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Science And Technology In Africa
Africa has the world's oldest record of human technological achievement: the oldest surviving stone tools in the world have been found in eastern Africa, and later evidence for tool production by humans' hominin ancestors has been found across West, Central, Eastern and Southern Africa. The history of science and technology in Africa since then has, however, received relatively little attention compared to other regions of the world, despite notable African developments in mathematics, metallurgy, architecture, and other fields. Early humans The Great Rift Valley of Africa provides critical evidence for the evolution of early hominins. The earliest tools in the world can be found there as well: * An unidentified hominin, possibly ''Australopithecus afarensis or Kenyanthropus platyops'', created stone tools dating to 3.3 million years ago at Lomekwi in the Turkana Basin, eastern Africa. * ''Homo habilis'', residing in eastern Africa, developed another early toolmaking indu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Africa Map Regions
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surface area.Sayre, April Pulley (1999), ''Africa'', Twenty-First Century Books. . With nearly billion people as of , it accounts for about of the world's human population. Demographics of Africa, Africa's population is the youngest among all the continents; the median age in 2012 was 19.7, when the worldwide median age was 30.4. Based on 2024 projections, Africa's population will exceed 3.8 billion people by 2100. Africa is the least wealthy inhabited continent per capita and second-least wealthy by total wealth, ahead of Oceania. Scholars have attributed this to different factors including Geography of Africa, geography, Climate of Africa, climate, corruption, Scramble for Africa, colonialism, the Cold War, and neocolonialism. Despite this lo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Homo Sapiens
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing#Evolution of hairlessness, hairlessness, bipedality, bipedalism, and high Human intelligence, intelligence. Humans have large Human brain, brains, enabling more advanced cognitive skills that facilitate successful adaptation to varied environments, development of sophisticated tools, and formation of complex social structures and civilizations. Humans are Sociality, highly social, with individual humans tending to belong to a Level of analysis, multi-layered network of distinct social groups — from families and peer groups to corporations and State (polity), political states. As such, social interactions between humans have established a wide variety of Value theory, values, norm (sociology), social norms, languages, and traditions (co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kuttab
A kuttab ( ''kuttāb'', plural: ''kataatiib'', ) or maktab () is a type of elementary school in the Muslim world. Though the ''kuttab'' was primarily used for teaching children in reading, writing, grammar, and Islamic studies, such as memorizing and reciting the Qur'an (including ''Qira'at''), other practical and theoretical subjects were also often taught. The kuttāb represents an old-fashioned method of education in Muslim majority countries, in which a sheikh teaches a group of students who sit in front of him on the ground. Until the 20th century, when modern schools developed, kuttabs were the prevalent means of mass education in much of the Islamic world. Name Kuttab refers to only elementary schools in Arabic. This institution can also be called a ''maktab'' () or ''maktaba'' () in Arabic—with many transliterations. In common Modern Standard Arabic usage, ''maktab'' means "office" while ''maktabah'' means "library" or "(place of) study" and ''kuttāb'' is a plural wor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Djinguereber Mosque
The Djinguereber Mosque (; French: ''Mosquée de Djinguereber''; from Koyra Chiini ''jiŋgar-ey beer'' 'grand mosque'), also known as Djingareyber or Djingarey Ber, is a famous learning center in Timbuktu, Mali. Built in 1327, it is one of three madrassas composing the University of Timbuktu. It was inscribed on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1988. Design The design and construction of the Djinguereber mosque is traditionally credited to the Andalusi scholar Abu Ishaq Al Sahili. According to Ibn Khaldun - one of the best-known sources on 14th-century Mali - he was said to have received 12,000 mithkals of gold dust for the work. More recent analyses reject this version, demonstrating that the architectural style of the Djinguereber Mosque and others in West Africa derives mainly from mosques in the Sahara and traditional African architecture and religions, so that al-Sahili's influence on West African architecture is treated as a myth. Except for a small part ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sidi Yahya Mosque
The Sidi Yahya Mosque (; French language, French: ''Mosquée Sidi Yahya''), also known as the Mosque of Muhammad-n-Allah, is a mosque and madrasa of Timbuktu in Mali. The construction of the mosque began in 1400 under the leadership of Sheikh el-Mokhtar Hamalla of Timbuktu and was finished in 1440. The mosque was named after its first imam, Sidi Yahya al-Tadelsi. It is part of the University of Timbuktu, which includes the madrasas of Sidi Yahya, Djinguereber Mosque, Djinguereber and Sankore Madrasah, Sankore. The mosque is a typical example of earthen Sudano-Sahelian architecture but also exhibits distinctive forms of plan and ornament. Parts of the Mosque of Sidi Yahya were destroyed by Ansar Dine jihadists on 2 July 2012, following the Battle of Gao. These elements were later reconstructed under the direction of UNESCO team. History The construction of the mosque of Sidi Yahya, sometimes written Sidi Yahia, began in 1400 by Sheikh El-Mokhtar Hamalla. The Sidi Yahya mosque i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cairo University
Cairo University () is Egypt's premier public university. Its main campus is in Giza, immediately across the Nile from Cairo. It was founded on 21 December 1908;"Brief history and development of Cairo University." Cairo University Faculty of Engineering. http://www.eng.cu.edu.eg/CUFE/History/CairoUniversityShortNote/tabid/81/language/en-US/Default.aspx after being housed in various parts of Cairo, its faculties, beginning with the Faculty of Arts, were established on its current main campus in Giza in October 1929. The university was known as the Egyptian University from 1908 to 1940, and King Fuad I University and Fu'ād al-Awwal University from 1940 to 1952. The university is the second oldest institution of higher education in Egypt after Al-Azhar University, notwithstanding the pre-existing higher professional schools that later became constituent colleges of the university. The university was founded and funded as the Egyptian University by a committee of private citizens ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Madrasa
Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary education or higher learning. In countries outside the Arab world, the word usually refers to a specific type of religious school or college for the study of the religion of Islam (loosely equivalent to a Seminary, Christian seminary), though this may not be the only subject studied. In an Islamic architecture, architectural and historical context, the term generally refers to a particular kind of institution in the historic Muslim world which primarily taught Sharia, Islamic law and Fiqh, jurisprudence (''fiqh''), as well as other subjects on occasion. The origin of this type of institution is widely credited to Nizam al-Mulk, a vizier under the Seljuk Empire, Seljuks in the 11th century, who was responsible for buildi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Al-Azhar University
The Al-Azhar University ( ; , , ) is a public university in Cairo, Egypt. Associated with Al-Azhar Al-Sharif in Islamic Cairo, it is Egypt's oldest degree-granting university and is known as one of the most prestigious universities for Islamic learning. In addition to higher education, Al-Azhar oversees a national network of schools with approximately two million students. over 4,000 teaching institutes in Egypt were affiliated with the university. Founded in 970 or 972 by the Fatimid Caliphate as a centre of Islamic learning, its students studied the Qur'an and Islamic law, along with logic, grammar, rhetoric, and how to calculate the phases of the moon. Today it is the chief centre of Arabic literature and Islamic studies, Islamic learning in the world. In 1961 additional non-religious subjects were added to its curriculum. Its library is considered second in importance in Egypt only to the Egyptian National Library and Archives. In May 2005, Al-Azhar in partnership with a D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Library Of Alexandria
The Great Library of Alexandria in Alexandria, Egypt, was one of the largest and most significant libraries of the ancient world. The library was part of a larger research institution called the Mouseion, which was dedicated to the Muses, the nine goddesses of the arts.Murray, S. A., (2009). The library: An illustrated history. New York: Skyhorse Publishing, p. 17 The idea of a universal library in Alexandria may have been proposed by Demetrius of Phalerum, an exiled Athenian statesman living in Alexandria, to Ptolemy I Soter, who may have established plans for the Library, but the Library itself was probably not built until the reign of his son Ptolemy II Philadelphus. The Library quickly acquired many papyrus scrolls, owing largely to the Ptolemaic kings' aggressive and well-funded policies for procuring texts. It is unknown precisely how many scrolls were housed at any given time, but estimates range from 40,000 to 400,000 at its height. Alexandria came to be regarded ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Ocean; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini; and it encloses Lesotho. Covering an area of , the country has Demographics of South Africa, a population of over 64 million people. Pretoria is the administrative capital, while Cape Town, as the seat of Parliament of South Africa, Parliament, is the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein is regarded as the judicial capital. The largest, most populous city is Johannesburg, followed by Cape Town and Durban. Cradle of Humankind, Archaeological findings suggest that various hominid species existed in South Africa about 2.5 million years ago, and modern humans inhabited the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blombos Cave
Blombos Cave is an archaeological site located in Blombos Private Nature Reserve, about 300 km east of Cape Town on the Southern Cape coastline, South Africa. The cave contains Middle Stone Age (MSA) deposits currently dated at between c. 100,000 and 70,000 years Before Present (BP), and a Late Stone Age sequence dated at between 2000 and 300 years BP.Tribolo, C., et al. (2006) TL dating of burnt lithics from Blombos Cave (South Africa): further evidence for the antiquity of modern human behaviour. Archaeometry, 48, 341–357.Jacobs, Z., et al. (2006) Extending the chronology of deposits at Blombos Cave, South Africa, back to 140 ka using optical dating of single and multiple grains of quartz. Journal of Human Evolution, 51, 255–73.Henshilwood, Christopher S., et al. (2011) A 100,000-Year-Old Ochre-Processing Workshop at Blombos Cave, South Africa. Science, 334, 219–222, .Jacobs, Zenobia, et al. (2013) An improved OSL chronology for the Still Bay layers at Blombos Cave, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
