Exploring Ancient Africa West M. Wagner

3 Worlds Meet Native Americans Africans Europeans

Africa It’s a huge Continent. You could fit all of Europe, all 50 American States, and China inside of Africa.

Africa Has… Over 50 Countries Hundreds of Cultures More Than 2,000 Different Languages Are Spoken There!

Africa Rich History Goes Back Thousands Of Years Evidence Of The Earliest Humans Was Found In Africa.

2 1 4 3 5 There are 5 main regions of Africa. Remember, this is a regional map. That means you may find a slightly different version of this map – but we can still use it to make generalizations.

West Africa

Vegetation Regions Of Africa Desert Rainforest Grassland

Grassland Savannah

Rainforest

Desert Sahara

Over one thousand years ago a series of empires developed in West Africa. Ghana Mali Songhay

The majority of the people in these empires were farmers with strong ties to their family, clan, and village.

Timeline of Ancient West African Kingdoms Which Kingdom is the oldest? Why might a Kingdom disappear? Is it possible that one day America will be replaced by a new Kingdom?

These empires became rich and powerful by controlling the trade networks in the region. Ghana Mali Songhay

Trade Routes Think about crossing the Sahara Desert. What obstacles would the ancient traders encounter? Trade Routes

Considering all the challenges, why would people trade goods across the desert? Sandstorm

Ghana Had A Powerful Army Ghana handled all of the trade between traders in the north and traders in the south. Salt Mines Why? Because it was in the middle- Ghana Had A Powerful Army Ghana offered the traders protection, for a fee. They set up the rules of trade. Gold Mines

Salt For Gold Trade Was Even What made salt so valuable? 1 Ounce of Gold FOR 1 Ounce of Salt

Ghana did not have salt or gold. They got rich by controlling the trade. The traders had to go through Ghana in order to trade.

Historical evidence about the history of West Africa comes from: Archaeology Written History Oral History

Archaeology: The study of human history through the analysis of artifacts and other physical remains. Ruins of Ghana

Written History Always ask yourself: From whose point-of-view is this being told? How might a different perspective change this account?

Oral History Griot: A Storyteller and historian responsible for keeping the oral history of an area.