Alkebu-lan 1260 AH Presentation

Maps shape the world they depict

At the 'Kongokonferenz' in Berlin in 1884 , the major imperialist powers decided “which regions of Africa each European power had the right to 'pursue' the legal ownership of land”

The map come first, and by the power of its ink it shaped reality

Straight borders,

drawn by rulers...

...with rulers

Borders that still today,

bears witness for anyone that observes a map...

...of the...

...arrogance of power.

Almost 130 years,

and a wave of

colonial revolution later -

the borders are still...

...almost the same.

I wanted to change the past by drawing an other map

A map risen from:

• historical native nations
• linguistic boundaries
• natural boundaries

At first it was quite easy, but some areas are not so well documented and information is often contradictorily

The crimes of the slave trade and the Scramble for Africa are quite well known, what existed in Africa prior to that isn't. Egypt (and maybe Carthage) is the only major African civilization most people know about, and Egypt isn't regarded as typical African either. I wanted to focus on sub-Saharan Empires, Kingdoms and civilizations. Focus on African middle age. On African achievements in science and Art.

Did modern behavior arise 30 000 BP at Cro-Magnon in France, Europe?

Africa, or the supposedly old arabic name for 'Land of the Blacks':

Alkebu-lan is not only mankind's

biological cradle but also the cradle for modern behavior, Ingenuity and Art

Bete Giyorgis

1200 AD

Lalibela, Ethiopia

Carved out in one massive piece from the bed rock

Battle of Adwa

1 March 1896

80 000 Ethiopian soldiers defeated the Italian invaders

Stele of Axum, 300 AD

Axum, Ethiopia

24 m tall, 160 tonne stone 'skyscraper'

Kilwa Sultanate 900 - 1513 AD

The Zulu Empire

1816-1897 AD

20 000 Zulu warriors fought to defend Zululand against 1800 british well equipped soldiers. The battle was a crushing victory for the Zulus. The British army suffered its worst defeat against a technologically inferior indigenous force in history. 1300 dead british soldiers of 48 officers and two captured canons. The Zulus only suffered 1000 causalities.

Songhai Empire

~1340 - 1591 AD

The Songhai empire covered a 1,4 million square km area - bigger then the entire western Europe

The Songhai Empire rise from the Mali and Ghana Empires. It was a highly developed feudal society with Africa's most important University.

12 Sept 2010

29 Sept 2010

The process

14 oktober 2010

23 November 2010

Eskilstuna Lecture version

A years research with Wikipedia and UNESCO's "A General History of Africa" as main sources

12 April 2011, watercolour

Bachelor exibition version

Blombos Cave

140 000 BP first settlement, evidence for humans eating shellfish, and heated stonework scalpels.

80 000 BP first artwork ever

abstract patterns on an ocher stone.

Battle of Isandlwana

22 January 1879

Apollo 11 Cave

Namibia

27500 BP

The Walls of Great Zimbabwe

1100 AD, Zimbabwe

11 m tall walls

Mapungubwe gold Rhino

1000 AD

they build forts

A trade federation very alike the Germanic 'Hansa'. City states that where connected with a common tongue: Swahili! A trade language that still today are the most spoken Bantu language with 50-100 million speakers.

They traded far and wide in Dhow sailing ships, even as far as China and India, making cultures mingle and innovations spead.

Kingdom of Kongo

What about African Civilization?

palaces

Map making

decorated

with corals

Ashanti PRE-colonial Architecture

Seh-Dong-Hong-Beh

leader of the 6000 woman strong

'Mino' - elite soldiers of Dahomey

Alternate History

Ethiopian Empire 1137-1974 AD

The Ethiopian Empire is one of the longest imperial dynasties in the world and was the only native African nation that resisted the Scramble for Africa.

• Projection method
• Rotation
• Scale & Units
• Zero Meridian
• Language & Dates
• Frame & Aesthetics
• Information focus

Fāsīledes Castle, 1600 AD, Gondar, Ethiopia

Organized armies

Feudal Knights

Adwa

My POD (Point Of Divergence) is the same as in Kim Stanley Robinson's 'The Years of Rice and Salt": The black death mutated and became more deadly in 1350, wiping out 3/4 instead of 1/3 of population in Europe.

and vast cities.

Loango late 1600 AD,

in Rep. of Congo

Dabous Giraffes

World's largest palaeolithic petroglyph, consisting of 828 engraved images. The Giraffe is 6,35 m tall.

Dabous, Nigeria

10 000 - 8 000 BP

Developed internal trade

Meroë Pyramids

Nubia/Kush

Graves for the Black Pharaohs that ruled Egypt 2700 BP

Organized armies