Tutunkhamun



Tutankhamun was an Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th dynasty (ruled ca. 1332 BC – 1323 BC in the conventional chronology), during the period of Egyptian history known as the New Kingdom.... His original name, Tutankhaten, means "Living Image of Aten", while Tutankhamun means "Living Image of Amun".

Tutankhamun was the son of Akhenaten (formerly Amenhotep IV) and one of Akhenaten's sisters, or perhaps one of his cousins. As a prince he was known as Tutankhaten. He ascended to the throne in 1333 BC, at the age of nine or ten, taking the throne name Nebkheperure.

When he became king, he married his half-sister, Ankhesenpaaten, who later changed her name to Ankhesenamun...

Given his age, the king probably had very powerful advisers, presumably including General Horemheb and the Vizier Ay. Horemheb records that the king appointed him "lord of the land" as hereditary prince to maintain law. He also noted his ability to calm the young king when his temper flared.

Domestic policy

In his third reignal year, Tutankhamun reversed several changes made during his father's reign. He ended the worship of the god Aten and restored the god Amun to supremacy. The ban on the cult of Amun was lifted and traditional privileges were restored to its priesthood. The capital was moved back to Thebes and the city of Akhetaten abandoned. This is when he changed his name to Tutankhamun, "Living image of Amun", reinforcing the restoration of Amun.

As part of his restoration, the king initiated building projects, in particular at Thebes and Karnak, where he dedicated a temple to Amun. Many monuments were erected, and an inscription on his tomb door declares the king had "spent his life in fashioning the images of the gods". The traditional festivals were now celebrated again, including those related to the Apis Bull, Horemakhet, and Opet. His restoration stela says:

'The temples of the gods and goddesses ... were in ruins. Their shrines were deserted and overgrown. Their sanctuaries were as non-existent and their courts were used as roads ... the gods turned their backs upon this land ... If anyone made a prayer to a god for advice he would never respond'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tutankhamun



Amenhotep III



Amenhotep III (meaning 'Amun is Satisfied') also known as Amenhotep the Magnificent was the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty. He ruled Egypt from 1386 to 1349 BC after his father Thutmose IV died. Amenhotep III was the son of Thutmose by a minor wife Mutemwiya.

His reign was a period of unprecedented prosperity and artistic splendour, when Egypt reached the peak of her artistic and international power. Proof of this is shown by the diplomatic correspondence from the rulers of Assyria, Mitanni, Babylon, and Hatti which is preserved in the archive of Amarna Letters; these letters document frequent requests by these rulers for gold and numerous other gifts from the pharaoh. The letters cover the period from Year 30 of Amenhotep III until at least the end of Akhenaten's reign. In one famous correspondence—Amarna letter EA 4--Amenhotep III is quoted by the Babylonian king Kadashman-Enlil I in firmly rejecting the latter's entreaty to marry one of this pharaoh's daughters:

"From time immemorial, no daughter of the king of Egypt is given to anyone.”

Amenhotep III's refusal to allow one of his daughters to be married to the Babylonian monarch may indeed be connected with Egyptian traditional royal practices that could provide a claim upon the throne through marriage to a royal princess, or, it be viewed as a shrewd attempt on his part to enhance Egypt's prestige over those of her neighbours in the international world.

Luxor temple built by Amenhotep III



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amenhotep_III




Taharqa, King of Nubia and Egypt




Taharqa was a pharaoh of the Ancient Egyptian 25th dynasty and king of the Kingdom of Kush, which was located in Northern Sudan.

Taharqa was the son of Piye, the Nubian king of Napata who had first conquered Egypt. Taharqa was also the cousin and successor of Shebitku. The successful campaigns of Piye and Shabaka paved the way for a prosperous reign by Taharqa.


Ruling period

Taharqa's reign can be dated from 690 BC to 664 BC. Although Taharqa's reign was filled with conflict with the Assyrians, it was also a prosperous renaissance period in Egypt and Kush. When Taharqa was about 20 years old, he participated in a historic battle with the Assyrian emperor Sennacherib at Eltekeh. At Hezekiah's request, Taharqa and the Egyptian/Kushite army managed to stall the Assyrian advance on Jerusalem. Sennacherib abandoned the siege and returned home. Thus, Taharqa saved Jerusalem and Hebrew society from destruction, a pivotal point in world and Hebrew history.

The might of Taharqa's military forces was established at Eltekeh, leading to a period of peace in Egypt. During this period of peace and prosperity, the empire flourished. In the sixth year of Taharqa's reign, prosperity was also aided by abundant rainfall and a large harvest. Taharqa took full advantage of the lull in fighting and abundant harvest. He restored existing temples, built new ones, and built the largest pyramid in the Napatan region. Particularly impressive were his additions to the Temple at Karnak, new temple at Kawa, and temple at Jebel Barkal.

Taharqa was described by the Ancient Greek historian Strabo as having "Advanced as far as Europe", and (citing Megasthenes), even as far as the Pillars of Hercules in Spain.

In biblical depictions, he is the saviour of the Hebrew people, as they are being besieged by Sennacherib (Isaiah 37:8-9, & 2 Kings 19:8-9). In modern times, the Sudanese people consider Piye and Taharqa as historical figures and regard them more than the other pharaohs from the Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt.

Biblical references

Scholars have identified Taharqa with Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia (Kush), who waged war against Sennacherib during the reign of King Hezekiah of Judah (2 Kings 19:9; Isaiah 37:9).




Mansa Musa (1280 – 1337)



Musa I (c. 1280 – c. 1337) was the tenth Mansa, which translates as "King of Kings" or "Emperor", of the wealthy Mali Empire. At the time of Musa's rise to the throne, the Malian Empire consisted of territory formerly belonging to the Ghana Empire and Melle (Mali) and immediate surrounding areas. Musa held many titles, including Emir of Melle, Lord of the Mines of Wangara, Conqueror of Ghanata, and at least a dozen others.


The Africans Who Discovered The Americas Before Columbus

According to primary sources, Musa was appointed deputy of Abubakari II, the king before him, who had reportedly embarked on an expedition to explore the limits of the Atlantic Ocean, and never returned. The Arab-Egyptian scholar Al-Umari quotes Mansa Musa as follows:

''The ruler who preceded me did not believe that it was impossible to reach the extremity of the ocean that encircles the earth (the Atlantic Ocean). He wanted to reach that (end) and was determined to pursue his plan. So he equipped two hundred boats full of men, and many others full of gold, water and provisions sufficient for several years. He ordered the captain not to return until they had reached the other end of the ocean, or until he had exhausted the provisions and water. So they set out on their journey. They were absent for a long period, and, at last just one boat returned. When questioned the captain replied: 'O Prince, we navigated for a long period, until we saw in the midst of the ocean a great river which flowing massively. My boat was the last one; others were ahead of me, and they were drowned in the great whirlpool and never came out again. I sailed back to escape this current.' But the Sultan would not believe him. He ordered two thousand boats to be equipped for him and his men, and one thousand more for water and provisions. Then he conferred the regency on me for the term of his absence, and departed with his men, never to return nor to give a sign of life.''

—Mansa Musa


Construction in Mali

Musa embarked on a large building program, raising mosques and madrasas in Timbuktu and Gao. Most famously the ancient center of learning Sankore Madrasah or University of Sankore was constructed during his reign. In Niani, he built the Hall of Audience, a building communicated by an interior door to the royal palace. It was "an admirable Monument" surmounted by a dome, adorned with arabesques of striking colours. The windows of an upper floor were plated with wood and framed in silver foil, those of a lower floor were plated with wood, framed in gold. Like the Great Mosque, a contemporaneous and grandiose structure in Timbuktu, the Hall was built of cut stone.

During this period, there was an advanced level of urban living in the major centers of the Mali. Sergio Domian, an Italian art and architecture scholar, wrote the following about this period: "Thus was laid the foundation of an urban civilization. At the height of its power, Mali had at least 400 cities, and the interior of the Niger Delta was very densely populated."


Influence in Timbuktu

Timbuktu became a center of trade, culture, and Islam; markets brought in merchants from Hausaland, Egypt, and other African kingdoms, a university was founded in the city (as well as in the Malian cities of Djenné and Ségou), and Islam was spread through the markets and university, making Timbuktu a new area for.. scholarship. News of the Malian empire's city of wealth even traveled across the Mediterranean to southern Europe, where traders from Venice, Granada, and Genoa soon added Timbuktu to their maps to trade manufactured goods for gold.

The University of Sankore in Timbuktu was restaffed under Musa's reign with jurists, astronomers, and mathematicians. The university became a center of learning and culture, drawing.. scholars from around Africa and the Middle East to Timbuktu.

In 1330, the kingdom of Mossi invaded and conquered the city of Timbuktu. Gao had already been captured by Musa's general, and Musa quickly regained Timbuktu and built a rampart and stone fort, and placed a standing army to protect the city from future invaders.

While Musa's palace has since vanished, the university and mosque still stand in Timbuktu today.


Legacy

Mansa Musa's building program caused an intellectual and economic expansion that would continue into the later Middle Ages, by strengthening Mali's economic power and establishing it as an important intellectual centre, attracting students from far and wide. Mansa Musa is also credited with assisting the birth of Sudano-Sahelian architecture and the spread of Islam in western Africa. His military campaigns allowed Mali to become the most powerful military power on the continent, rivaled only by Morocco and Egypt. His most notable legacy was the hajj, which not only caused an economic inflation in the Mediterranean region, but may have indirectly supplied financial support for the Italian renaissance.



Ewuare The Great 1440 - 1473



Oba Ewuare was the king of the Benin Empire from 1440 until 1473. Ewuare was responsible for massive architectural innovations and extensive town planning in Benin. He participated in the construction of the great Benin earthworks.


The Walls of Benin were a combination of ramparts and moats, called Iya in the local language, used as a defense of the historical Benin City, formerly of the now defunct Kingdom of Benin and now the capital of the present-day Edo State of Nigeria. It was considered the largest man-made structure lengthwise and was hailed as the largest earthworks in the world. It is larger than Sungbo's Eredo. It enclosed 6,500 km² of community lands. Its length was over 16,000 km of earth boundaries. It was estimated that earliest construction began in 800 AD and continued into the mid-1400s.

Description

The walls are built of a ditch and dike structure; the ditch dug to form an inner moat with the excavated earth used to form the exterior rampart.

The Benin Walls were ravaged by the British in 1897 during what has come to be called the Punitive expedition. Scattered pieces of the structure remain in Edo, with the vast majority of them being used by the locals for building purposes. What remains of the wall itself continues to be torn down for real estate developments.

The Walls of Benin City was the world's largest man-made earth structure. Fred Pearce wrote in New Scientist:

"They extend for some 16,000 kilometres in all, in a mosaic of more than 500 interconnected settlement boundaries. They cover 6,500 square kilometres and were all dug by the Edo people. In all, they are four times longer than the Great Wall of China, and consumed a hundred times more material than the Great Pyramid of Cheops. They took an estimated 150 million hours of digging to construct, and are perhaps the largest single archaeological phenomenon on the planet''


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walls_of_Benin



King Hannibal (born 247 BC)



King Hannibal is said to be the greatest military leader and strategist of all time. Hannibal was born in 247 B.C., during the beginning of the decline of Carthage, then a maritime power near present-day Tunis in North Africa. The Carthage population was a mix of Africans and Phoenicians who were great merchants, trading with India, the people of the Mediterranean and the Scilly Isles.

When he was very young, about 8 or 9, Hannibal accompanied his father Hamilclar in a battle against the Romans. Seventeen years later in 221 B.C., he succeeded his brother-in-law Hasdrubal, and became supreme commander of the peninsula.

Hannibal had 80,000 infantry, 12,000 cavalry, and 40 African war elephants. He conquered major portions of Spain and France, and all of Italy, except for Rome.

Hannibal marched his army and war elephants through the Alps to surprise and conquer his enemies. In one battle, the Romans put 80,000 men on the field led by Scipio to defeat Hannibal. When Scipio attacked with his entire army, Hannibal had so studied the grounds that he arranged his African swordsmen and elephants to trampled and slaughter them.

After killing thousands of Roman soilders in lengthy battle, Hannibal took his own life rather than surrender when he was overwhelmed by the larger Roman army.

http://atlantablackstar.com/2013/12/07/10-african-kings-and-queens-whose-stories-must-be-told-on-film/



Samory Toure "Napoleon of the Sudan" (1830-1900)



Samory Toure, who was a conqueror from West Africa, fought the French from taking possession of his homeland for over 18 years. He fought with such mastery, that the French military leaders referred to him as "The Black Napoleon." He frustrated the Europeans to the degree that they suffered large losses of manpower and money. Samory's expert military strategy and tactics caused even greater insecurity for the French. Samory was born of humble means, the son of a poor merchant and a Senegalese female slave.

Samory had become an idol of the other soldiers. Being provoked by jealousy, the king demanded Samory be removed from the army and sent back to his homeland, Bissandugu, where he became king.Samory's homeland was attacked by the neighboring King Sori Bourama. His mother was captured during this raid. Samory was unable to pay his mother's ransom, so he freed her by taking her place. Samory, always desiring to be a free man, became a favorite of the king because of his splendid physique, his ability to throw a spear, and his knowledge of the Arabic language.

Soon he became a bodyguard for the king, and later advanced to counselor of the people.Samory defied all of his opponents and even conquered his former capturer, King Sori Bourama. Samory expanded his empire to an area of over 100,000 sq. miles or more, making him the most powerful native ruler in West Africa. On September 29, 1898, while Samory was on his knees, outside of his tent praying. A French sergeant, and a French scout, crept upon him from behind, captured and exiled him to an island for life.



Khufu (2589-2566 BC)



Khufu (2613-2498 BC)

Pharaoh Khufu was the 4th Dynasty (2613-2498) pharaoh who built the Great Pyramid of Giza. Originally, the Great Pyramid stood 481 feet (146.6 m) tall. Although commonly called Cheops (and also Suphis) because of the late Greek influence on Egypt, the name Khufu is the original ancient Egyptian name for this king as demonstrated by his own cartouche. He reigned for approximately 24 years.


Great pyramid of Giza, Egypt, built by Khufu



Askia the Great



Askia Muhammad I (ca. 1443 – 1538), born Muhammad Ture in Futa Tooro, later called Askia, also known as Askia the Great, was an emperor, military commander, and political reformer of the Songhai Empire[1] in the late 15th century, the successor of Sunni Ali Ber. Askia Muhammad strengthened his country and made it the largest country in West Africa's history. At its peak under his reign, the Songhai Empire encompassed the Hausa states as far as Kano (in present-day Nigeria) and much of the territory that had belonged to the Songhai empire in the west. His policies resulted in a rapid expansion of trade with Europe and Asia, the creation of many schools, and made Islam an integral part of the empire.

Due to his efforts, Songhai experienced a cultural revival it had never witnessed before, and the whole land flourished as a center of all things valuable in learning and trade.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Askia_Mohammad_I


Thutmose III (1504 to 1450 BC)



Widely considered a military genius by historians, Thutmose III made 16 raids in 20 years. He was an active expansionist ruler, sometimes called Egypt's greatest conqueror or "the Napoleon of Egypt." He is recorded to have captured 350 cities during his rule and conquered much of the Near East from the Euphrates to Nubia during seventeen known military campaigns. He was the first Pharaoh after Thutmose I to cross the Euphrates, doing so during his campaign against Mitanni. His campaign records were transcribed onto the walls of the temple of Amun at Karnak, and are now transcribed into Urkunden IV. He is consistently regarded as one of the greatest of Egypt's warrior pharaohs, who transformed Egypt into an international superpower by creating an empire that stretched from southern Syria through to Canaan and Nubia.

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:::: ok BRB

Wow! Good job keep it up

great kings

khufu, Taharqa, and Mansa Musa are my favourite.

However, you need to remove Hannibal from your list. Yes, he was black but he never ruled the Carthage in Africa. He ruled the other Carthage he built in Iberian peninsula after the original Carthage became a Roman empire vassal state. And yes, he came back to Carthage in Africa after the siege of Rome - but he never ruled the kingdom.

shymexx: khufu, Taharqa, and Mansa Musa are my favourite.

However, you need to remove Hannibal from your list. Yes, he was black but he never ruled the Carthage in Africa. He ruled the other Carthage he built in Iberian peninsula after the original Carthage became a Roman empire vassal state. And yes, he came back to Carthage in Africa after the siege of Rome - but he never ruled the kingdom.

Hannibal was an African king was he not?

Rossikki: Hannibal was an African king was he not?

Nah, he wasn't. He was more of a military commander.

But I think his father, Hamilcar Barca, was a king.

jayseehe:

Are you α learner?

*Yawns*
BTW you forgot to mention me.. "Glaxx the Great".
And where is Shaka the great Zulu king?

Ptoocool: .M

I don't know anything about history, so I won't comment

ok

interesting and informative

T

Atleast there's one from nigeria

shymexx:

Nah, he wasn't. He was more of a military commander.

But I think his father, Hamilcar Barca, was a king.

exactly reminds me of Alexander the great...

.

. .

i talk am... Kings own go come....

Eqyptian kinqs tho, after d fall of their qr8 kinq Pharaoh due itz ability to hardened his heart, ah quess Egyptians kinqs had learnt dia lessons from him...Nao producinq productive kinqs..

Ah pray my life won't be α bad example to others.. AMIN

Back to 9ja, nao, the walls of benin 'What remains of the wall itself continues to be torn down for real estate developments'
9ja ah hail thee.

Smartsyn: interesting and informative

yeah

These made me remember history days back in high school, Mansa Musa the great

Counter thread.

Btw nice write up.

Oneday una go dey study me like book.

Oneday una go dey study me like book...

True kings of Africa.

Postponing my comment

JESUS is the King of Kings

His Rulership surpasses all, 1,000000 LIKES for him

Great! Awaiting african prince and princesses

Will comment shortly