4.2-kiloyear eventThe 4.2-kiloyear (thousand years) BP aridification event (long-term drought) was one of the most severe climatic events of the Holocene epoch. It defines the beginning of the current Meghalayan age in the Holocene epoch. Starting around 2200 BC, it probably lasted the entire 22nd century BC. It has been hypothesised to have caused the collapse of the Old Kingdom in Egypt as well as the Akkadian Empire in Mesopotamia, and the Liangzhu culture in the lower Yangtze River area.
PrehistoryPrehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of symbols, marks, and images appears very early among humans, but the earliest known writing systems appeared 5,000 years ago. It took thousands of years for writing systems to be widely adopted, with writing spreading to almost all cultures by the 19th century.
GaramantesThe Garamantes (Γαράμαντες; Garamantes) were an ancient civilisation based primarily in the southern region of Libya. They most likely descended from Toubou or Berber tribes and pastoralists from the Sahara. The Garamantes settled in the Fezzan region by at least 1000 BC,and by the late 7th century AD, the Garamantian civilization had ceased. The Garamantes emerged as a major regional power in the mid-2nd century AD and established a kingdom that spanned roughly in the Fezzan region of southern Libya.
Tibesti MountainsThe Tibesti Mountains are a mountain range in the central Sahara, primarily located in the extreme north of Chad, with a small portion located in southern Libya. The highest peak in the range, Emi Koussi, lies to the south at a height of and is the highest point in both Chad and the Sahara. Bikku Bitti, the highest peak in Libya, is located in the north of the range. The central third of the Tibesti is of volcanic origin and consists of five volcanoes topped by large depressions: Emi Koussi, Tarso Toon, Tarso Voon, Tarso Yega and Toussidé.
Badarian cultureThe Badarian culture provides the earliest direct evidence of agriculture in Upper Egypt during the Predynastic Era. It flourished between 4400 and 4000 BC, and might have already emerged by 5000 BC. Badari culture is so named because of its discovery at El-Badari (البداري), an area in the Asyut Governorate in Upper Egypt. It is located between Matmar and Qau, approximately northwest of present-day Luxor (ancient Thebes).
Lake TurkanaLake Turkana (tɜːrˈkɑːnə,_-ˈkæn-) formerly known as Lake Rudolf, is a lake in the Kenyan Rift Valley, in northern Kenya, with its far northern end crossing into Ethiopia. It is the world's largest permanent desert lake and the world's largest alkaline lake. By volume it is the world's fourth-largest salt lake after the Caspian Sea, Issyk-Kul, and Lake Van (passing the shrinking South Aral Sea), and among all lakes it ranks 24th.
GiraffeThe giraffe is a large African hoofed mammal belonging to the genus Giraffa. It is the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on Earth. Traditionally, giraffes were thought to be one species, Giraffa camelopardalis, with nine subspecies. Most recently, researchers proposed dividing them into up to eight extant species due to new research into their mitochondrial and nuclear DNA, as well as morphological measurements. Seven other extinct species of Giraffa are known from the fossil record.
Lake ChadLake Chad (Kanuri: Sádǝ, Lac Tchad) is a freshwater lake located at the junction of Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon in central and western Africa. It is also an important wetland ecosystem in West Africa. The catchment area of Lake Chad is 1 million square kilometers. It used to be a large lake with an area of 28,000 square kilometers in the 19th century. However, due to climate change and human water diversion, Lake Chad has been greatly reduced since the mid-1970s, and its area has fluctuated between 2,000 and 5,000 square kilometers.
AurochsThe aurochs (Bos primigenius) (ˈɔːrɒks or ˈaʊrɒks) is an extinct cattle species, considered to be the wild ancestor of modern domestic cattle. With a shoulder height of up to in bulls and in cows, it was one of the largest herbivores in the Holocene; it had massive elongated and broad horns that reached in length. The aurochs was part of the Pleistocene megafauna. It probably evolved in Asia and migrated west and north during warm interglacial periods.
