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Nubian Civilisation: The African Kingdom That Ruled Ancient Egypt
The 25th Dynasty saw Nubian pharaohs rule Egypt. Discover the Nubian civilisation that built more pyramids than Egypt and forged an empire of its own.
Ijo Masks: Water Spirits Who Lived Among Humans Before They Were Born
New: the 2nd edition of Within Carved Lines: The Secret Meanings of African Masks is out now. Get the book → Many masking traditions documented in this book treat spirits as distant or purely supernatural. The Ijo of Nigeria’s Niger Delta describe theirs in almost domestic terms: water spirits, human in their strengths and weaknesses,…
Why should a man kneel to Propose Marriage?
Some modern African women will not accept a marriage proposal if it is not accompanied by the sonorous music of the saxophone, cake, wine, a bouquet of money or whatever is trendy these days, a diamond ring, friends and onlookers chanting, “say yes! Say yes!! Say YESSS! And of course, a proper man on his…
Punu Masks: The White Face of the Dead, Dancing on Six-Foot Stilts
New: the 2nd edition of Within Carved Lines: The Secret Meanings of African Masks is out now. Get the book → Color carries specific, deliberate meaning across many of the masking traditions on this site, but few peoples built an entire mask type around a single color the way the Punu did. Punu masks are…
How African Kings Led the Resistance: Leadership Lessons From Colonization
When people talk about how African kings led the resistance against colonization, they usually go straight to the battles. The guns, the sieges, the defeats. But the real story is what happened before the first shot was fired. It is the alliances built in secret. The armies rebuilt after loss. The decision to negotiate instead…
Stories Shape the World, and Africans Must Tell Their Own Stories.
Stories shape the world, and you probably already know this. Behind every great movement led by people was a proportionately great story. The very famous proverb by one of Africa’s best storytellers, Chinua Achebe, explains this perfectly. He said that ‘until the lion learns how to write, the tale of the hunt will always glorify…