Elliot Skinner, A Glorious Age in Africa

Author: Zernadji Chahira (University of Biskra, Algeria)
Speaker: Zernadji Chahira
Topic: Anthropological Linguistics
The GLOCAL AFALA 2023 General Session

Abstract

Through this study, we will try to answer the following problem: Were the actions of the ancients in Africa commendable? And were their times glorious as well? And was the African man the heir to the great human condition? How has this information been conveyed in the present time through narrative and the oral tradition?

The history of African peoples and other peoples of the world left no room for superior races or even superior nations, empires rose and fell, kingdoms rose and fell, and yesterday’s slaves roamed the earth like giants.

For a long time, access to knowledge about Africa was blocked by the wall of lowered communication.

In a broader context, the significance of Africa’s past is reflected in Africa today and in the future. Africa has completed a full cycle from the golden age, through slavery and through the colonial era, to the present independence, and is once again integrated into the mainstream of global development.

The histories of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai are elements of a larger narrative, the narrative of humanity’s struggle for survival and the creation of civilizations across the world.

There are very complex societies in western Sudan, where the civilizations of Ghana, Mali and Songhai developed for the same reasons that civilizations developed elsewhere due to the beginnings and mixing of peoples, customs and ideas.

At the height of their power, the great ancient kingdoms of West Africa fared better than their counterparts in Europe and Asia at the time.

Keywords: Elliot Skinner, civilizations, Sudan.