General History of Africa/Volume 2/From c.500 BC to AD 1050

The Cambridge History of Africa Volume 2, From c.500 BC to AD 1050 J. D. Fage, ed. 1979. 74 b/w illus. 29 maps. 858 pages

After the prehistory of Volume I, Volume II of The Cambridge History of Africa deals with the beginnings of history. It is about 500 B.C. that historical sources begin to embrace all Africa north of the Sahara and, by the end of the period, documentation is also beginning to appear for parts of sub-Saharan Africa. North of the Sahara, this situation arises since Africans were sharing in the major civilizations of the Mediterranean world. It is shown that these northern Africans were not simply passive recipients of Phoenician, Greek, Roman and Arab influences, or of the great religions and cultures of Judaism, Christianity and Islam coming from the Semitic world. They adapted these things to their own particular needs and purposes, and sometimes too contributed to their general development. But the North African civilization failed to make headway south of the Sahara. The agricultural crops that sustained it were unsuited to the tropics: the growth of populations large enough to secure effective mobilization of resources therefore depended on the development of new crops by Sudanic cultivators immediately south of the Sahara. When this had been done, the foundations were laid for a wholly African civilization and, by the end of the period, the Bantu expansion had brought almost all the southern half of the continent within its sphere.

Table of Contents

Introduction J. D. Fage

1. The legacy of prehistory J. Desmond Clark
2. North Africa in the period of Phoenician and greek colonization R. C. C. Law
3. North Africa in the Hellenistic and Roman periods R. C. C. Law
4. The Nilotic Sudan and Ethiopia P. L. Shinnie
5. Trans-Saharan contacts and the Iron Age in West Africa Raymond Mauny
6. The emergence of Bantu Africa Roland Oliver and Brian M. Fagan
7. The Christian period in Mediterranean Africa W. H. C. Frend
8. The Arab conquest and the rise of Islam to North Africa Michael Brett
9. Christian Nubia P. L. Shinnie
10. The Fatimid revolution and its aftermath in North Africa Michael Brett
11. The Sahara and the Sudan from the Arab conquest of the Maghrib to the rise of the Almoravids Nehemia Levtzion

Bibliographical essays
Bibliography

PenseeCourtemanche

Bienvenue dans mon monde d'exploration et de découverte ! Je suis Ingrid Allain, une voyageuse passionnée avec une curiosité insatiable pour la riche tapisserie de la culture africaine. Pour moi, l'Afrique n'est pas juste une destination ; c'est une fascination de toute une vie et une source d'inspiration. Des rythmes vibrants des cercles de tambours d'Afrique de l'Ouest à la perlerie complexe des artisans Maasaï, chaque coin de ce continent détient un trésor de traditions à découvrir. À travers mes écrits, je vise à partager la beauté, la diversité et la résilience des cultures africaines avec le monde. E-mail: [email protected] / Linkedin