Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Ancient Africa, It is unknown how Aksum collapsed, but historians agree…
Ancient Africa
Kush/Nubia (1070 BC-350 AD)
History
At their peak under Piye (744–714 BC), they fully conquered Egypt but eventually lost it to the Neo-Assyrian ruler Sennacherib (705–681 BC).
After losing Egypt, they established the new capital of Meroe and began building pyramids and developing their own writing, the Meroitic Script.
Located south of Egypt and founded by the Nubian king Alara, the Kushites were wealthy in gold and traded frequently with their neighbors.
Culture
Kushite rulers would last until the priests told them to commit suicide, but this ended with Ergamenes ( r. 295-275 BCE), who had them killed.
Women had many rights in Kushite society, being allowed to rule, and the king’s mother would serve as Kandake (advisor).
Aksum
History and geography
Major empire between the 1st and 7th centuries, with a golden age between the 4th and 5th centuries
Regularly traded with the Romans, Egypt, India, etc.
Their main exports were agricultural products (wheat and barley), though the kingdom was rich in iron, gold, salt and ivory.
Due to their great geographical location, they were the main exporters of African products to Rome.
-
-
They developed their own alphabet, the Ge’ez alphabet.
Religion
Became Orthodox Christians in the 4th century, while most of Europe was stil pagan.
-
-
-
Phoenicians (2500-539 BC)
Located in Lebanon, they met the Minoans and Mycenaeans and their alphabet served as a base for the Greek.
They were known as the purple people, for they were great producers of tyrian purple.
Thanks to their Trireme, the best ancient vessels, that inspired Greek and Roman ships, they had a formidable navy.
Thus, they ruled the seas and in 814BC, founded Carthage as a colony, 60 years before Rome was founded.
They did not have a powerful military, and so they were conquered in 539BC by Cyrus the Great without much difficulty, although much of the population fled to Carthage.
It is unknown how Aksum collapsed, but historians agree that climate change played a part in it by greatly damaging crop production.
Its collapse began with the rise of the Arabs which economically isolated the empire and caused several regions to be lost due to religious concerns.
An ancient historian described Aksum as one of the four great powers of the time, alongside Rome, Persia and China.
In the early times of the empire, giant obelisks to mark emperors’ (and nobles’) tombs (underground grave chambers) were constructed, the most famous of which is the Obelisk of Aksum.
One of the many Churches of Aksum found in Ethiopia
The Obelisk of Aksum, located in Ethiopia
Phoenicians were not African, they are here because they founded Carthage.
Amanishakheto (10 BC-1 AD) was a Khanate who defied Roman rule during the reign of Augustus and sacked Egypt. She withstood the Roman counter-attack and had Kush independence recognized by them, not having to pay tribute.
Eventually, a lack of resources and trade weakened the empire to the point of being conquered by Aksum.