African Kingdoms

Geography Africa is the 2 nd largest continent of the world. Africa is made up of three major geographic features.

Desert The desert regions are found in the northern and southern parts of Africa.

The northern part of Africa consists of the Sahara Desert. The Sahara Desert is the hottest desert in the world. It separates North Africa from the rest of the continent.

Savannah The savannah region is a grassland with grasses and some trees. It is favorable to settlement.

rainforest The land near the Congo River is lush tropical rainforest. The climate is hot and wet with an average yearly rainfall of 70 inches.

Definition: Category: Savannah (Savanna) Example: Grassland area with grasses and few trees. Geography Africa

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African Kingdoms Flip Book Rubric Title Page – Decorated; Title 5 African Kingdoms & Their African Areas 5 Facts About Each African Kingdom 1 Picture for Each African Kingdom (5 total pictures) Size Neatness Colored (No Marker; No Pencil) Spelling & Grammar

Sub-Saharan Africa

Bantu people Around 1000 B.C., much of Africa was covered in small villages of primitive peoples who shared languages that were similar to one another. Because the languages they shared are known as Bantu, these people are referred to as the Bantu peoples.

Bantu Migration The spread of the Bantu people was through migrations. Due to the lack of resources, Bantu speaking people migrated out of north- central Africa. They migrated south into the rainforest regions around the Congo and they migrated east into the East African highlands. Wherever they migrated, they imposed their language, which mixed with and replaced indigenous languages.

Bantu Economy After adapting to their environment, the Bantu people developed new farming techniques. Due to the environment and Bantu farming techniques, bananas became a major crop. They also developed iron- working. The success in these two areas led to trading with other people along the coast.

Bantu Religion The Bantu believed that the gods would reward them with an abundant crop. Therefore, people would pray and offer sacrifices to the gods or spirits in order to gain fertile land. They believe in survival after death and think that ghosts go on living only as long as people remember them.

Bantu Government The Bantus lived in small villages that were governed by a chief, council, or by elders. These villages were typically made up of extended families, but marriage among people of different villages was common.

1-Minute Pause 1 minute to think about the following: –1 thing that you learned –1 thing that you were interested in

East Africa

Axum

Axum controlled a territory along the Red Sea that allowed them to prosper from trade. After defeating the Kingdom of Kush, Axum was able to control trade into and out of much of Africa. Cargo ships from Rome, India, Persia, and Egypt brought goods in, and took ivory and other goods out to the rest of the known world.

Axum architecture While many people in Axum were merchants, traders, and farmers, some were builders and architects. Archeologists have found many monuments, palaces, thrones and stone pillars that were built by the people of Axum.

Axum religion Around 330 A.D., the king of Axum was converted to Christianity by a pair of shipwrecked missionaries. This king declared that Christianity was to be the official religion of the nation.

The Christian nation of Axum thrived until the A.D. 600s when Muslim raiders and bandits began seizing Axum goods and territory. Unable to adequately fight back, the Kingdom of Axum became smaller and less influential. Gradually, the people of Axum began calling their kingdom Ethiopia.

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West Africa

GHANA

Ghana - Geography The old empire of Ghana is not located in the same place as the modern country of Ghana. Ancient Ghana was located about 400 miles northwest of the modern day country of the same name.

Ghana - Government The king, assisted by his council of elders, headed the government. The kingdom was divided into districts.

Ghana - government Ghana was a great military power. Legend says the king could order 200,000 warriors and 40,000 more with bows and arrows.

Ghana - Economy The people of Ancient Ghana became rich from trade! Ghana never owned gold or salt mines. What Ghana controlled was the trade route between the salt mines and the gold mines.

Ghana - Economy Ghana offered the traders a deal. Ghana's large army assured the traders of safe passage. In return, Ghana restricted trade to gold dust only. They kept the gold nuggets for themselves. Ghana became the guardians and the negotiators.

Ghana - Economy As more and more traders braved the Trans-Sahara Trade Route, the Kingdom of Ghana flourished. Ghana and other West African kingdoms soon became collectively known as The Gold Coast.

List-Group-Label Make 3 columns on your paper. Label the columns: Geography, Political, and Economic King West Africa Districts Salt Sub-Saharan Gold Coast Council of Elders Trade

List-Group-Label King Districts Council of Elders Salt Gold Coast Trade GeographyPolitical Economic West Africa Sub-Saharan

MALI

Mali - Geography Most of Mali is a hot, sandy, rocky desert. The Niger River runs through Mali. The people adapted to their environment by being farmers, miners and traders. Mali began as one of the districts in the Kingdom of Ghana. When Ghana collapsed, Mali took over and grew to be larger than Ghana!

Mali - Economy Due to the expansion of Mali, gold was located to the south of Mali, and salt was located to the north of Mali. Mali continued to trade gold and salt, as well as other goods, with its neighbors.

What else did they trade? Copper Ivory Cloth Kola Nuts Slaves Books Shells Camels, the ships of the desert, traveled in caravans bringing to Mali:

Sundiata: The Lion King First King of Mali Famous for uniting and enlarging the kingdom Died in 1255

Mansa Musa Several kings ruled after Sundiata’s death Mansa Musa became the greatest king of Mali in He was a follower of Islam and made a hajj to Mecca. Mansa Musa started universities and built mosques in Timbuktu making the former trading center a center for worship and learning.

Timbuktu Timbuktu was a very important city in Mali. –Center of learning for Muslims –Universities and schools –Largest trading center in Mali Timbuktu

Sentence Synthesis Use three of the following words in one sentence: MaliGhana tradeMansa Musa TimbuktuSalt GoldWest Africa *Your sentence must show meaning!

SONGHAI

Songhai - Geography When Mali weakened, Songhai started to take over. At one time, Songhai was part of Mali. Mali tried to get them to pay taxes, but they never would.

Songhai - Economy Songhai started as a fishing community. They traded fish for the good they wanted and needed. Songhai continued the trade of Mali. They exported gold, salt, kola nuts, and slaves.

Pattern Puzzles 1.You will be given an index card. 2.Read the index card and decide which frisbee it should be placed in. 3.Place your index card in the correct frisbee.

The Griots Storytellers were called Griots. They often used music, dancing, and songs to tell their stories. Griots kept history and family records, because the people did not have a written language until Mansa Musa. Much of what we know about the West African kingdoms comes from the griots.

Definition: Category: Griot Example: Storyteller; kept historical and family records Cultural West Africa

Anansi Story