10 Most Myserious Lost Empires From Africa

From mysterious civilizations with incredible artwork to kingdoms with far reaching trade routes, here are 10 lost empires of Africa you didn’t know about. Follow us on instagram! https://www.instagram.com/katrinaexplained/ Subscribe For New Videos! http://goo.gl/UIzLeB Check out these videos you might like: Unbelievable Animals SAVING Other Animals! 🐯https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxehUWvMr38 LARGEST Animals Ever Discovered! 🐙https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Yj7F_tPYsU Wild Animals That SAVED Human Lives! 🐻https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mllqeVSsIl0 10. THE LAND OF PUNT Historical accounts of Punt, one of the most mysterious ancient African civilizations, date back to around 2500 B.C. The Egyptians, who at one point viewed Punt as their place of origin, called it “the land of the gods” and admired its rich resources, including ebony, gold, myrrh, plants, and exotic animals. 9. NOK CULTURE One of West Africa’s earliest known societies, the Nok culture, existed in modern-day Nigeria from around 500 B.C. to the second century A.D. The Nok were known for their distinctive terracotta sculptures of human heads and figures, which have been unearthed across a vast 30,116 square mile (78,000 km2) area. 8. ALWA The medieval Nubian kingdom of Alwa, also called Alodia, was situated in what is now central and southern Sudan. Out of the three medieval Nubian kingdoms that existed, Alwa is the least studied, and only its capital, Soba, has been thoroughly excavated out of numerous known sites relating to the empire. 7. AKSUM The ancient East African Kingdom of Aksum, also called the Aksumite Empire, formed around 80 B.C. in what are now northern Ethiopia and Eritrea. Little is known about its origins. 6. BENIN The very beginnings of the Kingdom of Benin started during the 10th century, when the Edo people cleared settlements in the rainforest of West Africa, in what is now Nigeria. Originally, they lived in small family groups, which eventually came together to form a kingdom called Igodomigodo. 5. ZIMBABWE A series of stone ruins located in modern-day Masvingo in central Zimbabwe represent the former capital of the fallen Kingdom of Zimbabwe, a Bantu-speaking Shona empire that thrived during southern Africa’s Late Iron Age. The city was first inhabited during the 11th century and thrived between the 13th and 15th centuries, reaching a population of around 20,000 at its peak. 4. MAPUNGUBWE One of the kingdoms that eventually contributed to the formation of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe was that of Mapungubwe. Located south of Great Zimbabwe, the city of Mapungubwe was situated along the borders of modern-day South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Botswana. 3. KONGO From the 14th to the 19th centuries, the Kingdom of Kongo operated as an independent state, occupying an area on central Africa’s western coast that now includes parts of modern-day Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. While its origins are somewhat obscure, the civilization was wildly successful, consisting of around two million people at its peak. 2. MALI In the year 1240, a Malinke prince named Sundiata Keita founded the Mali Empire in West Africa. It eventually became Africa’s largest kingdom, thanks to Sundiata’s policies, including a centralized government, a well-trained military, and diplomacy. The Mali Empire gained further power during the 14th century under Mansa Musa I, who vastly expanded the kingdom’s territory, wealth, and culture. 1. SONGHAI The Songhai Empire rose to power during the kingdom of Mali’s decline in the late 14th century, eventually seizing Timbuktu, the region’s largest city, under a military commander named Sunni Ali Ber, who became the first Songhai king. From there, the Songhai Empire expanded, occupying more major cities and taking control of various trade routes across the Sahara Desert.