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Nubian architecture is diverse and ancient. Permanent villages have been found in Nubia which date from 6000 BC. These villages were roughly contemporary with the walled town of Jericho in Palestine. Early Nubian architecture was found in the A-Group culture(c. 3800 BC to c. 3100 BC.) which flourished in lower Nubia, Sudan. Most archeological finds from the A-Group culture come from cemeteries located a few miles away from the Nile. 2 Excavations at an A-Group cemetery in…

Dhar Tichitt is a Neolithic archaeological site located in the southwestern region of the Sahara Desert, in Mauritania. It is one of several settlement locations along the sandstone cliffs in the area. The cliffs were inhabited by pastoralists starting at around 4000 BP and lasted to around 2300 BP before present (BP) 1 . About 500 stone settlements are found in the region. In addition to herding livestock, its inhabitants fished and grew millet. The climate of the Dhar…

Sudano-Sahelian architecture refers to a range of similar indigenous architectural styles common to the African peoples of the Sahel and Sudanian grassland (geographical) regions of West Africa, south of the Sahara, but north of the fertile forest regions of the coast. This style is characterized by the use of mudbricks and adobe plaster, with large wooden-log support beams that jut out from the wall face for large buildings such as mosques or palaces. These beams also act as…

Djenné-Djenno (also Jenne-Jeno) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in the Niger River Valley in the country of Mali. Literally translated to "ancient Djenné", it is the original site of both Djenné and Mali and is considered to be among the oldest urbanized centers and the best known archaeology site in sub-Saharan Africa. This archaeological site is believed to have been involved in long distance trade and possibly the domestication of African rice. The site is known to…

Matara (Metera) is an archaeological site in Eritrea. Situated a few kilometers south of Senafe, it was a major city in the Dʿmt and Aksumite kingdoms. Since Eritrean independence, the National Museum of Eritrea has petitioned the Ethiopian government to return artifacts removed from the site. However, the efforts have thus far been rebuffed. The archaeological site already has yielded evidence of several levels of habitation, including at least two different major cities…

Qohaito, also known as Kohaito,قوحيتو was an ancient city in the southern Debub region of Eritrea. It was a pre-Aksumite settlement that thrived during the Aksumite period. The town was located over 2,500 meters above sea level, on a high plateau at the edge of the Great Rift Valley. As of 2011, Qohaito's stone ruins have yet to be excavated. The ancient port city of Adulis lies directly to the east. Rock art near Qohaito appears to indicate habitation in the area since the…

The Kingdom of Aksum (Tigrinya: መንግስቲ ኣኽሱም also known as the Kingdom of Axum, or the Aksumite Empire) was an ancient kingdom located in what is now Tigray Region (northern Ethiopia) and Eritrea. Axumite Emperors were powerful sovereigns, styling themselves King of kings, king of Aksum, Himyar, Raydan, Saba, Salhen, Tsiyamo, Beja and of Kush. Ruled by the Aksumites, it existed from approximately 100 AD to 940 AD. The polity was centered in the city of Axum and grew from the…

Makuria was a Nubian kingdom located in what is today Northern Sudan and Southern Egypt. Makuria originally covered the area along the Nile River from the Third Cataract to somewhere south of Abu Hamad as well as parts of northern Kordofan. Its capital was Dongola (Old Nubian: Tungul), and the kingdom is sometimes known by the name of its capital. By the end of the 6th century, it had converted to Christianity, but in the 7th century, Egypt was conquered by the Islamic armies…

Kilwa Kisiwani is an archaeological city-state located on an Indian Ocean island off the southern coast of present-day Tanzania in eastern Africa. It was occupied from at least the 8th century CE and later became the center of the Kilwa Sultanate, a medieval sultanate whose authority at its height in the 13th-15th centuries CE stretched the entire length of the Swahili Coast. From this period date the construction of the Palace of Husuni Kubwa and a significant extension to…

Sungbo's Eredo is an earth wall and ditch that is 160 kilometres (99 mi) long, rises 20 metres (66 ft) in places and encloses an area 40 kilometres (25 mi) wide in north-south, with the walls flanked by trees and other vegetation, turning the ditch into a green tunnel. According to legends of the contemporary Ijebu clan, Eredo was built in honour of a noblewoman of the Ijebu clan called Oloye Bilikisu Sungbo. According to them, the monument was built as her personal memorial…

"The Zagwe dynasty was the ruling dynasty of a Medieval kingdom in present-day northern Ethiopia. The kingdom itself was perhaps called Begwena, after the historical name of the Lasta province. Centered at Lalibela, it ruled large parts of the territory from approximately 900 to 1270, when the last Zagwe King Za-Ilmaknun was killed in battle by the forces of the Abyssinian King Yekuno Amlak. The name of the dynasty is thought to derive from the ancient Ge'ez phrase Ze-Agaw…

Benin City, originally known as Edo, was once the capital of The Benin Empire. The city was made of hundreds of interlocked cities and villages laid out to form perfect fractals. The main streets had underground drainage made of a sunken impluvium with an outlet to carry away storm water. Metal lamps fuelled by palm oil provided street lighting at night. The city was enclosed by massive walls made from earthworks longer than the Great Wall of China. The walls were built of…

The Kingdom of Zimbabwe (c. 1220–1450) was a medieval BakaLanga kingdom located in modern-day Zimbabwe. Its capital, Lusvingo, now called Great Zimbabwe is the largest stone structure in precolonial Southern Africa. This kingdom came about after the collapse of the Maphungubwe kingdom. The rulers of Zimbabwe brought artistic and stonemasonry traditions from Mapungubwe. The construction of elaborate stone buildings and walls reached its apex in the kingdom. The Kingdom of…

Owo is a city in Ondo State of Nigeria. Between 1400 and 1600 AD, it was the capital of a Yoruba city-state. In their oral tradition, Owo traces its origins back to the ancient city of Ile-Ife, the cradle of Yoruba culture. Oral tradition also claims that the founders were the sons of the Yoruba deity Odudua, who was the first ruler of Ile-Ife. The early art-historical and archaeological records reinforce these strong affiliations with Ife culture. Owo was able to maintain…

The Kingdom of Butua or Butwa (c. 1450 - 1683) was a pre-colonial African state located in what is now southwestern Zimbabwe. It arose from the collapse of Great Zimbabwe in the sixteenth and seventeenth century. Butua was renowned as the source of gold for Arab and Portuguese traders. The region was first mentioned in Portuguese records in 1512. The kingdom was governed by the Torwa dynasty of the BakaLanga people until 1683. The ruling dynasty based its capital at the stone…

Fasil Ghebbi (Royal Enclosure) is the remains of a fortress-city within Gondar, Ethiopia. It was founded in the 17th century by Emperor Fasilides (Fasil) and was the home of Ethiopia's emperors. Its unique architecture shows diverse influences including Nubian styles. The site was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. Ghebbi is an Amharic word for a compound or enclosure. The complex of buildings includes Fasilides' castle, Iyasu I's palace, Dawit III's Hall, a…

The Rozvi Empire (1684–1834) was established on the Zimbabwean Plateau by Changamire Dombo. After Dombo's death, his successor adopted the title Mambo. The term "Rozvi" refers to their legacy as a Warrior Nation known as the plunderers. The Rozvi were formed from several Shona states that dominated the plateau of present-day Zimbabwe at the time. They drove the Portuguese off the central plateau, and the Europeans retained only a nominal presence at one of the fair-towns in…