A Glorious Past: Ancient Egypt, Ethiopia, and Nubia

by Earnestine Jenkins

Beginning with the civilization of Ancient Egypt, with its mighty Pharoahs and monuments, a fascinating history moves on to the Nubians who were soldiers, scholars, and builders, and the Ethiopians who dominated Northern Africa and the Red Sea trade.

Genres: Africa, History

118 pages, Library Binding

First published July 1, 1994

Reviews

[Shu Long · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very interesting read. There were large sections where I wish there were maps and had to go look maps up to follow along. I would have enjoyed more detail and there were a few places where I think there was a typo between a positive and a negative that led to confusion. Without the depth of history I've already read, I'm not sure I would have followed so well. That said, it gave me a lot of names and context to continue my studies and I appreciate that. A chart of the dynasties in Egypt would have been helpful. However, the text did include some amount of information about daily life of common people, something often left out in historical texts, which I appreciated. I know there is some scholarly disagreement about who built which pyramids. I wish that had been acknowledged. What I did appreciate was how much it acknowledge the interweaving and borrowing that happened between cultures, religions, and people groups.

All that said, it was a readable text. I'm somewhat sad that it ignored Egypt after the end of the dynasties, but then I realized this book was part of the "Milestones in Black American History", something I had not realized when I held it online at my library. Read with that knowledge in mind that the author is following a certain line of history, and not just a history of a region or land. Choices in the text make much more sense after that.

[Brooke · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a little scary and a little boring at the same time.