Africa’s Great Civilizations Review

Africa’s Great Civilizations is a six-hour PBS documentary series that gives an in-depth look into ancient Africa debunking several misconceptions. The mission of this documentary is to enlighten people about the history of the continent while pointing out that it wasn’t only human DNA that originated in Africa. Dr Henry Louis Gates director and host of the series iterates "When these early human beings migrated out of Africa 80 to 50 thousand years ago, they weren't travelling alone. They were carrying something within them, and that something had developed slowly over the millennia. It was culture." 

According to Dr Gates, “Africa gave us the blueprint for civilization itself,” the wealth of ancient artefacts and culture that we see through the six episodes are “profound refutations of the claim that Africans lacked a history before Europeans arrived.” Some fascinating details to look out for along the way include:

Episode 1: Origins

•    The fossil remains near the Omo River

•    Mitochondrial Eve

•    Early climate change in the Sahara Desert

•    The Great Pyramid of Giza

•    The Bantu Migration

Episode 2: The Cross and the Crescent

•    A treasured book written in Greek in the first century A.D.

•    The pre-Christian Temple of the Moon in Yeha

•    Africans of Berber descent as Christian theologians

•    The spread of Islam through vast areas of Africa

•    The Ethiopian church and Saint Lalibela

•    The monasteries at Lake Tana

Episode 3: Empires of Gold

•    North and West Africa as the crossroads of advanced and wealthy trading civilizations

•    The unusual cities of Fez known for its libraries

•    The famous Quaraouiyine mosque, the world's oldest institution of higher learning

•    Legendary Timbuktu

•    The gold wealth of the Empire of Mali

•    Contemporary Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka

Episode 4: Cities

•    Kilwa, an island port of Tanzania, and its Great Mosque

•    Great Zimbabwe, the continent's Elodrado exporting gold and ivory

•    Benin City in Nigeria with its extraordinary earthworks system

•    Gondar, the capital city of Ethiopia with its palace complex and famous Fasilides' Bath

Episode 5: The Atlantic Age

•    The king of Kongo's trade relationship with the Portuguese and conversion to Roman Catholicism.

•    The Portuguese slave port in Angola

•    The warrior queen Njinga, who outlasted 10 Portuguese governors

•    The port of Ouidah, once the busiest slave market

•    Resistance to the slave trade

Episode 6: Commerce and the Clash of Civilizations

•    Competition for resources and trade in the nineteenth century

•    The Zulu empire in South Africa

•    The Arab kingdom on Zanzibar

•    Discoveries of diamonds and gold

•    How the Europeans carved up Africa into colonies

•    The mythic status achieved by Ethiopia

Overall, I think this series gives a very insightful look into the history of humankind before the migrations out of Africa. As Dr Gates points out “we are all Africans” scientific discoveries and other credible pieces of evidence shown in this documentary prove that we all originated from Africa our cultures and traditions all have roots in the continent. The series doesn’t delve much into modern times; it would have been interesting to see the link that could have been established between the past and present of Africa and the changes that have occurred overtime analyzing the causes and effects. Africa's Great Civilizations is not a film that is one-sided the aim isn’t to solely celebrate the wonders and good things about ancient Africa but also to give a complete narrative such as how these civilizations were great at waging war and enslaving other Africans without provocation or any outside prompting. For anyone looking for a description about African history that presents facts that challenge what is usually mainstream, this is a must watch. 

References

Genzlinger, N. (2017). Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s ‘Africa’s Great Civilizations,’ Shows a Continent’s Grand Sweep. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/28/arts/pbs-africas-great-civilizations-review-henry-louis-gates.html

Brussat, F., & Brussat, M. (2017). Africa's Great Civilizations| Film Reviews| Films | Spirituality & Practice. Retrieved from http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/films/reviews/view/28430/africas-great-civilizations