The History of Africa

In this first episode, Zeinab Badawi travels across the continent examining the origins of humankind; how and why we evolved in Africa - Africa is the greatest exporter of all time: every human being originated in Africa. During her journey Zeinab is granted rare access to the actual bones of one of the most iconic discoveries in the field of palaeontology, ‘Lucy' in Ethiopia, or as she is known in Amharic, ‘Dinkenesh’, which means ‘you are marvellous’. Zeinab also spends time in Tanzania with a tribe that is unique in the world because they live in the way our ancestors did, as hunters of big animals and gatherers. This community who have rarely been filmed provide a fascinating insight into how we have lived for most of our history.

Zeinab Badawi continues her journey through the history of human development travelling to meet the Maasai of east Africa - one of the best known of the continent’s ethnic groups. They help explain how human beings began to domesticate animals and become pastoralists. Then in Zimbabwe with one lively farming family, Zeinab examines how humans also began to settle and make a living from farming. And she also looks at how the Iron Age transformed life in Africa and paved the way for the development of rich urban civilisations.

Zeinab Badawi’s quest to uncover the history of Africa takes her to Egypt where she explores the most famous civilisation on the continent that of the ancient Egyptians. Zeinab takes you beyond the usual coverage of the pharaohs, mummies and pyramids and examines the controversial question of who the ancient Egyptians actually were. What was their ethnicity? What made such a great civilisation possible and how did the ancient Egyptians order their society? And she is also allowed to capture on film the mummy and treasures of the famous boy king Tutankhamun.

In the fourth episode, Zeinab Badawi travels to the country of her birth and the very region of her forefathers: northern Sudan. Here, she examines a little known aspect of ancient African history: the Kingdom of Kush. Zeinab explains how, in the eighth century BC, Kush conquered and governed in Egypt for the best part of 100 years, becoming a regional superpower with their influence extending to the modern day Middle East. Zeinab also visits some of the best preserved of Sudan's 1,000 pyramids and uncovers how the customs of Kush are still maintained to this day.

Zeinab Badawi travels to the little-visited country of Eritrea and neighbouring Ethiopia, to chart the rise of the Kingdom of Aksum. Described as one of the four greatest civilisations of the ancient world, Zeinab examines archaeological remains - in both countries - dating from many hundreds of years before Christ. She explains how the Kings of Aksum grew rich and powerful from their control of the Red Sea trade and how they were one of the first civilisations that officially embraced Christianity in the 4th century. Zeinab also discovers why the Queen of Sheba and the Sacred Ark of the Covenant are so critical to the story of Aksum.

In the sixth episode, Zeinab Badawi focuses on the fall of the kingdom of Aksum, and how the Christian kings that followed in Aksum's wake left powerful legacies, especially that of King Lalibela. She also charts the arrival of Islam in this part of Africa and how the Christian kings and Muslim emirs co-existed.

In the 7th episode, Zeinab Badawi's exploration of Africa's rich history focuses on North Africa. She travels to Morocco to discover more about the original inhabitants of the region, in particular the Berbers, the best-known of the people of North Africa. She delves into the history of the great Berber kings to understand how they managed to retain their influence when North Africa came under Roman rule.

In this episode, Zeinab Badawi examines religion in Africa. First the enduring presence of Africa's indigenous ancestral religions, which millions of people on the continent still adhere to. She travels to Zimbabwe to find out more about a remote community that follows traditional African religion. In Senegal she meets a Muslim man who blends Islamic beliefs with his ancestral ones. She also charts the impact of Judaism and early Christianity in Africa and how Africans in particular made significant contributions to Christian thinking and practice.

In the final episode Zeinab Badawi travels to several countries and looks at the early spread of Islam in Africa and how many Africans practise to this day a mystic, Sufi form of the religion. She shows how Arab culture came to influence a large part of the continent - particularly in the north. And she charts the rise of the powerful Islamic dynasties of North Africa, that built magnificent monuments, mosques and empires - including a part of southern Europe.