GREAT BENIN KINGDOM – 40 C.E

BOOK: AFRICA IN WORLD HISTORY; FROM PREHISTORY TO THE PRESENT.

MASTER TIMELINE: AFRICA TO 1500 C.E.

GREAT BENIN KINGDOM – 40 C.E

25,000 – 10,000 B.C.E. – Rock paintings in North Africa, Sahara, and southern Africa
10,000 B.C.E. – Beginnings of agriculture 
5000 B.C.E. – Sedentary farming communities along Nile Valley and in Ethiopia
4000 B.C.E. – Earliest possible date for beginnings of Bantu migrations 
3600 B.C.E. – Complex settlements at Nagada and Hierakonpolis in Upper Nile region
3100 B.C.E. – Narmer/Menes unifes Nile Valley in Egypt via conquest 
3100 – 2575 B.C.E. – Archaic period of Ancient Egypt 
2700 B.C.E. – Origins of complex settlements in Nubia (Gash Culture)
2575 – 2180 B.C.E. – Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt (time of pyramid building)
2400 B.C.E. – Rise of State of Kerma in Nubia 
2180 – 2040 B.C.E. – First intermediate period (collapse of centralized authority in Egypt)
2040 – Mid-seventeenth century B.C.E. – Middle Kingdom period of Ancient Egypt 
2000 B.C.E. – Origins of NOK culture in Central Nigeria
1530 – 1070 B.C.E. – New Kingdom period of Ancient Egypt
1070 – 332 B.C.E. – Late period of Ancient Egypt
1000 B.C.E. – Rise of State of Kush in Nubia
1000 B.C.E. – Possible innovation of iron-smelting technology in East Africa lakes region
1000 – 500 B.C.E. – Origins of iron working in West Africa
1000 B.C.E. – Carthage founded as Phoenician Colony 
730 B.C.E. – Kushan conquest of Egypt 
700 B.C.E. – Ethio Sabean states in Horn of Africa and Ethiopia 
663 B.C.E. – Assyrian conquest of Egypt
591 B.C.E. – Rise of state of Meroe in Nubia 
332 B.C.E. – Alexander the greats army invades Egypt 
264 – 146 B.C.E. – “Punic Wars” between Carthage and Rome
21 B.C.E. – Roman conquest of Egypt 
1st millennium, CE – Arrival of bananas in East Africa
40 C.E. – Great Benin Kingdom
41 C.E. – Apostle Mark arrives in Egypt
100 C.E. – Rise of State of Aksum in Ethiopian highlands 
100 C. E. – Evolution of Bronze castings in Ancient Benin in West Africa
300 C.E. – Rise of state of Ghana in West African Savannah 
330 C.E. – Conversion of King Ezana of Axum to Christianity 
350 C.E. – Advent of Arian Christianity in Egypt 
429 C.E. – Vandal invasion of North Africa 
639 – 642 C.E. – Islamic conquest of Egypt 
651 C.E. – Islamic army defeated by Christian Nubians at Dongola 
700 C.E. – Beginnings of Swahili “stone Towns” 
900 C.E. – Bronze castings at Igbo – Ukwu in southern Nigeria 
969 C.E. – Fatimid conquest of Egypt 
1076 C.E. – War between Ghana and Almoravids 
1100 C.E. – Rise of Kingdom of Benin in West African forest region
1137 C.E. – Zagwe Dynasty established in Ethiopia 
1171 C.E. – Salah al – Din overthrows Fatimids and establishes Ayyubid Dynasty in Egypt
1200 C.E. – Rise of state of Great Zimbabwe
Thirteenth century – Building of Lalibela churches in Ethiopia
1230 C.E. – Sundiata defeats Soumaro at Battle of Krina; birth of Ancient Mali
1250 C.E. – Mamluks seize power in Egypt 
1270 C.E. – Solomids overthrow Zagwe Dynasty in Ethiopia 
1324 – 1325 C.E. – Hajj of Mansa Musa
1331 C.E. – Ibn Battuta visits Swahili coast 
1352 C.E. – Ibn Battuta travels to West African Savannah 
1434 C.E. – “Doubling” of Cape Bojador 
1453 C.E. – Ottomans capture Constantinople 
1460 – 1470 C.E. – Expansion of Songhai Empire 
1471 C.E. – Portuguese establish trading center at El Mina 
1484 C.E. – Congo and Portugal exchange embassies 
1485 C.E. – Diaz rounds Cape of Good Hope 
1491 C.E. – King Njinga of Congo converts to Christianity 
1492 C.E. – Columbus reaches Caribbean Islands 
1497 C.E. – Da Gama visits Swahili Coast and India

Written by: Erik Gilbert and Jonathan T. Reynolds.