Lost Cities And Architecture Of Pre-Colonial Africa.

Woman's Living Quarters, Tangasoko, Burkina Faso www.afritecture.org...

Compund, Sirigu, Ghana

Chief's Compound, Tangasoko, Burkina Faso

The Savahanna cities.
Their was a city before Timbuktu twice the size of Timbuktu,Timbuctu was twice the size of London and rival of any of the city states of Mesopotemia.
going back 500 b.c

More well known because of the recent conflict is Mali a country that is now one of the poorest in the world,but over a 1000yrs ago it was among the richest and most literate it's Empire covered an Area the size of western Europe to day it needs the help of French led African troops and American logistic support to fend off terrorist,but a thousand yrs ago it could place 200,000 chain mail troops in the field 40,000 of which was cavalry ,look at it this way, the Battle of Hastings was regarded one of the most crowded battle field in Europe with the French having 30,000 troops and the English evenly matched at 30,000, if Mansa Musa the emporer of the time was in the mood he could have crushed both English and French with less than half his forces,his gold largely bank-rolled much of his known world,on a pilgrimage to Mecca he spent so much gold that it delvalued that form of currency for 12yrs in the middle east.
For two centuries map makers placed in the center of Africa being visited by a Berber on camel back and him holding a gold nugget,btw the history books of that era recorded that his predecessor Abubakari II his brother made two voyages of exploration to the direction of the America's..but that's for another thread.

Djenné, the oldest known city in sub-Saharan Africa is situated on the floodlands of the Niger and Bani rivers, 354 kilometers (220 miles) southwest of Timbuktu. Founded by merchants around 800 AD (near the site of an older city dating from 250BC), Djenné flourished as a meeting place for traders from the deserts of Sudan the tropical forests of Guinea
Read more: egyptsearchreloaded.proboards.com...


Tomb Of Askia The Great


Bamako Mali


The style of architecture is original owing nothing from outside influences,but closely resembling Nubian and Egyptian adobe styles take note of the entrances and the abstract cow's horn that adorns the roofs.

The Musgum, an ethnic group in far north province in Cameroon, create their tall conical dwellings from compressed sun-dried mud. Called Cases Obos, the profile of the structure is that of a catenary arch— the ideal mathematical form to bear a maximum weight 
with minimal material.

Bamiléké Chiefdoms, Cameroon

Bandjoun chiefdom







Bafoussam chiefdom







Bafut chiefdom

Bondoukou, Ivory Coast



Kong, Ivory Coast





Kong today

Samatiguila, Ivory Coast

Kaouara, Ivory Coast

Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso

Sinématiali, Ivory Coast













Sinématiali today (???), Chief Palace

Nice thread!

Some of the structures you've posted, like this one;



is a style known as Sudano-Sahelian architecutre, or simply 'Sudanese'. It's an ancient architecture type that dates back to 250 BC, but is more commonly associated with Islamized peoples of the past few centuries. The above example is the Larabanga masque which is about 300 years old, the wood beams jutting from it are used to continually add new mud plaster to renew the structure. Mudbrick architecture flourished in Western Africa 3rd-5th C. BC, a relative late comer as it had been in use since the late neolithic in Mesopotamia and Indus valley regions. In Africa it is called 'Banco', and made with grain husks as opposed to straw or rice husks.

If you look at Dogon architecture, you'll see an astounding array of Mudbrick architecture, in my opinion the most extensive design pallet possible in Mudbrick as seen anywhere. Most people are familiar with the Sumerian civilization in Mesopotamia, and consider them a pinnacle of ancient design, also in Mudbrick, but outside of the famous Ziggurat in Ur, there's little to show for their architectural abilities, that's the downside of building in Mudbrick.

Examples of Mudbrick architecture in Africa (mostly Dogon in these pics): it's probalby unfair that I chose mostly mosques, as there is a great deal more that pre-dates Islamic influences.









The world's oldest "skyscraper city", Shibam, Yemen, 2nd C. AD: most of these structures are between 5 to 9 stories in height, supposedly built to protect the city from raiders.






Cheers!

ETA: apologies, used the wrong image for Larabanga, but you get the idea.

reply to post by Blackmarketeer


Thanks Blackmarketeer great contribution.... the site in and about Timbuktu is also very insteresting going back at least to the time of classical Greeks where a city was twice the size of the Islamic era and four times the size of medieval London ..see vid link above

Benin City, Nigeria

R.I.P., young Edo chiefs of Benin City



First Residence of the Colonialists (a looted Edo house)








The houses are of the type you can see in this European document

reply to post by Kilwa


Wow much thanks Kilwa these are new pics I never came across the sun roof is a feature I hadn't expected ..

Spider879
reply to post by Kilwa

 

Wow much thanks Kilwa these are new pics I never came across the sun roof is a feature I hadn't expected ..

I think the majority of Benin City's buildings had that type of roof, eagles were only for major chiefs.

The best thread about Benin City can be found in the Nigerian number 1 forum called Nairaland and it's this
www.nairaland.com...

there are photos as cultural references (as the 2 types of swords of Edo culture, Eben and Ada)





A 1897 photograph of a Benin building

shrine of Orunmila, the spirit of good luck, in the house of Chief Iyase the Younger

Spider879

Forgot to mention that the top of the walls were mounted these soap stone birds carted off as private collections by Cecil Rhodes and C.O some most likely in British Museums, please attention to those pole like things on the wall, that's where the Birds were mounted.

The carving of the lizard or lizard looking thingy reminds me of the carvings at Gobekli Tepe.

A seriously good post. learned something new today. Thanks mate.

coredrill

Spider879

Forgot to mention that the top of the walls were mounted these soap stone birds carted off as private collections by Cecil Rhodes and C.O some most likely in British Museums, please attention to those pole like things on the wall, that's where the Birds were mounted.

The carving of the lizard or lizard looking thingy reminds me of the carvings at Gobekli Tepe.

A seriously good post. learned something new today. Thanks mate.

Now that you mentioned it.yeah they bare some resemblance,but not like these.

Ethiopian Menhirs
African Star Maps Lithics And Megaliths
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Kumasi City, Ghana

Bristish invasion of Kumasi. 1874









house of a priest



house of a sword bearer





temples







Bantama mausoleum before/after




King Prempeh's Palace







bathrooms


great hall

reply to post by Kilwa

Ouuut standing I shared this page with some Japanese friends of minds and they got it I mean the whole thatch roofs and all, along with gridiron streets keep em coming.

Abirem Temple



Abirem Temple with 'modern' :/ roofs added in 1969





Edwenase Temple



Bodwase Temple