North Africa in the Ancient World

Date: 8000 b.c.e.-700 c.e.

Locale: Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, and the territory of western Sahara

North Africa in the Ancient World

North Africa was an incubator of successful empires such as Egypt (one of the world’s oldest civilizations) and battleground for empires including those of the Greeks, Romans, and Phoenicians. Arabs conquered North Africa in the name of Islam by the end of the seventh century c.e. Arabic remains the official language in Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, and Tunisia, and Islam is the predominant religion of the region. Arabs call the region consisting of Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia “Maghreb,” which means “west” or “land where the Sun sets.”

North Africa stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east. It borders the Mediterranean Sea in the north and the Sahel in the south—which, in modern times, is a semidesert area separating North and West Africa. The Nile River is 4,145 miles (6,669 kilometers) long, making it the longest river in the world and the only large river in North Africa.

History

Approximately 18,000 years ago, the Nile was a smaller river with many channels. In less than 500 years (from 12,000 to 11,500 years ago), flooding at the southern headwaters (Lake Victoria) of the Nile transformed the river and valley. More rainwater produced more vegetation, which, in turn, narrowed the river to a single channel. Plants and catfish were scarcer, and the available food supply could not support the population. About 11,000 years ago, the Sahara Desert became a steppe region—a refuge that led to the repopulation of the area. When the climate began to dry out again after 5000-4500 b.c.e., people who lived in the eastern Sahara migrated to the Nile Valley, becoming the forefathers of ancient Egypt.

The widespread use of pottery for cooking and food storage by 7,500 years ago signifies that North Africans were producing food. Some archaeologists hypothesize that pottery accompanied a sedentary lifestyle. It also contributed to population growth by enabling mothers to substitute boiled food for mother’s milk, which shortened the period a mother had to breast-feed her babies.

A minor official, Menes (whose name is possibly associated with Narmer), conquered Upper Egypt in the south and Lower Egypt in the north by approximately 3100 b.c.e. Menes established his family as the rulers of a united Egypt. The name given to Menes and his successors was pharaoh, or “great house.” The pharaoh was considered to be a god or diety.

About 2,800 years ago, North Africans learned how to fabricate iron from Phoenician sailors and Berber traders. Even before, by 1200 b.c.e., the Berbers, who lived along the Mediterranean coast, were masters of North Africa. The Berbers’ military superiority derived from their mastery of fighting on horseback.

The Phoenicians established trading stations along the North African coast. One such colony was Carthage, in present-day Tunisia. Carthage became independent of Phoenicia by 800 b.c.e. By 550 b.c.e., Carthage was an empire united under the leadership of King Mago. In 480 b.c.e., Carthage was defeated by an army of Sicilians and Greeks at the Battle of Himera. Carthage then began developing its expanding North African empire. The Carthaginians and their longtime rivals, the Greeks, fought a series of wars. In 322 b.c.e., the region in the vicinity of Libya was conquered by one of Alexander the Great’s Macedonian generals, Ptolemy Soter. Ptolemy established dynastic control over Egypt. Carthage’s long alliance with Rome dates to 510 b.c.e., when Rome had become independent of its Etruscan guardianship. A Roman army invaded North Africa and attacked Carthage in 256 b.c.e. The Carthaginian elephant cavalry and corps crushed the Romans. The first war between Rome and Carthage (called the First Punic War) lasted from 264 b.c.e. to 241 b.c.e. The war ended when a Roman fleet caught a convoy of Carthaginian ships off guard.

The Second Punic War broke out in 218 b.c.e. when the Carthaginian general Hannibal conquered the Greek city of Saguntum on the Catalonian coast. Hannibal then marched his army though the Alps. He destroyed a Roman army at the Battle of Trebia River in December. This victory shocked Rome into abandoning its plans to invade Africa and Spain. Hannibal waged war against the Romans on their own territory. Rome regained military superiority in 207 b.c.e. when a Roman general, Scipio Africanus, invaded Africa in 204 b.c.e. In what some historians consider among the most decisive battles in the ancient world, Scipio defeated the Carthaginian army commanded by Hannibal at Zama. The battle signaled the end of Carthaginian control over North Africa and the ascent of the Roman Empire. Rome sacked Carthage in 146 c.e. By 36 b.c.e., the heir to the assassinated Roman emperor Julius Caesar, Octavian (later the emperor Augustus), controlled all North Africa. The Roman Empire controlled North Africa until the Vandal invasion of the Maghreb in 429 c.e. The first North African emperor of Rome was Lucius Septimius Severus, who reigned from 193 to 211 c.e. He strengthened the empire’s Saharan frontiers.

Arabs

Following the death of the Prophet Muḥammad in 632 c.e., Arab-speaking armies invaded Egypt from Palestine in 639 c.e. These Arabs practiced a new religion, Islam, whose adherents believe Muḥammad was the messenger of God. By 642 c.e., Arab armies had conquered Egypt. The first Arab army invaded Tunisia in 647 c.e. Two separate powers opposed the Arab invasion—Byzantium and the Berbers. The conquest of these powers was completed by 710 c.e. Under Islam, North Africa was united by a new religion, a new form of government, and a new code of law.

Agriculture and economics

The domestication of plants and livestock and establishment of towns and villages were the result of adaptation to the semiarid environment of North Africa. The Nile Valley and Delta form a rich agricultural region in which farming had begun by the seventh millennium b.c.e. As the river, which starts almost at the center of the African continent, empties into the Mediterranean, it leaves a rich soil in its wake. The Egyptians trapped water in ponds and then lakes for use in irrigation. Droughts and the drying of the surrounding area caused people to move into the Nile area and rely on grain farming and domesticated animals. Farmers grew wheat and barley and raised domesticated cattle, sheep, and goats. Fishing continued as it had before the practice of agriculture. Catfish spawned on the river were caught for eating; any excess was preserved through sun drying or smoking.

One of the agricultural products was olive oil, which became a major ingredient in the economy of North Africa. Soap, cooking oil, and medicines all contained olive oil. The North Africans also produced wines, and the demand for these wines spurred the production of pottery. The grainfields of North Africa were so productive that the Roman Empire relied on them for food. The Romans, as well as the other states along the Mediterranean Sea, traded with North Africa through the many harbors across its northern border, which were probably developed by Phoenician traders.

Language and literature

Ancient North Africans spoke Berber, Egyptian, and also Greek and Latin languages at different eras. The Arab conquerors of North Africa brought with them literary Arabic, which subsequently became a worldwide language.

Religion and ritual

The first Christians probably entered North Africa through coastal cities such as Carthage. The Roman emperor Decius (r. 249-251 c.e.) was the first leader to persecute Christians throughout the empire. Later emperors targeted Church leaders and the economic wealth of the Church for persecution. The rite of baptism, which offered complete forgiveness of sin, played a significant role in the lives of North Africans. Archaeologists have unearthed elaborate rooms or baptisteries dedicated to the ritual that marked the spiritual journey. The emperor Constantine the Great enhanced the power of the Church by giving bishops the power of magistrates and stressing the importance of Sunday as a day of spiritual renewal.

A North African, Saint Augustine, helped shape the history of western Christendom. In works such as De civitate Dei (413-427 c.e.; The City of God, 1610) and Confessiones (397-400 c.e.; Confessions, 1620), he analyzed the theological necessity of balancing free will and predestination, original sin and divine grace.

The impact of Christianity was later eclipsed by that of Islam, which entered the area in the 600’s c.e. Islam is based on faith, prayer, alms-giving, fasting, and an annual pilgrimage to Mecca. The faith virtually homogenized North Africa. Religious leaders endeavored to create a “pure land” in which the Islamic ideal dominated.

Settlements and social structure

People in North Africa lived in permanent encampments by 8,000 years ago. As the philosopher Aristotle said, people came into cities to live and remained to live the good life. The Phoenicians established the first cities in North Africa early in the last millennium b.c.e.

North Africa played a significant role in the ancient world. It was the home of one of the earliest and longest-lived civilizations (Egypt). It was an incubator for later civilizations and the spread of Islam. Great empires rose and fell during the development of North Africa in the ancient world. Humans continually struggled to enjoy a better quality of life and to adapt to a changing environment.

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