NOTABLE EARLY AFRICAN CITIES
Ancient African cities are oft en diffi cult to locate by modern
archaeologists, given the propensity of Africans historically
to use organic building materials that suff er rapid decompo-
sition. Th is factor, combined with a long-standing bias toward
focusing their studies on architectural remains constructed of
stone, has meant that archaeologists still know little of those
cities where stone-built structures were not erected. Th at Af-
ricans constructed few cities of stone ought not to be cause for
surprise. Th e relative absence of catastrophic storms and the
warm or temperate climates of most African environments
do not warrant using materials of an especially durable or
well-insulated nature. Palm fronds, thatch, mud, and adobe
served admirably as the standard materials of construction.
Th e modest number of ancient African cities that ar-
chaeologists have discovered to date has contributed to the
facile assumption of Western scholars that Africa trailed be-
hind Asia, the Middle East, and Europe in terms of its degree
of civilization. It might therefore be instructive to examine
some of the most noteworthy examples of cities that were es-
tablished at early dates in Africa.
Africa’s earliest cities developed in the Nile River val-
ley. Around 5000 b.c.e., at about the same time that Africans
succeeded in domesticating plants and animals, permanent
settlements began to appear along the Nile. Egyptian cities
emerged as early as 4000 b.c.e. as centers for provincial ad-
ministration, religious worship, defense, and organization of
the redistribution of food in times of drought. Egypt’s neigh-
bors to the south also benefi tted from the Nile River. Owing
to the rich soils along the banks of the Middle Nile and its
role as a natural conduit for transportation and communica-
tion, some of the earliest cities beyond Egypt’s borders sprang
up here as early as 2500 b.c.e. When the Eg y ptian state nearly
collapsed during the First Intermediate Period (2134–2040
b.c.e.), the city of Kerma, in Upper Nubia just south of the
third cataract of the Nile, capitalized on this weakness and
emerged as an important center for the exchange of goods be-
tween the Lower Nile Valley and inland Africa. It achieved its
greatest height in the period 1785–1552 b.c.e., when the Hyk-
sos, an ethnically mixed group of possibly Asiatic peoples,
conquered Egypt. By 1500 b.c.e. a resurgent Egypt extended
power over Nubia but again withdrew with the collapse of
the New Kingdom (1070 b.c.e.). Th e independent Kingdom
of Kush took root, ruled by locals and centered at the capital
city of Napata.
Napata may have been occupied by as early as the 15th
century b.c.e. and became a religious center of great impor-
tance both for Egypt and Kush from the ninth century b.c.e.
Kush came to dominate much of the Nile Valley from the
fi rst cataract into the central Sudan, with Napata function-
ing as its political and economic capital. Napata’s fi rst temples
may have already been built in the eighth century b.c.e., and
even aft er the seat of political power for the Kingdom of Kush
was transferred to Meroë farther south, Napata remained
the kingdom’s religious capital, where kings were crowned.
Napata was sacked by Egyptian forces in 593 b.c.e. and again
by the Roman army in 23 b.c.e.
Th e Kushites retreated south to Meroë, which can be
reached by a direct route across the desert from Napata. Evi-
dence of Meroë’s occupation dates to the 10th century b.c.e.
As the capital of Kush from the sixth century b.c.e. to the
fourth century c.e., Meroë became a vital center of ironwork-
ing and trade, particularly during the fi rst two centuries c.e.,
when it fl ourished. Situated 160 miles north of the confl uence
of the Blue and White Nile, Meroë became the leading trade
center spanning the Red Sea and the Mediterranean world. It
exported ivory, gold, copper, ebony, slaves, animal skins, and
feathers. It also had ample access to iron ore and hardwood
timber, which proved vital in its rise as one of ancient Africa’s
great sites of iron production. Meroë was also in a tropical
rainfall region, and its hinterland was a rich agricultural
zone capable of feeding a large urban population. It had more
available land than Napata, where the Nile was narrower and
the fl oodplain less expansive, providing insuffi cient agricul-
tural land to support a large urban population.
Th e remains of temples, tombs, cemeteries, and monu-
mental statuary found in both Napata and Meroë provide
suggestive evidence that both cities had populations of great
size and were sophisticated capitals. Meroë developed its own
unique cursive script, which has not yet been deciphered.
Even employing the fl awed criteria of Western archaeologists,
Meroë was undoubtedly a notable African city. Although
Rome invaded Nubia in 23 b.c. and conquered Napata, Meroë
eluded the same fate, and its prosperity was quickly restored.
Th e Kingdom of Meroë began to decline by 300 c.e., and the
city was probably invaded by Axum in 350 c.e., during the
reign of the great Axumite king Ezana, who ruled from 330
to 356 c.e. and was instrumental in spreading Christianity
throughout the region.
Axum’s role in delivering the coup de grâce to Meroë
was the culmination of a long-standing commercial rivalry
between the two states. Axum had been founded in the sixth
century b.c.e. by migrants from the Saba region of southern
Arabia. It grew and prospered from the fi rst century c.e. until
its gradual decline in the seventh century. It became the domi-
nant power in northern Ethiopia owing to its proximity to the
Red Sea and the Gulf of Arabia and its successful exploitation
of the trade between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterra-
nean. In particular, trade ties with the eastern Roman Empire
provided an important stimulus for Axum’s economy. Its ex-
ports included ivory, jewelry, frankincense, myrrh, rhinoc-
eros horn, animal hides, gold dust, tortoiseshell, and slaves.
Axum’s population reached upwards of 10,000, and the city
could boast not only brisk international trade but also a writ-
ten language and monumental structures in stone. Axum’s
gigantic granite funerary stelae, which were built as early as
300 c.e., have attracted intense scholarly scrutiny. Th e tallest
stelae (inscribed stone pillars), measuring 108 feet high and
weighing between 550 and 700 tons, were the world’s largest204 cities: Africa