Download From 500 BC to 1 AD, northern Africa was one of the

From 500 BC to 1 AD, northern Africa was one of the most influential places on earth. Southern Africa,
although teeming with life and new developments, had little contact with the rest of the world at this time.
Thought the farthest southern parts of Africa were still sparsely populated, the use of iron was rapidly
spreading south from the northern populations. With better weapons, tribal groups like the Berbers, the
Bantu and the Noninke were able to create their own empires. With better farming tools, the groups were
able to create a prosperous enough culture that their populations increased. There were many migrations
as people pushed others out of their homes, and they in turn pushed other peoples out of their traditional
lands. Even other continents influence this growth and movement, as one group of Arabian nomads had
settled in western Africa, intermarrying with the local people and creating a new culture at Aksum.
Aksum and Nubia (which had pulled away from Egypt and moved further south to establish a capital at
Meroe) had economies that were heavily based on trade. They often traded salt and gold back and forth
between southern and northern Africa. Meroe’s culture was still very much like Egypt’s, but it had also
grown to be much more different from Egypt than it had been before. For one thing, queens were just as
likely to be rulers as kings.
In the north, two great cultures thrived during this time. Although Egypt was no longer independent, its
basic culture continued, blending with those of its conquerors (first the Persians, then the Greeks, then the
Romans). Carthage, master of the sea, built an empire that included much of Spain before finally being
destroyed by Rome. In fact, there was a point when it looked like Carthage might actually take over
Rome and the rest of world history would have been very different!
Carthage
Originally settled as a colony by the Phoenicians, Carthage (which means “new city”) continued on when
the Phoenicians died out. Carthaginians were wonderful boat builders, sailors and merchants. They
traded goods all over the Mediterranean and basically had control over the sea for centuries.
The government was a very strict government, tightly controlled by nobles and wealthy merchants.
Punishments for wrong-doers was harsh, and human sacrifice to bring favor from the gods was practiced.
The people worshipped a variety of gods, some borrowed from the Greek. The major god was Baal.
Carthage created its own Empire while the Greeks and the Romans had theirs. Generally, it covered most
of northern Africa (excluding Egypt) and much of the Iberian peninsula (now Spain). It is not surprising
that Carthage ended up fighting many wars with the two other superpowers that rimmed the
Mediterranean—Greece and Rome.
The Second Punic War (these were the wars between Rome and Carthage, called “punic” because that
was the Roman word for Phoenicia) was the most famous war because it was fought by Hannibal
(meaning “mercy of Baal”). He had seen Carthage lose their colonies in Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica to
Rome after the First Punic War and this made him determined to get revenge.
New areas of Spain were added to Carthage during the time between the two wars. Using Spain as a
launching area, Hannibal attacked a Roman ally. Rome, who was too busy fighting the Greeks at this
point, couldn’t help their ally and Carthage took the area. Rome was outraged and turned their attention
back to Carthage. They declared war.
Hannibal decided to attack Rome before they could get prepared to fight him. Very quickly, he crossed
the tall Alps using elephants to help move his army and supplies. They ferried the elephants across rivers
and marched them through early autumn snows. When he arrived on the other side of the Alps, he found
Gauls living there who were only to happy to join in his fight against Rome. He won several battles and it
looked like he might actually take over Rome.
However, he had hoped that Rome’s allies would join his side, but they didn’t. Rome finally pulled
together a large army that could wear down Hannibal’s troops (since Carthage was having difficulty
sending reinforcements, being attacked by Roman allies at the time). Carthage was finally defeated and
Hannibal fled to the Seleucid Empire, where he later died.
After the Third Punic War, Rome brutally destroyed all of Carthage, burning houses, killing most people
and selling the rest into slavery, and pouring salt on the land to ensure it remained barren. Rome was not
seriously challenged again as an Empire for almost six centuries!
Ptolemaic Egypt and Alexandria
When Alexander the Great arrived in Egypt as the new emperor (since Egypt had been part of the Persian
Empire, which he had just conquered), he went through an area that he admired for its natural beauty. He
decided to build a regional capital at this place and call it Alexandria. He left a Greek architect behind to
build the city, which would include a nearby island.
However, Alexander died before he could return to see the finished city. Tradition states that he was
returned to Alexandria to be buried, but no one knows if that truly happened.
General Ptolemy was the person who took over the Egyptian part of the Persian Empire. He arrived in
Egypt and, following Alexander’s (and earlier Persian) tradition, determined to allow the country to retain
its own culture and religion. He declared himself Pharaoh and although his followers and family became
the ruling elite, they made sure that life was fair for the Egyptians they ruled (if not quite as luxurious as it
had been). He introduced cotton and grapes as cash crops and better irrigation techniques. Under the
Ptolemies, Egypt regained some of its past glory.
However, Ptolemy was Greek and he felt that Greek ways were superior to Egyptian ways. In fact, the
name Egypt is a Greek name for the country, for Egyptians called their country Kemet (KMT in
hieroglyphs).
Ptolemy I wanted Alexandria to be a wonderful city, the most wonderful city ever built. He, and his son
and grandson, all took upon themselves to create a city of beauty and learning. They had built a huge
library, the biggest in the world. Documents were copied from all over the known world (sometimes,
they were pirated from ships, copied and then the copies were given back to the original ship). The
library was open to anyone who wanted to use it and since much of the work was translated using the
Greek language (which used the easy-to-learn Phoenician alphabet), many people could now read.
500,000 documents were said to be housed there.
Scholars from all over, but especially from Greece, came to study and teach at the Alexandrian library.
There, Archimedes invented his famous Archimedes screw, Euclid wrote “The Elements of Geometry,”
Conan of Samos developed the first studies of conic sections, Eratosthenes figured out the Earth’s
diameter, and Claudius Ptolemy wrote his theory about how the Universe revolved around the Earth
(which was accepted by scientists until the 16th century).
The Library wasn’t the only great thing in Alexandria. A wonderous lighthouse was built, called Pharos
(which is still the word used in many latin languages today for lighthouse). This lighthouse was one of
the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It was the only one with a practical use, rather than religious or
ceremonial.
The lighthouse was as tall as a 50-story building. At the top, a mysterious mirror was used to sight ships
far out at sea (and invisible to the naked eye). Light, intensified by the mirror, was flashed out of the
lighthouse using the Sun during the day and a huge fire at night.
What became of the Library and the Lighthouse? The Lighthouse was seen as late as the 7th century (by
Arab conquerors), but it was totally destroyed by earthquakes over time. By 1480, one of the new rulers
in the area built a fortress from the rubble leftover from the Lighthouse. The Library’s fate is less clear.
It was partially destroyed by fire during fighting between two Roman leaders. But what happened to it
later, we don’t know. But we do know it didn’t exist in the 7th century.
After a while, the Ptolemy family lost their strong leadership ability and internal rebellions grew up.
During one of these times, two siblings vied for the throne of Egypt—Cleopatra (just 22 years old) and
her brother. Cleopatra had been exiled from the capital when Julius Caesar, as a representative of the
Roman Empire, visited. She had herself rolled into a large rug and delivered to him. He was quite
surprised when she was rolled out of the rug!
Cleopatra asked Caesar to intervene on her behalf and Caesar agreed if Egypt would become a
protectorate of the Roman Empire. Cleopatra became Queen of Egypt and eventually she and Julius
Caesar fell in love and had a child. She even went back with him to Rome for a time. However, Caesar
was murdered and two people vied for leadership—Mark Antony and Augustus Caesar.
Cleopatra sided with Mark Antony (who also fell in love with her). He went back with her to Egypt
where Augustus Caesar followed them and a huge naval battle was waged (the battle of Actium). Antony
and Cleopatra lost the battle. Antony died in Cleopatra’s arms and she committed suicide rather than
become a defeated queen. Egypt became a Roman province, and no more pharaohs ever ruled in Egypt
again.
Timeline:
600 Carthage has become a very strong city-state
500 Aksum begins growing into a large state; Nubians have new capital in Meroe
450 Carthaginian explorer Himilco reaches Brittany or British Isles
425 Carthaginian explorer Hanno sails down West African coast
480-300: Cathaginian Wars with Greeks
332: Alexander visits Egypt
331: Alexandria is built
323: Ptolemy takes over Egyptian part of Alexander’s Empire
307: Library is built in Alexandria
300: Pharos Lighthouse is built
300: Euclid writes “Elements of Geometry”
287-212: Archimedes
275-195: Erasosthenes
264-146: Three Punic Wars between Carthage and Rome, end in total destruction of Carthage
196: The Rosetta Stone is carved (Greek and Egyptian Hieroglyphs)
170: Queen Shanadakhete, first powerful female queen, in Meroe
48: Julius Caesar arrives in Alexandria for a visit and meets Cleopatra
45: Cleopatra goes with Caesar to Rome
30: Mark Antony and Cleopatra die/Egypt becomes a province of Rome