Supposedly, the check was invented by the Knights Templar between 1100 and 1300 AD—at least that's the official story of the check's invention. But is it true? In the 951th century, an Arab geographer, Ibn Haukal, visited the Ghana Empire in XNUMX AD and wrote about a fact that, for him, was unprecedented.

He commented that he had seen a check for 42.000 gold dinars sent to a merchant in the city of Audoghast by his partner in Sijilmassa, Morocco, which suggests that the first checks were invented in Africa and not in Europe ¹ Ibn-Hawqal, the Cheque, and Awdaghost. Levtzion, Nehemia . [ed.] Cambridge University Press. 2, sl : The Journal of African History, 1968, Vol. 9, pp. 223-233. , as is recounted in the “official history”.

The Ghana Empire was one of the largest African empires, emerging around 300 AD and reaching its peak in the 10th and 11th centuries, becoming a superstate. At its height, it controlled vast territories that today comprise the nations of Senegal, Gambia, Mauritania, Mali, and Guinea.

The empire was located between two rivers, the Senegal and the Niger, and its capital was Kumbi-Saleh, located in what is now southeastern Mauritania. Other important cities were Nema, Audoghast, and Walata.

Due to its vastness, it was necessary to develop a system of control over money, different from the traditional transport of physical money, to prevent merchants from being robbed during their long journeys, hence the innovation of the invention of the check. ² Introduction to Various African Kingdoms: Ancient Ghana . USI , Understanding Slavery Initiative . [Online] [Accessed: February 11, 2021.] http://www.understandingslavery.com/index.php-option=com_content&view=article&id=377&Itemid=232.html.

The first 365-day calendar, similar to the Gregorian calendar (our calendar), was invented by the Egyptians several thousand years before our time. It was a solar calendar with a 365-day year. The year was divided into three 120-day seasons, with each season divided into four 30-day months, plus an additional five-day intercalary period.

These twelve months were initially counted within each season, but they also came to be known by the names of their main festivals. Each month was divided into three 10-day periods, known as decans.

Because the year in this calendar was almost a quarter of a day shorter than the solar year, the Egyptian calendar lost about a day every four years compared to the Gregorian calendar. Therefore, it is sometimes referred to as the wandering year (Latin: annus vagus), as its months rotated about one day in the solar year every four years.

The Canopus Decree of Ptolemy III attempted to correct this by introducing a sixth day every four years, but the proposal was rejected by the Egyptian priests and people and abandoned until the establishment of the Alexandrian or Coptic calendar by Augustus.

The introduction of a leap day into the Egyptian calendar made it equivalent to the reformed Julian calendar, although, by extension, it continues to diverge from the Gregorian calendar over the course of most centuries. ³ Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica . Egyptian calendar: ancient Egypt. Britannica. [Online] [Accessed: February 12, 2021.] https://www.britannica.com/science/Egyptian-calendar.

The Nile River is 7.088 km long from its source in Rwanda's Nyungwe National Park to its mouth in Egypt, and is therefore, until proven otherwise, the longest river in the world.^⁴ S. Liu, P. Lu, D. Liu, P. Jin & W. Wang . Pinpointing the sources and measuring the lengths of the principal rivers of the world . ⁴ International Journal of Digital Earth . [Online] March 17, 2009. [Accessed: February 12, 2021.] https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17538940902746082.

It is located in the Northeast of the African continent, its source is south of the Equator and its mouth is north. The drainage basin occupies an area of ​​3.349.000 km², encompassing Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt. ⁵ Oloo, Adams . The Quest for Cooperation in the Nile Water Conflicts: A Case for Eritrea. 2007.

It is formed by the confluence of three other rivers: the White Nile (Bahr-el-Abiad), the Blue Nile (Bahr-el-Azrak), and the Atbara River. The Blue Nile (Bahr-el-Azrak) rises in Lake Tana in Ethiopia, converging with the White Nile in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan.

The Cubango Delta, also called the Okavango Delta, is the largest inland delta in the world . ⁶ ^It forms where the Cubango River reaches a tectonic valley located at an altitude of 930-1.000 meters in the central part of the endorheic Kalahari basin, in Botswana . ^⁷ All the water that reaches the delta evaporates and does not flow into any sea or ocean . <sup>

Each year approximately 11 cubic kilometers of water spread over an area of ​​6.000-15.000 km2, some of this water is drained into Lake Ngami. ⁸ Dr. Cecil Keen . Okavango . Greatest Places Physical Geography . [Online] July 1997. [Accessed: February 12, 2021.] https://www.greatestplaces.org/notes/okavango.htm. The Delta area was once part of Lake Makgadikgadi, an ancient lake that nearly dried up at the beginning of the Holocene. ⁹ On the geological timescale, the Holocene is the current warm period, known as MIS1, which began about 11,650 years ago. ¹⁰ The great inland deltas of Africa. panel, S. McCarthy , Author links open overlay. 3, 1993, Journal of African Earth Sciences (and the Middle East), Vol. 17. . The Okavango Delta is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Africa . ¹¹ Seven Natural Wonders of Africa . Okavango Delta . Seven Natural Wonders of Africa . [Online] 2021. [Accessed: February 12, 2021.] http://sevennaturalwonders.org/africa/okavango-delta-2/..

The Blyde River Canyon is a 26-km-long canyon located in South Africa's Mpumalanga region. It is the third-largest canyon in the world, behind the Grand Canyon in the United States and the Fish River Canyon in Namibia.

In contrast to these canyons, which are essentially rocky, the Blyde River Canyon is considered a "green canyon" due to its lush subtropical foliage. Its extremely steep cliffs reach an average depth of 800m, making it also the steepest canyon in the world. ¹² Mpumalanga . Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve . Mpumalanga . [Online] [Accessed: February 12, 2021.] http://www.mpumalanga.com/our-provincial-parks/blyde-river-canyon-nature-reserve.

The Sahara (الصحراء الكبرى), whose name comes from the Arabic word ṣaḥrāʾ which, for reasons unknown, means “desert” ¹³ Wehr, Hans . A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic (Arabic-English). [ed.] Otto Harrassowitz. 4th ed. Wiesbaden: sn, 1994. p. 589. , is the largest hot desert in the world, surpassed in extent only by the cold deserts of Antarctica and the Arctic ¹⁴ Kerry H. Cook, Edward K. Vizy . Detection and Analysis of an Amplified Warming of the Sahara Desert . Journal of Climate . [Online] August 15, 2015. [Accessed: February 12, 2021.] https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-14-00230.1. . It is one of the most hostile environments on Earth, covering an area of ​​9,4 million square kilometers, which makes up almost a third of the African continent. ¹⁵ Arthur N. Strahler, Alan H. Strahler . Modern Physical Geography. 3rd ed. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1987.

The Sahara is made up of a huge variety of topographical features, but the most famous is undoubtedly its sand dune fields, often featured in numerous films. The dunes can reach almost 183 meters in height, yet they cover only about 15% of the entire desert.

Other topographical features include mountains, plateaus, plains covered with sand and gravel, salt flats, basins, and depressions. Mount Koussi, an extinct volcano in Chad, is the highest point in the Sahara at 3.415 meters, and the Qattara Depression in Egypt is the deepest point in the Sahara, situated 133 meters below sea level.^¹⁶ Arthur N. Strahler, Alan H. Strahler . Modern Physical Geography. 3rd ed. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1987.

Mount Kilimanjaro is located in Tanzania and is part of the Big Seven (the highest peaks on the seven continents). It is also the highest mountain in Africa and the highest freestanding mountain in the world. ^A freestanding mountain is a mountain that stands completely alone and is not part of any mountain range. Traditionally, these are volcanoes that have broken through the Earth's crust and are formed by the accumulation of various layers of hardened volcanic ash, lava, pumice, and tephra – fragmented material that is the precipitation of a volcanic eruption.

It is a dormant stratovolcano, composed of three distinct volcanic cones: Kibo, which is the highest, situated on the edge of its crater; Uhuru Peak, which rises to 5.895 meters above sea level; Mawenzi, at 5.149 meters; and Shira , which is the ^lowest , at 4.005 ^meters . August 31, 2006, Vol. 33, 16. The Mawenzi and Shira cones are extinct, however Kibo is dormant and could erupt again. ²⁰ Philippe Nonnotte, Hervé Guillou, Bernard Le Gall, Mathieu Benoit, Joseph Cotten, Stéphane Scaillet . New K–Ar age determinations of Kilimanjaro volcano in the North Tanzanian diverging rift, East Africa . Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research . 2008.

The origin of the name Kilimanjaro is uncertain, so there are several theories about its meaning and origin. The most widely accepted is that the name derives from a combination of the Swahili word Kilima, meaning "small mountain," and the word KiChagga Njaro, loosely translated as "whiteness," meaning "small white mountain."

It is supposedly an affectionate name given to the mountain, since this ancient volcano has a snow-capped peak and rises in the middle of the savanna. ²¹ A savanna is a characteristic vegetation formation of the plains of humid tropical or subtropical regions, where tall-trunked herbaceous plants grow, with some scattered shrubs and trees, offering a unique spectacle to those who see it . ²² Hutchinson, JA The Meaning of Kilimanjaro. [ed.] Tanganyika Notes and Records. 1965, 64.

The Goliath frog (Conraua goliath) is an African amphibian that can measure up to 40 cm and weigh up to 3 kg, making it the largest frog in the world. Its jumping ability is remarkable, capable of leaping up to 3 meters in a single bound; however, it tires quickly after two or three leaps.

They live in rivers near fast-flowing streams with sandy bottoms and very dense, extremely humid areas, with relatively high temperatures, in the countries of Central Africa, more precisely, between Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon.^²³ Contribution to the biology of the Giant Frog (Conraua goliath, Boulenger). Sabater-Pi, Jordi . 2, 1985, Amphibia-Reptilia, Vol. 6. Unfortunately, it is endangered due to habitat destruction and hunting for the pet trade. ^²⁴ What is the largest frog in the world? Mundo Estranho Editorial Staff . April 18, 2011, Super Interessante.

The largest, tallest, and fastest land animals in the world are African. They are, respectively, the African elephant, the giraffe, and the cheetah. And, although not included in the title, the largest and also the fastest bird on the planet, and the one that lays the largest eggs, is African, and it is none other than our very interesting ostrich...

The African elephant (Loxodonta) is a genus of the family Elephantidae. The genus comprises two extant species of elephant: the savanna elephant (Loxodonta africana) and the forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis). Unfortunately, both species are classified as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List ^. The IUCN Red List, created in 1964, is one of the world's most detailed inventories of the global conservation status of various species of plants, animals, fungi, and protoctists. The Red List follows precise criteria to assess the extinction risks of thousands of species and subspecies, relevant to all species and in all regions of the world, with the aim of informing the public and legislators about the urgency of conservation measures, as well as assisting the international community in attempting to reduce extinctions. [Note: The text also includes a reference to ^Blanc , J. Loxodonta africana. sl : The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, 2008. ]

The male savanna elephant reaches an average height of 3,2 meters and weighs 6 tons, making it the largest existing land animal. The largest specimen ever recorded weighed approximately 12.3 tons. ²⁷ Loxodonta africana. Larry Laursen, Marc Bekoff . 92, sl: The American Society of Mammalogists, January 5, 1978, Mammalian Species.

The giraffe (Giraffa) is an African artiodactyl mammal, the tallest land animal, and the largest terrestrial ruminant. Until 2001, only one species of giraffe was recognized. Currently, after further study, nine living giraffe species are recognized.

1. Kordofan giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis antiquorum).
2. Nubian giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis camelopardalis).
3. Rothschild's giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi).
4. West African giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis peralta), also known as Niger giraffe or Nigerian giraffe.
5. Reticulated Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis reticulata), also known as Somali Giraffe.
6. Angolan giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis angolensis).
7. South African giraffe (giraffa camelopardalis giraffa), also known as Cape giraffe.
8. Masai giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis tippelskirchi), also known as Kilimanjaro giraffe.
9. Thornicroft's giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis thornicrofti), better known as the Rhodesian giraffe.

In addition to these nine species, seven other species of giraffes are recognized, however, they are extinct. ²⁸ Colin Groves, Peter Grubb . Ungulate Taxonomy. sl: JHU Press, 2011.

The cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) is a member of the Felidae family, though its behavior is atypical compared to other members of the same family. It is the only living species of the genus Acinonyx and lives in the African savanna.

It is a predatory animal, preferring a simple strategy: hunting its prey through high-speed pursuits, rather than tactics such as ambush or group hunting.

It can reach speeds of up to 115 km/h for short periods at a time (up to 500 meters of running) and is the fastest known land animal. ^²⁹ Claw retraction and protraction in the Carnivora: the cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) as an atypical felid. Anthony P. Russell, Harold N. Bryant . 2006, Journal of Zoology.^³⁰ Doherty, James G. Speed ​​of Animals . [ed.] The American Museum of Natural History. Natural History Magazine . March 1974.

The Ostrich (Struthio camelus) ³¹ Some argue that the name “Ostrich” is a gendered noun, and as such, the article must agree with the sex of the animal, therefore one should say “the ostrich” and not “the ostrich”, however, consulting the website “Ciberdúvidas”, the only recognized website for clarifying doubts regarding the Portuguese language, we find that they state that “Ostrich can have either of the two genders”, therefore it is correct to use both forms ³² Fonseca, FV Peixoto da . The gender of ostrich. Ciberdúvidas da Língua Portuguesa. [Online] December 10, 2007. [Accessed: February 12, 2021.] https://ciberduvidas.iscte-iul.pt/consultorio/perguntas/o-genero-de-avestruz/22239. It is a flightless bird native to Africa. It is one of only two living species in the family Struthionidae, genus Struthio, and order Struthioniformes, along with the Somali ostrich (Struthio molybdophanes), recognized as a separate species in 2014. ^[33 BirdLife International . Struthio molybdophanes. sl : The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, 2016. ]

The common ostrich is considered the largest living bird species, reaching a weight of 150 kg ³⁴ Davies, SJJF Birds I Tinamous and Ratites to Hoatzins. [author of the book] Michael Hutchins. Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. 2nd. sl: Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group, 2003, Vol. 8. , the fastest, capable of reaching speeds of up to 80 km/h ³⁵ Doherty, James G . Speed ​​of Animals . [ed.] The American Museum of Natural History. Natural History Magazine . March 1974. , also being the bird that lays the largest and heaviest eggs, between 1,2 kg and 1,8 kg ³⁶ Hyde, Kenneth . Zoology: An Inside View of Animals. 3rd. Dubuque, IA : Kendall Hunt Publishing, 2004. p. 475..

Lake Malawi is home to the greatest variety of fish species in the world ³⁷ World Heritage Sites . Malawi . World Heritage Sites . [Online] [Accessed: February 13, 2021.] https://web.archive.org/web/20080511101010/http://www.unep-wcmc.org/protected_areas/data/wh/lakemal.html. , including at least 700 species of cichlids ³⁸ How many species of cichlid fishes are there in African lakes? GF Turner, O Seehausen, ME Knight, CJ Allender, RL Robinson . 3, July 2008, Molecular Ecology, Vol. 10. . It is one of the African Great Lakes and the southernmost of the East African Rift System, located between Mozambique, Malawi, and Tanzania.

It is the fifth largest freshwater lake in the world by volume, the ninth largest lake in the world by area, the second deepest lake in the world, and the third largest in Africa. The part of the lake that belongs to Mozambique was officially declared a reserve by the Government of Mozambique on June 10, 2011. ^[39 Mozambique’s Lake Niassa declared reserve and Ramsar site. WWF . June 10, 2011, WWF. ]

Lake Malawi is a meromitic lake , meaning that its water layers do not mix. The permanent stratification of Lake Malawi's water and the oxide-anoxic boundary (related to oxygen in the water) are maintained by moderately small chemical and thermal gradients.^⁴⁰ (Seasonal and Interannual Particle Export in an African Rift Valley Lake: A 5-Yr Record from Lake Malawi, Southern East Africa. Pilskaln, Cynthia H. 4, July 19, 2004, Limnology and Oceanography, Vol. 49, pp. 964-977. )

Notes and Bibliography

1. Ibn-Hawqal, the Cheque, and Awdaghost. Levtzion, Nehemia. [ed.] Cambridge University Press. 2, sl: The Journal of African History, 1968, Vol. 9, pp. 223-233.
2. Introduction to Various African Kingdoms: Ancient Ghana. DOORS, Understanding Slavery Initiative. [Online] [Citation: February 11, 2021.] http://www.understandingslavery.com/index.php-option=com_content&view=article&id=377&Itemid=232.html.
3. Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. Egyptian calendar: ancient Egypt. Britannica. [Online] [Citation: February 12, 2021.] https://www.britannica.com/science/Egyptian-calendar.
4. S. Liu, P. Lu, D. Liu, P. Jin & W. Wang. Pinpointing the sources and measuring the lengths of the main rivers of the world. International Journal of Digital Earth. [Online] March 17, 2009. [Citation: February 12, 2021.] https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17538940902746082.
5. Oloo, Adams. The Quest for Cooperation in the Nile Water Conflicts: A Case for Eritrea. 2007.
6. Seven Natural Wonders of Africaa. Okavango delta. Seven Natural Wonders of Africa. [Online] 2021. [Citation: February 12, 2021.] http://sevennaturalwonders.org/africa/okavango-delta-2/.
7. Ramsar.org. Ramsar Information Sheet. sl: Ramsar.org, 1996. BW879RISformer.pdf. Extract from: Okavango ,Delta System – https://rsis.ramsar.org/ris/879.
8. Dr. Cecil Keen. Okavango. Greatest Places Physical Geography. [Online] July 1997. [Citation: February 12, 2021.] https://www.greatestplaces.org/notes/okavango.htm.
9. On the geological time scale, the Holocene is the current warm period, known as MIS1, which began approximately 11,650 years ago.
10. The great inland deltas of Africa. panels, S. McCarthy, Author links open overlay. 3, 1993, Journal of African Earth Sciences (and the Middle East), Vol.
11. Mpumalanga. Blyde River Cnyon Nature Reserve. Mpumalanga. [Online] [Citation: February 12, 2021.] http://www.mpumalanga.com/our-provincial-parks/blyde-river-canyon-nature-reserve.
12. Wehr, Hans. A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic (Arabic-English). [ed.] Otto Harrassowitz. 4th. Wiesbaden: sn, 1994. p. 589.
13. Kerry H. Cook, Edward K. Vizy. Detection and Analysis of an Amplified Warming of the Sahara Desert. Journal of Climate. [Online] August 15, 2015. [Citation: February 12, 2021.] https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-14-00230.1.
14. Arthur N. Strahler, Alan H. Strahler. Modern Physical Geography. 3rd. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1987.
15. A freestanding mountain is a mountain that stands completely alone and is not part of any mountain range. Traditionally, these are volcanoes that ruptured the Earth's crust and formed from the accumulation of several layers of hardened volcanic ash, lava, pumice, and tephra—fragmented material that is the fallout from a volcanic eruption.
16. Corrado Casinov, Terrill Thompson. Mawenzi. Peakware – World Mountain Encyclopedia. [Online] [Citation: February 13, 2021.] http://www.peakware.com/peaks.html?pk=2084.
17. Nicolas J. Cullen, Thomas Mölg, Georg Kaser, Khalid Hussein, Konrad Steffen, Douglas R. Hardy. Kilimanjaro Glaciers: Recent areal extent from satellite data and new interpretation of observed 20th century retreat rates. Geophysical Research Letters. August 31, 2006, Vol. 33, 16.
18. Philippe Nonnotte, Hervé Guillou, Bernard Le Gall, Mathieu Benoit, Joseph Cotten, Stéphane Scaillet. New K–Ar age determinations of Kilimanjaro volcano in the North Tanzanian diverging rift, East Africa. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research. 2008.
19. A Savanna is a vegetation formation characteristic of the plains of humid tropical or subtropical regions, where tall herbaceous plants grow, with some scattered shrubs and trees.
20. Hutchinson, J. A. The Meaning of Kilimanjaro. [ed.] Tanganyika Notes and Records. 1965, 64.
21. Contribution to the biology of the Giant Frog (Conraua goliath, Boulenger). Sabater-Pi, Jordi. 2, 1985, Amphibia-Reptilia, Vol.
22. What is the biggest frog in the world? Strange World Writing. April 18, 2011, Super Interesting.
23. The IUCN Red List, created in 1964, is one of the world's most detailed inventories of the global conservation status of various species of plants, animals, fungi, and protoctists. The Red List uses precise criteria to assess the extinction risk of thousands of species and subspecies, relevant to all species and in all regions of the world. It aims to inform the public and policymakers about the urgency of conservation measures, as well as assist the international community in reducing extinctions.
24. Blanc, J. Loxodonta africana. sl: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, 2008.
25. Loxodonta africana. Larry Laursen, Marc Bekoff. 92, sl: The American Society of Mammalogists, January 5, 1978, Mammalian Species.
26. Colin Groves, Peter Grubb. Ungulate Taxonomy. sl : JHU Press, 2011.
27. Claw retraction and protraction in the Carnivora: the cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) as an atypical felid. Anthony P. Russell, Harold N. Bryant. 2006, Journal of Zoology.
28. Doherty, James G. Speed of Animals. [ed.] The American Museum of Natural History. Natural History Magazine. March 1974.
29. There are those who claim that the name “Avestruz” is a gendered noun, as such, the article must agree with the sex of the animal, therefore it should be said “o avestruz” and not “a avestruz”, however, consulting the website “Ciberdúvidas” the only recognized website for clarifying doubts regarding the Portuguese language, we found that they claim that “Avestruz pode ter dois dois gêneros” and as such it is correct to use both forms.
30. Fonseca, F.V. Peixoto da. The genus of ostrich. Cyber-doubts about the Portuguese Language. [Online] December 10, 2007. [Citation: February 12, 2021.] https://ciberduvidas.iscte-iul.pt/consultorio/perguntas/o-genero-de-avestruz/22239.
31. Bird Life International. Struthio molybdophanes. sl: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, 2016.
32. Davies, SJJF. Birds I Tinamous and Ratites to Hoatzins. [book author] Michael Hutchins. Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. 2nd. sl: Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group, 2003, Vol. 8.
33. Hyde, Kenneth. Zoology: An Inside View of Animals. 3rd. Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt Publishing, 2004. p. 475.
34. World Heritage Sites. Malawi. World Heritage Sites. [Online] [Citation: February 13, 2021.] https://web.archive.org/web/20080511101010/http://www.unep-wcmc.org/protected_areas/data/wh/lakemal.html.
35. How many species of cichlid fish are there in African lakes? GF Turner, O Seehausen, ME Knight, CJ Allender, RL Robinson. 3, 2008 July 2008, Molecular Ecology, Vol. 10.
36. Mozambique's Lake Niassa declared a reserve and Ramsar site. WWF. June 10, 2011, WWF.
37. Seasonal and Interannual Particle Export in an African Rift Valley Lake: A 5-Yr Record from Lake Malawi, Southern East Africa. Pilskaln, Cynthia H. 4, July 19, 2004, Limnology and Oceanography, Vol. 49, pp. 964–977.