History & Records

WOW!!! See What Africans Were Doing The Time Of Jesus Christ (Details below)

Published

3 years ago

January 19, 2021

Jesus Christ of Nazareth lived from around 6 B. C, when Augustus Caesar was Emperor of Rome to around the year 30 A. D. when Tiberus had been Emperor for 16 years. As a first century Jewish preacher and religious leader, Jesus is the central figure of Christianity, the world’ s largest religion, which is also widely practiced in Africa. As a matter of fact, Jesus lived in Africa for a few months as an infant child. In this article, we will be taking look at what Africans were doing the life of Jesus Christ.

We begin with North Africa, to be precise, Egypt. When Jesus was a newborn child around the year 4 B. C. , his father, Joseph was told in a dream to flee Israel for the North African country of Egypt, in order to escape the command of King Herod the Great which has it that all children within the age range of 0- 2 years in and out of Bethlehem should be slaughtered. Jesus and his parents lived in Egypt until after the death of Herod in 4 B. C. , when Joseph again had a dream that it was safe to return to Israel.

During Jesus’ stay in Egypt, the North African country was under the Roman empire having fallen 26 years before, following the death of Cleopatra VII and her son, Caesarion in 30 B. C.

The Roman empire then declared Egypt a province that was to be governed by a prefect selected by the Emperor to prevent interference by the Roman Senate. The Roman prefect who governed Aegyptus, as Egypt was then known, was Gaius Turranius. Turranius was governor over Egypt for three years, from 7 B. C. to 4 B. C. As the governor of Egypt usually held the office for three years or four years, a total of nine governors, including Turranius, ruled Egypt during the lifetime of Jesus. The main Roman interest in Egypt was the reliable delivery of grain to the city of Rome. As Egypt was the wealthiest overseas province of the Roman Empire, Roman administrators made no change to the system of government they had met in place, nor did they desecrate Egyptian temples, religion, and customs, to ensure continued delivery of these grains.

Since Romans did not settle in Egypt in large numbers, culture, education and civic life largely remained Greek throughout the Roman period. And the Romans like the Ptolemies, respected and protected the Egyptians, while gradually introducing the cult of the Roman State and the Emperor into the panoply of deities that the people recognised. The Romans would rule over Egypt until the fall of Roman empire and the invasion of the Arabs in 639 A. D. South of Egypt is the Kushite Kingdom of Meroë that lasted from 542 B. C. to 400 A. D. Due to pressure from Assyrians and Egyptians, Meroë became the southern capital of the kingdom of Kush in present day Sudan.

During the time, Meroë flourished and many building projects were undertaken. The Kingdom was ruled by Queen Amanitore from 1 B. C. to 20 A. D. , and her successor Queen Amanitaraqide from 21 A. D. to 41 A. D. These queens were described as warrior queens who led forces in battle. Given the date of her reign as queen, Amanitaraqide appears to be the subject of a brief reference in the New testament of the Bible in the story about the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch.

During this period, these Africans were restoring temples that had been destroyed by the Romans and building reservoirs to retain water for their use. Infact, the most prosperous time in Meroitic history was during the time of Jesus Christ when more than 200 Nubians pyramids were built. Not far from the Nubian kingdom of Kush was the kingdom of Aksum, an ancient kingdom centered in the present day Eritrea. This kingdom existed around the year 80 B. C. to 825 A. D. , but attained it’ s prominence by the 1st century A. D. , the same time Jesus Christ walked on earth. During this period, Aksum became a major player in the commercial route between the Roman empire and Ancient Indian. The Aksumite rulers facilitated trade by minting their own Aksumite currency and also regularly entered the politics of the kingdoms on the Arabian Peninsula. Aksum eventually extended its rule over the region with the conquest of the Himyarite kingdom and became one of the four great powers of its time, the others being Persia, Rome and China.

During the time of Jesus Christ, between 1 A. D. and 40 A. D. , a remarkable West African civilisation called the Nok culture thrived in what is now Northern Nigeria. The Nok civilisation started around 1500 B. C. , and was the first complex civilisation in West Africa. As a matter of fact, it flourished at the same time as the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt. The Nok were an extremely advanced society, with one of the most complex judicial systems of the time, and the earliest producers of life- sized terracotta in the Sub Sahara. Archaeologists have also found rock paintings and iron implements, including fearsome spear points, bracelets and small knives. The Terracotta Statues of the Nok civilisation are by far the most enigmatic and intriguing aspect of the Nok culture. The statues have been described as extraordinary, astonishing, ageless, timeless and almost extraterrestrial.

Down south of the Nok was the kingdom of Igodomidogo, which would later be known as the Benin Kingdom in present day Southern Nigeria. Their ruler was called Ogiso, that is, ruler from the Sky. 31 of these rulers are known until the emergence of Oba Oranmiyan in the 13th century A. D. However, during the time of Jesus Christ, two famous rulers reigned, Ogiso Igodo and Ogiso Ere. Around the year 40 B. C. , Igodo, an ambitious, young and smart man, staged a coup and abolished the Ik’ edianwere, an inter community council that was set up to take decisions and settle differences between communities. Subsequently, he declared himself Ogiso and set up the Odibo Ogiso group to help him consolidate his authority. Setting up his capital at Ugbekun, the people of Igodomidogo enthusiastically accepted him as their ruler. After consolidating his hold on power, Ogiso Igodo set up a Royal Council which included members of the disbanded Ik’ edianwere Council and the Odibo Ogiso group.

He proposed the idea of succession by heredity and recommended in the alternative, a succession by a close relative, who is mature, wise and acceptable to the Royal Council. Ogiso Igodo died in 16 A. D. , when Jesus Christ was around 22 years old, and was succeeded by Ogiso Ere who would go on to rule the kingdom for the next 50 years. During this time, Ogiso Ere, a lover of peace and a very resourceful king, transeferred the capital from Ugbekun to Uhudumwunrun. Igodomidogo was already a sprawling kingdom and very sophisticated. Ogiso Ere was the first to wear a Cowry crown, brought his kingdom several innovations. He introduced the (guild) system of carpenters and wood carvers which eventually developed into the world’ s celebrated wood works and bronze casting factories in modern day Benin city. Ogiso Ere also built the first ever Igodomidogo market, known then as Ogiso market. He invented the famous African kingship paraphernalia like the Ada, Eben, Ekete, Agba and Epoki. They still serve today as the symbols of royal authority in many West African countries that experienced Bini control and influence.

There are other sets of African people who lived during the time and life of Jesus Christ and the list is exhaustive. The area that later became Great Zimbabwe in southern Africa was first settled around this time. The Ziwa Gokomere communities survived by farming and mining the land which marked the earliest Iron Age settlements known of, in the region.

During the time of Jesus Christ, Africans had their own lives, governments, religions, money, and their wars and peace. To be fair to these Africans, they didn’ t know about Jesus Christ; whether His virgin birth, sinless life, atoning death, triumphant Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven. Neither did they know about his second coming and his millennial reign upon the earth.