African Heritage Tourism

Heritage Tourism in Africa

• World Heritage Sites in Africa have cultural, historical, or natural signficance as recognized by UNESCO.
• Represent the continent's heritage, including ancient temples, historic cities, and unique ecosystems.

Objectives

• Identify cultural, historical, and architectural heritage sites in Africa.
• Enumerate significant natural heritage sites in Africa.
• Rephrase key aspects of literary heritage in Africa.
• Enumerate notable culinary heritage elements in Africa.

Cultural/Historical/Architectural Heritage in Africa

• Africa has a rich tapestry of cultural, historical, and architectural heritage.
• This reflects diverse civilizations and deep-rooted traditions.
• Heritage includes the ancient pyramids of Egypt, Marciana Ulpia Traiana Thamugadi.
• Features ingenuity and spiritual depth.
• Indigenous cultures preserve oral traditions, music, dance, and rituals passed down generations.
• Historic trade routes and empires highlight the significant role in global history.
• This legacy shapes the identity and resilience of African communities today.

Timgad, Algeria

• Located north of the Aurès massif, in a mountainous site, 480 km southeast of Algiers and 110 km south of Constantine.
• Considered a perfect example of a Roman military colony.
• Founded in 100 A.D. by Trajan, as an encampment for the 3rd Augustan Legion, stationed at Lambaesis.
• The layout illustrates Roman urban planning at its height.
• By the mid-2nd century, rapid growth ruptured the original narrow confines.
• Timgad spread beyond the ramparts, with public buildings in new quarters like the Capitolium, temples, markets, and baths.
• Many buildings date from the Severan period, its Golden Age, which included immense private residences.
• A prosperous colony, reflecting Rome's grandeur on Numidian soil.
• Buildings constructed entirely of stone.
• Streets paved with large rectangular limestone slabs, including 14 baths.
• Significant attention paid to public amenities.
• During the Christian period, Timgad was a renowned bishopric.
• A veteran colony where discharged legionaries could settle after 25 years of service.
• Life was to be enjoyed through hunting, bathing, playing games, and laughing.
• Roman forts were rectangular, with gates and principal streets intersecting at the central headquarters or forum.
• Cardo Maximus is a north-south street with porticoes sheltering pedestrians.
• Streets outlined blocks which were about 20 meter square.
• Blocks contained two or three dwellings.
• Houses centered on a courtyard with a portico, triclinium or dining room.
• The curio was a town council meeting place with an Oligarch government, dominated by wealthy citizens.
• The Capitolium- Temple was devoted to Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva
• Civil Basilica was a multipurpose structure used as a courtroom, covered market, and general meeting place.
• Public latrine with 24 stone seats has armrests in the form of dolphins with holes in the seats.
• The theater is beside the forum and has a 4000 person capacity. Made half century.
• Outside Middle of 2nd century-neighborhood began to arise ignoring to original grid of the city. the grandest of all was the new capitolium
• Colonnade plaza is a podium with Corinthian columns larger than the forum.
• Equivalent to a cathedral, a monument to civic wealth, civic piety.
• 3rd century a wealthy citizen built a large new rectangular Market with porticoes to cover merchants stall. with 6 permanent booths.
• Opposite site semicircular exedra housed 9 more stalls. With 2 statues of the donor and his wife
• The most interesting complex is the Great South Baths built on the early 3rd century and has mix of cold, warm, and hot rooms and unique asymmetric layout
• Most important Christian buildings were on the city's outskirts, The Donatist Episcopal Quarter built by members of Christian sect in the 4th century.
• Includes a large church, baptistry, and a bishops residence.
• Churches were built at the center of Timgad and temples were renovated and torn down.
• In the 5th century, Timgad was conquered by the Vandals in the year 430 and retaken by east Roman armies in the 6th century.
• In the 6th century, Byzantine general Solomon erected a massive castle outside the city at a healing spring.
• Central Timgad was demolished to supply stone.
• Arab invasion brought the final ruin of Thamugadi in the 8th century.

Fort Jesus, Mombasa, Kenya

• Built by the Portuguese at the end of the 16th century at the southern edge of the town of Mombasa.
• Fort Jesus bears testimony to the first successful attempt by Western civilization to rule the Indian Ocean trade routes.
• The design, walls and five bastions reflects the military architectural theory of the Renaissance.
• It's structures bear witness to the interchange of cultural values and influences between people of African, Arab, Turkish, Persian and European origin.
• Fort Jesus was a fortress, military base with signficant power.
• The city has been shaped by Mombasa's amazing landscape and has witnessed many battles.
• Attacked 9 times by Arabs and Portuguese.
• Now a national museum with cannons and ancient guns.
• Built with the shape of a human being with head east, limbs north and south, legs west.
• Stands on granite made of coral blocks built over 400 years ago.
• Portuguese Latin landed in Mombasa andbuilt a monumental structure called Jesus.
• The fastest route from European mainland to Goa was across the Indian Ocean.
• Mombasa was strategic, being 4858 km from Goa, India.

Khami Ruins National Monument, Zimbabwe

• Located west of Khami River, 22 km from Bulawayo, on a 1300 m hilltop downstream from a dam built during 1928-1929.
• Occupies 108 ha, spreading 2 km from Passage Ruin to North Ruin.
• It was the capital of the Torwa dynasty, from the collapse of the Shona civilization that was known as the Great Zimbabwe Kingdom (between 1450 -1650).
• Was abandoned during the Ndebele incursions of the 19th century due to overpopulation,environmental degradation and political instability.
• Complex platforms of dry-stone walled structures emulate Stone Age culture development.
• The chief's residence (Mambo) was in the north on the Hill Ruin site with adjacent terraces.
• The population lived in daga huts and cobwork, surrounded by granite walls.
• Agriculture like Sorghum and Millet served backbone of their economy
• Structures display high workmanship, narrow passageways, impressive chevron and chequered wall decorations.
• Inhabited from the mid 15th to late 17th century.
• Revetments or retaining walls were used for the first time in the architectural history of the sub-region at Khami.
• elaborate decorations are apparent and it still has the longest decorated wall in the entire sub-region.
• The archaeological remains showcase long-distance historic trade links with the Portuguese and the world.
• Artefacts include 15th-17th century Spanish porcelain, Rhineland stoneware, and Ming porcelain.
• Displayed in the Museum of Natural History in Bulawayo.
• Includes a monumental granite cross, shows contact with missionaries at a revered spiritual site.

Nubian Monuments from Abu Simbel- Aswan

• Temples moved during the UNESCO International Campaign from 1960 to 1980 because they were significant.
• Saved them from flooding by the Nile and Lake Nasser.
• Remaining five cover antiquities of the Aswan area.
• Carved out of an escarpment of solid rock, The Great Temple at Abu Simbel was designed to allow sunlight to penetrate in the innermost chamber twice annually on the equinoxes.
• Started with grid lines
• They strike the sandstone with a harder stone
• Carved on sandstone cliffs along the Nile 3000 years ago
• has Underground chambers 165 ft deep
• Aswan Dam threatened temples
• They transferred temples block by block for 2 years
• The architect made a gigantic manmade hill
• 1963 Aswan Cold War General Asher initiated construction of the dam.
• Dam would cause the site to be submerged under 200 ft including Abu Simbel.
• Located 186 miles south of Aswan
• Facade has four 65 ft tall statues, the largest in Egypt
• Face spans 6.5 ft length and 3ft width
• 1813 Swiss Explorer Burkhart could only see the heads
• Italian Giovani Boni discovered after 4 years that it was seated not standing
• Has 8 statue 30 ft tall leading to4 seated statues inside
• Ramses II carved in the rock
• at the Pharos feet stand smaller statues: the royal family members
• The wife and mother's height is on his knee but his children only reached his ankle
• At the center is God Raw and baboons worship the sun
• Ramses II ruled for 6 decades (1279 to 1213 BCE) over 3,000 years ago
• Developed golf and diamond mining in Nubia, military campaigns, and a plethora of architectural marvels ex. Abu Simbel
• built in 1255 BC after 20 years
• 58 mentrance to the back and 45 m width
• 14 chambers 3x12 m
• They have excavated tools far from the temples
• Copper as a chisel
• The temple once painted: blue, red, yellow, and green, uses a vegetable mixture of water
• Palm ribs as a paintbrush
• 1964 construction of the dam was created
• Egypt and UNESCO worked together to preserve this heritage
• Used 28,000 tons of resources
• Dam was suggested instead of moving them
• Italian companies cutting hill around monument and buildings box out of reinforced cement
• British said to leave and let it submerge
• 1273 BC Year 31 of Ramses II reign an earthquake happened
• Temples were dedicated to Nefertari and were not just for worship
• Bas reliefs in honor of feminity, Cow Goddes and hippopotamus goddess
• Italian marble quarry got the solution in 1963 that they had the equipment to cut without damage
• Dam to protect from falling debris
• Domes were 60m opening and height of 25m

Natural Heritage in Africa

• Africa has diverse and globally significant natural heritage, with landscapes and ecosystems.
• Includes the savannas of the Serengeti, peaks of Mount Kilimanjaro, rainforests of the Congo Basin, and the Sahara Desert.
• Home to flora and fauna, including elephants, lions, gorillas, and rhinoceroses.
• Wildlife thrives in protected areas such as Kruger National Park and the Okavango Delta.
• Natural heritage supports biodiversity, livelihoods, cultures, and traditions of local communities.

Mosi-oa-Tunya/Victoria Falls, Zambia and Zimbabwe

• The Mosi-oa-Tunya/Victoria Falls is the world's greatest sheet of falling water.
• Significant for its geological and geomorphological features and active land formation processes.
• Outstanding beauty includes spray, mist and rainbows.
• Scottish Explorer in 1855 David Livingston discovered falls named it Victoria Falls
• Indigenous name is Mosi-oa-tunya, aka "the smoke that thunders"
• Sits on African nations Zambia and Zimbabwe.
• Zambezi river is lifeblood of Southern Africa.
• Zambezi's 2,700 km flows to 6 countries is one of Africa's most significant waterways
• Falls are 110 m height; 1,700 m wide at a height twice that of Niagara
• The spray can rise over 1,300 ft into the air
• Mist creates microclimate around the falls
• Rainbows add to the magical atmosphere and mist supports flora and fauna
• The rainforest has birds, exotic plains for biodiversity hot spots
• Rivers about tales of the spirits and goddesses home of Nyami Nyimi
• Oldest waterfall is 200,000 years old
• More tale about spirit of heart broken maiden lost love

Kilimanjaro National Park, Tanzania

• Covers 75,575 ha and includes the largest free standing volcanic mass.
• Highest mountain in Africa, rising 5,895m at its peak with snow-capped peak.
• A superlative natural phenomenon in standing elevation above the plains with savanna
• Often described as the white peaks of the equator
• Located in Northern Tanzania, East of Africa and rises from the savanna
• Has the dormant volcano and has sight of Senecio plants
• Lava Tower Landmark at 4,600 m elevation

Namib Sand Sea, Namibia

• Lies along the arid African coast of the South Atlantic
• located within Namibia's Namib-Naukluft Park and covers 3,077,700 hectares.
• Another 899,500 hectares designated as a buffer zone.
• A unique coastal fog desert encompassing a diverse array of large, shifting dunes.
• An outstanding example of the geomorphological and consequences of wind-driven processes.
• The oldest deserts stretching over 1,399miles along Atlantic coast
• The Dunes reach heights of over 1,000 ft
• Designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO

Literary Heritage Africa

• Africa's literary heritage grows through oral and written traditions that reflect cultures, histories, and philosophies.
• African societies pass down stories, proverbs, poems, and epics through oral storytelling presented by traditional storytellers.
• narratives preserve wisdom, values, and historical accounts such as Chinua Achebe Nadine Gordimer
• African literature continues to evolve with rich perspectives

Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali

• Maghan Kon Fatta was the father of Sundiata and king of Niani, whom a soothsaying hunter foretells he will produce ruler
• Later, two hunters offer daughter, Sogolon as his wife, in who they are destined to have a child with, she refuses to let him consummate the marriage
• Two hunters were taught by old women
• In childhood, King is gifted ballad
• Mother

Things Fall Apart- Chinua Achebe

• Protagonist is Okonkwo and revolves the Igbo culture; he is a leader within the Igbo community of Umuofia in eastern Nigeria
• Was referred to agbala because of weakness similar to women
• Later the main leader cares for boy named Ikemefuna
• Ochonkwo has depression

Culinary Heritage Africa

• The vibrancy of the culinary heritage in Africa is the fusion of indigenous ingredients, traditional cooking methods, and cultural influences through genrations
• West Africa is known for stews and spices
• East Africa like Ethiopia feature dishes with influences of India
• African cuisine reflects the history of the continent, biodiversity and the culture.