Page 46 - LD215 History of the Church in Africa A4 final

A History of the Church in Africa

West of Egypt was Cyrenaica, which is now known as Libya.
According to tradition, Greek colonists settled in Cyrenaica among the
Berbers. West of Cyrenaica was the province of Africa. In this regard,
Hildebrandt comments:

About one hundred and fifty years before Christ, this area was
called Carthage. Carthage was one of the most wealthy and
powerful kingdoms of that time. However, the Romans defeated it
in 146 B.C. and completely destroyed the capital city of Carthage
so that it would not give them any more trouble. The farm lands
were very fertile. The Romans renamed the area “Africa” and
encouraged the Berbers of the area to settle down and start
farming. Today we call this region: Tunisia. (2)

Burton’s comments shed additional light on the origin of the term Africa:

When used in a historical context, Africa must be understood
adjectivally. In fact, the name Africa was only introduced to the
region when the Romans gained an entrance to the continent
after defeating Hannibal’s army in the Punic Wars [the name
given to the wars between Rome and Carthage between 264 and
146 B.C.]. Even at that time, the term Africa only applied to the
newly formed Roman province and to no other territory. At some
time toward the end of the Middle Ages, the name was applied
to the entire “continental” mass of land on which the original
Roman colony was located. (19)

Church leaders from this area, such as Augustine of Hippo, were very
important in the development of Christianity. In northwest Africa was
a province known as Numidia, which is part of modern Algeria, and in
the northwest point of the continent of Africa was the area known as
Mauritania. According to Murdock, the Romans made North Africa their
principal granary (45).

We also know that south of Egypt, great kingdoms existed. Nubia,
which lay along the Nile River, is the area we know today as Sudan.
Further to the south lay the kingdom of Abyssinia, the country we know
today as Ethiopia. According to Murdock, the Napatan and Meroitic
civilizations in Nubia were highly developed. Between 1000 and 1 B.C.,

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