Good morning, good evening, or good afternoon depending on when you read this blog and prepare your lesson plans.  Of course, you could be reading this post at midnight sometime in the future, so welcome, welcome, welcome.  I am working through the History of Africa Series with Zeinab Badawi.  This episode is called The Golden Stool and has a run time of 44:48.

Zeinab Badawi travels to Ghana and the Ivory Coast and learns about the Asante people and the Asante Kingdom.  She learns about the history, myths, and legends of the Asante.  The tour continues with a trip to the festival of Akwasidae.  This festival features the king of the Asante, known as the Asantehene, and the king wears golden regalia.  Then Zeinab learns about the Asante queen who led the resistance movement against the British.  Finally, Zeinab learns about the golden stool.

Zeinab kicks off this episode with a trip to a restaurant to learn more about the food and the mixing of cultures in Ghana.  Sheet meets up with fashion designer Linda Ampah and her family.  Linda goes through the foods and where these foods have their regional origins.  Every region was represented with this meal.  They talk about the different foods and the populations that developed these foods.

After this culinary experience, Zeinab meets up with Professor Gauva and tours a small museum.  They talk about the region, how people moved around, and about how tribes developed.  The people would have mixed and the Asante people would descend from these people.  The Asante are the best-known people in this region.  Zeinab learns about the Asante people.

The Asante people would have started as hunter-gatherers.  Eventually, they would have settled into farms.  It would have been a great task to clear the woods for farming.  Zeinab finds herself being tangled in a vine and it helps her understand the task these ancient people had in clearing the forests.  However, once the lands were cleared the people would have used every part of the tree.  Zeinab tells the purpose of one of those trees: the palm tree.  There would have been fruits and nuts for cooking and for oil, palm wine, and for roofing.  She tries a palm nut to see if it is bitter.

Zeinab continues her travels and talks about how settled communities developed into chiefdoms.  The Asante would have been one of these chiefdoms and they established their settlements on the top of the hill.  Kumasi was the heart of the Asante kingdom and was located on the edge of the rainforest.  Zeinab meets with an Asante community leader to learn more about the Asante culture.  The community leader also served in the military and so Zeinab takes the time to learn about his experience in the military.  After this discussion, the pair go to a site that is important to the Asante people.

The Asante grew rich from gold and trade.  They also had a strong military and would dominate other tribes in the region.  They were made up of a variety of tribes.  Eventually, they would unite under one kingdom, under a military leader.  To help unite the Asante people the religious establishment became his allies.  It is here that the golden stool legend was born.  The Golden Stool would become symbolic of Asante kingship.  The golden stool is rarely seen and if it were to be destroyed the Asante kingdom would be destroyed.  In addition to one king, there were lesser kings that act as advisors.  Zeinab meets one of these advisors to learn more about the Asante kingdom.

After this interview, Zeinab attends the Akwasidae.  It is a festival where the Asante people dress their best and show off their finery.  It is a celebration of Asante culture.  They also celebrate the kings of the past.  What else does this celebration symbolize?  What does Zeinab continue to learn about the Asante people?  Where else do Zeinab’s travels take her?  Tune into the rest of this episode to find out.

I rather liked the food section of this episode and it was a nice change of pace from the series.  It was neat to learn about the Asante people.  This series continues to deliver information on Africa’s history.  I would put this episode on my list of documentaries to show to a history classroom.

Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening depending on when you are reading this blog post.  I am working through the History of Africa series with Zeinab Badawi.  Now I am doing episode two of the series and it is called Cattle, Crops, and Iron.  The run time for this episode is 45:16.

Zeinab Badawi works through the history of Africa.  She travels to meet the Maasai tribe of East Africa.  The Maasai are the best-known group from Africa.  The Maasai explain how humans started to domesticate animals and became pastoralists.  Then Zeinab travels to Zimbabwe and visits a lively family.  She looks at how humans make a living from farming after settling down.  Then she learns about the impact of the Iron Age which would pave the way for the development of urban civilizations.

Zeinab Badawi introduces that this series is part of UNESCO’s efforts to document the history of Africa as told by Africans.  She reminds the viewer that the first humans were hunter-gatherers and talks about the Stone Age.  Early humans would have left Africa and spread around the world.  It was suggested that the early humans moved due to climate change.  There would have been competition for scarce resources.  Africa is a land of diverse landscapes and climates; the history can be very complicated to look at.

Zeinab then tours the waterfalls of the Zambezi River.  It is a river that flows through several African countries.  The lands were fertile and would have been primed for settlement. The people would have raised sheep, goats, and cattle.  Over time they would have been bred and domesticated.  She meets up with Professor Felix who specializes in early human settlements.  They talk about the evidence that was discovered about the early hunter-gatherers as well as the settlements that emerged.  The Rift Valley is the place best for discovering the evidence of early settlements.

She then meets up with the Maasai tribe.  They are the best-known of the tribes and live in both Kenya and Tanzania.  The Maasai boys are responsible for herding livestock.  Zeinab is taken to a Maasai tribe by a local guide and they talk about the tribe and the importance of cattle to the Maasai people.  “No meat, no people” the local guide puts it.  She talks about how the Maasai people put up fences to protect their settlements and their cattle from wild animals.

Zeinab chats with a local woman and she discovered that it is the women that build the houses and take care of the settlement.  She concludes that women work harder than men.  Zeinab goes into the hut.  The women gather water and wood.  The Maasai had to adapt to their environment and make use of the world around it.

After this visit to the Maasai tribe, she talks with Professor Ngawbi.  He contributed to the General History of Africa.  He talks about domestic animals and how they were owned communally.  Then he talks about how power structures emerged to help herd those cattle and raid other communities to get more cattle.  He talks about how chiefs rose and established hereditary systems to keep the power and wealth in the family.  If you had cattle, you were a very rich person indeed.  He concludes with how proud he is in the modern age to own cattle.

At the same time, farming was developing.  The people started building shelters and started planting seeds.  When farming first developed the land was owned in common.  However, today farms are held by families.  Zeinab narrates the lifestyle of one farming family and talks about what crops they grow and weed on the farm.  This section on the farming family was pretty cool.  To continue to follow this farming family as well as learn more about the History of Africa tune into the rest of this episode to find out.

I still want a Gus and Zeinab co-hosted history series.  They would be a good pairing to explore more of the history of Africa going beyond the initial series History of Africa based on the General History of Africa as well as the Lost Kingdoms of Africa series.  This continues to be a series I would recommend for a history class.

Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening depending on when you are reading this blog post.  I am working through the History of Africa series with Zeinab Badawi.  I am doing the first episode of the series and, it is thirteen days into February.  Oh well, I discovered this series while working on documentaries about Ancient Egypt so I suppose that will be my excuse for doing this series out of order.  This episode is called Mother Africa and has a run time of 44:56.

Zeinab Badawi travels across Africa to learn about the origins of humankind in the first episode of History of Africa.  She learns how and why humans evolved in Africa.  She gets access to the actual bones that were discovered.  Her travels take her to Tanzania and learns about a tribe where they continue to live as hunter-gatherers.  This community has been rarely filmed and provides insights into how our ancestors lived.

Zeinab kicks off her travels in Tanzania.  She is at the top of a volcanic crater, it is one of the most complete volcanic craters in the world.  Then she makes her way to a river bed where she meets a tribe that continues the traditions of hunter and gatherers.  She meets up with a guide who knows this tribe well.  They are isolated from the modern world.  This tribe has about a thousand people in it and they are divided into autonomous groups.  These groups are spread out among the area.  They only eat what they can kill and find and will move around to better grounds.

Zeinab gives her greeting to a majority male group.  She then greets the women.  The men and women work on separate activities.  She meets the women making crafts and Zeinab learns that the women are the foragers and gatherers.  This tribe has been carefully studied because they live a life that no longer exists.  Although there are governments and leaders that have offered them farmland, they refuse and maintain their traditional lifestyle.  There is no desire for modern life nor do people track their age.  This was a rather interesting section and you wonder how this group feels about sharing their way of living with outsiders.  I rather enjoyed Zeinab trying to shoot a bow, it takes a few times but she manages to shoot it and you will too.  It was also rather cool to see members of the tribe sheltering in a large tree.

After this trip to the tribe, Zeinab traces the evidence of humankind in Africa.  She explores the Leaky family who research bones and they are trying to trace human evolution.  She goes to Rwanda to track down gorillas.  It takes an hour before Zeinab finally traces a group of gorillas.

She talks about the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin and traces the evidence that had been found in regards to the ape-man, creatures between humans and apes.  An expert in bones is brought in and he talks about the skulls that had been found.  Zeinab also interviews a member of the Leaky family to talk about evolution.  Then she learns about Lucy and Lucy’s discovery in Ethiopia.  Lucy was considered the most complete skeleton discovered.  The real bones are kept under lock and key in a temperature-controlled environment.  To learn more about humankind coming out of Africa continue to watch this documentary.

The only thing that could make this series better was consistency in dividing the episodes into chapters to help facilitate easy breakdowns for lectures and to track down time.  I also feel like these episodes could have been a little bit longer because although this is a basic history of Africa, I feel like more information should have been shared.  I also do not know if Zeinab has any training in history, but she does do a good job presenting historical information.  I am still demanding Zeinab and Gus get together to do a history show together.

This episode would be more appropriate for a science class with the section on the hunter-gatherer tribe would be excellent for an anthropology class.  This is why I suggest that this episode should have been divided into chapters.  However, if you go to a religious school you may want to give this episode a skip.

Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening, depending on when you are checking out this blog.  I am continuing the History of Africa Series and this episode is called City States and Civilizations.  The run time for this episode is 44:47.

Zeinab Badawi travels to Nigeria and is granted a rare interview with the King of the Benin.  The Kingdom of the Benin is in Southern Nigeria.  She also meets with the Queen Mother of Lagos and learns about the history of the Yoruba People.  She learns more about the Benin Bronzes, these bronzes date back to the 13th Century.  She also interviews the Emir of Kano, a ruler in Nigeria’s Muslim city-states, and talks with the former governor of Nigeria’s central bank.

Although most Africans live in rural areas, the cities in Africa have their own history.  Cities rose in power and even ruled the state.  Lagos, Nigeria is regarded as a mega city and is in Nigeria.   Zeinab kicks off her exploration in Benin City in Nigeria.  She is attending a church where the people have worshiped for hundreds of years.  Benin City started off small and eventually evolved into a City-State.  Eventually, Benin City would be at the heart of a kingdom. 

Zeinab interviews the Oba of Benin after careful and official requests.  She is given a rare audience.  The current Oba used to be an ambassador and brings an international flavor to the Obaship.  Zeinab is welcomed into the palace and gives the oba a greeting.  The interview proceeds and she learns more about the people of the Benin Kingdom.  This section, to me, does not match the interviews Zeinab has done before, so perhaps a bit more context could have been added or it could have been placed later in the episode.  I have a sense I am missing something and am not understanding why the interview played out the way it played out.  Periodically there are bits of the interview shown in the documentary.  Maybe the filmmakers should have considered just running the interview all at once.

The next stop Zeinab makes is Benin University and where she talks with one of the professors about the Benin Kingdom.  She learns about the establishment of the Benin Kingdom and its people.  She learns about the expansion of the Benin kingdom.  The Edo people were experts in casting bronzes and there was a guild formed by the second king.  Zeinab learns about bronze casting from guild members.  Then she goes to the National Museum and learns more about Bronze Casting and the Benin Bronzes.  It was interesting to see bronze castings of European Soldiers and learn how the Oba had mercenary soldiers from Portugal.  I am sorry Gus, but this section on the Benin Bronzes was very well done.

Zeinab explores Lagos and learns about the Yoruba people.  The people still pay tribute to the Oba in Benin. About 20 million people live in Lagos and Yoruba people primarily lived in cities.  They even established cities in the region.  The Yoruba people could produce food surpluses and made money trading too.  Although they lived in cities, agriculture still had its place in Yoruba people.  One expert about the Yoruba people talks about how farming and urbanization went hand in hand. 

Zeinab visits the Queen Mother of Lagos.  The Queen Mother had her own power and influence and would be regent when the king died and a new king took his place.  The Kings of Lagos claimed their kingship through their mother.  Zeinab goes into the market with the Queen Mother’s priest.  The Queen Mother takes her role seriously and has her own charitable endeavors.  The interview with the Queen Mother was so much better in comparison to the interview with the Oba, but then I would have appreciated additional context when it came to that interview.  To learn more about this city-state as well as the Emir of Kano, tune into the rest of this episode to find out more.

Well, other than the interview with the Oba of Benin, this was a good episode in the History of Africa Series.  The interview with the Queen Mother of Lagos was interesting.  The producers of this series could have made longer episodes and more episodes, but I have to remind myself that this is a basic history of Africa.  I would add this to my documentary list to show in a history classroom.

Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening teachers and my readers.  Today, I am continuing to watch thru the History of Africa Series with Zeinab Badawi.  This series continues to fuel my curiosity and now I wonder if I should do a blog wish list topic.  One of my wish list items would be a documentary co-hosted by Gus and Zeinab.  If those two got together and narrated a documentary it would be dynamite!  Anyway, today Zeinab is off to explore the desert and learn about the Empires that rose from the sand in Desert Empires and the run time for this episode is 45:11.

Zeinab Badawi visits historic and magnificent ruins in Mali and Mauritania, sites that are rarely seen.  She learns about the trans-Saharan trade that helped make these empires rich.  The trade-in gold gave rise to three great empires on the African continent, the Ghana Empire, The Mali Empire, and Songhay Empire.  Then under protection, Zeinab visits Timbuktu which was overrun by extremists in 2012.  Mansa Musa, the ruler of Mali was considered to be the wealthiest individual to have ever lived.

The first stop on this trip is Mauritania.  This country is linked to the three empires that were based in and around the Sahara Desert.  Zeinab takes in the desert and talks about how harsh the environment was and how it would have impacted the people who trekked across the desert.  Despite the harsh climate, the empires that called the desert home grew wealthy.

The first empire is Ghana, which did not include the country of Ghana.  Zeinab goes into the desert and goes to Koumbi Saleh, the ancient capital of the Ghana Empire.  The people who presently live in this old capital are proud of their heritage and have formed the Soninke Association to keep their history alive.  The king who ruled Ghana allowed the chiefs to keep control, although the King kept the chief’s sons hostages and they had to pay tribute.  The Soninke people were farmers, craftsmen, and fishermen.  Zeinab tours a museum to learn more about the craftsmen of the Ghana Empire.  Ghana Empire was between the ocean and the desert which gave the rulers an advantage in the Sub-Saharan trade.

Zeinab tours Ouadane, a trading post of the Ghana Empire, and talks about how the camel had an impact on Sub-Saharan trade.  The site was an important camel caravan oasis and would have prospered during the gold trade.  The buildings are in ruins now, but even what remains is a spectacular site.  The Ghana Empire grew rich off of gold and salt and prospered and like other empires, its golden days would not last.

Then Zeinab talks about the Mali empire and visits Timbuktu.  It was established in 1235 and was a massive empire.  The empire was established by Sundiata Keita.  He would tax all goods going through his territory.  Timbuktu was established as a place for scholars and was the center of Africa’s greatest empires.  At the time of the filming, there were extremists that were active so she had to go to the city under armed guard.  It is here that she meets up with a local historian and learns more about the history of the city.  She learns about Mansa Musa, one of the richest men in the world, or was he?  The last empire that Zeinab will explore is the Songhay Empire and to learn more about that empire, you will have to tune into the rest of his episode to find out.

It would have been helpful to have this episode divided into chapters and each chapter handling a different empire.  This would make things easier to break out sections for lectures.  I will time-stamp them here.  I know this is a series featuring a basic background of Africa, but this episode should have been longer or divided into different episodes.  I felt like three episodes would have given better coverage to each empire because then the viewer would not feel like they are missing out on learning about each empire.  This series continues to be fascinating and does a good job of providing the highlights of the history of Africa.  Even though it was short, I would recommend showing this episode to a history classroom.

I am working through the series History of Africa with Zeinab Badawi.  This episode is called The Gift of the Nile and the run time for this episode is 45:16.

Zeinab Badawi continues to explore the history of Africa and this time she is touring Egypt.  She explores Egyptian Civilization and the Nile River. They were the first civilization in Africa to invent writing.  They left behind spectacular monuments.  She films the mummy and the treasures of King Tutankhamun.   She goes beyond the mummies and the pyramids.  Who were the actual Egyptians?  What were the origins of Ancient Egyptians?

The Ancient Egyptian civilization is linked with the Nile River.  As the climate changed, more and more people were being drawn to the Nile.  They would have settled in small communities along the river.  Here they would farm and raise cattle.  The ancient people of the Nile would also fish and hunt.  Zeinab heads to Southern Egypt and visits a family to learn about how modern-day Egyptians identify themselves.  She takes a meal with the family.  Zeniab asks the question what color skin did the Ancient Egyptians have?  Were the Ancient Egyptians an African Civilization?

Zeniab works on this question with other historians and looks at the evidence as well.  One scholar puts them firmly in the Africa category.  The Ancient Egyptians would have traveled from all over Africa to settle along the Nile River and the Nile River Delta.  She then interviews Zahi Hawass and gets his views.  He believes that asserting that they were a distinct group of people and that DNA could not really fit the Ancient Egyptians into one category or another.

Zeniab continues her exploration of Ancient Egypt, how did a sophisticated survive?  The answer is found in the Nile.  The Nile would have flooded leaving behind rich fertile soil for farming.  She meets up with a local farm to talk about the crops that he grows on his farm.  The farmer newly planted a mango tree on his farm.  This farmer talks about his attachment to the land and wants to continue to grow in the traditions of his ancestors.  Zeniab tries out a piece of sugar cane that the farmer grows.  The Ancient Egyptians managed to tame the Nile to make the best use of the water.  Zeniab walks along the irrigation channels.  Ancient Egyptians would have created irrigation channels to help water their farms and protect their cattle from being swept away in flood waters.

Eventually, the Ancient Egyptians would have created a writing system and a numbers system to record information and communicate with each other.  They created a calendar and studied the skies.  The early Egyptians farm enough food to feed themselves and store.  They had time to make pottery, make crafts, and build grand monuments.  Zeniab travels to the Pharaonic village.  It is an attraction that shows what life in Ancient Egypt was like and is accessible by boat.  Here she takes in a paper-making demonstration.  Ancient Egyptians made paper out of papyrus and it is because they were avid record keepers we know so much about the Ancient Egyptian Civilization.

After tanking in this village, Zeniab goes to the Valley of the Kings.  She talks about how one ancient historian documented the pharaohs and divided the Egyptian Civilization into four different periods.  The Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, New Kingdom, and the later period.  The first Pharoah was named Narmer and he was the one who unified Egypt.  Zeniab continues to learn about the first pharaohs.  So what does Zeniab continue to learn about the pharaohs and the Ancient Egyptian civilization?  Tune into the rest of this episode to find out more.

As I continue to go through this series, I am wishing that each episode was a few minutes longer because what Zeinab presents is fascinating.  The chapters were well done, but the identity chapter could have been broken up.  I was missing Joann Fletcher from this episode, but this time I feel like she would have taken away from this primer on the history of Africa.  Maybe one day, she can pair up with Joann and do a history series.  Overall this is a good episode on ancient Egypt and would be something to include as part of the Ancient Egyptian section for a history class.

Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening, depending on when you are reading this.  I am continuing with this series the History of Africa with Zeinab Badawi.  Yes, I am doing this series out of order.  So far, this series continues to be a good primer on the history of Africa and Zeinab is an excellent narrator.  I dare say she is giving Gus a run for his money when it comes to her narration.  This episode is called Kings and Emirs and the run time for this episode is 45:15.

Zeianab Badawi explores the fall of the Kingdom of Askum and how Christian Rulers followed in that fall.  She learns about the legacy of King Lalibela who ruled in the 12th/13th Century.  He built a complex of rock-hewn churches which would have been considered a great feat of engineering.  She also explores the arrival of Islam and how the emirs coexisted with the kings.  She then visits Harar and watches the hyena men of Harar who feed hyenas by hand.

This episode kicks off with the decline of the Askum kingdom.  It had been a trading center but now it was in decline.  Islam was starting to rise and at first, Muslims were given sanctuary in Askum.  Zeinab tours an Islamic Shrine, one of the oldest in the world.  A group of Muslims came over to seek protection from the Askum King.  Zeinab talks with a member of the Eritrea Islamic community to learn about Islam's history in Eritrea.

After this talk, Zeinab talks with a museum curator and talks about the relationship between the Arab kingdoms and the Askum kingdom.  There was a peaceful relationship and the relationship was strong.  However, eventually, the Arabs would seize control of the Red Sea trade from the Kingdom.  The Aksum kingdom would go into decline.  Eventually, the main port was destroyed and they would never recover.  Power shifted inland.  The climate changed as well.  Disease spread too.  Aksum would end.  A woman would rise up against the Aksum kingdom and destroy everything Christian-related.  Zeinab is granted a rare audience with the head of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and they talk about how Aksum was destroyed.

A new kingdom would rise in its place building on the ruins of the Askum kingdom.  It would revive the fortunes of the Christians.  This dynasty would be known as the Zagwe dynasty and its leaders were army officers.  They established a new capital in the highlands.  The most famous king of this dynasty is King Lalibela, who established a capital that he named for himself.  He would rule the kingdom for about forty years.  The people prospered under his reign.  Lalibela the capital would become a place of pilgrimage.  Even today the people are proud of their heritage.

Zeniab tours churches that were carved out of the rock by King Lalibela.  It would have been a feat of engineering.  King Lalibela was both king and priest, eventually, he would become a saint.  Zeniab walks with a guide about the churches.  The churches were carved out of a single piece of rock.  Legend has it, that angles helped King Lalibela build the churches.  Hundreds and thousands of the faithful visit the churches.  She meets up with a hermit and a pilgrim.  The remains of the pilgrimage are buried at the site and the rest at St. George’s Church.   Zeniab takes in the churches amazed at the engineering that it took to build these churches.  Even today, the churches are used today by the local people.  Zeniab goes into one of the churches, the Church of St. Mary and it has one of the most beautiful decorations inside.  King Lalibela would be buried in one of the carved-out churches.

So where else does Zeniab’s travels take her in Ethiopia?  What does she learn about Muslims in this section of Africa?  Tune into the rest of this episode to find out more.

I really enjoyed Zeniab’s tour of the churches of Lalibela.  Maybe she and Gus could pair up and just do a series on the churches of Lalibela.  Over all, this continues to be a good series and would be something to show in the history classroom.  The section on the churches of Lalibela would be good to show in a geography classroom.

So we are heading up to North Africa and a tour of Africa under Ancient Roman Rule.  As I continue to go through this series, I am discovering that I am doing this out of order.  However, you my readers have been forgiving of that in previous blogs.  This episode is 45:18 and is called North Africa.

Zeinab Badawi heads up to North Africa in this episode.  She is learning about the Berbers otherwise known as the Amazigh people.  She visits Carthage and looks into the history of Carthage and its place in African History.  Then she talks about the Berber and the Great Berber Kings and how they kept control during Roman Rule.  The tour continues to other ancient sites that were built by the Romans.

Zeinab kicks off her visit to North Africa with a market in Marrakesh in Morocco.  This market was an important trading place in history.  It was where the trade routes throughout Africa met.  The culture in Marrakesh is mixed, reflecting time and history.  She nervously takes in a snake charmer.  After this detour, she heads out of the city.  Here she encountered the Atlas Mountains and talked about how this area of Africa has been inhabited for years.  The terrain is tough going and I would love to see a blooper reel from this section.

Northern Africa was not always a desert.  The climate would have been vastly different.  She talks with an archeologist and the discoveries that were made.  This archeologist talks about the discoveries that were made showing ancient history.  The first peoples that settled in this region were the Ibero-Maurusians and they would be eclipsed by the Capsians people.  These people settled on hilltops in the Tunisian region where they farmed and raised cattle.  Eventually, the Berbers otherwise known as the Amazigh people.  The Berbers prefer to be called the Amazigh.

Zeinab tours a Berber settlement.  The Berbers could be a mix of the Maurusians and the Capsians, however, no one really knows.  They slowly became established in North Africa.  She encounters a man selling iguanas for food.  She continues to look in the market area and spots the blue mouth veil that is used to keep cool in the desert.  The salesman wraps it around her head.  Her journey continues through the Atlas Mountains.  Zeinab visits another settlement where she meets up with local residents.  She is treated to tea. 

After touring the village, Zeinab goes back to Marrakesh to learn more about Berber Culture.  She meets up with a fortune teller.  After meeting up with a fortune teller, she meets up with a local tour guide.  Here she meets up with a local water seller.  They are distinguished by their red clothes.  Eventually, the Berbers would be cut off from the rest of Africa due to desertification. 

Zeinab then discusses the Phoenicians, and they would establish the Punic Civilizations.  The Phoenicians would have come from Lebanon and were looking for mineral goods.  She visits a site of the Phoenicians people, it was a harbor site.  Archeologists uncovered family homes that were spacious.  The Phoenicians would spread through North Africa and would establish the city of Hippo.  The Phoenicians would mix with the Berbers and give rise to the Punic Civilization.

Carthage would eventually rise and it would be a trading center.  The Carthaginians would take land from the Berbers and their civilization would spread.  They controlled the North African Coast.  Dido was the legendary founder of Carthage.  She was an extortionary woman who founded an empire.  One historian talks about how she was the only woman who established an empire before Rome was established.  Today, the ports of Carthage are now sleepy fishing villages.  Zeinab then moves on to the Punic War.  To learn more about the Roman impact on Carthage and the Punic civilization tune into the rest of this episode to find out more.

The History of Africa with Zeinab Badawi continues to be a delightful watch.  The section on Queen Dido would be good for an English class section on mythology because of the discussion on Virgil.  This was better than Gus' episode on the Berbers.  The downside of this series is that it was not divided up into chapters.  This episode has some good clips for an English class.  Still, I would put this series on my list of documentaries to show to a classroom.

Good morning, and now the travels through Africa with Zeinab Badawi take us to Eritrea and Ethiopia to trace the rise of a kingdom.  This episode is called The Rise of Aksum and has a run time of 44:48.

The Kingdom of Aksum was considered one of the four greatest civilizations of the ancient world.  Zeniab Badawi describes how the kingdom grew rich and powerful as a result of control of the Red Sea trade.  The Red Sea was the center of trade for the Middle East, Africa, and India.  According to local tradition, it was founded by the son of the Queen of Sheba.  It was the home to the Ark of the Covenant.  It gave a grateful world coffee.  Examining this civilization provides an insight into modern Ethiopia and Eritrea.

This area where Aksum is called home has some very dramatic landscapes.  It also has a long coastline on the Red Sea.  This coastline was the hub of trade.  It was one of the most beautiful and untouched stretches of sea in the world.  To discover more about the history of Aksum one has to go back in the past to learn more about the people who established this kingdom.

Askum’s origins lay in the Kingdom of Punt.  The ancient Egyptians traded with this kingdom and it was a source of gold for the ancient Egyptians.  Even today, the modern Eritreans continue that trading tradition.  It was here that the world came together and interacted with each other and the local populations.  The people of Saba came over and brought farming over. 

The Adulis port was established and this was a trading port on the Red Sea at the time of its founding.  Badawi explores the ruins of the Adulis.  The city is now inland and completely deserted.  It was the greatest city of its time.  The houses would have been considered quite grand and the residents lived a high standard of living.  Now there have been archeological expeditions on the site and these expeditions are revealing the history of the area.  It is here that Badawi catches up with a director of the museum that contains artifacts from these expeditions.

Badawi continues to travel to Eritrea to learn more about Aksum.  She goes to a site that very rarely sees visitors.  She discovers rock art, hinting at earlier civilizations.  She arrives at Qohaito, a site that has been inhabited for 7,000 years.  It is believed that there was an independent settlement in this area and that it thrived for years, although little is known about the people.  She shows a temple at the site and it was the most important find at the site.  More archeology needs to get done at the site to learn more about Qohaito and its people.  From what was discovered, it seems like Qohaito would have been a site on a trade route into Africa.

Eritrea has recently gained its independence and doing more excavations to learn about its history.  There have been sites discovered belonging to Aksum.  However, there have been sites discovered that predate the Aksum civilization.  Badawi continues her travels and goes to Yeha.  This site also had an established kingdom.  There was a palace structure discovered and all that remains are stone pillars.  Near the palace would have been a temple. 

Eventually, the Aksum kingdom would grow in power and confidence.  The first kings ruled over Asksum.  The story of Sheba and Solomon is discussed in this section.  Zeniab talks about the history that was written that documented the son of Sheba and Solomon who ruled over the Asksum.  Zeniab catches up with the granddaughter of the former king of Ethiopia.  The granddaughter talks about what the Queen of Sheba means to the Ethiopian royal family.  What else does Zeniab discover about Aksum?  How does the story of the Queen of Sheba shape Aksum’s history?  Tune into the rest of this episode to find out more.

I enjoy Zeniab Badawi’s narration in this series.  She does a really good job presenting the information and seems to enjoy learning about the different discoveries that were made.  She really does expand the depth of knowledge of African history.  I would put this episode on a list of episodes to show to a history class.

Good morning, another day another documentary, laugh out loud.  This time I am doing more of the History of Africa series with Zeinab Badawi.  This time she is looking at the Kingdom of Kush and the runtime for this episode is 44:48.

Kush is a forgotten kingdom.  Kush is often overshadowed by Ancient Egypt and other kingdoms.  However, it was the kingdom that conquered its neighbor to the north and took over.  Kush ruled Egypt for one hundred years.  Their influence could be felt in the Middle East.  Today Kush is in modern-day Sudan.  Khartoum, the capital, is where the Blue and White Nile meet.  The waters merge to create the Nile River and it is from here the waters flow north and into the Mediterranean Sea.  It was rather cool to hear Zeinab describe the Nile as a witness to history.

Zeinab gets roped into a game of soccer before looking into the history of the Kush.  Karima is where the story of the Kingdom of Kush begins.  Karima was known as Kerma.  It was here that the people farmed and fished for generations.  They were also mobile people who needed to find fertile lands for their cattle.  Other groups settled down along the Nile and farmed.

The climate underwent a change, and people started going toward the Nile River.  Kerma became the center of what would become known as the Kingdom of Kersh.  They would be ruled over by chiefs and the population would become more urbanized.  Zeinab explores the ruins of the early Kushite kingdoms.  She talks with a historian about the history of Kerman and Kush.  The Kings of Kerma ruled over the area for 10,000 years and built monuments.  It was where bricks were first developed.  Kerma has two edifices made of bricks and they were believed to have been a temple and chapel.  The people would have buried their dead in mound graves.  The dead would have been buried in a dome-shaped tomb outlined with black stones.  The body was buried on the south side and the dead were buried with pottery. 

Kush and Egypt were rivals.  Both are linked in history and Egypt often overshadows Kush.  Kerma predates Babylon.  There were periods of hostility and periods of peace.  Both kingdoms influenced each other.  When times were bad, they raided each other.  When times were good, they had good trade relations.  Goods were moved overland and on the Nile River.  However, trade could be hampered when the Nile became impassable.  Zeinab tours a cataract.  Boats would crash into cataracts when the Nile was low.  There were six cataracts along the Nile that needed to be navigated.

The Kushites had a powerful arm and the Egyptians called them the Land of the Bow.  They were expert archers.  Egyptians feared the Kushites.  They controlled the trade to the detriment of Egypt.  Kush was a crossroads for trade.  Even today, the trade routes are a bit of a challenge.  Trade was a source of wealth and the Egyptians wanted to control the trade routes to regain their standing in the world.  Pharaohs such as Hatshepsut and Thutmose III would fight to regain control of the trade.  When they did, Egypt would be launched into a golden age.

The Kushites would establish a new capital at Napata.  This capital was further south and was a meeting place for trade.  Napata also had a growing population and was near a sacred mountain.  Amun was believed to have resided at this mountain and this god was sacred to both Kushites and Egyptians.  Egypt was undergoing some difficulties so this new capital could develop in peace.  What would these changes bring to the Kingdom of Kush?  Would Egypt regain its place in history?  Tune into the rest of the episode to find out more about Kush.

Watching this second episode, I would appreciate it if the producers would have divided these episodes into chapters.  If it was divided into chapters it would make it easier for teachers to pull clips for lectures.  Another downside to this series is that the episode could have gone a little bit longer.  That said, this was another good episode about the history of Africa, with a focus on ancient history.  I would consider adding this episode to my list to show to a history class.