Sub-Saharan Africa had contact with many of the Mediterranean and Near East Civilizations. Nubia and modern day Ethiopia in the lower Nile had contacts with Classical Egypt. Caravans brought slaves, ivory, and exotic animals for the games through the Sahara to Rome. The same trade happened when the Arabs conquered North Africa. Europeans were in contact with West Africa starting with the Portuguese centuries before the carving up of Africa during the last quarter of the 19th century. Despite all these contact lasting millennia Africa was still a ****hole.