Africa Timeline

Timeline

  • 5000 BCE
    Organised farming begins in Egypt.
  • c. 3500 BCE
    The Sahara desert begins to spread in Africa due to climate change.
  • 2000 BCE
    Speakers of the Bantu language begin migrating southward.
  • c. 2000 BCE
    Farmers and herders travel south from Ethiopia and settle in Kenya.
  • c. 2000 BCE - c. 1500 CE
    The Bantu Migration occurs in Africa starting from southern West Africa and slowly spreading southwards to finally reach South Africa.
  • 1700 BCE
    The Kingdom of Kush is formed to the south of Egypt.
  • c. 814 BCE
    Traditional founding date for the Phoenician colony of Carthage by Tyre.
  • 650 BCE
    Iron working spreads to North Africa.
  • 631 BCE
    Greek colonists from the island of Thera found the city of Cyrene in North Africa.
  • c. 500 BCE - c. 200 CE
    The Nok Culture flourishes in West Africa.
  • 341 BCE
    The Persians complete conquest of Egypt.
  • 331 BCE
    Egypt is conquered by Alexander the Great without resistance.
  • 250 BCE - 1100 CE
    The city of Djenne-Djenno flourishes in West Africa.
  • 204 BCE
    Scipio Africanus sails to North Africa in the Second Punic War.
  • 146 BCE
    End of the Third Punic War. Carthage is destroyed and its lands become the Roman province Africa.
  • 429 CE
    Vandals cross Spain to the Maghreb.
  • c. 500 CE - 1240 CE
    The Ghana Empire dominates West Africa.
  • c. 500 CE - c. 1365 CE
    The Nubian kingdom of Dongola flourishes in the Sudan.
  • 534 CE
    Justinian of the Byzantine Empire conquers the Vandal kingdom in Africa.
  • c. 750 CE
    Muslim traders from Arabia begin to settle on the Swahili Coast.
  • c. 900 CE - c. 1390 CE
    The Kingdom of Kanem flourishes near Lake Chad, Africa.
  • c. 1050 CE - c. 1450 CE
    The kingdom of Ife flourishes in West Africa.
  • c. 1070 CE - c. 1300 CE
    Mapungubwe flourishes in southern Africa.
  • c. 1100 CE - c. 1550 CE
    Continuous habitation of Great Zimbabwe.
  • c. 1100 CE - c. 1500 CE
    The trading city-states of Africa's Swahili Coast flourish.
  • c. 1100 CE - 1897 CE
    The Kingdom of Benin rules in southern West Africa.
  • 1240 CE - 1645 CE
    The Mali Empire rules in West Africa.
  • 1270 CE
    Foundation of the medieval kingdom of Abyssinia, aka the Ethiopian Empire.
  • c. 1300 CE - c. 1450 CE
    Great Zimbabwe in southern Africa flourishes.
  • c. 1400 CE - c. 1804 CE
    Hausaland flourishes in Africa.
  • c. 1400 CE - c. 1885 CE
    The Kingdom of Luba thrives in central Africa.
  • c. 1400 CE - c. 1700 CE
    The Kingdom of Kongo flourishes in west-central Africa.
  • c. 1450 CE - c. 1633 CE
    The kingdom of Mutapa flourishes in southern Africa.
  • c. 1460 CE - c. 1591 CE
    The Songhai Empire dominates the West African savannah.
  • c. 1471 CE
    Portuguese ships arrive off the coast of southern West Africa.
  • 8 Jul 1497 CE - Aug 1499 CE
    The Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama sails around the Cape of Good Hope and on to India and back.
  • c. 1600 CE
    The Kikuyu people are identifiable as a distinct ethnic group in the centre of modern-day Kenya.
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