From the Publisher
“Ehret illustrates how one can be a historian of deep time by using languages, artifacts, and genes as documents from the past. A culmination of this approach, this book is a masterful synthesis on the history of African societies in the past twenty thousand years and beyond.”—François-Xavier Fauvelle, author of The Golden Rhinoceros: Histories of the African Middle Ages“This magisterial book presents Africa’s history from our earliest fully human ancestors to the African kingdoms of the first millennium, discussing along the way the independent invention of ceramics, agriculture, cotton weaving, iron smelting, and monotheism in Africa. Ehret’s volume restores Africa to its rightful place in global history.”—Solange Ashby, author of Calling Out to Isis: The Enduring Nubian Presence at Philae“Ehret delivers a wide-ranging social history that provides an important corrective to the perception of Africa as a continent without history, including a clear and persuasive argument for ancient Egypt’s Africanity. He makes a compelling case for the significance of Africa in major human developments through independent invention and mutual influence rather than dependency, and takes a significant step toward fully integrating African accomplishments into world history.”—Stuart Tyson Smith, University of California, Santa Barbara“In this brilliantly written and highly engaging volume, esteemed historian Christopher Ehret challenges the reader to reimagine early history through his masterful interweaving of Africa into the whole of global history, while also emphasizing women’s roles as innovators and inventors. Ancient Africa provides a compelling and accessible primer for anyone interested in early African history.”—Henry Louis Gates, Jr., coeditor of Who’s Black and Why? A Hidden Chapter from the Eighteenth-Century Invention of Race