Chapter 13 Early African Civilizations

Section One: Geography and Early Africa 1.Define rifts Long, deep valleys formed by the movement of the earth’s crust 2. Define Sub-Saharan Africa Africa south of the Sahara

3. Describe the Regions of West Africa Niger River Low-lying area of lakes and marshes Fish are plentiful Four regions: northern part (desert), Sahel, savannah and rain forest

4. Define Sahel A strip of land with little rainfall that divides the desert from the wetter areas 5. Define savannah Open grassland with scattered trees

6. Define rain forest Moist, densely wooded areas

7. Explain the Early African’s way of life and what is an extended family? Way of Life: Loyal to your family Become a part of an “age- set” which is men or women forming bonds with other men or women their age Men hunted, farmed, and raised livestock Women farmed, collected firewood, ground grain, carried water and cared for the children Extended family: Family that includes father, mother, children and close relatives in one household (like aunts, uncles, grandparents)

8. Define animism The belief that bodies of water, animals, trees, and other natural objects have spirits They believed their ancestors’ spirits stayed nearby To honor these spirits, families marked places as sacred by putting specialy carved statues and offered food to their ancestors

Section Two: The Empire of Ghana 9. What is “silent barter”? A process in which people exchange goods without contacting each other directly

10. What did Ghana trade and what were they trading it for? Ghana salt traders left slabs of salt on a riverbank, in exchange, gold miners left what they thought was a fair amount of gold Wheat from the north and sheep, cattle and honey from the south, and locally it was leather and cloth

11. Why was gold good for the rich and not for the poor in Ghana? Gold made the kings rich, they banned everyone else from owning it, this ensured no one else could be richer than the king

12. What factors led to Ghana’s decline? 1. Invasion: the Almoravids attacked Ghana and defeated them after 14 years of fighting, they cut off trade routes to Ghana making Ghana not have trade 2. Overgrazing: animals ate all the grass leaving the soil exposed to hot desert winds, wind blew away the soil leaving it worthless to farming and herding 3. Internal Rebellion: In 1200 the Ghana people rebelled and took over Ghana but they couldn’t keep order and it weakened and was attacked and defeated by its neighbors causing the empire to fall apart

Section Three: Later Empires 13. How did Mali become an empire and who was Sundiata? The fertile soil helped Mali grow and because it was near the river it could trade using the river Sundiata is a Mali ruler, he built up an army and won his country’s independence and conquered nearby kingdoms, including Ghana in 1230’s

14. Who was Mansa Musa? Mali’s most famous ruler, ruled for 25 years Muslim, helped spread Islam Helped Mali reach its height of wealth, power and fame in the 1300’s Stressed the importance of religion and education

15. What happened to Mali? Mansa Musa’s son, Maghan, took over when he died and was a weak ruler Couldn’t stop raiders, the raiders set fire to Timbuktu’s schools and mosques Mali never recovered and in 1431 nomads (Tuareg) seized Timbuktu and by 1500’s many people broke away from Mali until only a little was left

16. How did Songhai become an empire and who was Sunni Ali? Mali had conquered Songhai land but when Mali declined the Songhai rebelled and regained their freedom Sunni Ali was a Songhai ruler who worked to strengthen and enlarge the empire, he encouraged everyone to work together and to build religious harmony

17. Who was Askia the Great? Leader of a rebellion against Sunni Baru (Sunni Ali’s son) because he was not Muslim. He overthrew Sunni Baru He supported education and learning, set up universities, schools, libraries and mosques

18. Why did Songhai fail? Morocco wanted Songhai’s salt and with their advanced weapons (like the “arquebus” which was an early gun) destroyed Timbuktu and Gao Songhai had no ports for trade, people all over the world preferred water trade, not land trade and decided not to trade with Songhai anymore

19. Describe the Great Zimbabwe kingdom Founded in the late 1000’s as a small trading and herding center Gold mining increased in the area Farming expanded and the population grew Became a large trading center and the rulers became wealthy and powerful When the gold trade declined they weakened

Section Four: Historical and Artistic Traditions 20. Who were “griots” and why were they important? Griots are the storytellers of early West Africa They were highly respected because people of West Africa were very interested in the deeds of their ancestors They helped keep this history alive for each new generation

21. Define Proverb Short sayings of wisdom or truth 22. Describe West African Epics Long poems about kingdoms and heroes “Dausi” and “Sundiata” are famous epic poems

23. Describe African: A. Sculpture: people’s ancestors, made for religious rituals, or offerings to gods and never seen by other people B. Masks and Clothing: masks were made of wood and had faces of animals and wore them as they danced around the fire Famous clothing was the “kente” which is a hand-woven, brightly colored fabric C. Music and Dance: singing, drummig and dancing were great entertainment and honored history and marked special occasions