The world?s earliest stone tools, Ethiopia.
2,100,000 BCE Tanzanian stone tools.
Numerous stone artifacts in Nubia and Egypt.
Post- Paleolithic Africa in Southern, Eastern, Western and Central Africa
Shell jewelry, cosmetics and
inscriptions found in Blombos Cave, South Africa.
Excavated by Henshilwood et. al. 2004.
37,000BCE/25,000BCE Baboon fibula
with 29 parallel notches, Border Cave,
South Africa.
35,000BCE
Decorated ostrich egg shells found in
Namibia, in Southern Africa.
Painted stone slabs, Namibia.
Domestication of wild grasses
in the Ethiopian-Nubian complex. (Ehret, 2002)
Africas oldest pottery
at Ounjougou, Mali, West Africa, excavated
by Swiss archeologist Huysecom et. al., 2007.
Nigerian farmer, at Dufuna, Northeast Nigeria.
8000BCE: Domestication of Ethiopian barley and
wheat, pre-Aksumite Ethiopia
7000-5000 BCE: Sahara/Sahelian region in latitudes associated with
pre-dynastic Ghana, Mali and the
Nubian-Egyptian complex.
3700BCE
as the first Nubian Kingdom and associated
with the A group artifacts; Note the political
symbolism on an incense burner found
at Qustul, and stone lined graves of
twelve Nubian pharaohs (Curator Bruce Williams).
3400BCE
hair attachments and writing in Egypt.
3100 BCE Unification of Egypt from rival
kingdoms and city states along Africa and the world?s
longest river system, the Nile.
2686 BCE - 2125 BCE Old Kingdom, Egypt
circa 3000 BCE to 1000 BCE
Kerma, Nubia's second major kingdom
after Ta-Seti, according to some scholars.
Round tombs and thin walled pots.
Circa 1500 BCE to 1000 BCE
Period of Egyptian occupation of Kerma.
in retaliation for Kerma?s collaboration
with the Asiatic Hyksos.
circa 1000 - 800BCE The Rise of Napata,
the third major Nubian Kingdom after
Ta-Seti and Kerma.
747 BCE Napata conquest of Egypt. circa 900 BCE Disputed emergence
of the Queen of Ethiopia and Sheba.
600 BCE to 1400 CE:
Nubian Christianity prevails
in the Kingdoms of Alwa and others
until Arab conquest.
300BCE to 1640CE The emergence of the
empires of Ghana (Wagadu), Mali and Songhai,
in northern West Africa. Note Moroccan and
French conquest of Ghana and Songhai respectively.
circa 1000 CE to 1900 CE
Kingdom of Nri, Igboland, Eastern Nigeria-
the source of the Igbo-Ukwu artifacts;
The Benin Empire, The Oyo Empire and the
Empire of Kanem-Bornu (Nigeria).
The Asante Empire (Ghana), the Mossi Empire(Burkina Faso);
The Jolof Empire (Senegal).
The dates vary for individual regions and power centers.
Some of these empires were invaded and occupied by
the British and the French in the late 19th century.
Their treasures/ artifacts were looted and carted away
to European museums, where they continue to reside.
332BC
Greek conquest and occupation of Egypt by Alexander of Macedon who drives out the Persians. This leads to the era of the Ptolomies, including the Cleopatras. Accusations of discrimination by indigenous Egyptians outside of Alexandria.
32BCE
Roman conquest and occupation of Egypt. Attempts to
conquer Nubia.
400CE
Vandal (German) invasion of North Africa.
639 CE
Arab conquest and occupation of Egypt. Romans driven out.
Major demographic changes. Settler colonialism.
Ottoman Turkish incorporation by the 19th century.
1441 to 1860s
A wave of encroachments and conquests, initiated by the Portuguese in West, South and East Africa. An era of human trafficking. Dutch invasion in South Africa in the 1650s. British -Asante conflict from the early 19th century.
Belgian conquest of the Congo by Leopold 11, 1860s.
1885 to 1900 A fresh wave of conquests: British, French, German, Italian and Spanish.
A new wave of resistance by Africans such as Samori Toure and others.
1950s to 1990s
A second wave of liberation and resistance movements to regain independence, by freedom fighters such as Amilcar Cabral, Samora Machel,Eduardo Mondlane Oliver Tambo, Nelson Mandela,
Winnie Mandela, Robert Mugabe, Joseph Nkomo, Sam Nujoma etc. These struggles culminated in the successes of the 1970s for Guinea Bissau, Angola and Mozambique; 1980 for Zimbabwe, 1989 for Namibia and the 1990s for South Africa.
1980s - 1990s An era of financial recolonization by the IMF/World Bank through the so-called Structural Adjustment Programs, now called PSRPS. Debt relief largely tied to economic neo-liberalism and the acceptance of corporate globalization programs.
Rise of China. New source of funding and reconstruction. New petroleum discoveries in Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Uganda etc. New opportunites and challenges.
Conflict in northeast Congo over coltan, a cell pjone component. Conflict in Darfur, Sudan, over its uranium, copper and agrarian resources.
This timeline was compiled by Professor Gloria Emeagwali,
History Department, Central Connecticut State University,
New Britain, Connecticut, USA.
Revised 2012 (c)
All Rights Reserved
250,000 BCE
75,000-100,00BCE
26,000 BCE
13,000BCE - 10,000BCE
9400BCE (about 11, 400 years ago)
6000BCE (about 8,000 years ago)
Africas oldest dug out boat, discovered by a
Wavy line pottery across the
Politics and Society in East and West Africa
Ta-Seti, regarded by some scholars
Evidence of beer making,braided
FOREIGN INVASIONS, CONQUEST & RESISTANCE
2000 to present