African Icons: Ten People Who Shaped History

African Icons presents brief biographies of six men and four women who were influential in their times and often remained subjects of study long after their deaths. It reaches back in time to the founder of the First Dynasty of ancient Egypt when Menes united Upper and Lower Egypt beginning around 3032 BCE and ends with Queen Idia who helped her son ascend to the throne of the Kingdom of Benin following the death of his father in 1504 CE. In her role as iyoba or queen mother, she helped ensure the new king’s successful diplomatic ties with Portugal and established a new tradition of iyoba who focused much of their energy as mothers on ensuring that their first born sons would inherit the kingdom.

Many of the biographies focus upon great leaders who built empires, often at the cost of tremendous bloodshed. The accounts of the rise of ancient civilizations and kingdoms in northern and central Africa are important because they introduce readers to the vast history of pre-colonial African cultures, learning, governance, trade and development. The tales predate the modern era when white slave traders and colonizers pillaged the continent and enslaved many people to work on plantations in their transatlantic colonies.

Slavery and warfare are ancient human conditions that persist to this day. The book includes accounts of two storytellers who were bought as slaves in Africa and taken to ancient Greece and Rome. Aesop, the fable author was likely born in Ethiopia around 620 BCE and taken to the Greek island of Samos. His animist tales were so powerful that he eventually became a free person, and his tales have been retold throughout history. Terence was purchased in Carthage by a Roman senator and taken to Rome. His name was given to him by his purchaser. Because the senator was impressed by Terence’s storytelling skills, he paid for his education and eventually freed him. The six plays that he wrote over a six year period beginning with Andria (166 BCE) were adaptations of earlier Greek comedies told in a new form that became known as comedy of manners. “This style pokes fun at contemporary society and culture, especially making fun of the behavior of the upper class.” His plays, written in Latin, were copied by Latin scholars over the centuries and inspired more recent literary playwrights including Thornton Wilder.

Baptiste inserts short chapters on cultural, economic and social developments between many of the biographies in order to add contextual information that aids the understanding of topics discussed. For example, a lead into the chapter on Aesop discusses the widespread love of stories told as proverbs, cautionary tales, and trickster tales, all emerging from a belief in animism—“the idea that plants, animals, and other natural objects have their own souls.” A chapter before the biography of Mansa Musa summarizes ancient developments in metallurgy and mining, the growth of trade channels including the emergence of caravan routes across the Sahara desert, and the spread of Islam from Arabia as Muslim caliphs began to infiltrate Africa in the mid 600s CE to both conquer and convert. Musa’s pilgrimage to Mecca in order to complete the hajj is described as a generous spectacle that helped him establish new trading partners, inspired new centres of learning, and introduced new architectural styles to his kingdom.

While the history of ancient civilizations seems to have been erased from the Ontario education curriculum, the marvels of ancient Egypt remain the best known stories of pre-colonial Africa. Another well-known icon is Hannibal Barca, the Carthaginian general who took his battle with Rome to the European continent. His strategies and bold maneuvers were adopted by his enemies and are studied to this day by military strategists. African Icons will inspire curious readers to explore the history of Black Africa and Africans more fully.

Hillary D. Wilson is both a medical and general illustrator. Her 10 portraits in African Icons incorporate details described in the text, but most must be regarded as the artist’s interpretation due to the paucity of visual images from the archaeological and material remains. A few photographs depict objects, including a stela, a brass weight, the French-commissioned map called the Catalan Atlas (1375 CE) that depicts the legendary Mansa Musa several decades after his death, and one of two known ivory pendants featuring a portrait of Queen Idia. Other illustrative features include two interesting maps of Africa. One situated much like a centrefold locates all 10 icons on the continent along with coloured coding to show the extent of the Sahara desert at three different times, the extent of major kingdoms, locations of ancient libraries and the locations of significant developments, such as earliest ironworking, earliest bow and arrow, and earliest knives. The modern outlines of country borders are faintly shown. A second map appearing near the beginning of the book nicely illustrates “The True Size of Africa” as it overlays the continent with numerous jigsaw shapes of more than a dozen countries and regions of the world shown in proportional size. Readers unfamiliar with basic cartography will appreciate this visualization that shows in images just how large the African continent is--second only to Asia. A general observation, however, is that more images, for example that of a step pyramid, would have enriched the text considerably.

Unfortunately, African Icons uses only imperial measurements. There is no glossary, and perhaps it is uncalled for as some new words like vizier and griot are described in the text but others like electrum are not. There is a useful index. Extensive “source notes” include journal and magazine articles, books, and webpages. URLs are included for content viewed electronically. Also included is a “select bibliography” extending to more than five pages.