Africa's Great Civilizations

Journey with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. to Kenya, Egypt and beyond as he discovers the origins of man, the formation of early human societies and the creation of significant cultural and scientific achievements on the African continent.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. charts the rise of Christianity and Islam, whose economic and cultural influence stretched from Egypt to Ethiopia. Learn of African religious figures like Menelik, bringer of the Ark of the Covenant.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. uncovers the complex trade networks and advanced educational institutions that transformed early north and west Africa from deserted lands into the continent’s wealthiest kingdoms and learning epicenters.

Gates explores the power of Africa’s greatest ancient cities, including Great Zimbabwe and Benin City, whose wealth, art and industrial successes attracted new European interest and interaction along the continent’s east and west coasts.

The series' fifth hour examines the tremendous changes wrought in Africa by the trans-Atlantic slave trade, flowing out of the new era of European exploration in the New World that had begun in 1492 and reached a crucial point in the 16th century.

Gates explores the dynamism of 19th-century Africa, the scramble by European powers for its riches, and the defiant and successful stand of uncolonized Ethiopia.