Maps of Omotic
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).
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: Omotic in Northern Africa
Omotic 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 Omotic languages are spoken today. Although study of this subgroup is still in the early stages and many remain unwritten, this relatively small area maintains a strong speaker population. Many of the languages share a very similar vocabulary with neighboring Cushitic languages, and were formally classified under this subgroup (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 Africa ca. 100 CE (Ehret)
Peoples, states and cities in Africa, ca. 100 CE
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 important groups, empires and cities in Africa circa 100 CE according to Christopher Ehret. As shown, the Roman Empire controlled a vast territory along the northern coast and the Nile river. Roman expansion and trade facilitated the transmission of new technologies throughout the continent, especially ironworking. Other major cultural changes were occurring as well; Christianity began spreading throughout Northern Africa and Aksum was one of the first major kingdoms to convert around 200 years later.
Source: The Civilizations of Africa: A History to 1800. 2002. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia.
Date Created: 2002.
Map Description:
This map displays important groups, empires and cities in Africa circa 100 CE according to Christopher Ehret. As shown, the Roman Empire controlled a vast territory along the northern coast and the Nile river. Roman expansion and trade facilitated the transmission of new technologies throughout the continent, especially ironworking. Other major cultural changes were occurring as well; Christianity began spreading throughout Northern Africa and Aksum was one of the first major kingdoms to convert around 200 years later.
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).
Peoples, Cities and States in northern Africa ca. 850-875 (Ehret)
Peoples, states and cities in the northern half of Africa, ca. 850-875
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 important groups and locations in northern Africa around 850-875. To name a few of the important events of this period, Islamic settlement and continued expansion under differing Caliphates influenced much of the north of the continent, even spreading into modern-day Spain and Portugal. At the edge of the African continent, the Abbasid Caliphate was deeply involved in several wars, including those against the Byzantine and Omayyad Empires.
Source: The Civilizations of Africa: A History to 1800. 2002. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia.
Date Created: 2002.
Map Description:
This map displays the important groups and locations in northern Africa around 850-875. To name a few of the important events of this period, Islamic settlement and continued expansion under differing Caliphates influenced much of the north of the continent, even spreading into modern-day Spain and Portugal. At the edge of the African continent, the Abbasid Caliphate was deeply involved in several wars, including those against the Byzantine and Omayyad Empires.
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 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).