The Source — Africa Before the Atlantic
La Source — L'Afrique avant l'Atlantique
Five scholarly works tracing Africa's deep history — from the earliest human civilizations through the Atlantic slave trade era. The continent that Haiti's founders called home.
The Gods of Dahomey
Les Dieux du Dahomey
The three great pantheons of Dahomean religion — Sky, Earth, and Thunder — and the ancestral cult that connected the living to the dead. Based on the Herskovits' 1931 fieldwork.
Spirits, Magic, and the Sacred
Esprits, magie et le sacré
From the initiation rites that remake the self to the three souls dwelling in every human body, from the divine trickster Legba to the magic charms that arm the living against fate, this course descends into the deepest chambers of Dahomean spiritual life.
Africa and the Dawn of Humanity
L'Afrique et l'aube de l'humanité
The case for Africa as the birthplace of world history: from the first fully modern humans to the independent invention of ceramics, iron metallurgy, and cotton weaving. Based on Ehret Chapters 1-2.
Egypt, Africa, and the World
L'Égypte, l'Afrique et le monde
The deeply African foundations of ancient Egyptian culture, the Afrasian language family, the Middle Nile Culture Area, and Africa's integral place in early global history. Based on Ehret chapters 5-6.
Society, Commerce, and the First Cities
Société, commerce et les premières cités
Africa as the birthplace of agricultural exchange and commercial revolution: from twelve independent origins of farming to the towns of Tichit, the Congo basin trade networks, and the donkey that changed world transport. Based on Ehret Chapters 3-4.