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1644 map of Africa Made by Willem Janszoon Blaeu (1571-1638).
One of the most decorative and popular of all early maps of Africa, from the “golden age” of Dutch mapmaking. First issued in 1630, the map was reprinted many times between 1631 and 1667, appearing in Latin, French, German, Dutch, and Spanish editions of Blaeu’s atlases. The maps and atlases of the Blaeu family business, carried on after Willem’s death by sons Cornelis and Joan, marked the epitome of fine engraving and coloring, elaborate cartouches and pictorial detail, and fine calligraphy—the most magnificent work of its type ever produced.
In the format called carte à figures, this map contains views of the major cities and trading ports of Africa at the time: Tangier and Ceuta (Morocco), Tunis (Tunisia), Alexandria and Cairo (Egypt), Mozambique (seaport of Mozambique), Elmina (Ghana, and Grand Canary (Canary Islands) Side panels depict costumed people from areas visited along the coasts. The interior is decorated with exotic animals (lions, elephants, ostriches), which were (and still are) a major source of fascination for the public. The Nile (today’s White Nile) is shown flowing from the Ptolemaic lakes of Zaire and Zaflan. Flying fish and strange sea creatures cavort in the oceans, and the sailing ships all bear Dutch flags. Coastal names are engraved inward to give a clear, sharp outline to the continent.
Probably the most interesting cartographic feature is the identification of specific large territories or kingdoms, which have been outlined in color, including a huge Abyssinia (Ethiopia) and Monomotapa (all of southern Africa). But these seem to reflect a European sense of nationhood—something presumed and projected upon a virtually unexplored canvas—more than the actual experience of traders and explorers, who would continue to report on hundreds of smaller ethnic enclaves and political fiefdoms during the next 250 years
Interestingly note how Africa was perceived by the Early explorers no negative connotations.
(Source: vajadejade, via howtobeterrell)
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Exu/Eshu from the film Besouro.
Temptation, Tricky, chaos and possible tribulation may lead to experience that will lead ultimately lead to maturation. Exu is a difficult teacher, but in the end his lessons are usually found to be good.
(via peacefuldicha)
One Day in Port-au-Prince |
A interview with Ati Max Gesner Beauvoir Supreme Servitor of Haitian Vodou. In 2011 talking about the western misconceptions of Haitain Vodou.
I love the part when he says the Adam and Eve myth is not part of their belief system.
Anti-Ethiopian bile goes live in Egyptian meeting
An aide to Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy has apologised after she failed to inform politicians holding talks with the president that they were live on air, allowing viewers to watch them cook up plans to sabotage a dam in Ethiopia.
“Due to the importance of the topic it was decided at the last minute to air the meeting live. I forgot to inform the participants about the changes,” presidential aide for political affairs Pakinam El-Sharkawi said.
“I apologise for any embarrassment caused to the political leaders,” she said on Twitter.
The talks, chaired by Morsy, revolved around a report of a tripartite Egypt-Sudan-Ethiopia commission on Ethiopia’s decision to divert the Blue Nile for a massive dam project, sparking fears of a major impact on downstream states Egypt and Sudan.
Seated around a large table, the politicians thinking this was a closed meeting began to suggest ideas for ways to stop the dam project.
Ayman Nour, head of the liberal Ghad Party, suggested spreading rumours that Egypt was buying military planes in order to put “pressure” on Ethiopia, he said.
He also suggested Cairo send political, intelligence and military teams to Addis Ababa because “we need to intervene in their domestic affairs.”
Yunis Makhyun, who heads the conservative Islamist Nur Party, said the dam constituted a “strategic danger for Egypt”, requiring Cairo to support Ethiopian rebels “which would put pressure on the Ethiopian government.”
Scandalous
The meeting, a huge embarrassment both for the presidency and the opposition members who attended, caused a storm of ridicule and anger in the media.
“A scandal in front of the world,” read the headline of the independent daily Al-Tahrir.
Popular talk show host Reem Magued, who aired parts of the meeting on her show, said: “It’s true that we asked for transparency from the government but not like this, not to the point of scandal.”
Ethiopia has begun diverting the Blue Nile 500 metres (yards) from its natural course to construct a $4.2 billion (3.2 billion euro) hydroelectric project known as Grand Renaissance Dam.
The first phase of construction is expected to be complete in three years, with a capacity of 700 megawatts. Once complete the dam will have a capacity of 6,000 megawatts.
Egypt believes its “historic rights” to the Nile are guaranteed by two treaties from 1929 and 1959 which allow it 87 percent of the Nile’s flow and give it veto power over upstream projects.
But a new deal was signed in 2010 by other Nile Basin countries, including Ethiopia, allowing them to work on river projects without Cairo’s prior agreement.
Black history lecture in London 5th June 2013 19:00. Inspirational Contributions of African Americans to Science and Technology
Come to this lecture in London today.Inspirational Contributions of African Americans to Science and Technology lecture.
Lecture presented by Robin Walker in London 5th June 2013 19:00
Full details below
Did YOU know that a camera invented by a Black astrophysicist was used during the Apollo 16 space mission to collect ultraviolet images photographed from the moon?
In fact did you know any of the following facts?
- An early eighteenth century Virginia slave developed effective treatments against skin and venereal disease. In fact: ‘His work was so outstanding that in 1729 the Virginia Legislature bought him from his owner, thus freeing him from slavery to practice medicine exclusively’
- Astronomical works by a late eighteenth century Black mathematician and astronomer were widely read and ‘became a household staple in early America along with the Bible’
- A nineteenth century African American blacksmith patented an invention described as ‘the most important single invention in the whole history of whaling’
- A nineteenth century inventor of Black South American heritage created such a revolution in the shoe industry, that it was said of him: ‘What Edison is to artificial lighting, [he] is to footwear’.
- By 1913, African Americans held around 1,000 patents for various inventions in household goods, industrial machinery, transportation, electricity and chemical compounds.
- A Black physicist extended the Quantum Theory in the 1920s.
- Henry Ford described a Black botanist in the 1930s as ‘the greatest living scientist’
- Another Black chemist invented synthetic cortisone, an effective treatment for rheumatoid arthritis that broke the monopoly that European chemists had on the production of sterols.
- Twelve Black scientists and mathematicians worked on the Manhattan Project, i.e. the American nuclear bomb project, during World War II.
- The research of a Black physicist and inventor of the 1960s may hold a key to addressing the main concerns of our times – dwindling sources of useable energy, rising energy costs, and increasing demand for energy.
For too many people, it may be the first time that they have ever encountered such information. In this lecture, Robin Walker ‘The Black History Man’ will give an overview of the role played by the African Americans in the evolution of the Space Sciences, Inventions, Mathematics & Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Botany & Zoology, and Medicine & Surgery.
Venue: Role Models and Mentor Centre, 227 All Souls Avenue, Willesden, NW10 3AENearest tube: Kensal Green Nearest train: Kensal Rise Buses: 302, 187, 6Date: 5th June 2013Time :7pm sharpContact: Any enquiries: call 07956 371 126 or email healthtruths4u@hotmail.co.ukAll adults are welcome to come along, learn, ask questions and be inspired!
£5 on the door, 7pm sharp.
The Green Sahara.
In the distant past the entire Sahara was green Savanna land similar to habitats found all over lower Africa. You had the same Flora and Fauna. Lions, Giraffes, elephants, hippos, Crocodiles, etc etc.
Who were the Africans living there. What happened to them?
Once Lush Sahara Dried Up Over Millennia, Study Says
Climate change making the Sahara Green.
Ancient green corridors helped our early ancestors out of Africa
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This cast of a Suchomimus dinosaur seen in Agadez, Niger, was donated to the country of Niger by paleontologist Paul Sereno at the Flamme de la Paix ceremony, that celebrated the end of a five year civil war. Suchomimus was a 110 million year old meat eater with a dinosaur’s body and a crocodile’s head. Over 20 new species of dinosaurs and crocodiles were found on this three month expedition. (© Mike Hettwer) #
Mystery of the Black Mummy - Ancient Civilizations.
In 1958, an Italian archaeologist discovered the mummified remains of a two-and-a-half-year-old boy in a cave in southwestern Libya. But this was a mummy with a difference: it was far older than any comparable examples found in Egypt.
The culture that produced the mummy were cattle herders, and occupied much of North Africa, at a time when the Sahara was a savannah. Possible links with later Egyptian culture have also been found, including the representation in rock art of dog-headed human figures (resembling Anubis), and a type of pottery decoration later found in the southern Nile valley.
The mummy of a young boy, Uan Muhuggiag was destined for controversy. He was older than any comparable Egyptian mummy and his mere existence challenged the very idea that Egyptians were the first in the region to mummify their dead. Uan Muhuggiag was no one off. The sophistication of his mummification suggested he was the result of a long tradition of mummification.
The discovery raised some profound questions. Who were the ancient inhabitants of the Sahara Desert who put the mummy there? And what influence might those people have had on the glittering civilization that later emerged in the land of the pharaohs?
This fascinating film follows Italian professor Savino di Lernia and his colleagues on a trek through the Sahara in the search for answers — a journey that leads to some astounding conclusions.Click here for a interesting discussion on the Ancient peoples of Africa and the green Sahara.
This is absolutely amazing, and I’m not even surprised that they’ve found a mummy older than the ones in Egypt. Egypt clearly didn’t arise from nowhere, it shouldn’t be strange that there were earlier influences.
Fascinating. Our history lessons are so Eurocentric we’re missing out on some very interesting information
Basically form our own science and historical bodies. Aswell as eliminate all of the backwards leaders we have.
