#great countries

[kemetic-dreams]

What do great civilizations have in common?

"What common attributes do great civilizations share? They typically possess access to both local and global markets, the capacity to attract a diverse population eager to settle for the purposes of commerce and education, accepting influence and reflecting influence, I will use African examples, but this is true the world over.

There was a saying "To cure mange for a camel, use bitumen; to cure poverty, go to the Sudan." this was said at the time of the Wagadu or Ghana empire when great trading trains were crisscrossing the Sahara, both the Wagdau and Gao were mentioned as the richest kingdoms in the world and their Kings the most wealthiest beyond compare, this was hundreds of yrs before the now famous Mansa Musa of Mali, it’s ultimate successor.

These conceptions do not need to extend outside the continent although the more extensive the better, example.

These connections between West and West-Central Africa to the world are anathema to historical traditions in which ‘Africa” s isolation from the rest of the world, before contact began with Europeans, is assumed. But they emerge from a number of factors. As the historian Jan Vansina showed, similar techniques in wood-carving found from Yorùbá regions as far south as Loango suggest shared techniques and exchanges. Seventeenth- and eighteenth-century carvings from the Kuba kingdoms depict the playing of warri, a game found widely further north in West Africa, as well as in East Africa.

Other evidence suggests that these exchanges then interconnected with the long-distance routes linked to the Sahara – and these patterns may in turn have influenced how the Kongolese reacted when the Portuguese first arrived in the 1480s.

Kongo’s connection to long-distance trade routes is the only logical explanation for how sugarcane – long cultivated in the eastern Mediterranean and in the Arab worlds – grew in Kongo before the Portuguese arrival.

Long-distance trade can also help to explain the use of a shell currency in Kongo (the nzimbu), for the use of the nzimbu surely was not unrelated to the experience of the use of the cowrie-shell currency in West Africa and the Sahel; the Kalahari regions to the south were connected to the Indian Ocean trade by perhaps the ninth or tenth century, and cowries may have been involved in this trade – which offered a route for this influence to spread to Kongo addition, there seems to have been an important spiritual dimension that connected the forest Kingdom of Kongo with that of Benin to the north, for it is noteworthy that both Edo and Kongo peoples (and, indeed, peoples of the Kingdom of Ndongo in northern Angola) used diamond-shaped crosses as a religious symbol prior to the arrival of the Portuguese. In Kongo, the ‘cosmogram’ connected the worlds of the living and the dead, and was used widely on textiles and bowls used for daily life, as well as later in Christian art.

The use of the cross as a religious symbol among the Edo also suggests some cultural and perhaps commercial connection between Edo and Kongo peoples, as does the shared use of shell currencies, similar wood-carving techniques and the presence of sugarcane in Kongo, since all had likewise existed in Benin prior to the Portuguese arrival.

Yet how did these connections develop, in a region famous for its thick forests and swamps? As we have seen in other parts of the continent, rivers and seaways were roads. Many peoples along the coasts of West-Central Africa were good boat-builders, with the Vili of Loango remarked upon as such by the Portuguese in the sixteenth century. There were fishing groups to be found everywhere, and their skill in making seagoing ships is shown by the presence of Bubi peoples on the Island of Bioko by the time the Portuguese arrived in the fifteenth century.

But The idea that Europeans ‘brought’ seafaring to Africa must also, therefore, be challenged. Thus, it was most likely through African navigators that related religious and aesthetic practices grew up; and when the manikongo Afonso I wrote in 1526 of a number of traders from Benin resident in the Kongolese port of Mpinda, it is possible that they found their way there in local embarkations rather than through Portuguese networks.

The Kongo ‘cosmogram’ Kongo may not, therefore, have been as isolated from other parts of West Africa as has hitherto been supposed.

From the book A Fist Full Of Shells, By Toby Green 

#african #afrakan #kemetic dreams #africans #afrakans #brown skin #brownskin #african culture #ghana #mpinda #kongolese #kongo #europeans #great countries #ancient civilizations #civilization #great civilization #afonso #benin #edo #sahara #mansa musa #wagdu #sudan #ta seti #north africa #a fist full of shells #toby green #west africa #mali

[mapsontheweb]

Lighthouses of the Great Lakes.

by researchremora

#maps #researchremora #twsourced #country lighthouses #great lakes

[saltytimemachinefestival]

Jeep Wrangler Exploring

saltytimemachinefestival.tumblr.com/archive

#its a jeep thing #jeep girl #jeep girls #jeep nation #jeep life #jeep world #jeep #country girl #country girls #country #freedom #adventure #travel #nature #beauty #beautiful ass #cutie w a bootie #great butt #nice buns #short shorts #denim shorts #jean shorts

[portraitoflestatonfire]

In no universe should Louis de Pointe du Lac be lighting his own cigarettes❗️

#we used to be a proper country! #so the final gif is so long because it looks like he out of instinct dipped his head and then had to fumble for his own lighter :( #I just learned how to make gifs today so i could do this #they're not great but i couldn't care less i'm in a fugue state #louis de pointe du lac #interview with the vampire #jacob anderson #loustat #loumand #s2 #iwtv spoilers #vcsource #lestat de lioncourt #iwtvedit #portraitoflestatonfire #max.gif

[rabid-transcendentalist]

Mexico when Texans have to start crossing the border for a better life good heathcare

#this meme requires some suspension of disbelief because people were already going to Mexico for their heathcare prior to this event #this is part of a phenomenon called medical tourism #which exists in part because its cheeper for someone who is in need of medical care in the US #to book a flight to another country #receive medical care in that country #and travel back #than it is for them to receive medical care in the US #anyway #great job #mexico #reproductive rights #abortion

[conjuring-ghouls]

Papa's speech in São Paulo, Brasil, 20/09/2023 video by douglaskurt on ig

#i'm just gonna leave this here before going to bed #these are literally not the best #the coloring is a mess and lighting isn't great #but for the first time i don't mind cause i'm finally giffing a video of ghost playing in my country 🥺🖤​✨​ #and this makes me so happy #even though i don't live there anymore #brazilian ghesties how are we? #the band ghost #ghost band #ghost bc #papa emeritus iv #copia #popia #papa iv #papa 4 #my gifs #also it's 2h30 am so if i mispelled something no i didn't hehehe

[thefloatingstone]

Appleseed PDA montage to save you from reading endless pages of unimportant politics that don't amount to anything

also because I have nothing better to do, I'm bored, I'm moody, my gaming laptop is still broken so no BG3, and it's too late at night to start drawing after doing animation clean-up all day.

#Manga #Appleseed #Shirow Masamune #80s #This is literally every single one of these moments in the entirety of the manga's run #including bonus material #There's some great character writing hidden among all the infodumping and technobabble as well #But like I said before all it accomplishes is to make you frustrated #Because despite being written so well #Masamune was more interested in waxing philosophical than actually giving his characters the attention they deserve #Despite them displaying an insane amount of depth and complexity whenever they are able to #it's a very rare case where the characters are EXTREMELY well written and almost every moment they are on screen is amazingly well done #But the manga keeps demanding you listen to completely different side characters talk about politics for endless pages #while at the same time none of these politics have any consequence or relevance to the actual stories that happen on screen. #So it ends up with the majority of the manga is like listening to some guy you don't know on the bus reading the headlines of a newspaper #at you about political tension between two countries you have never heard of and will never feature in your life again #How do you write such great and well written characters and then be completely disinterested in actually putting them on screen?????

[hungharrington]

no thoughts head empty just steve being completely fucked out and pussy drunk that he's rambling and shaking as he fusses to line his cock with your entrance because he's just so goddamn desperate to be inside you!! ugh

- 🪐 heading to bed hope u have a good day :)

drooling at the very thought… you all know by now that i like my men whiney and god, if steve wouldn’t be all whiney by this stage. there’s a tremble in his thighs as you sit atop him, your silky folds just soaking his cock, wet enough that you’ve been pleasurably sidetracked because fuck, when you roll your hips that way your clit catches on the head of his cock and sparks of pleasure catch in your stomach. it’s warm in his room. your hands are planted on his chest as you rock back and forth, chasing your own pleasure, it takes a particularly loud whimper from steve to realise you’ve pushed him over into completely pussy drunk :( he’s just so worked up :( so fucking hard beneath you and it’s so so good and not fucking enough. “pleasepleaseplease” he begs, eyes scrunched closed in a poor attempt to keep himself together, but when you’re so wet and hot and dripping over his cock it drives him mad, “please honey, y’gotta— y’gotta let me put it in :( she’s just crying for it, please” and he drags your hips forward with his hands, letting your hear just how turned on your are, how absolutely soaked you’re getting his cock- and how can you refuse that pouty little face? you shift up, lifting one knee so you perch on the bed beside him and in the same moment you sink down, steve’s sitting up and pouncing— he hovers above you, a bulging bicep from his tense forearm pressed into the bedsheets beside your head and the kiss he gives you is searing, burning, pure lust melted into his love. he leans back, one hand trailing down your thigh to push it out, spreading you wider and beginning to line himself up. normally he’s such a tease, all tantalising taps of his heavy cock on your clit to make you squirm but tonight he fumbles for a moment, torn up in the hot wet heat of your cunt that the moment he can inch in, he’s sliding all the way in with a gutteral groan, head bowed as he tries not to cum too soon :( then it’s all, “thankyouthankyou,” as he finally starts to fuck you, already all fucked out :) 

#🪐!! #hello! #thank u for ur thoughts ur doing a GREAT service to ur country 🫡🫡 #pussy drunk steve is actually all i want #jay writes #anon #ns/fw #steve x reader #steve harrington smut #steve harrington x reader smut #steve harrington x reader #🪐 anon

[countriesgame]

Please reblog for a bigger sample size!

If you have any fun fact about the Great Lakes Region, please tell us and I'll reblog it!

Be respectful in your comments. You can criticize a government without offending its people.

#great lakes #the united states #canada #north america #country polls #polls #not a country

[lesbian-sunshim]

see art up to the day before or leave a tip!

rare pairs for your consideration - applejack x carrot top

#my little pony #mlp #applejack #carrot top #golden harvest #appletop #this series is a great excuse to draw my rarest of pairs that i've been into since i started in this fandom #i genuinely dont remember if golden harvest has a canon personality but for some reason to ME she' #she's always been sort of like a country rarity???? #probably largely due to her being The Rarity in shimmer verse #so yea this is a big fav of mine actually #also i took out the counter cause why would i do that to myself

[kazz-brekker]

vigilante justice is okay if it's performed by righteously angry middle aged cleaning ladies

#pie says stuff #true detective night country #true detective night country spoilers #this is my takeaway from the final episode among other things #GREAT twist personally i think it really nailed the ending

[saltytimemachinefestival]

Country Roads Take Me Home

saltytimemachinefestival.tumblr.com/archive

#country #outdoors #cowboy boots #beautiful ass #cutie w a bootie #great butt #nice buns #travel #jeep life #its a jeep thing #jeep wrangler #jeep girl #jeep nation #jeep world #jeep #wrangler #cowgirl hat #cowboy hat #cowgirl #country girls #country girl #car babe #car girls #car girl #freedom #mature

[artemispanthar]

Source

This is dope and also a good reminder that opinions from folks on the internet, however loud, are generally not reflective of how the general audience is receiving a show/movie (so showrunners should stop focusing so much on trying to impress Reddit specifically!)

#artie thoughts #true detective #true detective night country #night country #true detective season 4 #to be clear I don't think this season is trying to impress Reddit and that's one of the reasons it'a good lol #I'm talking about those showrunners that panic because Reddit guessed a plot twist so they wreck their own show changing things last minute #anyway I highly recommend watching Night Country it's been great

[simplecountryboy]

#lainey wilson #women wearing denim #wrangler #great butt #country girl #cowboyhat #journal

[clown-owo]

The bestest investigative partner in ALL of Great Britain

#og post #my art #Ace Attorney #AA #The Great Ace Attorney #TGAA #herlock sholmes #iris wilson #not commenting on whether she is better than an investigative partner in perhaps a different country #but at least in Britain. definitely the best #highlight reel

[scltbvrns]

homogenising something that has always been inherently diverse will kill us all one day.

#-> myra text #political critique #that is why hindutva should have not been popularised. hindutva is not decolonisation or reclamation. #it is homogenising and exclusionist. it takes away the diverse history of this country. #but this statement will reach deaf ears. rather than critiquing nobility they will go and bark casteist and islamphobic bs. #did invaders did what invaders do? yes. but this whole property destruction and lives being at risk has been going on for years. #biggest example who are quite popular: ajatshatru (son of bimbisara) & ashoka the great (the massacre at kaling) #i'm all in for criticising nobility i have no respect for any kings despite their religion and community and whatever. #they're all shits who benefited and left the common people to rot. #these people will say that tipu sultan is the devil reborn but will go on praising the marathas #as if the marathas did not cause a bloodshed in bengal karnataka and the punjab regions. not saying tipu is good but i rather #wanted to point out the hypocrisy of people in certain spaces. its a good thing to appreciate history and even better thing to learn from #the mistakes made in past but some of you guys did not understand the whole point. #absolute shit head cunts some of you guys are. come at me brand me whatever slurs you fuckers use i don't give a shit #calling people sex slaves just because they don't subscribe to your viewpoint is not the big own you think it is. #sanghi bs #india #hindutva