African history. South Africa: little-known but ancient traditions

Africa, whose history is full of secrets, mysteries in the distant past and bloody political events in the present, is a continent called the cradle of humanity. The huge continent occupies one fifth of all the land on the planet, its lands are rich in diamonds and minerals. In the north there are lifeless, harsh and hot deserts, in the south - virgin tropical forests with many endemic species of plants and animals. It is impossible not to note the diversity of peoples and ethnic groups on the continent; their number fluctuates around several thousand. Small tribes numbering two villages and large nations are the creators of the unique and inimitable culture of the “black” continent.

How many countries are on the continent, where they are located and the history of the study, countries - you will learn all this from the article.

From the history of the continent

The history of the development of Africa is one of the most pressing issues in archaeology. Moreover, if Ancient Egypt has attracted scientists since the ancient period, then the rest of the continent remained in the “shadow” until the 19th century. The continent's prehistoric era is the longest in human history. It was on it that the earliest traces of hominids living in the territory of modern Ethiopia were discovered. The history of Asia and Africa followed a special path; due to their geographical location, they were connected by trade and political relations even before the onset of the Bronze Age.

It is documented that the first trip around the continent was made by the Egyptian pharaoh Necho in 600 BC. In the Middle Ages, Europeans began to show interest in Africa and actively developed trade with eastern peoples. The first expeditions to the distant continent were organized by a Portuguese prince; it was then that Cape Boyador was discovered and the erroneous conclusion was made that it was the southernmost point of Africa. Years later, another Portuguese, Bartolomeo Dias, discovered the Cape of Good Hope in 1487. After the success of his expedition, other major European powers flocked to Africa. As a result, by the beginning of the 16th century, all territories of the western sea coast were discovered by the Portuguese, British and Spaniards. At the same time, the colonial history of African countries and the active slave trade began.

Geographical position

Africa is the second largest continent, with an area of 30.3 million square meters. km. It stretches from south to north over a distance of 8000 km, and from east to west - 7500 km. The continent is characterized by a predominance of flat terrain. In the northwestern part there are the Atlas Mountains, and in the Sahara Desert - the Tibesti and Ahaggar highlands, in the east - the Ethiopian, in the south - the Drakensberg and Cape Mountains.

The geographical history of Africa is closely connected with the British. Having appeared on the mainland in the 19th century, they actively explored it, discovering natural objects stunning in their beauty and grandeur: Victoria Falls, Lakes Chad, Kivu, Edward, Albert, etc. In Africa there is one of the largest rivers in the world - the Nile, which the beginning of time was the cradle of Egyptian civilization.

The continent is the hottest on the planet, the reason for this is its geographical location. The entire territory of Africa is located in hot climatic zones and crossed by the equator.

The continent is exceptionally rich in mineral resources. The whole world knows the largest deposits of diamonds in Zimbabwe and South Africa, gold in Ghana, Congo and Mali, oil in Algeria and Nigeria, iron and lead-zinc ores on the northern coast.

Beginning of colonization

The colonial history of Asian and African countries has very deep roots, dating back to ancient times. The first attempts to subjugate these lands were made by Europeans back in the 7th-5th centuries. BC, when numerous Greek settlements appeared along the shores of the continent. This was followed by a long period of Hellenization of Egypt as a result of the conquests of Alexander the Great.

Then, under the pressure of numerous Roman troops, almost the entire northern coast of Africa was consolidated. However, it underwent very little Romanization; the indigenous Berber tribes simply went deeper into the desert.

Africa in the Middle Ages

During the period of the decline of the Byzantine Empire, the history of Asia and Africa made a sharp turn in the direction completely opposite to European civilization. The activated Berbers finally destroyed the centers of Christian culture in North Africa, “clearing” the territory for new conquerors - the Arabs, who brought Islam with them and pushed back the Byzantine Empire. By the seventh century, the presence of early European states in Africa was practically reduced to zero.

A radical turning point came only in the final stages of the Reconquista, when mainly the Portuguese and Spaniards reconquered the Iberian Peninsula and turned their gaze to the opposite shore of the Strait of Gibraltar. In the 15th and 16th centuries they pursued an active policy of conquest in Africa, capturing a number of strongholds. At the end of the 15th century. they were joined by the French, English and Dutch.

Due to many factors, the new history of Asia and Africa turned out to be closely interconnected. Trade south of the Sahara Desert, actively developed by the Arab states, led to the gradual colonization of the entire eastern part of the continent. West Africa survived. Arab neighborhoods appeared, but Moroccan attempts to subjugate this territory were unsuccessful.

Race for Africa

The colonial division of the continent in the period from the second half of the 19th century until the outbreak of the First World War was called the “race for Africa.” This time was characterized by fierce and intense competition between the leading imperialist powers of Europe to conduct military operations and research in the region, which were ultimately aimed at capturing new lands. The process developed especially strongly after the adoption of the General Act at the Berlin Conference in 1885, which proclaimed the principle of effective occupation. The division of Africa culminated in the military conflict between France and Great Britain in 1898, which occurred in the Upper Nile.

By 1902, 90% of Africa was under European control. Only Liberia and Ethiopia managed to defend their independence and freedom. With the outbreak of the First World War, the colonial race ended, as a result of which almost all of Africa was divided. The history of the development of colonies followed different paths, depending on whose protectorate it was under. The largest possessions were in France and Great Britain, with slightly smaller ones in Portugal and Germany. For Europeans, Africa was important source raw materials, minerals and cheap labor.

Year of Independence

The year 1960 is considered a turning point, when one after another young African states began to emerge from the control of the metropolises. Of course, the process did not begin and end in such a short period. However, it was 1960 that was proclaimed “African”.

Africa, whose history did not develop in isolation from the rest of the world, found itself, one way or another, also drawn into the Second world war. The northern part of the continent was affected by hostilities, the colonies were struggling to provide the mother countries with raw materials and food, as well as people. Millions of Africans took part in the hostilities, many of them subsequently “settled” in Europe. Despite the global political situation for the “black” continent, the war years were marked by economic growth; this was the time when roads, ports, airfields and runways, enterprises and factories, etc. were built.

The history of African countries received a new turn after the adoption by England, which confirmed the right of peoples to self-determination. And although politicians tried to explain that they were talking about peoples occupied by Japan and Germany, the colonies interpreted the document in their favor as well. In matters of gaining independence, Africa was far ahead of the more developed Asia.

Despite the undisputed right to self-determination, the Europeans were in no hurry to “let” their colonies float freely, and in the first decade after the war, any protests for independence were brutally suppressed. A precedent-setting case was when the British in 1957 granted freedom to Ghana, the most economically developed state. By the end of 1960, half of Africa had achieved independence. However, as it turned out, this did not guarantee anything.

If you pay attention to the map, you will notice that Africa, whose history is very tragic, is divided into countries by clear and even lines. The Europeans did not delve into the ethnic and cultural realities of the continent, simply dividing the territory at their own discretion. As a result, many peoples were divided into several states, others united in one along with sworn enemies. After independence, all this gave rise to numerous ethnic conflicts, civil wars, military coups and genocide.

Freedom was gained, but no one knew what to do with it. The Europeans left, taking with them everything they could take. Almost all systems, including education and healthcare, had to be created from scratch. There were no personnel, no resources, no foreign policy connections.

Countries and dependent territories of Africa

As mentioned above, the history of the discovery of Africa began a very long time ago. However, the invasion of Europeans and centuries of colonialism led to the fact that modern independent states on the mainland were formed literally in the mid-second half of the twentieth century. It is difficult to say whether the right to self-determination has brought prosperity to these places. Africa is still considered the most backward continent in development, yet it has all the necessary resources for a normal life.

IN this moment The continent is inhabited by 1,037,694,509 people - this is about 14% of the total population of the globe. The mainland is divided into 62 countries, but only 54 of them are recognized as independent by the world community. Of these, 10 are island states, 37 have wide access to the seas and oceans, and 16 are inland.

In theory, Africa is a continent, but in practice it is often joined by nearby islands. Some of them are still owned by Europeans. Including the French Reunion, Mayotte, Portuguese Madeira, Spanish Melilla, Ceuta, Canary Islands, English Saint Helena, Tristan da Cunha and Ascension.

African countries are conventionally divided into 4 groups depending on southern and eastern. Sometimes the central region is also isolated separately.

North African countries

North Africa is a very vast region with an area of about 10 million m2, most of which is occupied by the Sahara Desert. It is here that the largest mainland countries by territory are located: Sudan, Libya, Egypt and Algeria. There are eight states in the northern part, so the SADR, Morocco, and Tunisia should be added to those listed.

The modern history of the countries of Asia and Africa (northern region) is closely interconnected. By the beginning of the 20th century, the territory was completely under the protectorate of European countries; they gained independence in the 50-60s. last century. Geographical proximity to another continent (Asia and Europe) and traditional long-standing trade and economic ties with it played a role. In terms of development, North Africa is in a much better position compared to South Africa. The only exception, perhaps, is Sudan. Tunisia has the most competitive economy on the entire continent, Libya and Algeria produce gas and oil that they export, Morocco mines phosphate rocks. The predominant share of the population is still employed in the agricultural sector. An important sector of the economy of Libya, Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco is developing tourism.

The largest city with more than 9 million inhabitants is Egyptian Cairo, the population of others does not exceed 2 million - Casablanca, Alexandria. Most northern Africans live in cities, are Muslim and speak Arabic. In some countries, French is considered one of the official languages. The territory of North Africa is rich in monuments of ancient history and architecture, and natural objects.

The development of the ambitious European Desertec project is also planned here - the construction of the largest system solar power plants in the Sahara Desert.

West Africa

Territory West Africa extends south of central Sahara, washed by waters Atlantic Ocean, in the east is limited by the Cameroon Mountains. Savannas and tropical forests are present, as well as a complete lack of vegetation in the Sahel. Before the Europeans set foot on the shores, states such as Mali, Ghana and Songhai already existed in this part of Africa. The Guinea region has long been called a “grave for whites” because of dangerous diseases unusual for Europeans: fever, malaria, sleeping sickness, etc. Currently, the group of West African countries includes: Cameroon, Ghana, Gambia, Burkina Faso, Benin, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Liberia, Mauritania, Ivory Coast, Niger, Mali, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Togo, Senegal.

The recent history of African countries in the region is marred by military clashes. The territory is torn by numerous conflicts between English-speaking and French-speaking former European colonies. The contradictions lie not only in language barrier, but also in worldviews and mentalities. There are hot spots in Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Road communications are very poorly developed and, in fact, are a legacy of the colonial period. West African countries are among the poorest in the world. While Nigeria, for example, has huge oil reserves.

East Africa

The geographic region that includes the countries east of the Nile River (excluding Egypt) is referred to by anthropologists as the Cradle of Humankind. This is where, in their opinion, our ancestors lived.

The region is extremely unstable, conflicts turn into wars, including very often civil ones. Almost all of them are formed on ethnic grounds. East Africa is inhabited by more than two hundred peoples belonging to four linguistic groups. During the colonial times, the territory was divided without taking this fact into account; as already mentioned, cultural and natural ethnic boundaries were not respected. The potential for conflict greatly hinders the development of the region.

The following countries belong to East Africa: Mauritius, Kenya, Burundi, Zambia, Djibouti, Comoros, Madagascar, Malawi, Rwanda, Mozambique, Seychelles, Uganda, Tanzania, Somalia, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Eritrea.

South Africa

The Southern African region occupies an impressive part of the continent. It contains five countries. Namely: Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Swaziland, South Africa. They all united in the South African Customs Union, which produces and trades mainly in oil and diamonds.

The recent history of Africa in the south is associated with the name of the famous politician Nelson Mandela (pictured), who dedicated his life to the fight for the freedom of the region from the metropolises.

South Africa, of which he was president for 5 years, is now the most developed country on the mainland and the only one that is not classified as “third world”. Its developed economy allows it to take 30th place among all countries according to the IMF. It has very rich reserves of natural resources. Botswana's economy is also one of the most successful in terms of development in Africa. In the first place are livestock breeding and agriculture, and mining of diamonds and minerals is carried out on a large scale.

· Video “History of Africa”

South Africa

By the mid-19th century, British and German missionaries and merchants entered the territory of modern Namibia. The Herero and Nama, wanting to get guns and cartridges, sold them cattle, ivory and ostrich feathers. The Germans gained a stronger foothold in the region and in 1884 declared the coastal region from the Orange River to Kunene a German protectorate. They pursued an aggressive policy of seizing land for white settlement, using as a means the enmity between the Nama and Herero.

The Herero entered into an alliance with the Germans, hoping to get the upper hand over the Nama. The Germans garrisoned the Herero capital and began distributing land to white settlers, including the best pastures of the central plateau. In addition, they established a system of taxation and forced labor. The Herero and Mbandera rebelled, but the Germans suppressed the uprising and executed the leaders.

Rinderpest between 1896 and 1897 destroyed the basis of the Herero and Nama economies and slowed white advances. The Germans continued to turn Namibia into a land of white settlers, seizing land and taking away livestock and even trying to export the Herero to work in South Africa.

In 1904, the Herero rebelled. German General Lothar von Trotha used a policy of genocide against them at the Battle of Waterberg, which forced the Herero to migrate west from the Kalahari Desert. By the end of 1905, only 16 thousand out of 80 Herero survived. Nama resistance was crushed in 1907. All Nama and Herero lands and livestock were confiscated. Due to the decrease in population, labor began to be imported from the Ovambo.

Nguniland

Between 1815 and 1840, southern Africa experienced a disorder called Mfecane. The process began in the northern Nguni kingdoms of Mthethwa, Ndwandwe and Swaziland due to lack of resources and famine. When Dingiswayo, the ruler of Mthethwa, died, the Zulu ruler Chaka took over. He established the state of KwaZulu, which subjugated the Ndwandwe and drove the Swazis north. The Ndwandwe and Swazi migration led to the expansion of the Mfecane area. In the 1820s, Chaka expanded the boundaries of his possessions to the foot of the Drakensberg Mountains, and even the areas south of the Tugela River and Umzimkulu were paid tribute to him. He replaced the leaders of the conquered settlements with governors - indunas who obeyed him. Chaka organized a centralized, disciplined and dedicated army, armed with short spears, the like of which had never been seen in the region.

In 1828, Chaka died at the hands of his half-brother Dingaan, who did not have such military and organizational abilities. In 1938, the Voortrekkers attempted to occupy Zulu lands. At first they were defeated, but then regrouped on the Bloody River and defeated the Zulus. However, the trekkers did not dare to settle in Zulu lands. Dingaan was killed in 1840 during the civil war. Mpande took power into his own hands, and managed to strengthen the Zulu possessions in the north. In 1879, the Zulu lands were invaded by the British, who sought to subjugate all of southern Africa. The Zulus were victorious at the Battle of Isandlwana but were defeated at the Battle of Ulundi.

One of the largest post-Mfekane states was Lesotho, founded on the Thaba Bosiu plateau by chief Moshweshwe I between 1821 and 1822. It was a confederation of villages that recognized Moshoeshoe's authority over them. In the 1830s, Lesotho invited missionaries, seeking to obtain firearms and horses from the Cape. The Orange Republic gradually reduced the Sotho's holdings, but was unable to completely defeat them. In 1868, Moshweshwe, in an attempt to preserve the remnants of the country, proposed that the British annex his possessions, which became the British protectorate of Basutoland.

Great track

More details: Great track

At the beginning of the 19th century, most of the Hottentot lands came under Boer control. The Hottentots lost their economic and political independence and were absorbed into Boer society. The Boers spoke Afrikaans, a language derived from Dutch. They began to call themselves not Boers, but Afrikaners. Some Hottentots were used as armed militias in raids against other Hottentots and Xhosa. A mixed population emerged, called "Cape Coloureds". In colonial society they were relegated to lower levels.

In 1795, Great Britain took the Cape Province from the Netherlands. This led to the Boers moving inland to the east of the Great Fish River in the 1830s. This process was called the Great Trek. The Trekkers founded the Transvaal and Orange Republics on low-population lands that had been depopulated by the Mfecane. The Boers were unable to conquer the Bantu-speaking tribes in the same way as they conquered the Khoisan due to the high population density and unity of the local tribes. In addition, Bantu-speaking tribes began to receive weapons from the Cape through trade. As a result of the Kaffir Wars, the Boers had to withdraw from part of the Xhosa (Kaffir) lands. Only a powerful imperial force was able to conquer the Bantu-speaking tribes. In 1901, the Boer republics were defeated by the British in the Second Boer War. Despite the defeat, the Boers' aspirations were partially satisfied - South Africa was ruled by whites. Britain placed legislative, executive and administrative powers in the hands of the British and the colonialists.

European trade, geographical expeditions and conquest

More details: Slave trade, Colonization of Africa, Colonial division of Africa

Between 1878 and 1898, European states carved up and conquered most of Africa. For the previous four centuries, European presence had been limited to coastal trading colonies. Few people dared to go into the interior of the continent, and those who, like the Portuguese, did often suffer defeats and were forced to return to the coast. Several technological innovations have contributed to the change. One of them was the invention of a carbine, which loaded much faster than a gun. Artillery began to be widely used. In 1885, Hiram Stephens Maxim invented the machine gun. The Europeans refused to sell the latest weapons to African leaders.

A significant obstacle to the penetration of Europeans into the continent were diseases such as yellow fever, sleeping sickness, leprosy and, especially, malaria. Since 1854, quinine began to be widely used. This and subsequent medical discoveries contributed to and made the colonization of Africa possible.

Europeans had many incentives to conquer Africa. The continent is rich in mineral raw materials needed by European factories. The beginning of the 19th century was marked by the industrial revolution, as a result of which the need for raw materials grew. An important factor was rivalry between states. The conquest of colonies in Africa demonstrated to opponents the power and importance of the country. All this led to the colonial division of Africa.

The body of knowledge about Africa has grown. Numerous expeditions were launched into the depths of the continent. Mungo Park crossed the Niger River. James Bruce traveled to Ethiopia and found the source of the Blue Nile. Richard Francis Burton was the first European to reach Lake Tanganyika. Samuel White Baker explored the upper Nile. John Henning Speke determined that the Nile flows from Lake Victoria. Other significant explorers of Africa were Heinrich Barth, Henry Morton Stanley, Antonio Silva Porta, Alexandri di Serpa Pinto, René Kaye, Gerard Rolf, Gustav Nachtigal, Georg Schweinfurth, Joseph Thomson. But the most famous is David Livingstone, who explored southern Africa and crossed the continent from Luanda on the Atlantic coast to Quelimane on the Indian Ocean. European explorers used African guides and servants and followed long-established trade routes. Christian missionaries made their contribution to the exploration of Africa.

The Berlin Conference of 1884-1885 determined the rules for the division of Africa, according to which a power's claims to part of the continent were recognized only when it could occupy it. A series of treaties in 1890-1891 completely defined the boundaries. All of sub-Saharan Africa, except Ethiopia and Liberia, was divided among the European powers.

Europeans established in Africa various shapes rule based on power and ambition. In some regions, for example in British West Africa, the inspection was superficial and aimed at the extraction of raw materials. In other areas, European resettlement and the creation of states where the European minority would dominate were encouraged. Only a few colonies attracted enough settlers. The British settler colonies included British East Africa (Kenya), Northern and Southern Rhodesia (present-day Zambia and Zimbabwe), South Africa, which already had a significant number of immigrants from Europe - the Boers. France planned to populate Algeria and incorporate it into the state on equal terms with the European part. These plans were facilitated by Algeria's proximity to Europe.

Basically, the colonial administration did not have the human and material resources to fully control the territories and was forced to rely on local power structures. Numerous groups in the conquered countries exploited this European need to achieve their own goals. One aspect of this struggle was what Terence Ranger called the “invention of tradition.” To legitimize their claims to power before the colonial administration and their own people, local elites fabricated ceremonies and stories to justify their actions. Consequently, new order led to chaos.

List of African colonies

Belgium

Congo Free State and Belgian Congo (present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo)
Ruanda-Urundi (in what is now Rwanda and Burundi, existed between 1916 and 1960)

France Germany

German Cameroon (now Cameroon and part of Niger)
German East Africa (in modern Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda)
German South West Africa (in present-day Namibia)
Togoland (in territory modern states Togo and Ghana)

Italy

Italian North Africa (now Libya)
Eritrea
Italian Somali

Portugal Spain UK

Protectorate of Egypt
Anglo-Egyptian Sudan (now Sudan)
British Somalia (now part of Somalia)
British East Africa:
- Kenya
- Uganda Protectorate (now Uganda)
- Tanganyika Mandate (1919-1961, now part of Tanzania)
Zanzibar Protectorate (now part of Tanzania)

Bechuanaland (now Botswana)
Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe)
Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia)
Union of South Africa (now South Africa)
- Transvaal (now part of South Africa)
- Cape Colony (now part of South Africa)
- Colony of Natal (now part of South Africa)
- Orange Free State (now part of South Africa)

Gambia
Sierra Leone

History of Africa since ancient times Büttner Tea

Chapter I IS AFRICA THE CRADLE OF HUMANITY? DEVELOPMENT TRENDS IN ANCIENT AND ANCIENT HISTORY

Chapter I

IS AFRICA THE CRADLE OF HUMANITY?

DEVELOPMENT TRENDS IN ANCIENT AND ANCIENT HISTORY

Apparently, the first people on earth appeared on the African continent, so it occupies a very special place in the study of the entire history of mankind, and the history of the most ancient and ancient periods of our civilization in particular. Discoveries of recent years in South and South-East Africa (Sterkfontein Taung, Broken Hill, Florisbad, Cape Flats, etc.), in the Sahara, especially in East Africa, have shown that the past of mankind is estimated at millions of years. In 1924, R. A. Dart found the remains of australopithecines (man-apes) in South Africa, whose age is approximately a million years old. But prof. L. Leakey, subsequently his son and wife after lengthy and difficult excavations in Kenya and Tanzania - in the Olduvai Gorge south of Lake Victoria, and in the Koobi Fora and Ileret areas (1968), as well as the burial of Laetvlil in the Serengeti (1976) - found bone remains, the age of which is estimated to be from 1.8 to 2.6 million, and in Laetvlila - even 3.7 million years.

It has been established that only on the African continent have bone remains been discovered, representing all stages of human development, which is obviously confirmed on the basis of the latest anthropological and paleontological data evolutionary doctrine Darwin, who considered Africa the “ancestral home of mankind.” At Olduvai Gorge in East Africa we find remains of representatives of all stages of evolution that preceded the emergence of Homo sapiens. They evolved (partly in parallel and not always receiving further development) from Australopithecus to Homo habilis, and then to the last link in the evolutionary chain - Neoanthropus. The example of East Africa proves that the formation of Homo sapiens could have occurred in a variety of ways and that not all of them have been studied.

Climatic changes that occurred during the Quaternary period and lasted more than a million years, especially the three great pluvial (wet) periods, had a major impact on Africa and turned areas that are now deserts into savannas, where prehistoric people successfully hunted. Pluvial-related displacements and changes in water levels can be used, among other methods, to date primitive finds. Already among the archaeological materials dating back to the first pluvial periods, along with the bone remains of the primordial man, the first stone, or rather pebble, tools were found. In Europe, similar products appeared much later - only during interglacial periods.

Findings of the oldest pebble and stone tools of the Olduvai and Stellenbosch cultures, as well as numerous remains of thick and thin processed cores and axes with handles dating back to the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic (about 50 thousand years ago), now discovered in many regions of the Maghreb (ater, capsian), The Sahara, South Africa (Faursmith), East Africa and the Congo Basin (Zaire), testify to the development and success of Early and Late Paleolithic people on African soil.

The huge number of improved stone tools and rock art dating back to the Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) suggests significant population growth and a high level of prehistoric culture in certain areas of Africa from the 10th millennium BC. e. The Lupembe and Chitole cultures in the Congo Basin, as well as Mesolithic centers in North-Eastern Angola, in parts of Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe and on the northern coast of the Gulf of Guinea represent important stage further progress of culture. The people of the Lupemba culture were able to make chisels and hollow objects, broken-backed points and stone leaf-shaped points for spears and dagger-type tools that stand comparison with the best stone points found in Europe.

The Capsian culture on the territory of Kenya (approximately the 5th millennium BC) is characterized by high technology for processing incisors, the use of ceramics and elegant vessels made of well-processed stone. At the same time, isolated ceramic items appeared in certain areas of Zimbabwe, South-West Africa and the Cape Province (Wilton culture). The bearers of this civilization continued to engage in hunting and targeted gathering, but at the same time, for the first time in history, fishing became an important sector of the economy, which led to an increase in the settled population, especially in some coastal areas. Already during the Mesolithic period, rock art in the form of reliefs and paintings on hunting themes reached a high level of development. In many areas of Africa - in the Maghreb, the Sahara, the Nile Valley, Nubia, in Eastern Sudan, Ethiopia, East Africa, in the central Congo Basin (Zaire) and in South Africa - beautiful images have been preserved, which most often show wild animals of the steppes and savannas, as well as people hunting, dancing and performing religious ceremonies. With the onset of the Neolithic, rock art continued to develop, and some of its traditions survived into modern times.

Now historians and archaeologists already have a clearer idea of the immediate prehistoric period of African history (Neolithic). During this time, new branches of the economy arose - agriculture and cattle breeding. Thanks to the use of more advanced techniques, such as grinding, Neolithic people could more skillfully shape stone into the desired shape. As a result, many stone products appeared that were previously unknown or known only in rudimentary form. The bow and arrows were improved, making hunting easier. The appearance of drilled and polished products, the invention and improvement of pottery, the wider distribution of ceramics - all these achievements sharply separate the Neolithic from previous periods, when man lived mainly by hunting. Now the basis of its existence is agriculture and cattle breeding. Naturally, from this period came the first signs that a sedentary lifestyle had become widespread. People were already building huts for themselves; several huts made up settlements.

The transition from hunting, gathering plants and occasional fishing as the only sources of food to farming and raising livestock was a major step forward. The general rise of productive forces during the Neolithic period was the basis for the development of new forms of social structure. The essence of the changes was that the structure of the clan community and the connections between individual groups of this type were strengthened. Tribes arose everywhere, representing the highest level of organization of clan society, which took shape in the depths of the Late Paleolithic on the basis of consanguineous ties. The production and appropriation of its products continued to be of a public nature, and public ownership of the most important means of production was preserved. Individual appropriation and personal ownership of tools had a very limited distribution.

In some areas of Africa, the use of millstones and ceramics, closely associated with the transition of former hunters to a sedentary lifestyle, began earlier than in Europe.

Of course, development was not a uniform process and gave rise to many transitional forms. Some tribes, even during the mature Neolithic period, continued to lead the life of hunters and fishermen. These tribes lived in more or less unfavorable conditions, which made it difficult to transition to new forms of economic activity. At the same time, particularly favorable conditions developed in the Nile Valley, in the Schott regions of North Africa, such as Tunisia and Algeria, as well as in the Sahara of that era. It is the difference natural conditions explains the huge chronological gap in the dating of the Neolithic.

As will be clear from the description of the most important finds, a pronounced Neolithic culture and agricultural settlements were inherent in Egypt already in the 5th millennium BC. e., North Africa - in the 4th century, and to the south of the Sahara, typical Neolithic finds date back to the 1st millennium BC. e., and by the 1st millennium AD. e. In this region, the development of various Neolithic farming and herding cultures continued over several millennia, and they partly absorbed and partly destroyed or displaced older hunter-gatherer cultures. In some areas south of the Sahara, stone processing techniques developed at the end of the Hamblian (XII-X millennium BC) were preserved, and the decisive step towards the Neolithic was never taken. For many areas of South Africa, the example of boskopoid Bushmen is typical. These are hunters and gatherers, descended in a direct line from primitive man and not beyond the Mesolithic stage. Their historical development has reached a dead end and partially stopped. The Bushmen became famous for the tens of thousands of rock carvings they owned, testifying to a highly developed hunting culture. On the contrary, in other areas of Africa, as a result of an exceptionally favorable combination of circumstances, including good natural conditions, accelerated development is observed.

The Neolithic cultures of Egypt have been especially thoroughly studied. Periodic floods and subsequent deposition of silt made the Nile Valley extremely fertile. During excavations in Central Egypt, in particular in Deir Tasa, along with bone remains, rich archaeological material was found, from which it can be concluded that the population of Egypt during the Neolithic period, in some places even from the 6th millennium BC. e., in addition to hunting and fishing, he was engaged in farming or, at least, collecting wild cereals. Polished axes, small bone harpoons, and many primitive pottery items were found. Using a fairly reliable radiocarbon method, it was possible to accurately date finds from the shores of Lake Fayum and a large depression in Northern Egypt (4500–4000 BC). The inhabitants of Fayum were engaged in hunting, fishing, farming and cattle breeding. They sowed einkorn wheat, barley and flax, and knew primitive irrigation. Wooden sickles with flint inserts were found here. When hunting and in war, residents used bows and arrows and battle maces. They knew pottery and weaving. They made clothes from fabrics and skins. Many other settlements of the Neolithic period have been discovered in Egypt (El-Omari, Amrat and Badari cultures).

The last Neolithic culture that preceded the historical era of Egypt was the Gerzean (Negada II, north of Thebes) with its characteristic more advanced forms of household utensils, tools, and ceramics. Here in Upper Egypt, the best examples are preserved in a huge necropolis containing more than 3 thousand burials. The stone tools still in use at that time - hoes, sickles, millstones - were distinguished by their high quality of processing and retained their former appearance in the historical period. Flint processing has reached true perfection. Along with flint axes, copper products appeared in Upper Egypt (though for the first time and most likely as a by-product), but stone tools still formed the basis of the equipment of Egyptian farmers. The entire material culture developed rapidly and achieved an exceptional wealth of forms. The exchange of labor products has intensified. This entailed differentiation of society, and between 3500 and 3000. BC e. Ancient Egyptian despotism arose, based on the first state formations. Image signs (hieroglyphs) appeared - the first form of writing.

The need and possibility of constructing irrigation structures in the Nile Valley and regulating their operation has accelerated; the process of uniting individual nomes (regions) of Egypt and the use of state means of coercion. True, we do not have direct data on the organization of irrigation work during this period of the emerging ancient Egyptian state, but there is no doubt that the highest leadership was concentrated in the hands of the head of state - the king, who was revered as a god.

It is not surprising that Egypt crossed the Neolithic threshold relatively quickly. The wider use of metals, the appropriation by the narrow elite of the clan aristocracy and priests led by the nomarch's family of an ever-increasing share of the surplus product, the emergence of relations of exploitation and dependence of one person on another - all this accelerated the economic and social differentiation and division of society into classes. Subsequently, in the eventful history of Egypt, an early class society, so typical of the ancient East, developed in a specific form.

Using the radiocarbon method, it was possible to date numerous Neolithic settlements to the 3rd–2nd millennium BC. e., discovered in the now inaccessible or completely uninhabited desert. The Berliet expedition, which worked from 1959 to 1961 east of Air in the Tenere region (Niger Republic), excavated settlements of people who lived on the shores of large lakes and, like the predynastic Egyptians, earned their living by hunting, fishing and partly by farming. One of the expedition members wrote: “In the depths of the erg (sandy desert), in Tenere, I discovered traces of ancient fishermen’s camps: large piles of fish bones (they occupied several two-wheeled carts), skeletons of hippopotamuses and elephants, stone tools. Five hundred kilometers to the south, on the border of the Sahara and Sudan, I found a good dozen more sites. There were heaps of fish bones, turtle shells, mollusk shells, bones of hippopotamuses, giraffes and antelopes, among which lay human skeletons.”

In recent years, very valuable archaeological materials have been discovered on the territory of the Republic of Sudan, where ancient Nubia was once located. The discovery of the earliest of them is associated with the name of E. J. Arkell. During excavations near Khartoum, he discovered traces of Neolithic settlements. Drilled flint axes reminiscent of finds from Tenere and Fayum, bone tools, and remains of wicker baskets with traces of cereals were found. When dating, these villages were attributed to the first half of the 4th millennium BC. e. In the same layers, parts of the bones and skulls of people of a clearly Negroid type were discovered - another proof that already in such a distant period the main anthropological types were formed on the soil of Africa. Further finds on the territory of Nubia were divided into cultures A, B, C and dated. During the C culture period (2400–1600 BC), the population of Nubia repelled the attacks of the Egyptians. Finds dating back to this time—stone weapons, rich pottery, copper and bronze jewelry, and valuable stone axes—show that the first metalworking centers arose in Nubia, as in Egypt.

The Neolithic is also widely represented throughout North Africa and the Sahara. The cultural layers uncovered here contained polished stone axes, maces, grain grinders and remains of clay vessels. Tools and entire settlements of the Neolithic period have been discovered in the Atlas zone, where people lived in caves. Interesting drawings remained on their walls, for example in the Oran region (Algeria). The tools recovered from the surface of the earth allow us to conclude that tribes of pastoralists and farmers settled in North Africa already in ancient times.

Between the 8th and 3rd millennia, the Sahara had an exceptionally good climate. Heavy rainfall created favorable conditions for cattle breeding, hunting and, to some extent, agriculture. The Saharan savannas and areas around lakes and rivers attracted numerous peoples who were at the Paleolithic or Mesolithic stage from the marshlands of Sudan, the Lake Chad region and the Maghreb mountains. Thus, in many parts of the Sahara, the Neolithic developed, the bearers of which were hunters, shepherds, fishermen and farmers. From them came the particularly beautiful rock paintings and frescoes, from which we draw important information about the way of life of the population of this area during the Mesolithic period.

The discoveries of the French researcher A. Lot in the Tassili (Ahaggar) mountains in Southern Algeria and the Italian F. Mori in Fezzan (Libya) became world famous. These and other scientists discovered tens of thousands of drawings on the now almost waterless hills of the Central Sahara and in the Atlas Mountains, which are not only important evidence of the past, but also amaze with their high artistic merits. Paintings, frescoes, and reliefs carved on rocks are creations of developed realistic art . The later ones are somewhat stylized. The oldest images of animals - elephants, rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses, giraffes, lions and other predators - date back to approximately the 10th–8th millennia. Images of people, often with animal heads (later, numerous figures are barely outlined in thin lines or even strokes), combined with scenes of hunting or the performance of cult ceremonies, reflect the highly developed activity of Mesolithic hunters. This is to some extent influenced by the traditions of the North African Capsian culture.

Realistic painting, which at first was dominated by contour images, over time became increasingly stylized and abstract and acquired features characteristic of plastic art. The content of the paintings suggests that since the 4th millennium, in these mountainous regions, as well as in the vast expanses of the Sahara, the basis of the economy was the breeding of livestock with long and short horns. In beautiful colored frescoes we see bulls with curled horns. However, hunting for wild animals, which were found in abundance here, has not lost its importance. Rock art complements our understanding of the various periods and stages of Neolithic development in the densely populated Sahara, where fishermen and farmers living in the savannah, near numerous lakes and rivers, played no less a role than pastoralists who roamed with their herds in areas suitable for grazing. A. Lot counted about 80 prehistoric settlements in the south of Ahaggar, at the foot of the In-Gezzam plateau.

But first of all, the grandiose rock paintings convince us that at this time (IV–I millennium BC) the main anthropological types of the African population were basically formed, and it was on the soil of Africa itself. These researcher data decisively refute the legends, especially energetically spread by apologists of colonialism, that all the most important cultural achievements that determine social development were brought to Africa from the outside. Scientifically unfounded racist theories of the penetration of foreign cultures served as a breeding ground for the creation of entire systems dividing Africans into “superior” and “inferior” groups. Meanwhile, from the preserved human bone remains it can be established that already in the Mesolithic period there were serious differences in anthropological forms. Bone remains of the Neolithic period are easy to classify according to various anthropological characteristics. By this time, along with the formation of the main anthropological types, a pronounced racial differentiation had occurred. Most likely, many of the modern language families began to take shape from the Neolithic era. Rock painting, with all the power of realistic art, convinces us that during the humid period in the Sahara, all anthropological types of the population, which subsequently prevailed on the African continent, were more or less widely represented. Their distinctive features partly reflect differences in the way they obtain food.

Already in the early ancient Egyptian monuments of the 3rd millennium BC. e., as in the rock paintings discovered by Mori in Fezzan, tall, light-skinned people appear. These pastoralists, who roamed the Sahara and North Africa, became speakers of the Berber-Libyan dialects, which, along with Egyptian and Coptic, belong to the Semitic-Hamitic family of languages.

Both in their anthropological type and in language, they were the ancestors of numerous Berber and Libyan tribes of the Mediterranean, the Tuaregs living in the central highlands of the Sahara (Tassili, Ahaggar, Adrar, Air) and the Fulani of Western Sudan. In the savannas and plateaus of Northeastern Africa, in the upper reaches of the Blue Nile up to the Neolithic zone with the Capsian tradition of Kenya, tribes and clans of hunters lived, partly sedentary, but mainly pastoral, which should be attributed to the Ethiopian-Caucasian anthropological type. They were spread over vast areas of East Africa and spoke Cushitic languages. Very closely related to them in terms of anthropological characteristics and partly in language were many tribes of pastoralists who later inhabited Somalia, Ethiopia and the East African coast.

However, at the same time - at the beginning of the Neolithic - both the Sahara and the territory of Sudan were inhabited by settled farmers of the Negroid type. A. Lot reports mask drawings in the Tassili Mountains, which have an undeniable similarity with the Senufo drawings of the Ivory Coast, belonging to more late period. Of course, the formation of the main anthropological types and linguistic groups in the regions of the Sahara and Sudan, as well as in other Neolithic centers in Tropical Africa, provides exceptionally much material for important historical conclusions, if we ignore bourgeois apologetic theories about racial superiority.

The geological process of drying out the Sahara, which began in the 3rd–2nd millennia BC. e., put an end to the wet period of the Neolithic and, naturally, entailed a number of serious changes. True, numerous contacts continued to take place across the Sahara, and at the end of the 1st millennium AD. e. trade ties between North Africa and the states of Western and Central Sudan were even re-established. But the formation of a largely uninhabited desert belt, where nomadic pastoralists occasionally drove their herds only in the outlying areas, led to the fact that the economic, cultural and political development of the peoples of North Africa, on the one hand, and the population of Tropical Africa, on the other, henceforth took place in in various directions. In the 2nd millennium BC. e. The Sahara was at least partially inhabited, but large population movements occurred in the 1st millennium. Light-skinned nomadic pastoralists advanced to the northern and eastern regions or found pastures for their herds in the savannahs in the south, and the agricultural, Negroid population retreated to the territory of Western Sudan. Only a small part of it still lived in the oases of the Sahara.

At this time, the migrations of the Bantu peoples began, which gave rise to many conflicting assumptions, which in one way or another penetrated science. It is now impossible to accurately establish the detailed routes of numerous tribes and the reasons that caused these migrations. Much still needs to be clarified. It is indisputable, however, that since the Neolithic period and the use of metals, the population of some centers increased sharply and gradually spread throughout the continent. Some researchers consider the reason for such movements to have occurred since the 1st millennium BC. e. until the late Middle Ages, usually in the direction from north to south, the relative overpopulation of certain areas, which invariably pushed the search for new areas for agriculture, cattle breeding, fishing and hunting. For tropical Africa, another circumstance is of great importance: there was an abundance of land suitable for cultivation, so there was often no incentive to introduce intensive farming methods and other methods of obtaining food, which in Egypt, the Middle East and India forced the population to crowd into the valleys rivers and irrigation systems.

Perhaps the migrations of the peoples of Tropical Africa were caused by a strong influx of Negroid inhabitants of the Sahara, who were at the Neolithic stage, into the zone of Western Sudan, where they mixed with local residents. Large human flows also moved from the centers of Neolithic culture that developed in Northern Nigeria, Cameroon, in the area of Lake Chad, the present-day republics of Congo and Zaire, and eventually the entire continent began to move, which led to the spread of the most important food plants over large areas, such as millet and a variety of rice, to the introduction of new farming methods, increased mining of iron ore and increased use of metals.

When trying to explain these phenomena, one should decisively abandon the search for the ancestral home of the “proto-Bantu”, which is rooted in bourgeois literature, often used as a dues ex machina for the entire social development of the African continent south of the Sahara. These theories do not take into account that "Bantu" is a purely linguistic term for a relative community, suggesting close kinship among the approximately 350 Bantu languages and dialects in Central, Eastern and Southern Africa. Transferring this linguistic concept to anthropological and cultural characteristics is unacceptable and unscientific. The tribes and peoples of this language family have quite significant anthropological differences, are at different stages of social and cultural development and have characteristics that reflect the processes of fusion as a result of the migration of peoples.

After long, often intersecting movements in the 1st millennium AD. e. the regions of Cameroon, the Ubangi and Shari basins, Northern and Central Katanga, the territory of the future state of Congo and the East African coast to the Zambezi (Zambia, Mozambique) stood out as regional centers of the Bantu-speaking population.

This is evidenced by excavations of burials on the shores of Lake Kisale in Katanga, dating back to the 8th and 9th centuries. n. e. Arab travelers left reliable reports that Bantu-speaking tribes in the 7th and 8th centuries. n. e. reached the eastern shores of the great East African lakes and in subsequent centuries advanced into the territory of Southern Rhodesia. The tribes and peoples who inhabited vast territories here, under pressure from aliens, rolled back to Central and Southern Africa and displaced the inhabitants of these areas, mainly hunters and gatherers, who were still at the Late Paleolithic stage. The ancestors of modern pygmies lived in the virgin forests of Central Africa and on the banks of the Congo. Throughout South Africa lived hunters and gatherers of the “bushboskopoid” type, descendants of the Boskopian fossil man of antiquity. As recent studies show, it is possible that they even inhabited some areas of East Africa and here they came into contact with nomadic pastoralists of the Ethiopian-Caucasian type. True, many of these tribes, the ancestors of the Bushmen and Hottentots, who spoke Khoisan languages at the time of their independence, were ultimately assimilated or displaced.

Another very ancient center of intensive settlement was the region of Nigeria. On the high plateau of Central Nigeria, near Jos, on the territory of the Bauchi plateau, to the southern border of the middle reaches of the Benue River, Paleolithic tools were found, made, according to B. Fagg, about 40 thousand years ago. Judging by some features, individual layers may indicate human presence in this area from the Paleolithic to the Middle and Late Neolithic. Near the village of Nok in the vicinity of Zaria, traces of a highly developed Neolithic were discovered. During the re-commissioning of the Jos tin mines, English mining engineers, and after them archaeologists, found the remains of a Neolithic settlement of sedentary farmers who knew pottery well. They left behind images of great artistic value. The finds were dominated by terracotta figurines depicting Negroid people, heads of elephants, and squatting monkeys. What attracted most attention were the uniquely stylized heads and life-size terracotta busts. The same English archaeologist B. Fagg excavated big number such figurines of the Nok culture in the surrounding area, where they were scattered over a radius of about 45 kilometers. They were probably originally distributed far beyond Central Nigeria.

Of greatest importance was the discovery that the partially stylized naturalistic terracotta figurines had much in common with the later art of Ife (14th-16th centuries) in Southern Nigeria and they were the forerunners not only of this movement, which experts consider “classical” in African art, but also of later African sculpture. B. Fagg notes that terracotta figurines from Ife are not much different from works of the Nok culture - only in the triangular shape of the eyes and “long-eared” heads. In other respects, both in techniques and in forms, there is a surprisingly large similarity. These findings helped to refute many apologetic theories that claimed that the Negroid population did not create their own traditional anthropomorphic sculpture. As well as the sensational discoveries of A. Lot in the Sahara, where the indigenous African population of the Ethpopian-Caucasian and Negroid types already in the 4th millennium BC. e. skillfully created beautiful realistic images of men and women, clay heads and figurines found in Central Nigeria from the 1st millennium BC. e. were of great importance for the criticism of non-scientific theories. They served as a springboard for the rediscovery of Africa's historical past, which is now being undertaken by the progressive historiography of young nation-states, despite the theories and opposition of colonialists and neo-colonialists. Using radiocarbon dating, it was established that the oldest layers of the Neolithic center, from which the Nok figurines came, date back to approximately 900 BC. e., and the upper limit is 200 AD. e.

It is also interesting that the figurines were found in tin mines. Along with figurines and terracotta vessels, iron picks, remains of smelting furnaces and bellows, and iron slag were found here. Thus, the mines, probably founded as early as the 1st millennium BC. e., they say that in the last centuries BC in Tropical Africa they knew how to mine and process iron. In Central Nigeria, the most common ore is laterite, which is easily mined and melts at an exceptionally low temperature. Although the inhabitants of these areas learned to process bronze quite early, they mined iron even earlier. Basil Davidson rightly points out in this regard that the Nok culture was transitional from the late Stone Age to the Metal Age and that its peak occurred in the last two or three centuries BC.

But for a long time, stone and metal tools were used in parallel, anticipating the centuries-long process of transition to the use of iron and other metals, and, consequently, the formation of states based on an early class society.

Centers of Neolithic civilization were discovered along with Central Nigeria primarily in the Congo basin, in Zambia and Zimbabwe, in various areas of West Africa, in southern Mauritania, in Guinea, in the Senegal basin, as well as on the shores of Lake Chad. The population of these areas switched to agriculture and used stone and iron tools, which since the 1st millennium AD. e. gradually led to the formation of prosperous states in sub-Saharan Africa.

Although in recent years the study of the ancient and ancient history of Africa has achieved undoubted success, the study of the interaction of Neolithic cultures in time and space is only taking its first steps, and so far we have a very incomplete, inaccurate picture of their distribution.

When trying to reconstruct the events of these periods, one can rely on the first mentions of Africa, appearing in written sources from the second half of the 2nd millennium BC. and especially valuable information is provided by Egyptian, and later Greek and Roman inscriptions.

The first data of this kind is contained in the victorious reports of the Egyptians. At the end of the 2nd millennium BC. e. Huge concentrations of nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes approached the borders of Egypt. The expansion of the desert gradually deprived them of pastures and fields. Every now and then wars broke out; oases and other fertile irrigated lands were constantly attacked. Ramses II decorated the walls of the temple in Medinet Habu with reliefs and inscriptions of his victories over his enemies, among whom the peoples and tribes of Libya and Fezzan predominated. At this time (c. 1000 BC), when Nubia was still subject to the rule of the Egyptians, Egyptian sources often mention the “land of Punt” - a land of gold and incense. Where it was located has not yet been definitively established, only that it included areas southeast of Nubia, extending to the Red Sea, and paid tribute to Egypt in gold, ivory and myrrh. It is also known that Queen Hatshepsut (c. 1501–1480 BC) sent expeditions to Punt. From there, Egyptian ships reached the eastern coast of Africa.

From the accounts of the Carthaginians, Greeks and Romans about military, trading and exploratory expeditions one can glean much information about the geography of the African continent, but they tell little about the population even of the coastal strip, the most frequently visited, or in general about the interior regions. A map compiled by the great Greek geographer shows that, along with the Mediterranean coast and the Nile Valley, the eastern coast of Africa to Cape Delgado and the western coast to the Gulf of Guinea were more or less known. However, this knowledge was partly based on legends.

In the second half of the 1st millennium BC. e. The western part of the coast of North Africa was dotted with settlements and trading posts of the Phoenicians, the center of which was Carthage. There were relatively many of them before Mogador (Morocco), but further on; in the south there were only periodically visited trading posts and small trading posts that conducted exchange transactions with the population of the coastal regions. Herodotus (484–425) and the Greek geographer Pseudo-Scylacus, who lived in the 4th century. BC e., they report the so-called silent, or quiet, trade with the inhabitants of the northern part of the West African coast. In exchange for gold, which figured very early in commercial transactions, the West African population was offered luxury items such as incense, gems from Egypt, ceramics from Athens and other goods.

Reliable sources, including Strabo (Geography, III, 326), report that in the 5th century. BC e. (c. 470) the Carthaginian Hanno passed through the Pillars of Hercules (Straits of Gibraltar) and sailed along the northern part of West Africa. He was tasked with replenishing the staff of the Punic trading posts with new people and exploring the possibilities of trade with the southern region of this coast. His journey took him to the coast of Cameroon. The mentioned streams of fire and columns of fire erupting from an unknown volcano seem to indicate Mount Cameroon.

After the few references to the military campaigns of the Egyptians have dried up, the sources, especially after the Roman conquest of North Africa, pay great attention to east coast Sub-Saharan Africa and the sources of the Nile. In the second half of the 1st millennium BC. e. Greek sailors knew from experience that it was possible, leaving the Red Sea, to reach the northwestern coast of India. They also sailed along the East African coast and reached the borders of modern Mozambique.

From this time came an extremely interesting guide, a guide for Greek navigators, “Periplus of the Erythraean Sea” by an anonymous author. Most likely, it was compiled by a Greek from Alexandria, who apparently himself sailed off the southern coast of East Africa. He reports on trading stations stretching along the East African coast to the settlement of Rapta (between Dar es Salaam and Tanga). The compiler of the Periplus describes the busy port cities on the coast of “Azania” - now located in Kenya and Tanzania - and provides some information about their inhabitants.

Several centuries before the spread of Islam in Africa, very close economic and political ties existed between the population of its eastern regions and the southern Arabs, and some leaders of the coastal tribes were even directly subordinate to the Himyarite rulers of South Arabia. In the first centuries of our era, Africans sold to foreigners Iron tools and weapons produced in Muse, on the shores of the Red Sea (we will discuss the iron smelting centers in Tropical Africa separately). Ivory, palm oil, tortoiseshells, and slaves were exported from the ports of “Azania.”

To the “Father of History,” the Greek historian Herodotus, who committed in the 5th century. BC e. traveling through the countries of the East, we owe interesting and reliable information about the population of some areas of Western and Central Africa, located in the Sahara further to the south. Herodotus describes the famous Garamantes of Fezzan and their crossings across the Sahara, the “troglodyte Ethiopians” and the Nasamones of Eastern Libya. At that time, “Ethiopians” were people of the Negroid type with curly hair who lived not only in East, but also in West Africa. Since the 6th century. BC e. they were often depicted on Greek vases. According to Herodotus, the area stretching from the Egyptian city of Thebes to the Pillars of Hercules was already a waterless desert, where there was no vegetation or wild animals. By the time of Herodotus, the Sahara had largely assumed its current appearance.

Apparently, in the 7th century. BC e. (?) The Nasamon expedition of five people set off from the Aujila oasis to the south. On the way, they met a city and a country, “where all the people were... small, and... black. A large river flows past this city, and it flows from west to east, and crocodiles were visible in it: (II, 32). Most likely, the Nasamons walked through the Fezzan to the southwest to the bend of the Niger (the presence of such paths was suggested on the basis of rock carvings by A. Lot), and reached the regions of Gao and Timbuktu.

Of even greater interest is Herodotus’ description of the Garamantes’ march to the southwest, into the Niger Valley, from Fezzan itself. The Garamantes of Fezzan already knew highly developed agriculture and cattle breeding. In horse-drawn chariots, they crossed the Sahara and met “cave Ethiopians,” who spoke in a language that sounded like “the squeak of bats.” Although the researchers have not yet come to definitive conclusions and cannot say for sure which country they are talking about, they suggest that the language can be identified with the so-called Sudanese languages, in which pitch changes are known to play an important role. Therefore, it is possible that Herodotus’ story about the Garamantes refers to the inhabitants of the Niger basin or Lake Chad. Archaeological excavations and the remains of primitive man indicate that during the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods these areas were early centers of settlement, where, after the accelerated drying of the Sahara and the subsequent movements of peoples, large masses of Africans of the Negroid type settled.

During Roman rule in North Africa, expeditions to the south were again undertaken. Pliny reports military campaigns in this direction. Roman proconsul Cornelius Balbus in 19 BC. e. reached Fezzan, the country of the Garamantes, and, according to A. Lot’s assumption, crossed the Sahara and reached Gao. Pliny also mentions the cave dwellers of the Niger Valley, “troglodytes,” already described by Herodotus. In 70 AD e. the path of the Garamantes was followed again, this time by Septimius Flaccus, who, according to some authors, reached Bilma. Ptolemy reports that in 86 AD. e. Julius Materi, by order of Emperor Domitian, crossed the desert with the Garamantes and reached Agisimba, the region “where rhinoceroses gather.” Agisimba was usually identified with the oasis of Air (Niger Republic). But such an identification is most likely erroneous: it is difficult to reach Air from Fezzan. Bovill believes that the Romans reached the Tibesti highlands, where an ancient route from Fezzan to Central Sudan, already at that time used for trade relations, ran nearby. Tibesti is supported by the report that there were rhinoceroses there. Over the next few centuries, these animals were still found in the area of Lake Chad and surrounding reservoirs up to Tibesti.

In search of the sources of the Nile, and most importantly, in pursuit of gold, expeditions were sent to Eastern Sudan. By order of Emperor Nero in 70, two centuries went up the Nile, passed the state of Meroe (at the 5th cataract) and apparently reached the swampy area on the banks of the White Nile and at Bahr el-Ghazal with “a huge labyrinth of swamps, covered with a quagmire where a boat cannot pass” (Seneca, VI, 8). Thus the border of ancient and ancient Africa was reached. Sub-Saharan Africa was characterized by a transition to the use and processing of metals and the emergence of early class societies.

When at the end of the 15th century. The first Portuguese conquerors and travelers set foot on African soil; a significant part of its population had been able to smelt and use iron for many centuries. The only exceptions were some tribes who lived isolated in remote areas of the tropical virgin forest and South Africa.

Many primitive tribes, like the carriers of Neolithic cultures of the 1st millennium BC. e., in parallel with metal ones, they continued to use tools, weapons and other similar objects made of stone and bone. Such parallelism is observed in the Sao culture of the Lake Chad basin and in the Neolithic Bigo culture in Uganda from the 10th to the 14th centuries. n. e., as well as in the centers of the Nok culture before the beginning of our era.

Since when did the use of metal begin in Tropical Africa, which marks the end of the Stone Age, and therefore of primitive society? This question is of particular importance, because for any nation the emergence of economic and social differentiation and the formation of a class society are associated with its entry into the metal age.

With the exception of Egypt, where bronze working reached its greatest development during the New Kingdom (1262–1085 BC), and parts of North Africa and Mauritania, sub-Saharan Africa did not have a distinct Copper or Bronze Age, although copper and bronze in many places even in ancient times, and in some places for a number of centuries, occupied the main place in everyday life. In West Africa, poor in copper but rich in gold, in the course of trade exchanges across the Sahara, Libyan copper played an important role in ancient times, exchanged for West African gold. These operations began in the 1st millennium BC. e. Garamantes - chariot riders from Fezzan. French archaeologist R. Moni dates the use of copper in the form of axes and spearheads in Mauritania to 1200 BC. e.

Systematic copper mining began relatively late in sub-Saharan Africa. Familiarity with it remained purely regional and limited to a few deposits and junction points along the routes of trade caravans with copper in Western Central Africa and did not have any impact significant influence for the development of productive forces. On the contrary, copper mining and especially the spread of copper casting presupposed the presence of iron tools and other equipment. Only at the turn of the 1st and 2nd millennia AD. e. and it was thanks to the use of iron tools that the exploitation of copper deposits on the Zambezi and Katanga, red copper ore in Takedda (Mali) and tin on the Bauchi plateau in Nigeria was intensified. From the descriptions of al-Biruni it is known that in the 13th century. There were copper mines in Katanga. Ibn Battuta reports in the 14th century. about a deposit of red copper ore near Takedda in Mali.

The famous bronze and copper works of art of Ife and Benin do not date back earlier than the start XII century Figurines made of copper and bronze, found by J.-P. Lebeuf in the places of settlement of the Sao people on the shores of Lake Chad, date back to the 10th–13th centuries. As archaeological data show, in Tropical Africa, copper and bronze were almost never used for the production of tools, utensils and weapons, but court artisans made works of art and valuable household items from them, as well as from gold, with great perfection. Unlike the countries of the Near East and the Mediterranean, sub-Saharan Africa first learned to smelt and process iron, and only then mastered the art of producing copper. In many areas of Africa, at the end of the Neolithic, iron began to be used immediately after stone. The Bronze Period in the proper sense of the word, characterized by the processing of copper, as well as the Eneolithic (the period of stone and bronze) did not exist here.

The more important was the ability to process iron. It ultimately entailed fundamental changes in the state of the productive forces, and consequently in the socio-economic field, in property relations.

It should be emphasized that Africans independently learned to mine iron and created their own methods of producing and processing it.

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