Maps of Cushitic
African Agriculture ca. 3500 BCE (Ehret)
African Agriculture Circa 3500 B.C.E.
Map Creator:
Christopher Ehret
Source: Ehret, Christopher. 2002. The Civilizations of Africa: A History to 1800. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia. 87.
Date Created: 2002.
Map Description:
This illustrates Ehret's hypothesis regarding the state of agricultural development in Africa circa 3500 B.C.E. The main changes that Ehret points out occur within two particular groups, although all were expanding. As the Cushitic peoples spread west, they began absorbing many former Omotic groups into their societies. Further across the continent, the West African planting agricultural tradition continued spreading to the belt of western rainforest near the Atlantic coast.
Source: Ehret, Christopher. 2002. The Civilizations of Africa: A History to 1800. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia. 87.
Date Created: 2002.
Map Description:
This illustrates Ehret's hypothesis regarding the state of agricultural development in Africa circa 3500 B.C.E. The main changes that Ehret points out occur within two particular groups, although all were expanding. As the Cushitic peoples spread west, they began absorbing many former Omotic groups into their societies. Further across the continent, the West African planting agricultural tradition continued spreading to the belt of western rainforest near the Atlantic coast.
Note: Scanned or downloaded images have been geo-registered for compatibility with our project interface. Slight imperfections are an inevitable result of the registration process. View original image(s) to see the unaltered map(s).
African Agriculture ca. 5500 BCE (Ehret)
African Agriculture ca. 5500 BCE
Map Creator:
Christopher Ehret
Source: The Civilizations of Africa: A History to 1800. 2002. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia.
Date Created: 2002.
Map Description:
This map displays the state and distribution of agricultural practices in Africa circa 5500 BCE. The Omotic culture was slowly being absorbed by expanding Cushitic agripastoralists, while Middle Eastern pastoralists were spreading through the Arabian peninsula to parts of Asia and Europe. The map African Agriculture ca. 3500 BCE further illustrates Ehret's historical hypothesis regarding the distribution of techniques and peoples in the northern half of the continent (Ehret).
Source: The Civilizations of Africa: A History to 1800. 2002. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia.
Date Created: 2002.
Map Description:
This map displays the state and distribution of agricultural practices in Africa circa 5500 BCE. The Omotic culture was slowly being absorbed by expanding Cushitic agripastoralists, while Middle Eastern pastoralists were spreading through the Arabian peninsula to parts of Asia and Europe. The map African Agriculture ca. 3500 BCE further illustrates Ehret's historical hypothesis regarding the distribution of techniques and peoples in the northern half of the continent (Ehret).
Note: Scanned or downloaded images have been geo-registered for compatibility with our project interface. Slight imperfections are an inevitable result of the registration process. View original image(s) to see the unaltered map(s).
African Civilizations ca. 9000-6700 BCE (Ehret)
African Civilizations, 9000-6700 B.C.E.
Map Creator:
Christopher Ehret
Source: Ehret, Christopher. 2002. The Civilizations of Africa: A History to 1800. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia. 63.
Date Created: 2002.
Map Description:
This map displays the locations of African civilizations between 9000 and 6700 B.C.E. Despite the widespread nature of the group, Ehret has refrained from outlining the BaTwa (often known as "pygmies" in European languages) homeland, although it seems that their general location has remained relatively steady through to the modern age.
Source: Ehret, Christopher. 2002. The Civilizations of Africa: A History to 1800. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia. 63.
Date Created: 2002.
Map Description:
This map displays the locations of African civilizations between 9000 and 6700 B.C.E. Despite the widespread nature of the group, Ehret has refrained from outlining the BaTwa (often known as "pygmies" in European languages) homeland, although it seems that their general location has remained relatively steady through to the modern age.
Note: Scanned or downloaded images have been geo-registered for compatibility with our project interface. Slight imperfections are an inevitable result of the registration process. View original image(s) to see the unaltered map(s).
Cushitic, Omotic: The Spread of Cushitic and Omotic (Newman)
The Spread of Cushitic and Omotic
Source: Newman, James L. 1995. The Peopling of Africa. New Haven: Yale University Press. 53.
Date Digitized: 2009
Map Description:
This map outlines the early years of Cushitic spreading and some of the resulting diversity. In his book, Newman discusses how changes in agriculture lead to the diversification of Cushitic. Central Cushitic developed among grain cultivators and herders, and when groups migrated south into Tanzania and Kenya, their language became what is now known as southern Cushitic. Northern Cushitic was located predominantly in the arid lowlands, while the eastern branch was located in the southern rift valleys. He argues that ensete cultivators, which had once been thought to speak "western Cushitic", were most likely Omotic speakers.
Date Digitized: 2009
Map Description:
This map outlines the early years of Cushitic spreading and some of the resulting diversity. In his book, Newman discusses how changes in agriculture lead to the diversification of Cushitic. Central Cushitic developed among grain cultivators and herders, and when groups migrated south into Tanzania and Kenya, their language became what is now known as southern Cushitic. Northern Cushitic was located predominantly in the arid lowlands, while the eastern branch was located in the southern rift valleys. He argues that ensete cultivators, which had once been thought to speak "western Cushitic", were most likely Omotic speakers.
Note: Scanned or downloaded images have been geo-registered for compatibility with our project interface. Slight imperfections are an inevitable result of the registration process. View original image(s) to see the unaltered map(s).
Cushitic: Cushitic Groupings (Bender)
Cushitic Groupings
Source:
M. Lionel Bender (ed.). 1976. The Non-Semitic Languages of Ethiopia. Easting Lansing: African Studies Center, Michigan State University. 90.
Date Digitized: 2009
Map Description:
This map illustrates the suggested Cushitic groupings in Ethiopia around the 3rd millennium B.C. It shows the location of several groups which would later develop into many of today's modern Cushitic populations (Bender 1976).
Date Digitized: 2009
Map Description:
This map illustrates the suggested Cushitic groupings in Ethiopia around the 3rd millennium B.C. It shows the location of several groups which would later develop into many of today's modern Cushitic populations (Bender 1976).
Note: Scanned or downloaded images have been geo-registered for compatibility with our project interface. Slight imperfections are an inevitable result of the registration process. View original image(s) to see the unaltered map(s).
North Africa: Cushitic in Northern Africa
Cushitic in Northern Africa
Data Source:
Irvine, A. K. and David Appleyard. 2007. "The Middle East and North Africa". In R. E. Asher & Christopher Moseley (eds.). Atlas of the World’s Languages. Oxford: Routledge.
"Afro-Asiatic: Composite 2010". MultiTree: A Digital Library of Language Relationships
Date Digitized: May 2011.
Map Description:
The areas pictured display locations of where Cushitic languages are spoken today. Although there are many languages within the group, only Somali has status as an official language of a country (Somalia). Most of the languages are relatively small, being spoken by anywhere between several hundred and several thousand people (Irvine and Appleyard 2007).
This original map was made by vectorizing data from the MultiTree language database and the Atlas of the World's Languages.
Other resources related to this project:
This folder (Northern African Languages) contains other maps showing linguistic subgroups. The maps may be overlaid on each other for a more complete picture.
Note: Scanned or downloaded images have been geo-registered for compatibility with our project interface. Slight imperfections are an inevitable result of the registration process.
North Africa: Semitic in Northern Africa
Semitic in Northern Africa
Data Source:
Irvine, A. K. and David Appleyard. 2007. "The Middle East and North Africa". In R. E. Asher & Christopher Moseley (eds.). Atlas of the World’s Languages. Oxford: Routledge.
"Afro-Asiatic: Composite 2010". MultiTree: A Digital Library of Language Relationships
Date Digitized: May 2011.
Map Description:
The areas pictured display locations of where Semitic languages are spoken in northern Africa today. According to Irvine and Appleyard (2007), "it is estimated that over 200 million people speak one or another of the many and varied forms of dialect Arabic," which accounts for a large percentage of the featured section of the continent inhabited by Semitic speakers. Because of the immense variation within dialect areas, some sections of this map have been labeled to indicate that there is a group of language variations in a continuum, sharing a particular shaded area (Irvine and Appleyard 2007).
This original map was made by vectorizing data from the MultiTree language database and the Atlas of the World's Languages.
Other resources related to this project:
This folder (Northern African Languages) contains other maps showing linguistic subgroups. The maps may be overlaid on each other for a more complete picture.
"Afro-Asiatic: Composite 2010". MultiTree: A Digital Library of Language Relationships
Date Digitized: May 2011.
Map Description:
The areas pictured display locations of where Semitic languages are spoken in northern Africa today. According to Irvine and Appleyard (2007), "it is estimated that over 200 million people speak one or another of the many and varied forms of dialect Arabic," which accounts for a large percentage of the featured section of the continent inhabited by Semitic speakers. Because of the immense variation within dialect areas, some sections of this map have been labeled to indicate that there is a group of language variations in a continuum, sharing a particular shaded area (Irvine and Appleyard 2007).
This original map was made by vectorizing data from the MultiTree language database and the Atlas of the World's Languages.
Other resources related to this project:
This folder (Northern African Languages) contains other maps showing linguistic subgroups. The maps may be overlaid on each other for a more complete picture.
Note: Scanned or downloaded images have been geo-registered for compatibility with our project interface. Slight imperfections are an inevitable result of the registration process.
Peoples, Cities and States in northern Africa ca. 1550 (Ehret)
Peoples, states and cities in the northern half of Africa, ca. 1550
Map Creator:
Christopher Ehret
Source: The Civilizations of Africa: A History to 1800. 2002. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia.
Date Created: 2002.
Map Description:
Shown here are important kingdoms, groups and cities in northern Africa around 1550. Important details of the period include the fate of the large Songay Empire, the expansion of the kingdom of Morocco and European colonization. The Songay Empire suffered from internal political turmoil and degenerated into civil war in the 1580s as it collapsed. Meanwhile, the kingdom of Morocco was growing in power, and steady trade with Europeans provided them with superior weapons, allowing them to expand further as they conquered former Songay lands. European colonial powers vied for forts and trade agreements along the Atlantic coast, although large settlements were rare (Ehret).
Source: The Civilizations of Africa: A History to 1800. 2002. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia.
Date Created: 2002.
Map Description:
Shown here are important kingdoms, groups and cities in northern Africa around 1550. Important details of the period include the fate of the large Songay Empire, the expansion of the kingdom of Morocco and European colonization. The Songay Empire suffered from internal political turmoil and degenerated into civil war in the 1580s as it collapsed. Meanwhile, the kingdom of Morocco was growing in power, and steady trade with Europeans provided them with superior weapons, allowing them to expand further as they conquered former Songay lands. European colonial powers vied for forts and trade agreements along the Atlantic coast, although large settlements were rare (Ehret).
Note: Scanned or downloaded images have been geo-registered for compatibility with our project interface. Slight imperfections are an inevitable result of the registration process. View original image(s) to see the unaltered map(s).
The Countries of Dadog History (Ehret)
The Countries of Dadog History
Source:
Ehret, Christopher. 1971. Southern Nilotic History. Evanston: Northwestern University Press. 57.
Date Digitized: 2009
Map Description:
In his book Southern Nilotic History, Christopher Ehret discusses a number of possible settlements and linguistic interactions of the Dadog of the Masai. He uses loanword evidence to support his hypothesis that they expanded mainly southward, eventually living as far south as central Masailand. They influenced many peoples that they encountered; the linguistic affects seen in Sonjo are particularly strong, and Ehret suggests that this may indicate that the Sonjo live in much the same way and location today as they did in the past.
Other LL-MAP resources related to this project:
Directions of Southern Nilotic Expansion ca. 400-1000 AD (Ehret)
The Proto-Kalenjin and their Neighbors (Ehret)
The Kalenjin from 1400-1500 AD (Ehret)
Date Digitized: 2009
Map Description:
In his book Southern Nilotic History, Christopher Ehret discusses a number of possible settlements and linguistic interactions of the Dadog of the Masai. He uses loanword evidence to support his hypothesis that they expanded mainly southward, eventually living as far south as central Masailand. They influenced many peoples that they encountered; the linguistic affects seen in Sonjo are particularly strong, and Ehret suggests that this may indicate that the Sonjo live in much the same way and location today as they did in the past.
Other LL-MAP resources related to this project:
Directions of Southern Nilotic Expansion ca. 400-1000 AD (Ehret)
The Proto-Kalenjin and their Neighbors (Ehret)
The Kalenjin from 1400-1500 AD (Ehret)
Note: Scanned or downloaded images have been geo-registered for compatibility with our project interface. Slight imperfections are an inevitable result of the registration process. View original image(s) to see the unaltered map(s).
The Early Dispersal of Afroasiatic (Blench)
The Early Dispersal of Afroasiatic
Source: Blench, Roger. 2006. Archaeology, Language, and the African Past. Lanham: AltaMira Press. 159.
Date Digitized: 2009
Map Description:
This map illustrates the early homelands (> 10000 B.C.E and > 7500 B.C.E. respectively) of Afroasiatic as well as the homelands of the Omotic and Cushitic speakers. Surrounding the speaker locations are the migration paths the Cushitic groups took as they moved, as discussed by Roger Blench. Combined with his map entitled 'The Later Dispersal of Afroasiatic', it presents a model which explains the distribution of Afroasiatic languages prior to the Arabic expansion beginning in the seventh century.
Other LL-MAP resources related to this project:
The Later Dispersal of Afroasiatic (Blench)
The Inter-Saharan Hypothesis (Blench)
Date Digitized: 2009
Map Description:
This map illustrates the early homelands (> 10000 B.C.E and > 7500 B.C.E. respectively) of Afroasiatic as well as the homelands of the Omotic and Cushitic speakers. Surrounding the speaker locations are the migration paths the Cushitic groups took as they moved, as discussed by Roger Blench. Combined with his map entitled 'The Later Dispersal of Afroasiatic', it presents a model which explains the distribution of Afroasiatic languages prior to the Arabic expansion beginning in the seventh century.
Other LL-MAP resources related to this project:
The Later Dispersal of Afroasiatic (Blench)
The Inter-Saharan Hypothesis (Blench)
Note: Scanned or downloaded images have been geo-registered for compatibility with our project interface. Slight imperfections are an inevitable result of the registration process. View original image(s) to see the unaltered map(s).
The Inter-Saharan Hypothesis (Blench)
The Inter-Saharan Hypothesis
Source: Blench, Roger. 2006. Archeology, Language, and the African Past. Lanham: AltaMira Press. 162.
Date Digitized: 2009
Map Description:
This map illustrates the Inter-Saharan Hypothesis proposed by Roger Blench. This model emphasizes that the common agripastoral vocabulary shared by Cushitic pastoralists and Chadic speakers, along with the widespread archeological evidence of Cushitic migrations, explains their influence on the Afroasiatic language family. It differs from other postulations surrounding Afroasiatic because it focuses on east to west movement and its consequences, rather than exclusively on those which stemmed from North Africa and moved south, for which much more evidence is documented.
Other LL-MAP resources related to this project:
The Early Dispersal of Afroasiatic (Blench)
The Later Dispersal of Afroasiatic (Blench)
Date Digitized: 2009
Map Description:
This map illustrates the Inter-Saharan Hypothesis proposed by Roger Blench. This model emphasizes that the common agripastoral vocabulary shared by Cushitic pastoralists and Chadic speakers, along with the widespread archeological evidence of Cushitic migrations, explains their influence on the Afroasiatic language family. It differs from other postulations surrounding Afroasiatic because it focuses on east to west movement and its consequences, rather than exclusively on those which stemmed from North Africa and moved south, for which much more evidence is documented.
Other LL-MAP resources related to this project:
The Early Dispersal of Afroasiatic (Blench)
The Later Dispersal of Afroasiatic (Blench)
Note: Scanned or downloaded images have been geo-registered for compatibility with our project interface. Slight imperfections are an inevitable result of the registration process. View original image(s) to see the unaltered map(s).
The Later Dispersal of Afroasiatic (Blench)
The Later Dispersal of Afroasiatic
Source: Blench, Roger. 2006. Archeology, Language, and the African Past. Lanham: AltaMira Press. 160.
Date Digitized: 2009
Map Description:
This map illustrates the later locations and migrations of several African language groups, including the Semitic, Bantu, Nilotic, Berber, Afroasiatic and Chadic speakers, as discussed by Roger Blench. Combined with his map entitled "The Early Dispersal of Afroasiatic", it presents a model which explains the distribution of Afroasiatic languages prior to the Arabic expansion beginning in the seventh century. Two of the languages indicated, Guanche and Elamitic, are extinct; Blench notes that the arrow marking the latter's progress is very uncertain.
Other LL-MAP resources related to this project:
The Early Dispersal of Afroasiatic (Blench)
The Inter-Saharan Hypothesis (Blench)
Date Digitized: 2009
Map Description:
This map illustrates the later locations and migrations of several African language groups, including the Semitic, Bantu, Nilotic, Berber, Afroasiatic and Chadic speakers, as discussed by Roger Blench. Combined with his map entitled "The Early Dispersal of Afroasiatic", it presents a model which explains the distribution of Afroasiatic languages prior to the Arabic expansion beginning in the seventh century. Two of the languages indicated, Guanche and Elamitic, are extinct; Blench notes that the arrow marking the latter's progress is very uncertain.
Other LL-MAP resources related to this project:
The Early Dispersal of Afroasiatic (Blench)
The Inter-Saharan Hypothesis (Blench)
Note: Scanned or downloaded images have been geo-registered for compatibility with our project interface. Slight imperfections are an inevitable result of the registration process. View original image(s) to see the unaltered map(s).