DaVinChiSam: Bros Ahu odi gi?

Chinaimporter: If by west african,u mean indigineous ones like ijaw..non but if you mean migrant ones like the igbos the yes.cast iron was discovered by the igbos around 2500bc .The true origin of the igbos lies in the sumerian city of ur near the site on ancient babylonia.the igbos establist the ubaid dynasty headed by the great igbo king meshanepada who built a ziggurat in honor of the great god nnanna(also called nanna in sumerian and sin in akkadian) who asked the igbos to migrate to other part of the world to spread civilization in the then young world. Igbos then invented the first alphabet called the cuneiform and left babylon under an igbo family called the Akadians who where the ancestors of modern arabs,Ethiopians and jews through a former sheperd of igbo orign called abraham.
The igbos then migrated to perisia which they civilized and gave her first royal dynasty and their god called Ahura mazda(i hi ura mu aza gi meaning he who answers me in my sleep)
From there they went to ancient egypt where they civilized and gave her first pyramids and also sent a delegation th civilized the barbarians in the north called the greeks.it should be noted that some of the greatest greek men where igbos eg aristotle(erie asi tolu uto), pythagoras(bia ta ara) achilles( aku ili) etc.
The igbos also enslaved the isrealites in both babylonia and Egypt and after they got tired of the city life they migrated to eastern nigeria while civilizing the Nubians, yorubas,fulanis etc on there way.it should be noted that oduduwa and bayegida were all igbos in oduduwa case yoruba legend holds that he is a fair man from the east. The igos are not desended from jews or egyptians rather thses people are all desended from the igbos and and unbiased historical evaluation would prove that

pjosh1: This is the problem africa is still having, even if we first the europeans to produce cars and planes or we adopted and made advanced tech. From them during the precolonial era how has it helped us in this present time? THINK ABOUT THE PRESENT AND FURURE NOT THE PAST.. It's funny how we blame the europeans for halting development in Africa during the precolonial era

pjosh1: This is the problem africa is still having, even if we first the europeans to produce cars and planes or we adopted and made advanced tech. From them during the precolonial era how has it helped us in this present time? THINK ABOUT THE PRESENT AND FURURE NOT THE PAST.. It's funny how we blame the europeans for halting development in Africa during the precolonial era

Chinaimporter: If by west african,u mean indigineous ones like ijaw..non but if you mean migrant ones like the igbos the yes.cast iron was discovered by the igbos around 2500bc .The true origin of the igbos lies in the sumerian city of ur near the site on ancient babylonia.the igbos establist the ubaid dynasty headed by the great igbo king meshanepada who built a ziggurat in honor of the great god nnanna(also called nanna in sumerian and sin in akkadian) who asked the igbos to migrate to other part of the world to spread civilization in the then young world. Igbos then invented the first alphabet called the cuneiform and left babylon under an igbo family called the Akadians who where the ancestors of modern arabs,Ethiopians and jews through a former sheperd of igbo orign called abraham.
The igbos then migrated to perisia which they civilized and gave her first royal dynasty and their god called Ahura mazda(i hi ura mu aza gi meaning he who answers me in my sleep)
From there they went to ancient egypt where they civilized and gave her first pyramids and also sent a delegation th civilized the barbarians in the north called the greeks.it should be noted that some of the greatest greek men where igbos eg aristotle(erie asi tolu uto), pythagoras(bia ta ara) achilles( aku ili) etc.
The igbos also enslaved the isrealites in both babylonia and Egypt and after they got tired of the city life they migrated to eastern nigeria while civilizing the Nubians, yorubas,fulanis etc on there way.it should be noted that oduduwa and bayegida were all igbos in oduduwa case yoruba legend holds that he is a fair man from the east. The igos are not desended from jews or egyptians rather thses people are all desended from the igbos and and unbiased historical evaluation would prove that

emenik08: My TAKE ON THE TOPIC.
The possibity that west african had been producing cast iron is there bt mainly for agricultural n sculptural purposes. I think d idea of guns came after the europeans taught us about gun powder.
Reason is that anybody that can melt iron ore n purify it a bit will definitely be able to get to cast iron. The word 'cast iron' is just iron that can be easily cast into moulds. This is because of its fluidity (ability to flow into d intricacies of d mould). Cast iron contains largest quantity of carbon in any known alloy of iron which is why it flows easily compared to other alloys like steel. Carbon easily enters iron through the fuels(charcoal, coke etc) used in melting the iron ore.
Iron ore>pig iron>cast iron>steel
the 'greater than sign' signifies futher purification.

Lastly anybdy using bare hands to handle a temperature of 1000-1200degrees celcius(handling temp for wrought iron) must be using juju or be an iron man.

HolyHolla: The Nok culture culture had developed the technology of mining and refining cast iron as far back as 900 BC. The civilization appeared in Northern Nigeria around 1000 BC and history has it that it vanished under unknown and mysterious circumstances around 300AD.

Anyone interested may want to check on these few links for more on the Nok culture or google other links for more information.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nok_culture

africanhistory.about.com/od/kingdoms/a/NokCulture.htm

www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-africa/highly-advanced-and-mysterious-ancient-civilization-nok-00679#!bddtcH

It might also be of interest to note that it is the development made by other civilizations in processing iron into steel that gave them the advantage of developing technology of arms and industrial machinery production. Although also made from iron, steel is harder and more maleable than iron and it's production requires a slightly more technical process. However, it is not known that the Nok civilization was able to develop iron into steel. But generally, it is believed that it is this advantage of producing steel that was used in advancing development of firearms and industrial machinery by other civilizations.

AkoEja: The main problem with Africa of the prehistoric era is that there has been no documentation of what we did in those days. Most of the history is based on oral tradition. Many achievements of Africans are therefore not provable

anonimi:

We need to constantly REMIND ourselves of our PAST achievements as a source of INSPIRATION for our current & future capabilities!
Why do you think the "developed" oyinbo societies spend so much on museums

OP, I have read some African history book that expressed the opinion that the slow down of African technological development could be linked to the desertification of the Sahara thus cutting off/reducing regular exchange/travel that promotes exchange of ideas.

AmunRaOlodumare: For some reason the spam bot doesn't allow me to post this information with all the quote. I will try to post it in sequence.

There's some controversies within archaeologists about the earliest dates for West African metalworking, but the latest date everybody agree with seems to be around 500BC. Other dates range from 3000BC to 500BC by using radiocarbon dating.

kingston277:
Tanzania was one of the first in the world to produce high quality carbon-steel that couldn't be matched else where(expect possibly India) until approximately the 18th century.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haya_people

Archeological discoveries
The Haya people of Tanzania have been linked to one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs of all time: the invention of steel. Archaeologist Peter Schmidt discovered through a literalist combination of archaeology and oral tradition that the Haya had been forging steel for around 2000 years.

This discovery was made accidentally while Schmidt was learning about the history of the Haya via their oral tradition. He was led to a tree which was said to rest on the spot of an ancestral furnace used to forge steel. A group of elders were later tasked with the challenge of recreating the forges.

At this time they were the only ones to remember the practice, which had fallen into disuse due in part to the abundance of steel flowing into the country from foreign sources. In spite of the lack of practice the elders were able to create a furnace using mud and grass which when burned provided the carbon needed to transform the iron into steel. Later investigation of the land yielded 13 other furnaces similar in design to the re-creation set up by the elders. This process is very similar to open hearth furnace steelmaking.

These furnaces were carbon-dated and were found to be as old as 2000 years. Steel of similar quality did not appear in Europe until several centuries later.

Leaving the controversies aside, iron and copper metallurgy were clearly well established in West Africa by 500 BC with gold, bronze, and brass following in the mid-first millennium AD. The earliest appearance of metallurgy in East Africa dates to the closing centuries of the last millennium BC. In southern Africa, the southward migration of Bantu-speaking farmers introduced iron and copper around AD200, with gold, tin, bronze, and brass appearing towards the beginning of the second millennium.

anonimi:

Many thanks for the link, which I just checked and found this:



This is quite IMPRESSIVE!

PAPAAFRICA:
Great Benin Pg.124

Chinaimporter: If by west african,u mean indigineous ones like ijaw..non but if you mean migrant ones like the igbos the yes.cast iron was discovered by the igbos around 2500bc .The true origin of the igbos lies in the sumerian city of ur near the site on ancient babylonia.the igbos establist the ubaid dynasty headed by the great igbo king meshanepada who built a ziggurat in honor of the great god nnanna(also called nanna in sumerian and sin in akkadian) who asked the igbos to migrate to other part of the world to spread civilization in the then young world. Igbos then invented the first alphabet called the cuneiform and left babylon under an igbo family called the Akadians who where the ancestors of modern arabs,Ethiopians and jews through a former sheperd of igbo orign called abraham.
The igbos then migrated to perisia which they civilized and gave her first royal dynasty and their god called Ahura mazda(i hi ura mu aza gi meaning he who answers me in my sleep)
From there they went to ancient egypt where they civilized and gave her first pyramids and also sent a delegation th civilized the barbarians in the north called the greeks.it should be noted that some of the greatest greek men where igbos eg aristotle(erie asi tolu uto), pythagoras(bia ta ara) achilles( aku ili) etc.
The igbos also enslaved the isrealites in both babylonia and Egypt and after they got tired of the city life they migrated to eastern nigeria while civilizing the Nubians, yorubas,fulanis etc on there way.it should be noted that oduduwa and bayegida were all igbos in oduduwa case yoruba legend holds that he is a fair man from the east. The igos are not desended from jews or egyptians rather thses people are all desended from the igbos and and unbiased historical evaluation would prove that

kingston277:
Tanzania was one of the first in the world to produce high quality carbon-steel that couldn't be matched else where(expect possibly India) until approximately the 18th century.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haya_people

HolyHolla:

Quite true! But I'll wonder why they did not forge ahead into further development of iron into industrial machinery! It would have projected a cultural advancement for Africa.

shadowwalker101:
Why r u people always disturbing me post ur own make I post my own

Chinaimporter: If by west african,u mean indigineous ones like ijaw..non but if you mean migrant ones like the igbos the yes.cast iron was discovered by the igbos around 2500bc .The true origin of the igbos lies in the sumerian city of ur near the site on ancient babylonia.the igbos establist the ubaid dynasty headed by the great igbo king meshanepada who built a ziggurat in honor of the great god nnanna(also called nanna in sumerian and sin in akkadian) who asked the igbos to migrate to other part of the world to spread civilization in the then young world. Igbos then invented the first alphabet called the cuneiform and left babylon under an igbo family called the Akadians who where the ancestors of modern arabs,Ethiopians and jews through a former sheperd of igbo orign called abraham.
The igbos then migrated to perisia which they civilized and gave her first royal dynasty and their god called Ahura mazda(i hi ura mu aza gi meaning he who answers me in my sleep)
From there they went to ancient egypt where they civilized and gave her first pyramids and also sent a delegation th civilized the barbarians in the north called the greeks.it should be noted that some of the greatest greek men where igbos eg aristotle(erie asi tolu uto), pythagoras(bia ta ara) achilles( aku ili) etc.
The igbos also enslaved the isrealites in both babylonia and Egypt and after they got tired of the city life they migrated to eastern nigeria while civilizing the Nubians, yorubas,fulanis etc on there way.it should be noted that oduduwa and bayegida were all igbos in oduduwa case yoruba legend holds that he is a fair man from the east. The igos are not desended from jews or egyptians rather thses people are all desended from the igbos and and unbiased historical evaluation would prove that

macof:

I doubt Africans gained knowledge of gun powder from Europeans, Maybe Arabs but not Europeans.
Btw The fon people in West Africa are said to have had women soldiers wielding weapons with gun power long before European contact

kingston277:
Not exactly true.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nsibidi

kingston277:
China was isolated for millenia but that didn't stop them from being on top. More archaeology needs to be done in Africa before such assertions are made. Did you know Africans have been documented building submarines in the 19th century?
[url]http://books.google.ca/books?id=XsHB69txxdEC&pg=PA92&lpg=PA92&dq=sierra+leone+alligator+society+submarine&source=bl&ots=DGbNOSsGV0&sig=fO2Cxi4VdLD4L9JHVMxdM8EV3X8&hl=en&sa=X&ei=dwfhU5GYC4qayASh_ILADA&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=sierra%20leone%20alligator%20society%20submarine&f=false[/url]