Prior to the establishment of Gondar, the capitals of Ethiopia moved seasonally, whereas in Gondar, settlements remained in the same place for hundreds of years, into the 18th century. Given this stability in terms of place, the empire’s power was consolidated. Learn more in Africa’s Great Civilizations with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., premiering at 9/8c February 27 on PBS.

The origin story of Ile Ife lies at the heart of the Yoruba culture. After death, the Onis were worshipped as Gods, and the artworks called Ife Heads were likely used as icons of power. Learn more in Africa’s Great Civilizations with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., premiering at 9/8c February 27 on PBS.

For over a thousand years, African merchants gathered on the Swahili coast, once known as Azania, to exchange their wares with other merchants from Europe, from Persia, Arabia, even as far east as China. Learn more in Africa’s Great Civilizations with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., premiering at 9/8c February 27 on PBS.

The Great Enclosure of Great Zimbabwe is the largest pre-colonial structure in the whole of Sub-Saharan Africa. It was a statement of majesty, power, wealth, and architectural genius. Learn more in Africa’s Great Civilizations with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., premiering at 9/8c February 27 on PBS.

In the middle of the fourth century, Axumite armies forged their way inland along the Nile Valley, invading new territories and heading for the Great City of Meroe, the third and last capital of the Ancient Kingdom of Kush. Learn more in Africa’s Great Civilizations with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., premiering at 9/8c February 27 on PBS.

When it was founded in the year 1070, Marrakesh was a center of politics and law, but it soon began to attract merchants and craftsmen from the surrounding regions. Learn more in Africa’s Great Civilizations with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., premiering at 9/8c February 27 on PBS.

In the lush forests of modern-day Central African Republic, sometime between 1800 and 1500 BC, craftsmen are believed to have discovered iron. New evidence indicates that ironworking began in the heart of Africa. Learn more in Africa’s Great Civilizations with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., premiering at 9/8c February 27 on PBS.

A quarter of all slaves who crossed the Atlantic Ocean started their journey from what is today the country of Angola. In the 18th Century the transatlantic slave trade reached fever pitch.Just over 50% of all transactions occurred over the course of this century alone. On average, an enormous 65,000 Africans a year were being exported from these shores, reaching a peak of 108,000 in 1791.

The Kingdom of Kongo was one of the largest and most powerful in the southern half Africa. At the heart of the capital in M’banza-Kongo stand the ruins of a building constructed in the middle of the 16th century. It’s one of the most important architectural remains in the history of Sub-Saharan African Christianity. Learn more in Africa’s Great Civilizations with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. on PBS.

Dahomey contained a vast complex of royal palaces. The kingdom also had a unique and distinctive canon of art and architecture. Learn more in Africa’s Great Civilizations with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., premiering at 9/8c February 27 on PBS.

In his new six-hour series, Africa’s Great Civilizations, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. takes a new look at the history of Africa, from the birth of humankind to the dawn of the 20th century.

In his six-hour series, Africa’s Great Civilizations, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. explores the history of Africa, from the birth of humankind to the dawn of the 20th century. This is a breathtaking and personal journey through two hundred thousand years of history, from the origins, on the African continent, of art, writing and civilization itself across the millennia.

The heart of Timbuktu’s intellectual life was its libraries. Between the 14th and the 17th centuries, they acquired hundreds of thousands of books, mostly written by African authors working in the city. Learn more in Africa’s Great Civilizations with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., premiering at 9/8c February 27 on PBS.

Explore 12 churches that were carved out of rock in the ancient Ethiopian highlands. In the 11th century, a new dynasty revived the fortunes of Ethiopia’s once great Christian kingdom to create one of the most spectacular of all religious sites in Africa, and in the World. Learn more in Africa’s Great Civilizations with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., premiering at 9/8c February 27 on PBS.

Did you know that afro combs were used in ancient African civilizations? Burial pits in the Nile Valley have been the source of rare and unique artifacts, dating back more than 6,000 years. Learn more in Africa’s Great Civilizations with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., premiering at 9/8c February 27 on PBS.