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[QUOTE]Originally posted by Doug M: [QB] [QUOTE]Originally posted by Supercar: [qb] [QUOTE]Originally posted by Doug M: More on the antiquity of house building in Africa and the tradition of building with stone in the Western Sahel: http://phpbb-host.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=2617&sid=8a79d3de251078be4227f758c266e2c9&mforum=thenile Dar Tichitt is known for its stown masonry buildings stretching back possibly as far as 4,000 B.C. or farther. Yet hardly is anything mentioned about this civilization when talking about ancient civilizations in the world. This style of building is still practiced in Mauretania and can be seen in the ancient Almoravid city of Azouga as well as Chinguetti...[/QUOTE]You may recall that we once had some heated exchanges on the issue of ancient 'permanent' and/or stone building outside of the Nile Valley in Africa; good to know that you've broaden your perception on the issue. [/qb][/QUOTE]Yes I remember. However, what I was trying to point out was that the difference between Egypt and other African societies is that they built in monumental stone. That really didn't mean that other Africans did not build houses and the such, because there are only a few civilizations in Africa that built in monumental stone like the Egyptians. Dar Tichitt is mainly masonry stone (stones of varying sizes used like bricks). All come from the same tradition however and this tradition is one of mud brick and sometimes fired brick. However, since that material is more susceptible to decay, much of it is lost. There are probably hundreds of mud brick cities and other structures that were built throughout the Sahara, Nile Valley and elsewhere that havent survived due to climate and other circumstances. For example, we know there was a palace facade motif in ancient Egyptian tombs and Mastabas, because they were built in stone, but we havent found any of these ancient houses or palaces that the facade supposedly imitates. We dont really know much about the architecture of ancient buildings in the predynastic for the same reason. We also dont know a lot about how widespread such buildings were outside the Nile for the same reason that most times they were built of mud or clay and they haven't survived. Dar Tichitt has survived precisely because it was built using stone masonry. These gaps is something that causes some to propose an origin for much African architecture outside of Africa. For example, the Ksars and Kasbahs of Morocco supposedly only first came about in the Islamic period, however that doesnt make any sense. These Ksars are part of the same style as found in Sudan ,Mauretania, Egypt and the rest of Africa, which are much more ancient tradition, yet most historians tend to associate these structures with Islam. Once again, because the Egyptians built in monumental stone, we can see that this style of architecture is at least as old as the dynastic period in Egypt and probably older, but we dont have much left to look at because the mud brick structures have decayed, are ignored or have been and will be sumberged by dams. Mud brick cities of the Hausa in Nigeria: http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Classroom/9912/kanemhausa.html In fact you can even see this same tradition in the houses of the Ndebele people in South Africa. Once again, it is an issue of us looking at African history from an African perspective and not from a foreign perspective. A foreign perspective divides up the history and places the impetus on foreign involvement, whereas an African perspective sees continuity. For example, much of the architecture in Africa outside Egypt tends to focus on the Islamic period as the "historical" period when various architectural traditions were created. However, that is a distortion of history. Islam did not bring architecture to Africa, Asia or anywhere else. Religious structures are not new concepts in Africa and Mosques are not unique, because most elements of a mosque, including the minaret are aonly variations on ancient styles of architecture already in existence. Yet if you look at much of the history written about architecture in West Africa, the Sahel, Sudan or elsewhere, it tends to focus on mosques or churches, as if they represent something new to the architectural tradition of the area. [QUOTE] According to the Bornu Chronicle (a written history based upon oral tradition), at about 800 CE, the Kanuri people of the Lake Chad region, under the leadership of their legendary king Dugu, formed the beginnings of the trading empire of Kanem, and later Bornu. With the introduction of horses and camels, the Kanuri created a strong military presence that was renowned from the Nile to the Niger and was used to great effect to unify the area. At about 1085, with the influence of Islam having entered the region some time before, the first Muslim ruler, Houme of the Sefawa dynasty, came to the throne. And, under Mai (king) Salma (1194-1221) Islam became the state religion. The reign of Mai Dunama Dibalemi (1210-1248) saw a strengthening of the Kanem Empire which gained control of the Saharan trade routes north of Lake Chad. From Kanem's beginnings, through this time, towns were little more than nomadic settlements of reed huts with thatched roofs. Such was the city of Njimi, the early Sefawa capital. In legend, Njimi was the site of a palace built of red brick (a building method imported from the Nile), and there are many sites in the region of Kanem with ruins of such structures. This innovation advanced the Kanem culture in it's architecture. [/QUOTE] http://empathosnationenterprises.com/Consulate/EN-Library/Black-Studies/afempire.html Yoruba and Hausa architecture: links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0361-7882(1999)32%3A2%2F3%3C504%3AAINAOT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-C Yoruba palace gardens: links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0307-1243%28199021%2918%3A1%3C47%3AYPG%3E2.0.CO%3B2-J&size=LARGE The Shotgun house: an African architectural legacy: http://books.google.com/books?id=8RacHjjOF7YC&pg=RA1-PA207&lpg=RA1-PA207&dq=yoruba+architecture&source=web&ots=boVes5d738&sig=KMXNMzgGndB-sGsFMQ0ZeWd4HGA#PRA1-PA206,M1 Guinea coast art/architecture: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/09/sfg/ht09sfg.htm Page about how Africans put birds and other objects at the top of tall steeples and towers to ward of lightning or spirits (something we think of as an American or European tradition): [QUOTE] Bronze birds and snakes used to ornate the high towers, the bird presumably protecting against lightning, and the snake representing the power of the oba. [/QUOTE] http://arkkitehtuuri.tkk.fi/YKS/fin/opetus/kurssit/vanhat_kurssit/wap/helsinki-benin/sivu2c.html Kano dye pits, some of the oldest in Africa: http://www.pbase.com/fuenfzig/image/57832718 Photos from Nigeria, with some from ancient Kano: http://www.pbase.com/fuenfzig/nigeria Note the dresses at this Wedding Looks like that of the Berbers Morocco no?. (Obviously modern trade and manufacturing means that local traditions of clothing are being lost, with the unique patterns and distinct colors no longer differentiating from one place to another). http://www.pbase.com/fuenfzig/image/57832729 As in here: http://www.mototouring.com/images/africa/marocco/berbere.jpg From: http://www.mototouring.com/promotion%20and%20galleries/immagini_marocco.htm More berbers: http://www.landmania.com/Sections-index-req-printpage-artid-135.html Berber Musician: http://www.oasisfle.com/culture_oasisfle/ait_menguellet_le_poete.htm Spanish page about Arab expansion in North AFrica: http://www.ricardocosta.com/pub/imperiosnegros.htm High Atlas Berbers: http://yannick.michelat.free.fr/Maroc_Trek1.htm Tamberma(castle like) houses in Togo : http://www.losviajeros.com/fotos/africa/togo/index.php?lg=e&fn=tata3 An example of the nonsense taught about architectural traditions in Africa: [QUOTE] Early civilizations in the western Sudan region had strong trading links across the Sahara, and an Islamic presence south of the desert was established 1,000 years ago. In the 11th century Kumbi, the capital of the kingdom of Ghana (in present-day Mali), was described as having a dozen mosques. Subsequently the kingdoms of Mali and Songhai superseded ancient Ghana, with Timbuktu and Gao on the Niger River becoming major centres of learning and commerce. Excavations have revealed that these towns were large, prosperous, and well constructed. Muslim builders introduced a type of dwelling reflecting their Arab and North African traditions: rectilinear in plan, flat-roofed, and often two stories or more in height, these dwellings were built of sun-dried mud brick or of mud and stone. By the 16th century this form had penetrated the Nigerian savanna with the establishment of the Hausa states. Kano, Katsina, Sokoto, and Zaria today present an appearance probably comparable with that of earlier centuries, but with the former cylindrical huts replaced by those of square plan, reflecting the changing size of families. New houses are built from tabali, or pear-shaped mud bricks, and the large palaces of the emirs are often richly decorated within, with spaces spanned by palm ribs. [/QUOTE] http://search.eb.com/blackhistory/print?articleId=384737&fullArticle=true&tocId=57109 Obviously a distortion. Rectilinear housing is ancient in Africa and did not originate with Islam. Nilotic structures are rectilinear. The ancient dwellings at Dar Tichitt are rectilinear. The ancient structures of the Nok are rectilinear. The houses of ancient Kush and Meroe were rectilinear and so on. The rectilinear houses of the Western Sudan were built buy Soninke peoples thousands of years ago, prior to the advent of Islam. [/QB][/QUOTE]
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