Upon recent indulgence with the continent through diasporadical voyages and connections during festive seasons and other individual expeditions, Africa has had her name all over the world, and this time somewhat for the right reasons, fostering many and massive collaborations with small entities to big corporations. The image and illustrations of the continent Africa back then had not been the kind to share smiles for: slavery making most part of her history and yet acknowledged to be the initiators and innovators with technological input in buildings, mineral extraction and a culture protected through her own forms of governance and rulership hence bearing the title “the cradle of civilization”. The name “Africa” however has had quite the number of disputes on why this has not been the continent’s name or has been for centuries, with a varying school of thought expressing their whys, making connections through literature for their historical backgrounds.
Aside Africa being acknowledged to be the second largest continent after Asia with a population of over 1.3 billion people (stats), the name “Africa” which the continent is called has been disputed for a long time, with scholars and researchers essayswriting.org putting across a name they believe it was known to be called as “Alkebulan” (to pronounce the word “Alkebulan” see video). The meaning according to Kemetic history is “mother of mankind” or “garden of Eden”. This is the indeginous word for what the continent was called and its name used by the Moors, Nubians, Numidians, Ethiopians and the Khart-Haddans (also Carthagenians). The name “Africa” however is believed to have been given to the continent by the Greeks and Romans, as Dr. Cheik Anta Diop highlights in his book “The Kemetic History of Afrika”. Other names she has been known to be called by include “Ethiopia”, “Corphye”, “Ortegia” and “Libya”.
There have been other etymological origins of the name Africa which I would like to highlight:
- Afrika: Reports show that early spellings of words in the original African languages spelt the word with a “k”. The “c” came to being as a result of colonialism, substituting the “k” for it.
- Afraka: translated as “first son soul”, this name came from the early Malians living in West Afraka. The name was meant to distinguish the meaning and name that the Europeans had given us although carrying similarities.
- Africa: For this name there have been quite the variations and origins – reports tell of the Romans giving the continent this name after conquering Carthage, and naming her Africa was to identify her feminine (as against “Africus” for masculine) which means “land of the Northern tribe”, Afri. There is also that of the Latin language, two different words coming together – “Afer” meaning “black/dark” and “Aprica” meaning “sunny”. It is also said to have been derived from the Egyptian word “Afru-ika” meaning “motherland”. There is also the Arabic word “firk” which is believed to have had the name translated from meaning “to separate, divide or conquer”.
From disputes and disagreements and theories developed after years and years of research, the name Africa is what we settled for as a people. The continent continues to be recognized for her resources and exploits as its people keep fostering good relationships with other countries in the other continents. Africa – adored, beloved, and blessed with so much.
