| GAO | Capital of the ancient W. Saharan kingdom of Songhai |
| EMPIRES | Mali, Ghana, and Songhai, e.g. |
| KILKENNY | Market town in the Republic of Ireland that was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Ossory |
| ANGKOR | Capital of the ancient kingdom of Khmer in north-west Cambodia (6) |
| ABOMEY | City in Benin, former capital of the ancient kingdom of Dahomey (6) |
| MEROE | Iron-smelting centre and capital of the ancient N. E. Kingdom of Kush |
| DUMBARTON | Capital of the ancient kingdom of Strathclyde (9) |
| BABYLON | Capital of the ancient kingdom of Babylonia (7) |
| ROMANLATIN | Classical language as spoken in the capital of the ancient empire (5,5) |
| SPARTA | Capital of the ancient Greek region Laconia, known for a disciplined and austere way of life (6) |
| MARTIALEAGLE | Large bird of prey of sub-Saharan Africa of the genus Polemaetus |
| TUNISIA | North African country containing parts of the Tell Atlas and the Saharan Atlas (7) |
| HIPPOPOTAMUS | Large mammal living in or around the rivers of sub-Saharan Africa (12) |
| MOUNTAINWAGTAIL | Slender, insect-eating songbird Motacilla clara, found in the uplands of sub-Saharan Africa (8,7) |
| MOROCCO | Country of north Africa, whose native animals include the Saharan striped polecat and horseshoe whip snake (7) |
| SIROCCO | Hot Saharan wind blowing into the Mediterranean (7) |
| GHANA | The first sub-Saharan African nation to become independent, in 1957 (5) |
| MELISSA | The camel is Saharan and so is she partly (7) |
| SERVALS | Wild cats of sub-Saharan Africa (7) |
| MAMBAS | Venomous snakes of sub-Saharan Africa (6) |
