Africans in Antiquity

 

 

Benin Empire (AD 13th-19th)
A highly organized forest kingdom that had much direct interaction with the first Portuguese merchants. They are renowned for their naturalistic art.

Ancient Nubia
One of the world's most powerful ancient kingdoms; it halted the Roman, Greek, Assyrian, and Persian conquerors- it even ruled over Egypt for a time. It built pyramids, palaces, and other great architectural feats. It also developed its own written language.

"For the Ethiopians are said to be the justest men and for that reason the gods leave their abode frequently to visit them."

-Lactantius Placidus, a 6th century AD grammarian

Memnon-                                                                                                                                            The "King of the Ethiopians," who came to the aid of Priam at Troy, is shown as having an unusually noble character; In battle he slays Antilochus, then, in one of the more sympathetic moments of the epic, spares Antilochus's defenseless father. Memnon later became a hero in Greece, Egypt, Nubia, and Meroe (a powerful kingdom in Ethiopia and the Sudan). It’s even claimed that Alexander the Great wanted to visit the Kingdom of Meroe because it was believed to be the birthplace of Memnon. In Egypt's southern city of Thebes there were two colossi of Memnon, both built by Ethiopians. One of the two colossi attracted a large number of tourists; many believing that it sang at dawn. Callistratus, an Athenian statesman and orator, regarded the colossi as “a miracle that surpassed even the skill needed to build the masterpiece of Daedalus." At sunrise Egyptians in Memphis made sacrifices to the statue of the Ethiopian king.

“There is complete security in the country (Mali Empire). Neither traveler nor inhabitant in it has anything to fear from robbers or men of violence. They do not confiscate the property of any Arab man who dies in their country, even if it be uncounted wealth. On the contrary, they give it into the charge of some trustworthy person among the Arabs, until the rightful heir takes possession of it."

-Ibn Battua, 14th century Arab scholar who traveled to China, India, East Africa, North Africa, and finally Mali

“We came from the beginning of the Nile were god Hapi dwells, at the foothills of the Mountains of the Moon" [Great Lakes Region - central Africa]

-Hunefer a scribe during the 19th Dynasty the author of the Papyrus of Hunefer

“The Ethiopians say that the Egyptians are one of their colonies which was brought into Egypt by Osiris. They even allege that this country was originally under water, but that the Nile, dragging much mud as it flowed from Ethiopia, had finally filled it in and made it a part of the continent. ... They add that from them, as from their authors and ancestors, the Egyptians get most of their laws. It is from them that the Egyptians have learned to honor kings as gods and bury them with such pomp; sculpture and writing were invented by the Ethiopians. The Ethiopians cite evidence that they are more ancient than the Egyptians, but it is useless to report that here.”

-Diodorus Siculus Greek Historian who flourished between 60 and 30 BC

“Just think that this race of black men, today our slave and the object of our scorn, is the very race to which we owe our arts, sciences, and even the use of speech! Just imagine, finally, that it is in the midst of peoples who call themselves the greatest friends of liberty and humanity that one has approved the most barbarous slavery and questioned whether black men have the same kind of intelligence as Whites!”

-Count Constantin de Volney a French philosopher, historian, orientalist, and politician.

“The Nubians are believed to be the first human race on earth, and most
of their customs and traditions were adopted by the ancient Egyptians”

-Diodorus Siculus Greek Historian who flourished between 60 and 30 BC