Nile Valley Timeline

Use of Mathematics

20,000 BCE

There was the first evidence of use of mathematics. The "Ishango Bones" had inscriptions including 2 columns of odd numbers that added to 60, a left column containing prime numbers between 10 and 20, and the right column containing both added and subtracted numbers.

Opinions on Ishango Bones

20,000 BCE

Statements by Alexander Marshack indicate that the bones could refer to the oldest lunar calendar on earth, stating, “To the maker of such a notation, the 27 and the 33 [marks, notches, scratches etc.] could easily represent ‘two moons.’”10 That is, the month is clearly divided into periods (new moon, first quarter, full moon etc.) but they are not of arithmetically equal periods (Marshack). Claudia Zaslavsky thinks the bone could've been a woman tracking their menstrual cycle.

3500 BCE- Writing is developed in the Nile Valley

3500 BCE

This language was called hieroglyphics which translates to "the words of god". The signs in this language first appeared as pictograms. Pictograms are symbols which represent words. These symbols eventually turned into a language which Nile Valley Civilization society used to communicate with each other. This is important as it is one of the first writing systems in the world. Hieroglyphics were also used in schools to teach children how to write/communicate.

Opinions on Hieroglyphics

3500 BCE

A teacher in Egypt taught her students about hieroglyphics and says that, "I am so happy today that I began to learn the hieroglyphic language. I know that it is a difficult language, but I would like to learn it because it is the language of my ancestors from the time of the Pharaohs. The most important thing that I learned and discovered are the things that were happening at that time in Egypt." It is important that we know about hieroglyphics as it teaches us about the lives of our ancestors.

365 Day Calendar

2510 BCE

The 356-day calendar was first developed by Egyptians, which is equal to one solar year. It consisted of 365 days organized into 12 months of 30 days each, with an additional five epagomenal days (days occurring outside the ordinary temporal construct) grouped at the end of the year (https://www.britannica.com/science/Egyptian-calendar). This Calander is important as we still use something very similar today because it accurately follows one solar year.

Kemetic System

300 BCE

This was an educational system where children would be primary with their mothers until the age of 4. After this, their fathers took over until the child was 7. Children were then sent to a 40-year education program where they study mathematics, astronomy, sciences, technology, architecture, writing, astrology, medicine, geometry, geography, religion, magic and grammar. The schools were in temples and the teachers were priests and scribes.

Opinions on Kemetic Education System

300 BCE

In "The Ancient Kemetic Roots of Library and Information Science" written by Itibari M. Zulu, it is said that the Kemetic System is the foundation of libraries.
Contrary to traditional library history taught in American schools of library and information science, the library, as an institution, and librarianship, as a profession, have their roots in ancient African society. Thus Africa, in addition to being the birthplace of the modern human species, is also the birthplace of librarianship.

University of Sankore

989

This school was fully staffed, had of the largest collections of books with 400-700,000 manuscripts in the library, and housed 25000 students. The University of Sankore was composed of several independent schools or colleges, each run by a single head (scholar or professor). Subjects taught at this school included medicine, mathematics, physics, astronomy, chemistry, philosophy, language, history geography and art. This is significant because universities follow the same format today.

Opinions on The University of Sankore

989

"The scholars of Timbuctoo (Timbuktu) yielded in nothing, to the saints in the sojourns in the foreign universities of Fez, Tunis, and Cairo. They astounded the most learned men of Islam by their erudition. That these Negroes were on a level with the Arabian savants is proved by the fact that they were installed as professors in Morocco and Egypt. In contrast to this, we find that Arabs were not always equal to the requirements of Sankore" (Felix Dubois).