communication. In the ancient world these forms of commu-
nication most likely transmitted knowledge in the language
spoken by the community. As the community expanded into
kingdoms and empires, people were exposed to other lan-
guages through trade and conquest. Ancient African writ-
ten literature may have used a writing system invented by
the indigenous people of the region. However, this writing
system probably recorded literature in the language of the
upper class rather than the vernacular language spoken by
the peasants. Written literature may have also used a writ-
ing system from a nearby community or trading partner that
was adopted or adapted to the needs of the community.
For most of the continent literature was in an oral form
that today is called orature. Th is oral literature preserved in-
digenous thought by committing it to memory and passing
it down from one generation to the next. In many cases cer-
tain members of society were charged with the responsibility
of remembering the oral literature and maintaining its ac-
curacy. Th is literature included such forms as oral tradition,
religious poems and songs, and myths and legends of past
heroes whose actions should be emulated. Individual fami-
lies also passed down similar stories that specifi cally involved
their family members and told these stories from their own
point of view. Th ese families transmitted the accepted mor-
als and practices of the community in stories, poems, riddles,
proverbs, and songs to the children, who would become the
next generation of leaders. It was the responsibility of each of
the family members to communicate this type of literature.
Th e earliest-known written literature appeared as early
as 3000 b.c.e. when Egypt began recording governmental, re-
ligious, and business documents as well as creative thought.
Th ey were transcribing indigenous thought from the canon of
oral literature of the upper class into the indigenous writing
system, hieroglyphics. Having an intimate relationship with
Egypt, Nubia and the kingdoms of Kush and Meroë (pres-
ent-day Sudan) on the upper Nile River borrowed Egypt’s
hieroglyphics, adopting the writing system. Later, however,
it changed the hieroglyphic writing system by adapting it
and thus creating the Meroitic script. Spanning the Red
Sea, early Axum (present-day Ethiopia) developed its own
writing system, called Ge’ez, based on the Sabean alphabet
from southern Arabia. In addition to these three indigenous
writing systems, the Greek language and alphabet became a
dominant writing system aft er the conquest by Alexander the
Great, and cultural diff usion brought literature from south-
ern Europe and western Asia as the continent became more
engaged in the larger Mediterranean world.
Ancient African literature can be found written on papy-
rus, the paper of the day used by many societies, and recorded
on the walls of palaces, temples, tombs, and monuments such
as obelisks and stelae, both forms of monolithic pillars. How-
ever, in these literate societies, only a small segment of each
community could actually read and write. It was the duty of
the scribe to keep offi cial records and write literature. Nev-
ertheless, all segments of the community participated in and
enjoyed both oral and written literature. And while literacy
remained in the northern and eastern part of the continent
until the arrival of Islam, each community had its own canon
of oral literature.ORAL LITERATURE
Oral literature is creative thought delivered by word of mouth.
Other than the manipulation of language to communicate in
prose or verse, oral literature used performance techniques,
including music, repetition, song, and phrasing. Oral litera-
ture included various genres: historical tales, folktales, leg-
ends, epics, myths, divination prose and verse, hunter’s tales,
as well as poetry such as praise poetry, songs, proverbs, and
riddles. Th is literature was passed down from generation to
generation until it was fi xed in the written record. Th e story-
telling activity was a form of local entertainment that could
be found within the extended family compound, among the
clans, or in the larger village or town setting. As the fam-
ily gathered in the evening to share the events of the day,
storytelling provided entertainment and an education that
enabled children to participate in the intellectual life of the
community. African literature was unique in that audience
participation was required in all genres. Children were not
passive in the storytelling process, and their inclusion began
the process of the memorization that preserved this type of
knowledge. However, the family’s oral literature could change
from one generation to the next despite eff orts to preserve its
accuracy. Th ese stories continued in this way until they were
written down, which fi xed them so that they could no longer
change.
Folktales presented scenarios of questionable human be-
havior. Th e action of the story centered on a human or animal
that portrayed dubious human characteristics such as greed
or jealousy. Using an animal to portray negative human char-
acteristics allowed society to correct inappropriate behaviors
without accusing any one individual, especially an individual
who was highly placed in society. Regardless of the central
actor in the folktale, the story had a twofold purpose; it en-
tertained while either teaching or reinforcing an intrinsic
message as to the family or community’s standards of appro-
priate behavior. Th ere were two types of folktales. Th e trick-
ster folktale was usually about an animal that was smart but
mischievous and lacked a sense of what is right and wrong.
Th e dilemma tale posed a problem that could be solved many
diff erent ways. Th ose who engaged in the trickster folktales
saw what could happen to someone who used poor judgment,
and those who engaged in the dilemma tale participated in an
open-ended discussion that provided practice in honing oral
arguments and choosing appropriate solutions to problems
faced by the community each day.
Th e historical tale included stories of genealogy and
those of the community’s heroic and historic past. Th e ge-
nealogy traced the ancestors of the family lineage who fi rst
sett led in the area from whom the fi rst community leader was
chosen. Th e historical tale could also share the exploits of a640 literature: Africa