C.E.) and European Encounters - mainly Portuguese (1450-1550 C.E.) a. Marked by Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, monsoon cycles, arid zone in SW Africa, altitude affects climate (higher= cooler= shorter growing period), grasslands cover East Africa, enough rivers b. Mali in Western Sudan had a king who had a cabinet. Mansa Musa was the king who spread this kingdom’s wealth on his pilgrimage to Mecca. Great Zimbabwe had a ruling elite who controlled the economy. Mainly kingdoms (includes Benin, Kongo, Ethiopia) c. Mali was Muslim; it stimulated trade. Expansion of commercial contacts. Indigenous religions were not exclusive, so many gave Christianity a try. i. Benin ended up limiting contact with Portugal, but Kongo converted to Catholicism. Pay
for missionaries was expensive and it ended up in people kidnapping others to sell as slaves. ii. Ethiopia was Christian. Mutual religion helped when the Turks invaded and Portugal agreed to help. No permanent alliance due to difference in patriarch affiliation (Alexandria vs. Rome) d. Depended on ecological zone, but included fishing, rice, wheat, sorghum, millet, slash and burn, cattl herding, iron, copper, gold, trade was huge (Swahili cities like Kilwa) e. gap between elite and poor widens due to success in trade, slavery increases, women spun, cooking, got water, made beer, did much of the farm work, sold things in the markets. i. in Mali, even though they were Muslim, women didn’t have to veil their faces f. dams, irrigation canals, reservoirs, mosques, churches carved out of solid rock, literacy, brought Greek sciences, established centers of learning (Timbuktu), great stone enclosure to awe in Great Zimbabwe i. Swahili was a new blend of African language and Arabic/Persian vocabulary with Arabic script

http://www.ancientsudan.org/history_04_egyptconnub.htm http://endingstereotypes.org/ancient_nubia.html http://www.shsu.edu/~his_ncp/Sudan.html http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/MUS/ED/TRC/NUBIA/religion.html http://www.africanculturalcenter.org/5_3languages_religion.html
http://www.sahistory.org.za/topic/africa-1500