Preview

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Civilizations of Africa: The History and Culture of the Mbuti (Pygmy)

By: Charles River Editors
Narrated by: Gary D. MacFadden
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $6.95

Buy for $6.95

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

  • Explains the origins, history, religion, and social structure of the Mbuti
  • Includes ancient descriptions of pygmies and theories about their evolution.

"[T]heir eyes had an untameable wildness about them that struck me as very remarkable." (French-American explorer Paul du Chaillu, 1867)

The indigenous Africans known as pygmies have interested outsiders for thousands of years. In the 2200s BC, the Egyptian pharaoh Pepi II referred to one as a "dancing dwarf of the god from the land of spirits", and the Ancient Greeks were also familiar with them. Homer makes mention of pygmies in The Iliad, and Herodotus recounted the experiences of a Persian explorer who encountered "dwarfish people, who used clothing made from the palm tree", on the western coast of Africa. In fact the term pygmy comes from the Greek word for "dwarfish".

Not surprisingly, foreigners' interest in pygmies has never waned. When medieval Europeans first traveled to Africa and parts of Asia, many of them were stunned when they encountered people who were considerably smaller than the average height. Perhaps the most famous account comes from the legendary Marco Polo, who was so confused about the people known as pygmies that he refused to believe they were actually human. In his famous account, Marco Polo wrote about seeing some of them in Indonesia, "I may tell you moreover that when people bring home pygmies which they allege to come from India, 'tis all a lie and a cheat...for nowhere in India nor anywhere else in the world were there ever men seen so small as these pretended pygmies." Marco Polo believed that the pygmies were actually monkeys that people manipulated and shaved to resemble smaller people.

Today, of course, anthropologists know a lot more about the pygmies, a collective of indigenous groups in Africa who are still defined by the fact that they have an average height of less than five feet tall.

©2012 Charles River Editors (P)2015 Charles River Editors
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about Civilizations of Africa: The History and Culture of the Mbuti (Pygmy)

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    4
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    4
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    4
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.