Threads

Long reads on African history, governance, economics, culture, and what comes next.

All eras Ancient (before 500 CE) Medieval (500–1500 CE) Pre-colonial (1500–1884) Colonial era (1884–1960s) Independence era (1960s–2000) Contemporary (2000–present) Future systems & solutions

Governance & Political Systems Ancient (before 500 CE)

Aksumite trade — the debate over how state-formation worked

The Aksumite Empire — centred at the highland city of Aksum in present-day Tigray, flourishing from roughly the first to seventh centuries CE — has been the subject …

2 min read · Horn of Africa, Aksum · 27 views

Economic Systems Ancient (before 500 CE)

Aksum and Adulis — the Red Sea trade state Mediterranean histories ignored

Mediterranean classical scholarship has, for two centuries, treated the eastern Roman frontier as ending at the Sinai and resuming at India. Between those points, the maps tend to …

2 min read · Horn of Africa, Red Sea · 21 views

Culture & Traditions Ancient (before 500 CE)

The Ethiopian calendar — and why your computer is seven years behind

Walk into a café in Addis Ababa and ask the barista what year it is and they will say, depending on the season, 2018 or 2019. Your phone …

1 min read · Horn of Africa, Ethiopia · 23 views