Examines the social, economic, political, and cultural life of the people of ancient Ghana, Mali, and Songhai, including profiles of influential citizens.

Provides an overview of the culture and civilizations of the ancient West African Kingdoms of Mali, Ghana, and Songhai.

Learn about the daily life and culture of the people who lived long ago in Africa.

Explores empires of medieval west Africa.

A groundbreaking history that puts early and medieval West Africa in a global context Pick up almost any book on early and medieval world history and empire, and where do you find West Africa? On the periphery. This pioneering book, the first on this period of the region’s history in a generation, tells a different story. Interweaving political and social history and drawing on a rich array of sources, including Arabic manuscripts, oral histories, and recent archaeological findings, Michael Gomez unveils a new vision of how categories of ethnicity, race, gender, and caste emerged in Africa and in global history more generally. Scholars have long held that such distinctions arose during the colonial period, but Gomez shows they developed much earlier. Focusing on the Savannah and Sahel region, Gomez traces the exchange of ideas and influences with North Africa and the Central Islamic Lands by way of merchants, scholars, and pilgrims. Islam’s growth in West Africa, in tandem with intensifying commerce that included slaves, resulted in a series of political experiments unique to the region, culminating in the rise of empire. A major preoccupation was the question of who could be legally enslaved, which together with other factors led to the construction of new ideas about ethnicity, race, gender, and caste—long before colonialism and the transatlantic slave trade. Telling a radically new story about early Africa in global history, African Dominion is set to be the standard work on the subject for many years to come.

If you want to discover the captivating history of ancient Africa, then keep reading... Africa is the continent where the first humans were born. They explored the vast land and produced the first tools. And although we migrated from that continent, we never completely abandoned it. From the beginning of time, humans lived and worked in Africa, leaving evidence of their existence in the sands of the Sahara Desert and the valleys of the great rivers, such as the Nile and Niger. Some of the earliest great civilizations were born there, and they give us an insight into the smaller kingdoms of ancient Africa. Egypt is the main source of knowledge of many neighboring kingdoms that were just as rich and developed. Unfortunately, they were forgotten in time, as other civilizations and kingdoms replaced them as the continent's power bases. Only recently are we rediscovering the might of the Kingdom of Aksum, the political prowess of Kush, and the richness of the mysterious Punt. The early medieval kingdoms of Ghana and Mali are still being researched due to their unique pre-Muslim culture and their own outlook on Islam. As the home of the many pharaohs, Queen Sheba, Hannibal Barca, and Mansa Musa, Africa deserves our full attention. It has stories to tell us and cultural riches to share with us. Africa is where paganism, Christianity, and Islam left their trails and created a cultural fusion that is unique to the continent. Some modern countries are popular tourist destinations, while others are war-torn lands still unable to industrialize. This polarity of Africa can be traced to ancient times, and the world-shaping events that occurred here need to be studied and understood. In Ancient Africa: A Captivating Guide to Ancient African Civilizations, Such as the Kingdom of Kush, the Land of Punt, Carthage, the Kingdom of Aksum, and the Mali Empire with its Timbuktu, you will discover topics such as The Kingdom of Kush The Land of Punt Carthage The Kingdom of Aksum The Ghana Empire The Mali Empire And much, much more! So if you want to learn more about ancient Africa, scroll up and click the "add to cart" button!