African History非洲历史

Africa is home to the first humans and this gives a new meaning to its nickname the motherland. The continent has the longest history. A huge part of Africa’s earliest history has been lost， which is typical for early humans due to the relatively short time for which writing has existed.

非洲是首批人类的家园，这赋予它的别称——“母亲之地”新的内涵。这块大陆拥有最悠久的历史。非洲早期历史的很大部分已经无考，对于早期人类而言这是常有的情况，因为文字记录出现时间相对较短。

Africans are the most diverse people in the world. Perhaps this has a connection with the fact that they are the earliest humans （founder effect1）， and it has been proven that humans adapt to the different environments they find themselves in over time as they migrate. This accounts for the many different skin tones of Africans， and the thousands of different cultures and languages spread all across the continent.

非洲人包含世界上最多样化的民族。这或许与非洲出现最早的人类这个事实有关（始祖效应）。有证据表明，人类在迁徙过程中，随着时间的推移，适应了身处的不同环境。这就解释了为什么非洲人肤色深浅不一，以及为什么会有成千上万种不同的文化和语言遍布整个非洲大陆。

Before the arrival of the Europeans， Africans had already travelled to other parts of the world in various “human migration” waves， as archaic humans spreading Acheulean technology2， as behaviorally modern humans （BMH） in the stone age spreading tool use， and around 1000 BCE to 1500 AD not as slaves as many wrongly believe but as respected members of society. Discov-eries such as Memnon3 in the Trojan war， the Ivory Bangle Lady4， the Beachy Head Lady5， and many other findings prove this fact while giving us an insight into the way of life of much earlier societies.

在欧洲人到来之前，非洲人已经在各种“人类迁徙”浪潮中前往世界其他地方，他们或是传播阿舍利技术的远古人，或是石器时代传播工具使用的、行为上的现代人，或是公元前1000年到公元1500年左右受人尊重的社会成员——而非为许多人所误以为的奴隶。特洛伊战争中的门农、象牙手镯女尸、比奇角女尸等发现，还有其他不少考古发现证实了这一点，也让我们了解到各种更早期社会形态下的生活方式。

Ancient Africans were pioneers of early civilisation. There is evidence that early African societies excelled in fields such as engineering， mathematics， writing even navigation.

古非洲人是早期文明的先驱者。据考证，早期非洲社会在工程、数学、写作，甚至航海等领域成就卓越。

Some notable great African civilisations such as the Great Benin Empire， Ancient Egypt， Empire of Mali， Empire of Songhai， the Nri Kingdom， the Garamantes， Kanem-Bornu Empire， Kingdom of Luba， Kingdom of Makuria， the Land of Punt and so many other great African civilisations had a highly organised society that was developed， excelled in commerce and flourished in culture.

一些赫赫有名的伟大非洲文明，例如贝宁大帝国、古埃及、马里帝国、桑海帝国、恩里王国、加拉曼特人、卡嫩-博尔努帝国、卢巴王国、马库里亚王国、蓬特国，还有许多其他伟大的非洲文明，都拥有高度组织的发达社会，商业繁荣，文化兴盛。

Precolonial African civilisations had highly evolved political and leadership systems that supported their various complex and developed societies， such as the Ibinda system of the Kalenji people of Kenya， the confederacy system of the Kwararafa people， the bureaucratic federal republic system of the Ashanti Empire， the hegemony system of the Songhai Empire， the Gada system of the Oromo， the hereditary theocracy of the Fatimid Caliphate， Monarchical system of the Mossi kingdoms， the theocratic system of the Nri kingdom. The monarchical system， however， seems to be the more prominent leadership style for most African societies.

殖民前的非洲文明演绎出高度发达的政治和领导体系，这些体系支撑着各种复杂而发达的社会运转。例如，肯尼亚卡伦金人的伊宾达制度、夸拉拉法人的联邦制度、阿散蒂帝国的官僚联邦共和制度、桑海帝国的霸权制度、奥罗莫人的加达制度、法蒂玛哈里发国的世袭神权制度、莫西王国的君主制度和恩里王国的神权制度。然而，君主制度似乎是大多数非洲社会形态中更为突出的领导方式。

These ancient African civilisations invented and originated their ways of doing things， many of which parallel independent developments around the world. Sadly， Africa is denied credit for most of her contributions. There is clear evidence of sophisticated African cultures from as far back as many thousands of years ago. For instance， there are about 15 ancient African writing styles that predate even Latin. As far back as 82，000 years ago， Africans had already invented abstract arts and painting. Algorithms which have become an inevitable part of computing today had its roots in Africa. Africans domesticated over 2，000 different types of food， some of which today is consumed globally. Africans built the earliest seafaring vessels and so many other achievements. There were powerful kingdoms and many centres of learning in Africa， such as the University of Sankore.

这些古老的非洲文明发明创造了他们的做事方式，其中许多方式是与世界各地的独立发展并行的。遗憾的是，非洲的多数贡献未能得到应有的承认。有清晰的证据表明，早在几千年前，就存在着发达的非洲文化。例如，有大约15种古老的非洲书写方式，甚至早于拉丁文的出现。早在82，000年前，非洲人就已经创造了抽象的艺术和绘画。如今已经成为计算领域不可或缺的算法，起源于非洲。非洲人驯化了2000多种不同类型的食物，其中一些至今仍在全球范围内被食用。非洲人建造了最早的航海船只，实现许多其他成就。非洲拥有强大的王国和众多学术中心，例如桑科雷大学。

The only part of African history known to most people has to do with the arrival of the Europeans in Africa. To many， it is almost as if Africa had no history up until that time. The European age of discovery in the 15th century heralded their exploration of Africa. This marked a turning point in African history. The transatlantic slave trade is notoriously the highlight of this encounter.

对大多数人来说，他们所了解的非洲历史，仅仅涉及欧洲人抵达非洲的部分。在许多人看来，非洲在那之前好像几乎没有历史。15世纪欧洲大发现时代宣告了欧洲人对非洲的探索。这是非洲历史的一个转折点。跨大西洋的奴隶贸易成为非洲人与欧洲人相遇中臭名昭著的高点。

Before the slave trade became full-blown， Europeans traded goods with Africans， commodities like textiles， gold， farm produce， ivory， salt， palm oil， were exchanged.

在奴隶贸易兴盛之前，欧洲人与非洲人进行商品交易，交换纺织品、黄金、农产品、象牙、盐、棕榈油等商品。

The Portuguese were the first to officially ship African slaves overseas when they exported about 235 Africans from present-day Senegal around 1444. The Portuguese were also the first to venture deep into sub-Saharan Africa and later joined by Britain， France， and of lesser influence other European countries like Spain， Germany， Netherlands， Belgium and Italy.

葡萄牙人是第一个正式将非洲奴隶运往海外的国家，他们大约在1444年，从现今非洲的塞内加尔运出了大约235名非洲人。葡萄牙人还最早深入非洲撒哈拉以南地区探险，后来英国、法国以及影响力较小的其他欧洲国家（例如西班牙、德国、荷兰、比利时和意大利）也参与其中。