Legend: The first dynastic Egyptians arose from assorted African tribes including the A-group Nubians. Unlike what Egyptologists teach, Ancient Egyptians bore no substantive difference from the African tribes they emerged from. And as picture 1 shows, from the tomb of Mesheti at Asyut, as far back as 4000 years ago, during the (F.I.P.) First Internediate Period (2081 BC - 1938 BC) Afrigyptians wore kenti cloth (see history below), the fabric once used by the king alone. While faded, the shabti of picture 2, also from the F.I.P. wore kenti cloth. Kenti cloth is still worn by tribal kings today as seen in the picture of Brada-Anansi (Pic 3). And the author of this page had a shirt tailor-made of kenti cloth (pic. 4). Historically, each aspect of its design had symbolic meaning though outside the tribes weaving and making them, their meanings are largely unknown. Historical Background to Ghananian weaving and Kenti cloth Although Kente, as we know it was developed in the 17th Century A.D. by the Ashanti people, it has it roots in a long tradition of weaving in Africa dating back to about 3000 B.C. The origin of Kente is explained with both a legend and historical accounts. A legend has it that a man named Ota Karaban and his friend Kwaku Ameyaw from the town of Bonwire (now the leading Kente weaving center in Ashanti), learned the art of weaving by observing a spider weaving its web. Taking a cue from the spider, they wove a strip of raffia fabric and later improved upon their skill. They reported their discovery to their chief Nana Bobie, who in turn reported it to the Asantehene (The Ashanti Chief) at that time. The Asantehene adopted it as a royal cloth and encouraged its development as a cloth of prestige reserved for special occasions. Historical accounts trace the origin of Kente weaving to early weaving traditions in ancient West African Kingdoms that flourished between 300 A.D. and 1600 A.D. Some historians maintain that Kente is an outgrowth of various weaving traditions that existed in West Africa prior to the formation of the Ashanti Kingdom in the 17th Century. Archaeological research has dated examples of narrow-strip cloths woven in West Africa as early as the 11th Century A.D. and perhaps earlier. Some examples of woven fabrics have been found in the caves of the Bandiagara cliffs in Mali. These cloths used in burial ceremonies, probably, during the medieval Ghana, Mali and Soghai Empires, have technical and aesthetic features similar to many of the narrow-strip cloths in many parts of West Africa. Such cloths which the Akans call

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