Archive - African History Extra

Stone towns on the Highveld of South Africa: an archaeological history of the Sotho-Tswana capitals (ca. 1450-1850)

The eastern plateau of South Africa, known as the Highveld, is dotted with the ruins of numerous stone towns founded at the end of the Middle Ages.

4 hrs ago •

April 2025

The currencies and monetary systems of pre-colonial Africa

A bewildering variety of currencies circulated freely in the various states and societies of Africa during the pre-colonial period.

Apr 27 •

A forgotten African empire: the history of medieval Kānem (ca. 800-1472)

A century before Mansa Musa’s famous pilgrimage, the political and cultural landscape of medieval West Africa was dominated by the empire of Kānem.

Apr 20 •

Online resources for African history: links to African collections held at 33 Western Museums

Up to 90% of Sub-Saharan Africa’s material cultural legacy is kept outside of the continent, according to a French government-commissioned 2018 report…

Apr 13 •

What did they write about? : An intellectual history of Timbuktu ca. 1450-1900.

No single body of primary sources in the literary heritage of West Africa has attracted as much attention and attained as much celebrity as the fabled…

Apr 6 •

March 2025

Africans in ancient Greece and Cyprus

Africans were already present on the European mainland by the time Herodotus —the so called father of history— wrote his monumental work, The Histories.

Mar 30 •

The Knights of ancient Nubia: horsemen and charioteers from the kingdom of Kush (ca. 1600BC-400CE)

Among the groups of foreigners present in the Assyrian capital of Nimrud in 732 BC, was a community of horse experts from the kingdom of Kush led by an…

Mar 23 •

Chronicles of Africa's most powerful Women sovereigns: Amanirenas, Njinga and Eleni.

Less than six years following their victory over the armies of Queen Cleopatra in Egypt in 31 BC, the Romans marched their forces south to conquer the…

Mar 16 •

A complete history of Mogadishu (ca. 1100-1892)

Journal of African cities: chapter 16.

Mar 9 •

African cities in the 19th century: cosmopolitan urban spaces between three worlds.

When the German adventurer Gerhard Rohlfs visited the city of Ibadan in 1867, he described it as “one of the greatest cities of the interior of Africa…

Mar 2 •

February 2025

#nojs-banner { position: fixed; bottom: 0; left: 0; padding: 16px 16px 16px 32px; width: 100%; box-sizing: border-box; background: red; color: white; font-family: -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 13px; } #nojs-banner a { color: inherit; text-decoration: underline; } This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. Please turn on JavaScript or unblock scripts