Copyright © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. Permission Required for Reproduction or Display. 1 Chapter 3 Early African Societies and the Bantu Migrations

Copyright © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. Permission Required for Reproduction or Display. 2 Africa: Geography 5,000 miles north-south, east-west North:  mountainous coastline Sahara desert West:  interior grasslands, tropical jungle on coast East (on Indian ocean):  snowy mountains, upland plateaus Central: Jungles South: hills, plateaus, deserts

Copyright © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. Permission Required for Reproduction or Display. 3 Development of African Agriculture Sahara desert originally highly fertile region Western Sudan region nomadic herders, c BCE  Domestication of cattle c BCE  Later, cultivation of sorghum, yams, increasingly diverse Widespread desiccation of the Sahara c BCE

Copyright © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. Permission Required for Reproduction or Display. 4 The Gift of the Nile Gradual, predictable flooding  Inundation (July-October)  Sprouting  Summer Communication:  Nubia-Egypt Current: north Winds: south  Sub-Saharan Africa- Mesopotamia Increased in importance w/ desiccation of Sahara The Nile Valley, BCE

Copyright © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. Permission Required for Reproduction or Display. 5 Early Agriculture in Nile Valley 10,000 BCE migrants from Red Sea hills (northern Ethiopia)  Introduce collection of wild grains, language roots of Coptic 5000 BCE Sudanic cultivators, herders migrate to Nile river valley Adaptation to seasonal flooding of Nile through construction of dikes, waterways  Villages dot Nile by 4000 BCE

Copyright © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. Permission Required for Reproduction or Display. 6 Impact on Political Organization As in Mesopotamia a need for formal organization of public affairs Need to maintain order and organize community projects Egypt: simple, local irrigation projects Rural rather than heavily urban development Trade networks develop

Copyright © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. Permission Required for Reproduction or Display. 7 Unification of Egypt Legendary conqueror Menes, c unifies Egyptian kingdom  Sometimes identified with Narmer  Tradition: founder of Memphis, cultural and political center of ancient Egypt  Instituted the rule of the Pharaoh Claimed descent from the gods Absolute rulers, had slaves buried with them from 2600 BCE Most powerful during Archaic Period ( BCE) and Old Kingdom ( BCE)

Copyright © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. Permission Required for Reproduction or Display. 8 The Pyramids Symbols of the pharaoh’s authority and divine status A testimony of the pharaohs’ ability to marshal Egypt’s resources Largest Khufu (Cheops) 2.3 M limestone blocks avg weight 2.5 tons Role: burial chambers for Pharaohs

Copyright © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. Permission Required for Reproduction or Display. 9 Relations with Nubia Competition over Nile trade Military conflict between BCE Drives Nubians to the south  Established Kingdom of Kush, c BCE Trade, cultural influences continue despite military conflict

Copyright © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. Permission Required for Reproduction or Display. 10 The New Kingdom Few pyramids, but major monumental architectural projects Engaged in empire-building to protect against foreign invasion Local resistance drives Egypt out of Nubia Kingdom of Kush revives c BCE Invasions of Kushites, Assyrians destroy Egypt mid 6 th century BCE Imperial Egypt, 1400 BCE

Copyright © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. Permission Required for Reproduction or Display. 11 Egyptian Urban Culture Major cities along Nile river, especially at delta  Memphis c BCE, Heliopolis c BCE Nubian cities include Kerma, Napata, Meroë  Located at cataracts of the Nile Well-defined social classes  Pharaohs to slaves  Archaeological discoveries in Nubia also support class- based society  Patriarchal societies, notable exceptions: female Pharaoh Hatshepsut (r BCE)

Copyright © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. Permission Required for Reproduction or Display. 12 Economic Specialization Bronze metallurgy introduced late, with Hyksos invasion Development of iron early, c. 900 BCE Trade along Nile river  More difficult in Nubia due to cataracts  Sea trade in Mediterranean

Copyright © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. Permission Required for Reproduction or Display. 13 Hieroglyphs “Holy Inscriptions”  Writing appeared at least by 3200 BCE  Pictographic supplemented with symbols representing sounds and ideas  Survives on monuments, buildings and sheets of papyrus  Hieroglyphs for formal writing, hieratic script for everyday affairs used from 2600 BCE – 600 CE  Adopts Greek alphabet – demotic and Coptic scripts Meroitic writing - flexible system borrowed from hieroglyphs, represents sounds rather than ideas

Copyright © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. Permission Required for Reproduction or Display. 14 Development of Organized Religious Traditions Principal gods Amon and Re Religious tumult under Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten) (r BCE)  Introduces sole worship of sun god Aten  One of the world’s earliest expressions of Monotheism Death of Akhenaten, traditional priest restore the cult of Amon-Re to privileged status

Copyright © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. Permission Required for Reproduction or Display. 15 Mummification and the Afterlife Inspiration of the cycles of the Nile Belief in the revival of the dead  First: ruling classes only, later expanded to include lower classes Cult of Osiris  Lord of the underworld  Power to determine who deserved immortality  Held out hope of eternal reward for those who lived moral lives Nubian worship of Apedemak and Sebiumeker

Copyright © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. Permission Required for Reproduction or Display. 16 Bantu Migrations, BCE Bantu: “people” Migration throughout sub-Saharan regions  Population pressures Over 500 variations of original Bantu language  90 million speakers By 1000 BCE, occupied most of Africa south of the equator

Copyright © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. Permission Required for Reproduction or Display. 17 Bantu Migrations, 2000 BCE-1000 CE

Copyright © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. Permission Required for Reproduction or Display. 18 Bantu Religions Evidence of early monotheism Deistic views as well  Prayers to intercessors, e.g. ancestor spirits Great variations among populations