THE HORN OF AFRICA

a New Point of origins

When we ponder upon history, in the sense of the antiquities, and its direct impacts on the development of cultures and civilizations up to the modern times, what ideas come to mind?

Certainly, ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley civilizations. Also thought of and discussed frequently are the exotic goods of Southeast Asia and luxury items from ancient China, correct?

And don’t forget to mention ancient Persia, Greece and Rome of course. Least discussed and when done so vaguely, is the trade emanating from the shores of The Red Sea coast, up and down the Nile River, within The Horn of Africa.

HUMAN GENESIS

The oldest remains, of the first upright human beings on Earth, have been discovered within The Horn of Africa. The development of pre-, proto and early humans along with the earliest development of their tools and industries, has afforded the archaeological institutions and communities the greatest of treasures within this cradle region in The Horn of Africa.

THE RED SEA

The Red Sea in all of her majestic beauty, to be gazed upon her face, yet her beauty from deep beneath and within, is an anomaly, where great extremes meet, holding the keys to unlock the secret gates which opens up all life.

Her extremes in heat and salinity (the saltiest (NaCl) body of water on earth), monsoon wind induced anomalous currents and geo/hydrothermal activities creates an environment extreme in its hostility to life, yet she maintains and some of the richest abundances in formproducess of life, both in diversity and nativity of species.

GEOGRAPHY

Within this mystical region our human and prehuman ancestors traversed, migrated and settled within the vast ranges of geographic and geologic topography both magical and full of peril.

From gardens of abundance within lush breadbasket grassland and savannah terrain to dense woodlands and rainforests, stubbornly protective and imposing mountain ranges down into nightmarish and grimacing environmental scenes of desolation and scarcity within intensely harsh desert lowlands and inside the active bowels of the earth.

CULTURE/TRADITION

Within the entire Horn of Africa Region, throughout its vast historic networks of kingdoms and sultanates, advancing their monotheistic faiths and defending against the encroachment of others, there also remains the indigenous spiritual beliefs and practices, cultivated by The Ancestors into the native traditions from amongst the uncountable indigenous ethnic groups which have walked upon the blessed land and appear through the faces and faiths of those who are present today.

LINGUISTICS

The most ancient of human language families has originated and evolved within The Horn of Africa, with dates of up to 20,000 years in development, placing The Afro-Asiatic language family as the oldest known languages in the world.

The proto-Afro-Asiatic languages developed within The Horn of Africa gave birth to Berber languages of Northern Africa, Chadic of The Sahel, Cushitic and Omotic, endemic to The Horn of Africa plus Kemetic and Semitic which formed the basis of a global alphabet system.

ETHNICITIES

Ethnicity within The Horn of Africa is a paradoxical contrast in homogeneity and diversity. Genetic science attributes to the People within The Horn of Africa, the pre-curser populations or haplogroups who went on to populate the rest of the planet Earth. Although unified by very distinct genetic markers, a stunning abundance in ethnic and cultural diversity co-exists within The Horn of Africa.

AETHIOPIA

The realm of Aethiopia is known of in fact and fable to be the lands within The Horn of Africa, where The Gods convened to feast once a year. The term has been falsely interpreted to mean “Sun Burned Faces” and although the term does reference darker skinned people, its meaning more appropriately would be interpreted as “The Light Shining in Their Eyes and Faces” a reference to their role in introducing civilization to the world.

The Spice Trade

The Spice Trade was by far the most important commercial activity within the ancient world. The trade in spices, meant securing relations with the exotic lands of production, routes of safe travel upon vessels both of land and of sea. The ancient spice trade determined how empires would rise and would fall and has shaped the courses of history from the very beginning of civilization.

Beginning in its prehistory with the humble trade in salt, the origin and center of The Spice Trade and many other precious, highly sought after goods, over the greater part of our history, is from within The Horn of Africa.

Egyptian relief of figures carrying baskets and branches, walking in a procession.

THE MYSTERIOUS LAND OF PUNT

The Mysterious Land of Punt has been argued and debated heatedly amongst scholars, for centuries, largely in vain attempts to disprove what was the obvious. Needing to disprove that The Land of Punt, in all of its reverence and esteem, was well placed within The Horn of Africa matrix, between The Nile River System and The Red Sea.

ANCIENT KUSH

The ancient empire and kingdoms of Kush are critical guiding stones in the tracing of precursive civilizations within The Horn of Africa.

Biased opinions bordering upon lies, proffered by some of our first scientists, within the various disciplines of anthropology, and surprisingly perpetuated amongst the scholars of today despite ample scientific evidence, attempts to coopt and relegate ancient Kush as the baby brother or little sister to the mighty Egyptian empire.

ANCIENT KEMET

The land of Kemet, or “The black land”, called “Egypt” by The Greeks, still known as that to us today, was a unification of many small Nile Valley kingdoms within the confines of the two great lands. The lower lay north, within the fertile delta of The Nile and the upper is found south, leading back towards The Nile source. Its blessings in a constant supply, fed by The Nile, with riches beyond measure, from its beating heart within The Horn of Africa. The nature of this relationship would develop the world’s first known advanced technological civilization which cannot be properly understood until this very day.

CANAAN & PHOENICIA

Proto-Canaanite and Phoenician culture and civilization of The Levant, known today as Natufian and thought to have developed the earliest agriculture, are revealed to be in all metrics identical with populations of pre and early dynastic Kemet from Naqada, Kerma in Kush and ethnic groups inhabiting The Horn of Africa

THE EMPIRE OF AXUM

The Kingdom of Axum, was a powerful empire which replaced The Kingdom of Kush as the dominant power within The Horn of Africa, following the fall of ancient Kemet, subsequently by The Persians, Greeks and Romans.

THE ADAL SULTANATE

The Adal Sultunate, developed and expanded within The Horn of Africa amidst many smaller emirates formed amongst different tribes and clans, following the rise of Islam in Arabia.

Tradition holds that before Islam spread throughout The Arabian Peninsula and went on to become a dominant force in The World, it first left Mecca and was received within The Horn of Africa, by way of The Christian King of Axum.

The capital of The Adal Sultanate was at the holy city of Harrar, the spice capital of the region and perhaps at that time, the world.