Christopher Ehret. Ancient Africa. A Global History, to 300 CE. Princeton University Press, Princeton (NJ) [etc.] 2023. xii, 210 pp. Ill. Maps. $27.95; £22.00. (Paper, E-book: $19.95; £14.95.)
Year: 2025
Type: book-review
Abstract: Ancient Africa: A Global History, to 300 CE offers a comprehensive study of the significant contributions of Africa to ancient world history from 68,000 BCE to 300 CE.Ancient Africa challenges historians, even African historians, to reevaluate African contributions to world history in the ancient era.Dr Christopher Ehret is the foremost historian of early African history, and his extensive research on ancient history of the world has placed him in a unique situation to contest historical narratives that often either minimize Africa's role or exclude it.As Ehret reminds us, about 50,000 years ago, the primary ancestors of all humans alive today resided in East Africa.Some began to migrate away from the continent, yet many remained and their history continued as it did for the rest of humanity.Ehret challenges the concept behind the term "prehistory", which is often used to describe historical eras for people outside the Western world and implies some lower rung of the "civilization ladder".It has often been applied to societies without written languages, and, consequently, supports a Eurocentric view of history, which implies that people do not make history if they cannot write about it.Ancient Africa is an excellent resource for teaching early world history that accurately includes African contributions.For those teaching African history it will be an essential text to aid students in contextualizing Africa within world history.Ehret is a historical linguist who, in addition to linguistics, uses archeology, oral tradition, comparative ethnography, and genetics to write early histories of Africa.This text is an excellent introduction to the study of both early African and world histories, because Ehret presents clear themes, accessible examples, and informative charts.For some, the linguistic evidence may be a bit complicated, but it does introduce students to the use of linguistic and other historical methodologies as a way to recapture early history.Chapter One is an introduction to the structure of the book and the historical themes that are covered.Here, Ehret argues that, since all modern humanity began in Africa, it is essential to include Africa in world history because it has always been an important component of the human story.Chapter Two examines early technological innovations in the world with an emphasis on Africa.The three major technologies and innovations centered in this text are ceramics, metallurgy, and weaving.Pottery and ceramics were an important part in the transition from forgers to farmers since the discovery of pottery meant that grains and other foods could be cooked, thus dramatically increasing the variety of the human diet.The first pots were made along the Yangtze River in China almost 20,000 years ago.While Africa was not the first to innovate ceramic technology, by 9500 BCE, people in West Africa were already making and
Author: Christine Saidi
Institution: Kutztown University
Language: English
Subfield: Anthropology
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4412461023