1. Ethiopia, Nok Culture, Bantu
Expansion

2. Looking Southward
• Moving beyond Egypt
and Nubia, we come
to what is today
Eritrea, Ethiopia,
Nigeria, and
Cameroon.
• It is here that we
encounter several
important cities in the
region of
Ethiopia/Eritrea, the
Nok Culture, and the
origin of the Bantu
Expansion.

3. Ethiopia: Prehistory
• Discovery of Lucy took place in
Ethiopia’s Afar region
• East Africa, and more specifically
the general area of Ethiopia, is
widely considered the site of the
emergence of early Homo sapiens
in the Middle Paleolithic.
• In 2004 fossils found near the Omo
river at Kibbish by Richard Leakey
in 1967 were redated to 195,000
years old, the oldest date
anywhere in the world for modern Lucy skeleton reconstruction
Homo Sapiens

4. Punt
• The earliest records of Ethiopia appear in
Ancient Egypt, during the Old Kingdom
period.
• Egyptian traders from about 3000 BC refer
to lands south of Nubia or Kush as Punt and
Yam.
• The Ancient Egyptians were in possession
of myrrh (found in Punt) as early as the
First or Second Dynasties, which suggests
trade between the two countries was
extant from Ancient Egypt's beginnings
• Most scholars today believe Punt was
located south-east of Egypt (roughly
northern Somalia, Djibouti, Eritrea and the
Red Sea coast of Sudan).
• Some inscriptions locate Punt in the
Arabian Peninsula. possible location of Punt
• It is possible that the territory covered both
the Horn of Africa and Southern Arabia

5. Egyptians Travel to Punt
• The earliest recorded Egyptian expedition to Punt was
organized by Pharaoh Sahure of the Fifth Dynasty (25th
century BC) although gold from Punt is recorded as having
been in Egypt in the time of king Khufu of the Fourth Dynasty
of Egypt.
• Subsequently, there were more expeditions to Punt in the
Sixth, Eleventh, Twelfth and Eighteenth dynasties of Egypt. In
the Twelfth dynasty, trade with Punt was celebrated in
popular literature in the "Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor”.
• In the reign of Mentuhotep III (around 1950 BC), an officer
named Hannu organized one or more voyages to Punt, but it
is uncertain whether he personally traveled on these
expeditions. Trading missions of the 12th dynasty pharaohs
Senusret I and Amenemhat II had also successfully navigated
their way to and from the mysterious land of Punt.

6. Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor
• A sailor announces his return from a voyage at sea. He is returning from an apparently failed
expedition and is anxious about how the king will receive him. An attendant reassures
him, advising him on how to behave before the king. To encourage his master, he tells a tale
of a previous voyage of his in which he overcame disaster, including meeting with a god and
the king.
• The sailor then describes how his ship, manned by 120 (some translations have 150)
sailors, had sunk in a storm and how he alone had survived and was washed up on an island.
There he finds shelter and food (he says "there was nothing that was not there"). While
making a burnt offering to the gods, he hears thunder and feels the earth shake and sees a
giant serpent approach him. The serpent asks him who had brought him to the island. The
sailor repeats his story, saying that he was on a mission for the king.
• The serpent tells him not to fear and that god has let him live and brought him to the
island, and that after four months on the island he will be rescued by sailors he knows and
will return home. The serpent then relates a tragedy that had happened to him, saying that
he had been on the island with 74 of his kin plus a daughter, and that a star fell and "they
went up in flames through it”. The serpent advises the sailor to be brave and to control his
heart, and if he does so, he will return to his family.
• The sailor now promises the serpent that he will tell the king of the serpent's power and will
send the serpent many valuable gifts, including myrhh and other incense. Laughing at
him, the serpent says that the sailor is not rich, but that he (the serpent) is Lord of Punt and
that the island is rich in incense, and that when the sailor leaves he will not see the island
again as it will become water. The ship arrives and the serpent gives him many precious gifts
including spices, incense, elephants' tusks, greyhounds and baboons.
• The sailor returns home and gives the king the gifts he took from the island

7. Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor:
Questions
• What type of story is this?
• What is the island the sailor is shipwrecked on
like?
• What is the role of the serpent?
• Does this story remind you of any myths you
know from other cultures?

8. Hatshepsut’s Trip to Punt
• In the eighteenth dynasty of Egypt,
Hatshepsut built a Red Sea fleet to
facilitate trade between the head of the
Gulf of Aqaba and points south as far as
Punt to bring mortuary goods to Karnak
in exchange for Nubian gold.
• Hatshepsut personally made the most
famous ancient Egyptian expedition that
sailed to Punt.
• The voyage was made in five ships, each
measuring 70 feet long, and with several
sails. These accommodated 210 men,
including sailors and 30 rowers, and was
led by the Nubian general "Nehsi". They
departed at Quseir on the Red Sea for
what was primarily a trading mission,
seeking frankincense and myrrh, and
fragrant unguents used for cosmetics and
in religious ceremonies. However, they
also brought back exotic animals and
plants, ivory, silver and gold.

9. The Temple at Deir el-Barhi
• A report of this voyage is left behind as temple reliefs in Deir el-Bahri, Egypt. The
reliefs shows the departure of the expedition, its arrival at the mysterious land, the
landing of the ships with the gifts by the Puntine leader to Hatshepsut, and the
preparations for the return voyage.
• Donkeys were depicted as the method of transporting goods, and white dogs
guarding the people’s houses. Birds, monkeys, leopards, giraffes, and
hippopotamus are also seen to live in Punt. The Nubian Nehsi is then shown in
front of his tent with a banquet offered to his guests, and observing the gifts
presented
Temple of
Hatshepsut, Deir
el-Bahri

10. Reliefs
• Disassembled ships were
hauled over the desert to
the Red Sea coast, where
the ships were re-
assembled and sent
south. Upon
returning, the ships were
again taken apart and
hauled back overland to
the Nile Valley.
ship

11. Reliefs
one of Hatshepsut’s ships

12. Reliefs
rowing

13. Reconstruction of Hatshepsut’s Ship
Researchers created a full-size reconstruction of a pharaonic sailing
vessel for NOVA's "Building Pharaoh's Ship,"

14. Reliefs
king and queen of Punt donkey

15. Reliefs
Egyptian Soldiers

16. Reliefs
• Incense and
myrrh trees
• Houses on
stilts
accessed by
ladders

17. Reliefs
loading the ships

18. Were there Hebrews in ancient Ethiopia?
• The Ethiopian history described in the KebraNagast, or "Book of
the Glory of Kings,” (13th-14th century AD) relates that Ethiopians
are descendants of Israelite tribes who came to Ethiopia with
Menelik I, alleged to be the son of King Solomon and the Queen of
Sheba (see 1 Kings 10:1-13 and 2 Chronicles 9:1-12).
• The legend relates that Menelik, as an adult, returned to his father
in Jerusalem, and then resettled in Ethiopia, and that he took with
him the Ark of the Covenant.
• In the Bible there is no mention that the Queen of Sheba either
married or had any sexual relations with King Solomon (although
some identify her with the "black and beautiful" in Song 1:5);
rather, the narrative records that she was impressed with his
wealth and wisdom, and they exchanged royal gifts, and then she
returned to rule her people in Kush. However, the "royal gifts" are
interpreted by some as sexual contact.
• The loss of the Ark is also not mentioned in the Bible. In fact, King
Hezekiah later makes reference to the Ark in 2 Kings 19:15.

19. Circumstantial Evidence
• Presence of Star of David in some reliefs
• Architectural similarities of some Ethiopian
temples to temples in Israel
• Presence of a Semitic language: inscriptions in
the Sabaean language (given as evidence for
Queen of Sheba in Ethiopia [Sabaean was the
language of ancient Yemen, one possible
homeland of the Queen of Sheba])
• The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea refers to the
plundering of the Temple of Solomon (used as
evidence for Ethiopia as location of Ark of the
Covenant)

20. Ark of the Covenant (Courtesy of Steven
Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Ark)

21. DNA Studies
• A 1999 study examined the DNA of 38 unrelated Jewish males
living in Israel and 104 Ethiopians living in regions located north of
Addis Ababa and concluded that the distinctiveness of the Y-
chromosome distribution of the Ethiopian Jews from conventional
Jewish populations and their relatively greater similarity in genetic
profile to non-Jewish Ethiopians are consistent with the view that
the Beta Israel people descended from ancient inhabitants of
Ethiopia and not the Levant.
• A 2000 study of Y-chromosome haplotypes of Jewish and non-
Jewish groups suggested that “paternal gene pools of Jewish
communities from Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East
descended from a common Middle Eastern ancestral population,"
with the exception of the Ethiopian Jews, who were "affiliated
more closely with non-Jewish Ethiopians and other East Africans.”
• A 2004 study reached similar conclusions, that the Ethiopian Jews
were likely descended from local Ethiopian populations.

22. Daamat (D’mt)
• First real state in Ethiopia
(c. 700-300 BC)
• Arose from contact
between people of the
Tigray plateau in Ethiopia
and Arabia in early 1st
millennium BC.
• Plow and irrigation may
have been introduced to
the area

23. Yeha
• Central site of Daamat state
• South Arabian pottery has been found there, suggesting
commercial relations with Saba
• Inscriptions in northern Ethiopia and Eritrea are in the South
Arabian script
Tigray plateau near Yeha

24. Religion
• The cult of the sun and moon gods was introduced
from South Arabia
Temple at Yeha

25. Sun and Moon
Relief showing sun and
crescent moon
What does the iconography
remind you of?

26. Conquest or adoption?
• One interpretation of the similarities between
South Arabia and Daamat is that Arabians
migrated to Ethiopia and conquered the local
people
• A more likely interpretation is that local chiefs
in Daamat adopted the South Arabian model
of a state, since most of the material culture
has more in common with African traditions

27. End of Daamat
• There are no inscriptions from Daamat after
the 3rd century BC.
• A palace remained at Yeha, occupied until the
2nd century BC.
• Nearby, the kingdom of Aksum began to take
shape and, by the 2nd-3rd century
AD, controlled the Tigrean plateau.

28. Nok Culture
• The Nok culture
appeared in Nigeria c.
1000 B.C. and vanished c.
500 AD.
• Its social system is
thought to have been
highly advanced.
• The Nok culture was
considered to be the
earliest sub-Saharan
producer of life-sized
Terracotta
• Iron use, in smelting and
forging for tools, appears
in Nok culture in Africa at
least by 550 BC

29. Nok
• The Nok culture was discovered in 1928 on the Jos Plateau during tin
mining.
• Lt-Colonel John Dent-Young, an Englishman, was leading mining operations
in the Nigerian village of Nok.
• During these operations, one of the miners found a small terracotta of a
monkey head. Other finds included a terracotta human head and a foot.
The Jos Plateau

30. Terracotta Sculptures
• The terracotta is preserved
mostly in the form of scattered
fragments. That is why Nok art
is well known today only for
the heads, both male and
female, whose hairstyles are
particularly detailed and
refined.
• The statues are in fragments
because the discoveries are
usually made from alluvial
mud, in terrain made by the
erosion of water.
Nok terracotta sculpture, Louvre, Paris

31. Sculptures: function and technique
• Little is known of the original function of the
pieces, but theories include ancestor portrayal,
grave markers, and charms to prevent crop failure,
infertility, and illness. Also, based on the dome-
shaped bases found on several figures, they could
have been used as finials for the roofs of ancient
structures.
• Margaret Young-Sanchez, Associate Curator of Art
of the Americas, Africa, and Oceania in The
Cleveland Museum of Art, explains that most Nok
ceramics were shaped by hand from coarse-
grained clay and subtractively sculpted in a manner
that suggests an influence from wood carving.
• After some drying, the sculptures were covered
with slip and burnished to produce a smooth,
glossy surface. The figures are hollow, with several
openings to facilitate thorough drying and firing. female statue
The firing process most likely resembled that used
today in Nigeria, in which the pieces are covered
with grass, twigs, and leaves and burned for several
hours.

32. Evidence for Horsemanship
• Figures on horseback indicate
that the Nok Culture had
tamed horses for riding
Nok rider and horse

33. Additional Finds
• In 1943, near the village of Nok, a new series of clay figurines were discovered by
accident while mining tin.
• A worker had found a head and had taken it back to his home for use as a
scarecrow, a role that it filled (successfully) for a year in a yam field.
• It then drew the attention of the director of the mine who bought it. He brought it
to the city of Jos and showed it to the trainee civil administrator, Bernard Fagg, an
archaeologist who immediately understood its importance.
• He asked all of the miners to inform him of all of their discoveries and was able to
amass more than 150 pieces. Afterwards, Bernard and Angela Fagg ordered
systematic excavations that revealed many more profitable lucky finds dispersed
over a vast area, much larger than the original site.
Excavation of a Nok terracotta sculpture

34. The Bantu Expansion
• The Bantu expansion (or Bantu migration)
was a series of migrations of speakers of
the original proto-Bantu language group
that took place roughly from 2000 BC to
500 AD.
• The primary evidence for this great
expansion has been linguistic: the
languages spoken in sub-Equatorial Africa
are remarkably similar to each other, to
the degree that it is unlikely that they
diverged from one another more than
three thousand years ago.
• Attempts to trace the exact route of the
expansion, to correlate it with
archaeological evidence, and more
recently, with genetic evidence, have not
been conclusive, thus some question
whether extensive migration or some
other process caused the linguistic and
cultural changes that have been observed
possible route for Bantu migration

35. What we observe: languages
• The term Bantu, which means
"people” in many of the languages in
the Bantu language group, was first
used by linguist Wilhelm Heinrich
Immanuel Bleek (1827–1875).
• A common characteristic of Bantu
languages is that they use words
such as muntu or mutu for "person",
and the plural prefix for human
nouns starting with mu- in most
languages is ba-, thus giving bantu
for "people.”
• The Bantu languages are a sub-
branch of the Niger-Congo languages
(group B in the map on this slide)

36. Competing Interpretations
• One can see the spread of Bantu languages as evidence
for a massive migration
– Bantu languages would have originated in what is now
Cameroon in West Africa. An estimated 2500–3000 years
ago, speakers of the proto-Bantu language would have
migrated eastward and southward, carrying agriculture
with them.
• Alternately, the wave model says that languages can
evolve in a stationary population as speakers at the
edges of a language’s territory develop their own
dialects.
– A good example is the differentiation of the Romance
languages from Latin after the end of the Roman Empire.

37. What we observe: pottery and iron
• There is evidence of similar pottery technology in eastern, southern and western Africa. Iron
Age farmers were skilled pot makers and decorated their pots with grooves and patterns.
Related groups of peoples used similar styles of decoration.
• The Bantu may have learned how to use iron from the Egyptians, who may have learned it
from the Mesopotamians. Most historians don’t think that the Bantu discovered the ability
to smelt iron on their own, because there is no evidence of the bronze work before iron
work. Historians generally believe that people learn to work bronze, then iron; therefore, the
Bantu most likely borrowed iron technology from someplace else.
• There is little to no evidence of iron working in east and southern Africa before the arrival of
the Bantu.
• Do similar pottery styles and the advent of iron technology necessarily indicate migration?
Iron Age finds (dark green)
in East and Southern
Africa
Bantu pots and
iron tools

38. What we observe: agriculture
• With the drying of the Sahara, Bantu peoples
may have migrated southward and eastward
to find more suitable locations for agriculture
and may have conquered indigenous hunter-
gatherer peoples in the process.
• We observe hunter-gatherer economies being
replaced by agriculture in much of eastern and
southern Africa.

39. Other possible interpretations
• Agriculture may have developed independently in Africa, but many
scholars believe that the spread of agriculture and iron throughout
Africa linked that continent to the major centers of civilization in
the Near East and Mediterranean world.
• The drying up of the Sahara had pushed many peoples to the
south into sub-Saharan Africa. They settled at first in scattered
hunting-and-gathering bands, although in some places near lakes
and rivers people who fished, with a more secure food
supply, lived in larger population concentrations.
• Agriculture seems to have reached these people from the Near
East, since the first domesticated crops were millets and sorghums
whose origins are not African but West Asian. The route of
agricultural distribution may have gone through Egypt or
Ethiopia, which long had contacts across the Red Sea with the
Arabian peninsula

40. Did the Bantu Expansion happen?
• "The question concerning whether or not the
Bantu migration actually occurred will await
further research. It's very easy to assume that we
know so much. Actually we know so little
because very little research has been done. So far
there is a huge area in DR Congo, Rwanda and
Uganda where no field work has been done and
these are areas that the Bantu peoples would
have passed through."
• Dr. ChapirukhaKusimba, Field Museum, Chicago.