ABSTRACT
Africa is home to a multiplicity of ethnic groups and diverse nationalities. It also has some of the oldest empires and kingdoms in the world. Kemet was not the only classical kingdom of Africa. No continent has ever had as many viable kingdoms and empires for as long a time as the continent of Africa. The last reigning monarch of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie, lost power in 1974 but even his demise did not end the role of traditional royalty on the continent. Traditional kings and queens abound all over the continent even to the present day. It is possible to get some idea of the past by encountering the present. What we see in many traditional kingdoms within the modern nation-state is the customs and practices that were ancient before foreign elements corrupted African traditions or values. Thus, when one considers the ancient kingdoms of Nubia, Axum, Carthage, Ghana, Mali, Songhay, and others one confronts the grandeur of African history.
