Arab or African? The Swahili part 1

[Ɔkyeame Kwame]

• Arab or African? The Swahili part 1

• This video talks about people coming from all over the world to Africa and taught Africans arts and crafts. The article in this link http://www.jstor.org/pss/529465talks about the high level of sophistication these people had in metallurgy, carbon steel! Some of the most advanced technologies in ancient times have been shown to develop independently by freaking AfricansWhat if Africans went to visit Germany and taught them various arts and sciences, that would seem crazy wouldnt it What if In the 1950s Mathew G., an archaeologist, wrote the architecture forms a distinct variant among the medieval Islamic culture. I assumed that the ruins of the sites I was investigating were the remains of Arab or Persian colonies along the coast... But gradually I have come to doubt: now I am beginning to think that the history of the coast in the medieval period is more easily intelligible if it was the history of an African culture gradually Islamized than if it is merely the history of Islamic colonies from the Persian Gulf.Sometime in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, he goes on, the culture of the coast became integrally Islamic. But even if the culture had become Islamic, still it would seem to be Negro.The 14th century traveler Ibn Battuta said Kilwa was one of the most beautiful cities he had ever seen and the inhabitants were Zanj jet black.Now, trek inland to the remote site of Great Zimbabwe, a fabulous lost city, which reached its glory in the 14th century. Then, sift the sands of time to uncover the equally splendid culture of Africas Swahili Coast. The fabulously wealthy center of the thriving gold and ivory trades until the 16th century, its cities now lie all but forgotten, buried under centuries of indifference. Reclaiming their past from a long tradition of racial prejudice and neglect, the descendants of these lost cultures are only now discovering the extraordinary achievements of Africas indigenous civilizations. Actor Sam Waterston hosts this ten-part series that revisits ancient cultures on four continents. Dramatic re-enactments recall key historic events, and attractive location footage provides viewers with interesting information about the featured cultures. This episode looks at some of the trade routes established by the ancient, sub-Saharan tribes of Africa.

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