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The eastern plateau of South Africa, known as the Highveld, is dotted with the ruins of numerous stone towns founded at the end of the Middle Ages.
3 weeks ago

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More from African History Extra

The currencies and monetary systems of pre-colonial Africa

A bewildering variety of currencies circulated freely in the various states and societies of Africa during the pre-colonial period.

a month ago 8 votes
A forgotten African empire: the history of medieval Kānem (ca. 800-1472)

A century before Mansa Musa’s famous pilgrimage, the political and cultural landscape of medieval West Africa was dominated by the empire of Kānem.

a month ago 23 votes
Online resources for African history: links to African collections held at 33 Western Museums

Up to 90% of Sub-Saharan Africa’s material cultural legacy is kept outside of the continent, according to a French government-commissioned 2018 report by Senegalese economist Felwine Sarr and French historian Bénédicte Savoy.

a month ago 22 votes
What did they write about? : An intellectual history of Timbuktu ca. 1450-1900.

No single body of primary sources in the literary heritage of West Africa has attracted as much attention and attained as much celebrity as the fabled manuscripts of Timbuktu.

a month ago 20 votes

More in history

My Weekly Reader September 11, 1961

September 11, 1961 So I came across another "stash" of old Weekly Readers that I am going to share for the next few weeks. I have written before how these tiny newspaper appeared in our classrooms every week during the school year (and the summer too). I really love how our progress in the space race was filtered down to school aged children.

21 hours ago 2 votes
12 Variety Acts by the Wiener Werkstätte, 1907

In 1907, the Wiener Werkstätte art movement produced a set of 12 prints featuring different Variety acts. These Varieténummer – Vaudeville performances – were both madly daring and fanciful. Mac Bull from Philadelphia (Act 11) would drive his car around a rainbow. A. Lucci the Famous Hunger Artist (Act 3) had gone 132 days without … Continue reading "12 Variety Acts by the Wiener Werkstätte, 1907" The post 12 Variety Acts by the Wiener Werkstätte, 1907 appeared first on Flashbak.

8 hours ago 1 votes
Does Life Have Meaning? Acte Gratuit & Free Will

Does life have meaning? Brought into the vast and guideless world with a brain bent on understanding, we struggle with randomness and even despise it. Yet the meaninglessness appears repeatedly in art—a desperate attempt to understand, perhaps? In this whirlwind of unpredictability, we like to believe that at least our behavior is something we […]

yesterday 1 votes
Fireside Friday, May 30, 2025 (On Professional Military Education)

Hey all, we’re doing a Fireside this week! For this week’s musing, I thought it might be worthwhile – this being a frequent space for military history – to offer a brief outline of professional military education (PME) in the United States, which is to say the various stages by which US officers are academically … Continue reading Fireside Friday, May 30, 2025 (On Professional Military Education) →

yesterday 3 votes
New Banksy Mural Confirmed in South of France

Yesterday, after a six-month hiatus, Banksy’s official Instagram account unveiled a new public mural: a small lighthouse on a beige building facade. The mystery of the mural’s location has since been solved. Its intended meaning, however, is still up for debate.   Banksy Unveils Latest Mural in Marseille   When Banksy posted images of […]

yesterday 1 votes