Excuse me this is precolonial african cities, not modern african cities built with foreign money in the western style.

Most of these cities destroyed what was already there.

BlackLibya:

Excuse me this is precolonial african cities, not modern african cities built with foreign money in the western style.

Most of these cities destroyed what was already there.

Almost everything from the west from stolen from civilizations from around the world. So western anything is like a mix of many different civilizations.

Almost everything from the west from stolen from civilizations from around the world. So western anything is like a mix of many different civilizations.

Mmmmm, the skyscraper is pretty american.

BlackLibya:

Mmmmm, the skyscraper is pretty american.

Every skyscraper is based off the Pyramids which were made by chocolate Africans. Or do you think that the aliens built the pyramids like these people:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvWkMxrWXMA

The discredit of chocolate achievements or they take it as theirs. Also the architecture was made by moors (chocolate Africans) http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-768956312207897325

Obelisk

BlackLibya:

Mmmmm, the skyscraper is pretty american.

If you look at the form of a skyscraper you can see that it is the replica of an obelisk. They got it from us.

^^^^^^

My gripe is that black people who are alive today don't know how to build those structures. Which leads me to think why then do we spend time and energy searching for ancient achievements and arguing about who was better when we could be spending that time to teach ourselves what our ancestors clearly knew

paniki:

^^^^^^

My gripe is that black people who are alive today don't know how to build those structures. Which leads me to think why then do we spend time and energy searching for ancient achievements and arguing about who was better when we could be spending that time to teach ourselves what our ancestors clearly knew

Black is an outdated word. We should call each other chocolate, caramel, or moors: https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-793468.0.html

Most chocolate people only think their history was slavery when it is so much more. In western schools they give credit to Arabs for building pyramids and they never talk about the moors in Europe. Check this video out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCEU3VH9TNw

I have noticed that white people have a strong pride because their ancestors did a lot. That is why they are succeeding now. Lots of the history books lie and tell chocolate people that they were only slaves. This is why many moors are ignorant. If you want to learn more, watch the documentary Hidden Colors:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9PM7218K0o

In western schools they give credit to Arabs for building pyramids

Lol, that's not true im an American. However the history books do not touch on whether egyptians were white or black, in a black school the teacher will have no problem agreeing with the students that egyptians were black.

As far as African history, Egypt, some Ethiopia, and some Mali is about as close as we ever get .

BlackLibya:

Lol, that's not true im an American. However the history books do not touch on whether egyptians were white or black, in a black school the teacher will have no problem agreeing with the students that egyptians were black.

As far as African history, Egypt, some Ethiopia, and some Mali is about as close as we ever get .

Atleast in the schol that I went to they gave credit to the Arabs. :/
But there is more hitstory than Ethipia, Mali, etc. Ghana, Aashanti, Benin (Sungbo Eredo), great zulu., great zimbabwe, the Moors around the world. The olmecs, great Congo, Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa Kingdoms. There is so much more than slavery.

Hang on a minute. What's all this nonsense and garbage about 'who' built the African highrises, and 'whose money' built them and what not?

Sorry but that's a load of rubbish. Nobody looks at Shanghai or Singapore, or Bombay, or even Seoul, and starts mouthing off about whose money built what or whatever. Please spare us that bullcrap borne perhaps of your inferiority complex and ignorance. In most African metropolis you have well established indigenous architectural and construction firms, as well as heavily resourced banks that were and are part of majority of the projects you see on the ground in those places. Is there foreign involvement in some projects? Name me one country where there isn't! FACT is THOSE cities posted (there are dozens more across Africa that look like that, religiously avoided by the western media) are AFRICAN cities through and through. Don't come here trying to credit some white boy for Africa's cities. We can never accept that crap. Talking nonsense about 'foreign money'. Nigeria's annual GDP for your information is nearly $400 billion. So what are you trying to say? There's serious AFRICAN MONEY about, and just because your western 'news' agencies prefer to focus 24/7 on destitutes in Somalia and Darfur, doesn't obviate the fact.

THOSE cities posted (there are dozens more across Africa that look like that) are AFRICAN cities through and through

Can you explain to me how they are African cities through and through when they were not built using traditional African methods of urban planning? Many of the features of precolonial African features were dismantled by the Europeans because they felt that they were inferior. This along with a change in society, has lead African cities to not only have the same problems European cities have(which according to European explorers were non existent previously) they have the same problems MUCH MUCH worst than European cities. This is due to the fact that the African cities the Europeans built in most cases were not designed to be cosmopolitan but merely places to store people to work on their infrastructure projects.

Black Libya said:

Can you explain to me how they are African cities through and through when they were not built using traditional African methods of urban planning? Many of the features of precolonial African features were dismantled by the Europeans because they felt that they were inferior. This along with a change in society, has lead African cities to not only have the same problems European cities have(which according to European explorers were non existent previously) they have the same problems MUCH MUCH worst than European cities. This is due to the fact that the African cities the Europeans built in most cases were not designed to be cosmopolitan but merely places to store people to work on their infrastructure projects.

Your problem stems from this idea that ''traditional African methods'' are somehow definable or static. For your information, AFRICA is a huge, diverse continent that cannot be said to have a single 'traditional' form of anything! There are as many ways of doing things as there are languages (all 2,000+ of them). The Nubian urban conventions vary from those of ancient Kerma, as do those of Kano from Ancient Benin.

Just as the Yoruba methods differ sharply from those of the old Monomotapan region. And what myriad differences separate Timbuktu and Ife from ancient Meroe, Napata or Thebes?

So how can you talk of  'traditional African design'? It makes no sense. And the idea of 'western-type cities' is actually highly misleading. Some of the African cities I've mentioned - highly sophisticated, well designed cities - were in existence thousands of years before there was any 'white' city. Some of them date back to pre-history. So the very idea of urbanity is an African concept, stolen,  copied, and borrowed by all others.

Hence the idea that Africans use 'western models' for their cities stems from a complete ignorance of the African past.

Your problem stems from this idea that ''traditional African methods'' are somehow definable or static. For your information, AFRICA is a huge, diverse continent that cannot be said to have a single 'traditional' form of anything! There are as many ways of doing things as there are languages (all 2,000+ of them). The Nubian urban convention vary from those of ancient Kerma, as do those of Kano from Benin. Just as the Yoruba methods differ sharply from those of the old Monomotapan region. And what myriad differences separate Timbuktu and Ife from ancient Meroe, Napata or Thebes?

So how can you talk of 'traditional African design'? It makes no sense. And the idea of 'western cities' is actually highly misleading. Some of the African cities I've mentioned were in existence thousands of years before there was any 'white' city. So the very idea of urbanity is an African concept.

I didnt say it wasnt. You forget many of the greatest African cities were DESTROYED. You also assume that "traditional african" means one, it does not, it means the ways familiar to and originally african. That could be for any society. Many of the largest African cities were in west and central africa, and they were destroyed. Even Sokoto was sacked by the British.

Rossikk:


Yaounde, Cameroun

Yaounde has the idea.

@Blacklibya, may God bless your beautiful chocolate a s.s for bringing up this wonderful tpic,

people dont understand that a knowledge of past achievements gives you confidence to face the future, most africans esp AAs feel that their history began with the white man and slavery but that is so false, its good for people to know that they came from glorious lineages dating back to 2000 years ago

It seems the Ashanti had the best traditional architecture.

This is a site where you can learn more about your history! http://endingstereotypes.org/african_history.html

Ancient West African Megacities

[flash=400,400]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9LkpJdll9A?version=3&feature=player_detailpage</object>[/flash]

Re:
"I have noticed that white people have a strong pride because their ancestors did a lot. That is why they are succeeding now. Lots of the history books lie and tell chocolate people that they were only slaves. This is why many moors are ignorant. If you want to learn more, watch the documentary Hidden Colors:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9PM7218K0o"

Exactly history to a great eextent is an instrument of POWER, hence why non-black ethnic groups actively denigrate or distort all things related to black heritage across the globe:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=amos%20wilsion%20the%20purpose%20of%20history&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCQQtwIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dqz9oYp8vBYQ&ei=etfzTt-AKIHBtgeErOjRBg&usg=AFQjCNHJyC7zu9L2TVDt7ta-l5k7KDZOvg&cad=rja

Fort Jesus > Coastal Kenya.

Fort Jesus is a Portuguese fort built in 1593 by order of King Philip I of Portugal (King Philip II of Spain), then ruler of the joint Portuguese and Spanish Kingdoms, located on Mombasa Island to guard the Old Port of Mombasa, Kenya. It was built in the shape of a man (viewed from the air), and was given the name of Jesus. In 2011, the fort was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, highlighted as one of the most outstanding and well preserved examples of 16th century Portuguese military fortifications





old photo of mombasa in coastal Kenya.

Old Oyo




Osun osogbo





Yoruba military architecture
[img]http://3.bp..com/_HVFzZzqQnu4/TGeaFFiZ-7I/AAAAAAAAAEE/ceD4zwVZKAI/s1600/ketu2.JPG[/img]
[img]http://alaketou.blogs-de-voyage.fr/media/00/00/1229891096.jpg[/img]

Traditional Yoruba house plan:
[img]http://www.pitt.edu/~natrooms/africa/T3c_files/image002.gif[/img]

[size=19pt]Ruins of Loropéni[/size]

Brief Description

The 11,130m2 property, the first to be inscribed in the country, with its imposing stone walls is the best preserved of ten fortresses in the Lobi area and is part of a larger group of 100 stone enclosures that bear testimony to the power of the trans-Saharan gold trade. Situated near the borders of Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Togo, the ruins have recently been shown to be at least 1,000 years old. The settlement was occupied by the Lohron or Koulango peoples, who controlled the extraction and transformation of gold in the region when it reached its apogee from the 14th to the 17th century. Much mystery surrounds this site large parts of which have yet to be excavated. The settlement seems to have been abandoned during some periods during its long history. The property which was finally deserted in the early 19th century is expected to yield much more information.

Outstanding Universal Value

Brief Synthesis

The dramatic and memorable Ruins of Loropéni consist of imposing, tall, laterite stone perimeter walls, up to six metres in height, surrounding a large abandoned settlement. As the best preserved of ten similar fortresses in the Lobi area, part of a larger group of around a hundred stone-built enclosures, they are part of a network of settlements that flourished at the same time as the trans-Saharan gold trade and appear to reflect the power and influence of that trade and its links with the Atlantic coast. Recent excavations have provided radio-carbon dates suggesting the walled enclosure at Loropéni dates back at least to the 11th century AD and flourished between the 14th and 17th centuries, thus establishing it as an important part of a network of settlements.



Criterion (iii): Loropéni is the best preserved example of a type of fortified settlements in a wide part of West Africa, linked to the tradition of gold mining, which seems to have persisted through at least seven centuries. Loropéni, given its size and scope reflects a type of structure quite different from the walled towns of what is now Nigeria, or the cities of the upper reaches of the river Niger which flourished as part of the empires of Ghana, Mali and Songhai. It thus can be seen as an exceptional testimony to the settlement response generated by the gold trade.

Integrity and Authenticity

The authenticity of the fortified settlements as ruins is not in doubt. Although the precise history of Loropéni is only recently coming into focus through the recent research programme, and its function still remains in part speculative, the integrity of the monument in terms of its status as the largest and best preserved fortified settlement is satisfactory. In time as more evidence emerges, it may be necessary to consider whether a larger area could encompass more of the attributes that are linked to its use, function and history.



Management and protection requirements

The Committee of Protection and Management for the Ruins of Loropéni, the Scientific Council for the study, conservation and development of the Ruins of Loropéni and the Management Plan which has been implemented since 2005 form a good basis for management of the ruins as a focal point for sustainable development within the local community.
Historical Description

The recent inter-disciplinary project has allowed a reassessment of the history of Loropéni. This has pushed much further back the date of its construction from around the 17th century to at least the 11th century AD and disassociated it from the Gan people, mentioned in the previous evaluation report.

Indeed in spite of the many writings on these ruins since the beginning of the 20th century, no serious archaeological investigations have been undertaken to support information from oral traditions and the other documentary sources. The recent targeted excavations were to thus able to start to bridge this gap.



It is necessary to locate the construction of the Loropéni ruins in the geopolitical context of the sub-Saharan kingdoms. They appeared after the fall of the first empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai, when there were migrations of gold miners and goldsmiths into the Lobi area, and well before the development to the south of the Akan kingdoms, such as the powerful Ashanti kingdom, which caused migrations to the north as people fled slave hunters. Around Lobi country are the remains of many gold mines such as Werimitangna, close to Loropéni.

The gold bearing region was connected by caravans to the large commercial cites to the north on the river Niger, such as Djénné, Mopti and Timbuktu and from there across the Sahara to north Africa., It was probably later that the gold was traded south to the Atlantic coast. Lobi country is crossed by the north-south Mopti - Sore-Dioulasso - Kong route, and the east-southwest route from Ouagadougou, through Boromo, Diébougou, Gaoua, to Bondoukou.



The ruins have long been associated with the gold trade but the evidence for this is circumstantial. It is suggested that such large and fortified structures need to be associated with defending a high value product and the need to house labour. The southern enclose could have been used for slaves or miners at the gold mines. However no direct evidence for gold or for the use of the southern enclosure was forthcoming from the recent excavations.

Most oral traditions collected since the "discovery" of the ruins in 1902 indicate the Koulango people as builders of fortresses in the area, as well as in Burkina Faso in Ivory Coast. However, the most recent research shows that the Koulango were preceded by Lorhon and Nabé peoples who migrated south into the area and were known to be in the area of Kong, from the 10th century.



The Gan, who have been attributed as being the builders of the ruins, simply re-used them from the end of the 17th century when they left the territory of current Ghana to escape oppression from the Ashanti. At around the same time the focus of gold production moved south to the Ashanti area and the gold trade declined around the Lobi area. With its decline the fortified buildings were abandoned to be re-colonised by the Gan.

This is contrary to the work of Madeleine Père, recently published posthumously, who maintained that the Loropéni settlement would have been built by Tokpã Farma, ninth king of the dynasty of Gan, towards the end of his life with the aim of transferring the capital to it from Obiré. This project apparently did not meet with the approval of the ancestors and he died three years later. This explains the name ‘Kpôkayâga', the house of the refusal, by which the site is known. In the previous report it was stated that not all local historians and archaeologists accept the attributions of the ruins to the Gan. It was suggested that archaeological excavations could provide evidence to help understand the genesis of the ruins and this indeed has been the case.

Certain versions of oral tradition record that the quadrangular ramparts were initially built, then the interior partitions and finally the buildings. Observation of the junction between the walls corroborates this assertion.

Recent studies and excavations have revealed evidence for use over a long duration and with possible discontinuities, or even periods of abandonment. Certain zones present several coats of plaster (up to five perfectly distinct layers), and the mortar in the external walls shows clearly several repairs. The higher levels from the excavation show a poverty of finds suggesting that the places could have been looted. Loropéni seems to have fallen out of use in the early to mid 19th century and before colonial times. The trees growing out of the ruins confirm this timescale.

The recent research has provided some enlightenment, but more work is needed. The conclusion of the archaeological report is that it is necessary to set up a research programme of a few years duration to elucidate better the function, use and historical context of the ruins.

Source: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1225

[img]http://www.ruinesdeloropeni.gov.bf/images/vue.jpg[/img]

^^Great stuff, Horus.

Wow, its interesting to see forts being built by West Africans. They never adopted the same kind of siege warfare the europeans used. By that I mean they didnt use cannons, at least thats what one british military official said. Even when the Kongolese were given cannons they did not use them. They preferred blockades and such.

Ruins of Kumbi Saleh, capital of the Ghana Empire ( 830 AD to 1235)




[img]http://www.wycieczki.grandtour.com.pl/RIMA/8/country/large/mauretania.jpg[/img]
[img]http://3.bp..com/-yMJP4SXJjjk/TbmPipi5pyI/AAAAAAAAAA0/i2GWleOeUHY/s1600/tichit10.jpg[/img]

The Ruins of Kilwa (in modern day Tanzania)

''By the 12th century, Kilwa had become the most powerful city on the East African coast. At the zenith of its power in the 15th C., the Kilwa Sultanate owned or claimed authority over the city-states of Malindi, Mombassa, Pemba, Zanzibar, Mafia, Comoro, Mozambique, Sofala, and the trading posts across the channel on Madagascar.''






''The East African trading ports competed with each other, but they had no interest in territorial conquest.  Their focus was on controlling the trade routes to the seaport, not the land.  Many of these ports developed a city-state form of government, an independent state made up of a city and its surrounding area.  Rulers became rich from taxes on the goods that passed through their port, and acted more as business managers than governors.''

The picture below shows an artist's reconstruction of the sultan's palace in Kilwa in the 1400's. 

The Ruins of Kerma (7500 BC)

Kerma (now known as Dukki Gel, a Nubian term which can be roughly translated as "red mound" was the capital city of the Kingdom of Kerma, which was located in present day Sudan. The Kerma site has been confirmed by archaeology to be at least 9,500 years old.  Around 3000 BC, a cultural tradition began around Kerma. Kerma was a large urban center that was built around a large mud brick temple, known as the Western Deffufa. Some unique aspects of this culture were beautiful pottery, the importance of cattle, a system of defense, and the King's audience chamber, which bears no resemblance to any Egyptian building (it was rebuilt 10 times). 'Kerma' is also used to describe the early Sudanese kingdom, of which Kerma was capital. This was one of the earliest African civilizations, commanding an empire that in 1600 BCE rivalled Egypt (stretching from the First to Fourth Cataracts).







See, when cities like Kerma were springing up around 7,500 BC, there were actually no cities in Europe at all. It wasn't till around 800 BC that the Greeks began to stir, and came to be taught about cities, architecture and urban planning, by the Africans.

Ruins of Great Zimbabwe

Great Zimbabwe was once the capital of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe, which existed from approximately 1100 to 1400 during the country’s Late Iron Age. The monument, which first began to be constructed in the 11th century and which continued to be built until the 14th century, spanned an area of 722 hectares (1,784 acres) and at its peak could have housed up to 18,000 people.


[img]http://content.lib.washington.edu/cgi-bin/showfile.exe?CISOROOT=/buildings&CISOPTR=5866[/img]

[img]http://3.bp..com/_u7ryccJN3ZQ/TK_YOBZQBXI/AAAAAAAAD9E/n_ore22kqi4/s1600/ruins+exploringafrica.jpg[/img]

Nalatale ruins, Zimbabwe

Naletale (or Nalatale) are ruins are located about 25 kilometres east of Shangani in Matabeleland north, Zimbabwe and just north of the Dhlo Dhlo ruins. The ruins are attributed to the Kalanga Torwa State and are thought to date from the 15th century.

The primary monument at the site is a colossal wall constructed from stone masonry. It is highly decorated, featuring all of the designs of the Zimbabwe architectural tradition; chevrons, herringbone, chequers, cords and ironstone colored bands. The original wall was topped by plinths. The site was damaged by early treasure hunters seeking gold but it remains one of the best-preserved and most impressive ancient monuments in Zimbabwe.

BlackLibya:

Wow, its interesting to see forts being built by West Africans. They never adopted the same kind of siege warfare the europeans used. By that I mean they didnt use cannons, at least thats what one british military official said. Even when the Kongolese were given cannons they did not use them. They preferred blockades and such.

That was our greatest mistake. Imagine if West Africa had adopted canon, guns and such. We would have send those invaders back home. The fact that some Africa empire were able to kick europeans axx with just bow and sword confirm it.

That was our greatest mistake. Imagine if West Africa had adopted canon, guns and such. We would have send those invaders back home. The fact that some Africa empire were able to kick europeans axx with just bow and sword confirm it.

Yea I got that info from this book

http://books.google.com/books?id=a81BcvfRXWkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Charles+Rathbone+Low&hl=en&ei=rFfHTerELurG0QHJ_KnwBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDoQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q&f=false


BTW, warfare in Africa was just different from European warfare. It appears they had a sense of fairness and other things involved, in one of the pages in the book above, when the British commander finally captures an Asanti general, the general complains that the Europeans bring knives to a gunfight. He complains that the Euros get in close and stab his men while they are reloading or whatever. Why the Asanti didnt carry knives as well is beyond me, but, hey.