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The Lost Kingdoms of Africa
Book Description A fascinating and important new history of Africa, accompanying the 8-part BBC series Product Description For many of us the history of Africa is, at best, vague. We might think of Egyptian pyramids, legendary queens (of Sheba or Cleopatra) and Zulu warriors. The truth, however, is one of remarkably diverse, creative, culturally rich civilisations. In this book, which accompanies an 8-part BBC series, Gus Casely-Hayford takes us on a fascinating journey through the history of this remarkable continent. We will encounter archaeological sites of staggering beauty that rival the Great Wall of China, vast and ancient universities that predate Oxford and Cambridge, kingdoms of extraordinary wealth, artistic traditions that still inspire artists today, great religious sites that surpass the Vatican, and a country with more pyramids than Egypt. In recent years new archaeological and anthropological research has opened up the study of African history in ways previously unimaginable. Long-lost kingdoms are suddenly being brought back to life. Civilisations that had faded into myth are revealing their secrets. Using this latest research, Gus Casely-Hayford is able to tell the history of Africa's major kingdoms in an entirely new, colourful and richly-informed way. Accessible and inspiring, The Lost Kingdoms of Africa is both a major addition to our understanding of this oft-overlooked history and a source of genuine delight and wonder. About the Author Gus Casely-Hayford is a Curator and cultural historian and has previously held the post of Executive Director, Arts Strategy, for the Arts Council England. He has directed and produced arts programmes for the BBC and Channel 4 and is a member of Tate Britain's Council and a Clore Fellow. Gus has lectured at the Royal College of Art, Sotheby's Institute of Art and Goldsmiths College. He gained a PhD in African History from the School of Oriental and African Studies, London University.
340 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
February 18, 2012
"The Lost Kingdoms of Africa" is the companion to the BBC series first televised in 2010.
On his tireless journey across the continent, Gus Casely-Hayford brings to light some of the diverse cultures and civilizations which have arisen in Africa since earliest times. Discoveries in the West showing that Africans were making pottery at a time that Europe just coming out of the last ice age, the raising of Pyramids, Castles and Cathedrals in the North East, forgotten trading cities in the East, massive stone built construction in the South, the seat of empires in the North West which not only ruled in Africa, but also in Europe. We see that from earliest times Africa has always been in the mainstream of human development and has historically been a major player in the system of global trade.
What I liked about this book is that it is also part travelogue where the reader is taken on a tour of a contemporary Africa. One sees not just the physical historical evidence in the form of architecture, artifacts and art, but you also meet the modern day descendants and experts whose testimonies help to evoke echoes of the past.
There is a living and vibrant feel to the authors' presentation and he aims to show the techniques (archaeology, written or oral records) used to uncover the past.
Whilst there is much more that could be said about these histories, having completed the book I think he got the level of detail just right considering the amount of ground he covered (literally) - Sudan, Ethiopia, the East Coast, the Great Lakes region, Southern Africa, West Africa and North Africa.
This book is a good introduction to African History. For those who are already familiar with this history, you are certain to find something in its pages which is new and enlightening. There are many photographs included and the drawings made by the author are a nice touch.
I found the book a pleasure to read and I would certainly recommend it.
On his tireless journey across the continent, Gus Casely-Hayford brings to light some of the diverse cultures and civilizations which have arisen in Africa since earliest times. Discoveries in the West showing that Africans were making pottery at a time that Europe just coming out of the last ice age, the raising of Pyramids, Castles and Cathedrals in the North East, forgotten trading cities in the East, massive stone built construction in the South, the seat of empires in the North West which not only ruled in Africa, but also in Europe. We see that from earliest times Africa has always been in the mainstream of human development and has historically been a major player in the system of global trade.
What I liked about this book is that it is also part travelogue where the reader is taken on a tour of a contemporary Africa. One sees not just the physical historical evidence in the form of architecture, artifacts and art, but you also meet the modern day descendants and experts whose testimonies help to evoke echoes of the past.
There is a living and vibrant feel to the authors' presentation and he aims to show the techniques (archaeology, written or oral records) used to uncover the past.
Whilst there is much more that could be said about these histories, having completed the book I think he got the level of detail just right considering the amount of ground he covered (literally) - Sudan, Ethiopia, the East Coast, the Great Lakes region, Southern Africa, West Africa and North Africa.
This book is a good introduction to African History. For those who are already familiar with this history, you are certain to find something in its pages which is new and enlightening. There are many photographs included and the drawings made by the author are a nice touch.
I found the book a pleasure to read and I would certainly recommend it.
January 27, 2013
Our review covers both the book and the DVD series.
The video photography of Africa was magnificent but the content of the DVD programs about African history were superficial, Eurocentric and lacked coherence and authenticity. The attempt to separate ancient Egypt from Nubia and the rest of black Africa raised a red flag from the "gitgo".
Furthermore a DVD program about African history that omits even saying the name, much less discussing the views, of Dr. Cheikh Anta Diop, Theophile Obenga , Molefi Asante , Maulana Karanga or any other African scholar points to an ideological agenda. The few African scholars who appeared in the program served mainly as props.
Sadly Mr. Casely-Hayford, almost always grinning, allowed himself to be the mouthpiece for his European intellectual masters. Casely-Hayford displayed some of his drawings during the program. In fact he seemed to be a far better studio artist than an art historian.
His intellectual masters put him into an intellectual trap which mired him down in utter confusion and contradictions from beginning to end.
At one point Mr. Casely-Hayford, states that "Europeans" did not believe that Africans could have built the stone structures of Great Zimbabwe. "Happily those assumptions have been discredited today" added Mr. Casely-Hayford.
Yet at the very beginning of the program Mr. Casely-Hayford had repeated almost verbatim the Eurocentric position that "Nubia was first mentioned by the ancient Egyptians as a primitive outpost" used by the Egyptians as "a source of slaves, treasures, dancing girls and wrestlers." What Casely-Hay-Ford said is false historical propaganda masquerading as historical truth. Where are the documents to support this?
Since we are given no sources for his assertions we will venture to supply our own. Perhaps Mr. Casely-Hayford has been coached by his BBC handlers until he could repeat his lines with ease.
Anyone who is at all familiar with what the ancient people of Kmt(Egypt) wrote themselves would be amazed by what Dr. Gus Casely-Hayford said.
For example, in the tomb of Ramses lll ( Book Of Gates), in tomb Merenptah and in the tomb of Seti l it is clearly written that after death in Tuat the souls of the Semites and the Indo-Europeans were to be beaten or hammered by Sekhmet. The souls of rmto (Egyptians) and nehasu(Nubians ) were to be protected by Horus because both the Nubians and Egyptians were followers of Horus. This is what the ancient African peoples wrote themselves. ( note: Many other examples from language, social organization , religion and mythology could be greatly expounded on here).
Also keep in mind that it was the near unanimous opinion of the ancient classical Greek and Roman writers that the Egyptians and Nubians formed one very ancient Nile valley civilization. One quick example: Diodorus of Sicily writes: "The Ethiopians say that the Egyptians are one of their colonies which was brought into Egypt by Osiris. They even allege that this country was originally under water, but that the Nile , dragging much mud as it flowed from Ethiopia, had finally filled it in and made it a part of the continent.....They add that from them, as from their authors and ancestors, the Egyptians get most of their laws. It is from them that the Egyptians have learned to honor kings as gods and bury them with such pomp; sculpture and writing were invented by the Ethiopians. The Ethiopians cite evidence that they are more ancient than the Egyptians, but it is useless to report that here." Be reminded that the name Ethiopia does not refer to the modern day country of Ethiopia-Diodorus is referring to what we call Nubia today.
It seems almost certain that Dr. Gus Casely-Hayford was simply repeating parrot-like the script placed in front of him. No debate, no critique, just a lot of grinning. Gus Casely- Hayford was dressed for his part wearing his Zahi Hawass outfit.
Watching the DVDS one gets the feeling that the director had to do a lot of retakes and editing to pull this off . Many of the scenes appeared to be forced and contrived.
In one scene we suddenly see Casely-Hayford, pausing for dramatic effect, ask a somewhat puzzled Sudanese archeologist if the ancient Egyptians considered the Nubians inferior barbarians. The Sudanese looked very uncertain and then answered "yes". Casely-Hayford acted as if he had made the point he was told to make.
A few minute later after prompting from Casely-Hayford,and some editing, the Sudanese archeologist repeats another old Eurocentric cliché saying that the name Nubia comes from "nub" which originally meant slave in some unspecified language! I don't know what language they were referring to, but in ancient Egyptian Nbt or nub means "gold" not slave. See Egyptian Grammar, Gardiner p. 614.
Again the attempt was made to mislead the unsophisticated viewer who mistakenly believes that scholars always shed light on their subjects.
Was Dr. Casely-Hayford the great British Art Historian going to give his viewers a fuller picture? would he add that at one time or another the Egyptians seemed to hate and despise every body including Semites, Asians and Indo-Europeans. They despised people who were not circumcised: the Semites, Asians and Indo-Europeans. These people were called all sorts of names by the Egyptians: lepers(because of their skin color), vile, wretched, thieves, barbarians, foul and so on. None of this is mentioned by Casely-Hayford. Perhaps he was again only following his script.
The Egyptians seemed to have enslaved Indo-Europeans, Asians, Nubians and Semites. There are numerous tombs, markers, monuments and documents testifying to this fact.
Following the directions of his intellectual lords at the University of London(SOAS) Dr. Gus Casely-Hayford said nothing. It could not have been a matter of time. Many scenes had Gus Casely- Hayford whining about his fear of snakes ,muddy shoes , the hot African sun, even giving the temperature! These could have been easily cut.
The aim of this project was to repeat the standard Eurocentric cliches and talking points: there was some kind of Apartheid Wall between ancient Nubia and ancient Egypt. This point is crucial to the European intellectual paradigm. This is Hegel all over again. The Eurocentrics loudly denounce Hegel as an out of date racist but psychologically they cling to his dogmatic historical formulations.
Of course the Egyptians and the Nubians fought despised and slandered each other. When Europeans fight in the Balkans or when the Germans fought the Poles or when the English fought the Irish does it mean that they were of different races? They don't all share a common European culture?
There is a fascinating interview with a dignified royal Nubian Elder. Casely-Hayford ask his setup question about whether or not the Nubians many miles south of Kerma were the same people as the ancient Nubians.
The Nubian elder said we are all the same people. Some stayed in Egypt, some went to Kerma, some went to Meroe, some went to other places, some came here. The language the cultures are the same, the only difference is in the color of the skin.
There was a rather stunned look on the good doctor's face. But Casely-Hayford did not ask the logical follow up question: the elder was not asked to expound on his remarks that some of the ancient Nubians stayed in Egypt. Casely-HayFord said nothing. The translator ,a beautiful Nubian woman , smiled. The Nubian Elder gave the impression that he had a lot more to say but there was no way that the BBC taskmasters could put words into the elders mouth. No amount of editing and retakes could accomplish this. The Nubian Elder was not another Gus Casely-Hayford! There appeared to be some heavy editing at this point and the interview ended.
From beginning to end, this DVD program gave the standard European version of African history: "Ancient Egypt" was not a black African civilization. There were many "lost kingdoms but Kmt(Egypt) was not one of them. Black Africa was outside of human history. The premises are no longer openly stated and despite of all the evidence to the contrary, they assert that their beloved "Ancient Egypt" was a creation of Asians, Semites and Europeans.
Constantly during the 216 minutes of this DVD program we hear Casely-Hayford saying "scholars" or "historians" or "archeologist" don't believe this or that about African people, history and culture.
What he is really saying is that European "mainstream" scholars still cling to the myths of an "Eastern" origin of human civilization. Not too many years ago Mesopotamia was the birthplace of humankind and human civilizations. Black Africa was outside of human history. This was taught almost everywhere in the world, in all the great universities of Europe and America.
Today we know that those old theories are false, yet they live on camouflaged under scholarly sounding rhetoric and slick modern academic jargon.
One of the greatest scholars of our time Dr. Cheikh Anta Diop(not mentioned once in the program) has written something that brings to mind Mr. Gus Casely-HayFord.
Diop writes in part: "The African historian who evades the problem of Egypt is neither modest nor objective, nor unruffled; he is ignorant cowardly and neurotic." See The African Origin of Civilization Myth or Reality, Diop p. xiv,1974 Lawrence Hill & Co.
This effort is a pure example of the propaganda of history.
The video photography of Africa was magnificent but the content of the DVD programs about African history were superficial, Eurocentric and lacked coherence and authenticity. The attempt to separate ancient Egypt from Nubia and the rest of black Africa raised a red flag from the "gitgo".
Furthermore a DVD program about African history that omits even saying the name, much less discussing the views, of Dr. Cheikh Anta Diop, Theophile Obenga , Molefi Asante , Maulana Karanga or any other African scholar points to an ideological agenda. The few African scholars who appeared in the program served mainly as props.
Sadly Mr. Casely-Hayford, almost always grinning, allowed himself to be the mouthpiece for his European intellectual masters. Casely-Hayford displayed some of his drawings during the program. In fact he seemed to be a far better studio artist than an art historian.
His intellectual masters put him into an intellectual trap which mired him down in utter confusion and contradictions from beginning to end.
At one point Mr. Casely-Hayford, states that "Europeans" did not believe that Africans could have built the stone structures of Great Zimbabwe. "Happily those assumptions have been discredited today" added Mr. Casely-Hayford.
Yet at the very beginning of the program Mr. Casely-Hayford had repeated almost verbatim the Eurocentric position that "Nubia was first mentioned by the ancient Egyptians as a primitive outpost" used by the Egyptians as "a source of slaves, treasures, dancing girls and wrestlers." What Casely-Hay-Ford said is false historical propaganda masquerading as historical truth. Where are the documents to support this?
Since we are given no sources for his assertions we will venture to supply our own. Perhaps Mr. Casely-Hayford has been coached by his BBC handlers until he could repeat his lines with ease.
Anyone who is at all familiar with what the ancient people of Kmt(Egypt) wrote themselves would be amazed by what Dr. Gus Casely-Hayford said.
For example, in the tomb of Ramses lll ( Book Of Gates), in tomb Merenptah and in the tomb of Seti l it is clearly written that after death in Tuat the souls of the Semites and the Indo-Europeans were to be beaten or hammered by Sekhmet. The souls of rmto (Egyptians) and nehasu(Nubians ) were to be protected by Horus because both the Nubians and Egyptians were followers of Horus. This is what the ancient African peoples wrote themselves. ( note: Many other examples from language, social organization , religion and mythology could be greatly expounded on here).
Also keep in mind that it was the near unanimous opinion of the ancient classical Greek and Roman writers that the Egyptians and Nubians formed one very ancient Nile valley civilization. One quick example: Diodorus of Sicily writes: "The Ethiopians say that the Egyptians are one of their colonies which was brought into Egypt by Osiris. They even allege that this country was originally under water, but that the Nile , dragging much mud as it flowed from Ethiopia, had finally filled it in and made it a part of the continent.....They add that from them, as from their authors and ancestors, the Egyptians get most of their laws. It is from them that the Egyptians have learned to honor kings as gods and bury them with such pomp; sculpture and writing were invented by the Ethiopians. The Ethiopians cite evidence that they are more ancient than the Egyptians, but it is useless to report that here." Be reminded that the name Ethiopia does not refer to the modern day country of Ethiopia-Diodorus is referring to what we call Nubia today.
It seems almost certain that Dr. Gus Casely-Hayford was simply repeating parrot-like the script placed in front of him. No debate, no critique, just a lot of grinning. Gus Casely- Hayford was dressed for his part wearing his Zahi Hawass outfit.
Watching the DVDS one gets the feeling that the director had to do a lot of retakes and editing to pull this off . Many of the scenes appeared to be forced and contrived.
In one scene we suddenly see Casely-Hayford, pausing for dramatic effect, ask a somewhat puzzled Sudanese archeologist if the ancient Egyptians considered the Nubians inferior barbarians. The Sudanese looked very uncertain and then answered "yes". Casely-Hayford acted as if he had made the point he was told to make.
A few minute later after prompting from Casely-Hayford,and some editing, the Sudanese archeologist repeats another old Eurocentric cliché saying that the name Nubia comes from "nub" which originally meant slave in some unspecified language! I don't know what language they were referring to, but in ancient Egyptian Nbt or nub means "gold" not slave. See Egyptian Grammar, Gardiner p. 614.
Again the attempt was made to mislead the unsophisticated viewer who mistakenly believes that scholars always shed light on their subjects.
Was Dr. Casely-Hayford the great British Art Historian going to give his viewers a fuller picture? would he add that at one time or another the Egyptians seemed to hate and despise every body including Semites, Asians and Indo-Europeans. They despised people who were not circumcised: the Semites, Asians and Indo-Europeans. These people were called all sorts of names by the Egyptians: lepers(because of their skin color), vile, wretched, thieves, barbarians, foul and so on. None of this is mentioned by Casely-Hayford. Perhaps he was again only following his script.
The Egyptians seemed to have enslaved Indo-Europeans, Asians, Nubians and Semites. There are numerous tombs, markers, monuments and documents testifying to this fact.
Following the directions of his intellectual lords at the University of London(SOAS) Dr. Gus Casely-Hayford said nothing. It could not have been a matter of time. Many scenes had Gus Casely- Hayford whining about his fear of snakes ,muddy shoes , the hot African sun, even giving the temperature! These could have been easily cut.
The aim of this project was to repeat the standard Eurocentric cliches and talking points: there was some kind of Apartheid Wall between ancient Nubia and ancient Egypt. This point is crucial to the European intellectual paradigm. This is Hegel all over again. The Eurocentrics loudly denounce Hegel as an out of date racist but psychologically they cling to his dogmatic historical formulations.
Of course the Egyptians and the Nubians fought despised and slandered each other. When Europeans fight in the Balkans or when the Germans fought the Poles or when the English fought the Irish does it mean that they were of different races? They don't all share a common European culture?
There is a fascinating interview with a dignified royal Nubian Elder. Casely-Hayford ask his setup question about whether or not the Nubians many miles south of Kerma were the same people as the ancient Nubians.
The Nubian elder said we are all the same people. Some stayed in Egypt, some went to Kerma, some went to Meroe, some went to other places, some came here. The language the cultures are the same, the only difference is in the color of the skin.
There was a rather stunned look on the good doctor's face. But Casely-Hayford did not ask the logical follow up question: the elder was not asked to expound on his remarks that some of the ancient Nubians stayed in Egypt. Casely-HayFord said nothing. The translator ,a beautiful Nubian woman , smiled. The Nubian Elder gave the impression that he had a lot more to say but there was no way that the BBC taskmasters could put words into the elders mouth. No amount of editing and retakes could accomplish this. The Nubian Elder was not another Gus Casely-Hayford! There appeared to be some heavy editing at this point and the interview ended.
From beginning to end, this DVD program gave the standard European version of African history: "Ancient Egypt" was not a black African civilization. There were many "lost kingdoms but Kmt(Egypt) was not one of them. Black Africa was outside of human history. The premises are no longer openly stated and despite of all the evidence to the contrary, they assert that their beloved "Ancient Egypt" was a creation of Asians, Semites and Europeans.
Constantly during the 216 minutes of this DVD program we hear Casely-Hayford saying "scholars" or "historians" or "archeologist" don't believe this or that about African people, history and culture.
What he is really saying is that European "mainstream" scholars still cling to the myths of an "Eastern" origin of human civilization. Not too many years ago Mesopotamia was the birthplace of humankind and human civilizations. Black Africa was outside of human history. This was taught almost everywhere in the world, in all the great universities of Europe and America.
Today we know that those old theories are false, yet they live on camouflaged under scholarly sounding rhetoric and slick modern academic jargon.
One of the greatest scholars of our time Dr. Cheikh Anta Diop(not mentioned once in the program) has written something that brings to mind Mr. Gus Casely-HayFord.
Diop writes in part: "The African historian who evades the problem of Egypt is neither modest nor objective, nor unruffled; he is ignorant cowardly and neurotic." See The African Origin of Civilization Myth or Reality, Diop p. xiv,1974 Lawrence Hill & Co.
This effort is a pure example of the propaganda of history.
Want to read
March 6, 2014
You can watch here: http://youtu.be/tp6P_hBnF1s
Book depository blurb - For many of us the history of Africa is, at best, vague. We might think of Egyptian pyramids, legendary queens (of Sheba or Cleopatra) and Zulu warriors. The truth, however, is one of remarkably diverse, creative, culturally rich civilisations. In this book, which accompanies an 8-part BBC series, Gus Casely-Hayford takes us on a fascinating journey through the history of this remarkable continent. We will encounter archaeological sites of staggering beauty that rival the Great Wall of China, vast and ancient universities that predate Oxford and Cambridge, kingdoms of extraordinary wealth, artistic traditions that still inspire artists today, great religious sites that surpass the Vatican, and a country with more pyramids than Egypt. In recent years new archaeological and anthropological research has opened up the study of African history in ways previously unimaginable. Long-lost kingdoms are suddenly being brought back to life. Civilisations that had faded into myth are revealing their secrets. Using this latest research, Gus Casely-Hayford is able to tell the history of Africa's major kingdoms in an entirely new, colourful and richly-informed way. Accessible and inspiring, "The Lost Kingdoms of Africa" is both a major addition to our understanding of this oft-overlooked history and a source of genuine delight and wonder.
Nubia
Ethiopia
Great Zimbabwe
West Africa
The Kingdom of Asante
The Zulu Kingdom
About the author
July 12, 2021
Reading this book is a bit of a tease. The author covers so much interesting history, but only skims the surface of some of the amazing empires he covers. It's not his fault - there's a dire lack of scholarship on some of these kingdoms, and often not much surviving literature or ruins to look into - but it's almost a bit frustrating that there's so few books on African history, and that this tie-in to a TV series is one of the best I've read on the subject.
Still as a book I really enjoyed it - the author is really passionate and does a great job in describing empires and societies that don't get the attention they deserve. I really enjoyed the chapters on the Zulu and the Asante in particular - five stars because damnit this is good history and more people should read about it!!
Still as a book I really enjoyed it - the author is really passionate and does a great job in describing empires and societies that don't get the attention they deserve. I really enjoyed the chapters on the Zulu and the Asante in particular - five stars because damnit this is good history and more people should read about it!!
November 6, 2012
Maybe my expectations were too high - there is so much to learn about the history of Africa, so much so that even Arnold Toynbee failed to recognize that some civilizations did flourish (and, in his vocabulary, "failed") in this vast continent. In the end, it remains the script for a made-for-TV exploration - some parts spell-binding, some others leaving you wondering what the fuss is all about.
February 21, 2019
I was looking for information on ancient African kingdoms for research and Zon threw this up. It is a coffee table book, the history is light, general and buried. I don’t care what the coffee’s like, or how cool it is to meet someone, I want the information and imagery. The latter is actually pretty good and is a redeeming factor.
That information is scant, partially with style and partially with evidence available. Too much irrelevant prose is a distraction from what could have been a stunningly detailed guide. I gleaned a few snippets, but I’m glad I got a second hand copy.
That information is scant, partially with style and partially with evidence available. Too much irrelevant prose is a distraction from what could have been a stunningly detailed guide. I gleaned a few snippets, but I’m glad I got a second hand copy.
September 7, 2020
This is my first book about African culture and the author has very concisely covered various Lost Kingdoms of Africa.
December 15, 2021
One of the best books I read this year!
October 11, 2013
Interesting, but not engaging which is why it has probably taken me so long to finish. Clearly written as a book to accompany a TV series which I have not seen as it has not been shown in NZ. Having travelled in many parts of Africa, I was able to recall some of the countries and places he writes about and that visual memory enhanced those parts of the book, but the rest of the book was not sufficient to transport me to the unknown places. In summary a rather disappointing and superficial book. I know a little of African history and had hoped to be further enlightened. 'Twas not to be.
goodreadingguide-com
November 9, 2014MD reviewed @ www.GoodReadingGuide.com
January 30, 2022
I don't know what I expected. Don't waste your time with this.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews