Zinder www.patreon.com/posts/154798...

Gold coin of Menelik II, ca. 1897. www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/the-first-...

Swahili lecturer at the SOL in Berlin, ca. 1911, Rooftop view of Zanzibar, Tanzania, ca. 1936. www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/the-first-...

Dajazmach Gabra Sellase Barya Gabr (1872-1930), and the Swedish mission station at Imkulu, Eritrea www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/the-first-...

"The first Africanists (specialists who study African languages, societies, and history) were not colonial researchers, as is often assumed, but African intellectuals who were actively engaged in the production of knowledge about their own societies"

🧵 h/t @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social

“The first Africanists were not colonial researchers, as is often assumed, but African intellectuals who were actively engaged in the production of knowledge about their own societies..” www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/the-first-...

The first Africanists: Intellectual Collaboration and the Origins of African Studies in the late 19th to early 20th century. www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/the-first-...

An early West African Ethnographer and Africanist: Al-Hajj Musa of Zinder (ca. 1870-1930) www.patreon.com/posts/154798...

Tomorrow's Patreon article is about the first Africanists and their intellectual collaborations in Africa and Europe

A vibrant crucifixion from an eighteenth-century Ethiopian service book, acquired by @theulspeccoll.bsky.social in 1868 and now Ms Add. 3682. #goodfriday

silver Khol container, Porte Koran (Xirsi), and comb 18th-19th century Somalia -Harn Museum of Art #randomxt

The Kingdom of Kongo, various scenes and costumes -(Election and coronation; Ambassadors; Costumes; Amy General and a soldier), by Pieter van der Aa, ca. 1725. -'blacks of Kongo', ca. 1840 #ethnographxt

interior of a shipyard construction of a native ship (Mtepe) ca. 1900 Ukerewe Island Tanzania -Leibniz-Institut für Länderkunde #randomxt

Front view of the Foumban Museum (native museum) Bamum, Cameroon. ca. 1937 #archivesxt

entrance to the palace of the Emir Kano, Nigeria. ca. 1930-31 -Etnografiska Museet #archivesxt

mosque at Traghan, Libya former capital of Kanem's province in the Fezzan #archivesxt

-Palace of the ruler of Sokode, Togo. -Mosque in Sokode. -Chaudja horsemen ca. 1914 -Leibniz Institut für Länderkunde #historyxt #ethnographxt

Sijilmasa and the Tafilalet www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/the-mediev...

The West African cities of Kumbi Saleh, Gao, and Āwdāghust www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/the-mediev...

The Medieval city of Sijilmasa www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/the-mediev...

multilingual Psalter, 12th-14th century, monastery of saint macarius, wadi al-Natrun, Egypt Ethiopic/Ge’ez, followed by Syriac, Coptic, Arabic, and ending with Armenian. www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/historical...

The Armenian and Georgian alphabets closely resemble the ancient Ethiopian writing system: researchers believe it is not a coincidence www.labrujulaverde.com/en/2026/03/t...

세계사에서 중국과 유럽을 제외하고 제대로 배운 것이 없다... 그나마 중동은 문명의 기원에 대해서 이야기할 때 언급이나 되지만. www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/the-gold-t...

Thread

*good read* Who Built France? by David Bell asserts that modern writers wouldn't treat La Case (d. 1671) as a hero, but as a homicidal maniac and rapist But even in the 1600s, La Case wasn't considered a hero by the Malagasy, who wrote a firsthand account of his brutality

[last point] its wasnt just the signare women of st-louis who kept massive amounts of gold jewellery Mungo park's account, refering mostly to the interior kingdom of Bundu, suggests that elite women had as much £50-80 of gold in 1795 (approximately £7,800-12,500 in 2026)

Art historians tend to emphasize external influences of the designs found on gold jewellery from Senegal due to its proximity to the Muslim world & European coastal forts, But overlook the much older material from Segu where local goldsmiths had few external contacts if any

It turns out Africa's biggest producers of gold were also the biggest consumers of the precious metal This shouldn't surprise anyone, except those who believe Africans didn't utilize their mineral resources before colonial mining companies showed up

Gold jewellery, Senegal/Mali late 19th-early 20th century. www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/the-gold-t...

Biconical gold and silver bead. Fulani, Senegal, 19th-20th century. www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/the-gold-t...

Gold necklace from Ségou, Mali. Taken as spoils of war by the French Colonel Archinard in the 19th century. Now at Quai Branly, Paris. www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/the-gold-t...

14th-century Catalan Atlas showing Mansa Musa holding a gold nugget. www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/the-gold-t...

The Gold Fields of West Africa during the Middle Ages . www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/the-gold-t...

In 1890, French colonial armies seized the last of the great treasures of West Africa, taking an estimated 75kg of gold and 160 tons of silver. (worth $361m at current prices) www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/the-gold-t...

An estimated two-thirds of the world’s gold in the late Middle Ages may have come from West Africa. www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/the-gold-t...

The Gold Trade and Currency of Medieval West Africa (1000-1900 CE) www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/the-gold-t...

Tomorrow's article is about the gold trade and currencies of medieval West Africa

General view of Khartoum portrait of a member of the Khartoum elite, named as Kadi of Khartoum portrait of a seated woman wearing numerous pendant ornaments from her braided hair and around her neck ca. 1877 - 1879 Pitt Rivers Museum #archivesxt

Old monument at Malindi on the coast, Kenya ca. 1953 -Pitt Rivers #archivesxt

Bridge near Tisisat Falls, Ethiopia ca. 1960 -Pitt Rivers #archivesxt this is the Alata Bridge of Susǝnyos built in 1626, extended by Fasilidas and later rulers who added 4 arches. It was still intact in 1936. it was likely destroyed at the end of Italian rule like the Sebara Dildiy

Kano, Nigeria mid-20th cent. #archivext

DJenne, Mali, ca. 1905. #archivesxt

The Garamantian kingdom of the Central Sahara www.patreon.com/posts/garama...

Map of Roman North Africa (146 BCE - 395 CE) www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/the-roman-...

The Sudd wetland of South Sudan, which was the limit of Nero's expedition www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/the-roman-...

Apedemak temple at Naqa, Sudan, depicting the co-regents Queen Amanitore and King Natakamani smiting their enemies. The Queen is thought to have reigned around the time of Nero (54-68 CE). www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/the-roman-...

“Most of the Roman expeditions that are thought to have reached West Africa were in fact military expeditions directed against known polities situated along the Empire's southern frontier in North Africa.” www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/the-roman-...