African History by Credo Reference: Ancient History

The first kingdom for which there is documentary evidence is that of Aksum (Axum), a kingdom which probably emerged in the 2d cent. A.D., thus making Ethiopia the oldest independent country in Africa and one of the most ancient in the world.

It was not until c.3000 B.C. that the Sahara transformed into its present arid state. The camel was introduced probably in the 1st cent. A.D. and facilitated occupation by nomads.

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
Ancient state of NE Africa. At the height of its political power Nubia extended, from north to south, from the First Cataract of the Nile (near Aswan, Egypt) to Khartoum, in Sudan.

Considering the great importance of the Nile to Egypt, it is not surprising that in ancient times it was deified, and it has always been regarded with the utmost reverence. Each year the Nile floods its banks and the height of the flood has been recorded annually since at least 3600 BC.

Far down the Nile River from Cairo is the ancient Egyptian temple city of Thebes and Luxor. Modern visitors will find three ancient temple areas in the modern city of Luxor: Luxor Temple, the temples of Karnak, and the complex of Thebes across the Nile River.

Nebkheperara Tutankhamen (1342-1323 BC) was a short-lived and relatively insignificant ruler during a troubled time in the history of Kernet.

From Encyclopedia of African History
King of the Eighteenth Egyptian Dynasty, Akhenaten reigned from approximately 1360 to 1343bce. Akhenaten is notable for having briefly replaced the entire Egyptian pantheon with a single deity, the Aten, the physical manifestation of the sun.

From The Penguin Biographical Dictionary of Women
Probably born in Mitanni, an empire based in what is now northern Iraq, Nefertiti became the chief wife of the intellectual Egyptian ruler Amenhotep IV (reigned about 1379–1362 BC).

Ramses II, also known as “Ramses the Great,” was one of the most famous pharaohs of the nineteenth dynasty of Egypt (1570–1070 bce). He established numerous building projects, conducted aggressive war campaigns, and created international ties that are still discussed today.).

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
D. 229 or 228 B.C., Carthaginian general. Father of Hannibal.

Queen of Egypt, one of the great romantic heroines of all time.

From The Reader's Companion to Military History
Son of the distinguished Carthaginian general and empire-builder Hamilcar Barca, Hannibal presented the Roman republic with its greatest military challenge.

185?–254?, Christian philosopher and scholar.

(Claudius Ptolemaeus), fl. 2d cent. A.D., celebrated Greco-Egyptian mathematician, astronomer, and geographer.

The greatest of the Latin Fathers of the Church, born in Tagaste, Numidia (modern Algeria).

Ancient civilization, based around the River Nile in Egypt, which emerged 5,000 years ago and reached its peak in the 16th century B.C.

From Chambers Dictionary of World History
Predynastic Period; Early Dynastic Period; Old Kingdom; First Intermediate Period; Middle Kingdom; Second Intermediate Period; New Kingdom; Third Intermediate Period; Late Period.

Ancient Phoenician port in North Africa founded by colonists from Tyre in the late 9th century BC. A leading trading centre, it was in conflict with Greece from the 6th century BC, and then with Rome, and was destroyed by Roman forces in 146 BC at the end of the Punic Wars.

From Encyclopedia of African History
Roman rule in North Africa was based on a system of land appropriation.

In Encyclopedia of African History

From Bloomsbury Dictionary of Myth
The cycle centred on nine gods, the Ennead: Ra the Sun (in his manifestation as Atum the creator) and four pairs of his descendants: Shu and Tefnut; Geb and Nut; Aset (Isis) and Osiris; Set and Nebthet.

Horus was a solar and sky god and one of the most important Egyptian gods associated with kingship.

Isis was one of the most important goddesses of ancient Egypt. She was the daughter of Nut, the sky goddess, and Geb, the earth god, and the sister and consort of Osiris, the chief deity of death. Isis and Osiris's son, Horus, became the ruler of Egypt.

Dead human or animal body preserved by embalming or by unusual natural conditions. Refers primarily to the burials found in Egypt, where the practice of mummification was perfected over the centuries to an extreme of elaboration.

Ancient Egyptian god, the embodiment of goodness, who ruled the underworld after being killed by Set. The pharaohs were believed to be his incarnation.

In The Classical Tradition
Architectural form consisting of a square or trapezoidal base with four triangular sides meeting at a central point or apex. The pyramid achieved its characteristic form in pharaonic Egypt, where edifices of this type were employed as sepulchral monuments.

Mythological creature, depicted in Egyptian, Assyrian, and Greek art as a lion with a human head. One of the oldest monuments is the Great Sphinx at El Gîza, Egypt, which was probably built about 2900-2750 BC.

The approximately 250 Afroasiatic languages, spoken by about 340 million ethnically and racially different people, occupy today the major part of the Middle East, all of North Africa, much of North-East Africa and a considerable area in what may roughly be defined as the northwestern corner of Central Africa.

Extinct language of ancient Egypt. Developed during four periods: (1) Old Egyptian (3d millennium B.C.); (2) Middle Egyptian (2134 - 1354 B.C.) (3) Late Egyptian (to 12th cent. B.C.); and (4) demotic (8th cent. B.C. - 5th cent. A.D.).

Extinct language of Ethiopia belonging to the North Ethiopic group of the South Semitic (or Ethiopic) languages, which, in turn, belong to the Semitic subfamily of the Afroasiatic family of languages.

Egyptian hieroglyphics appear in several stages: the first dynasty (3110–2884 B.C.), when they were already perfected; the Old Kingdom; the Middle Kingdom, when they were beginning to go out of use; the New Empire, when they were no longer well understood by the scribes; and the late hieroglyphics (from 500 B.C.), when the use of them was a tour de force.

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Inscribed stone slab, now in the British Museum, that provided an important key to the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs.