1. African Kingdoms During the Middle Ages
Aksum, Ghana, Mali, Songhai, Zimbabwe

2. EAST AFRICA

3. Aksum (Axum)
Arabians crossed the Red Sea and intermarried with people from modern-day Ethiopia.
Settlement took place along the upper Nile and in the Ethiopian Highlands.
These people conquered Kush (Nubia) and created the kingdom of Aksum

4. A Trading Center
Aksum becomes an important trading center for goods around the Mediterranean, Africa, and Asia
Many new ideas introduced there, including Christianity

5. Aksum Converts to Christianity
When a king named Ezana took the throne around 400 AD, he converted to Christianity and made Christianity the official religion of Aksum
There are still millions of Christians in this region today.

6. Islamic Invasions
The Muslim’s invasions into North Africa after Muhammad’s death cut into Aksum’s territory and isolated it.
Aksum would endure and become Ethiopia, but would never have the power it once held.

7. WEST AFRICA

8. West Africa
South of the Sahara Desert is a semi-dry region characterized by grasslands called the Sahel (also called Savannah)
The region is rich in gold deposits

9. Gold-Salt Trade
The Sahel region lacks salt deposits, and so people there had to trade for salt from the Sahara Desert
Several powerful empires developed around the trade of gold and salt and would control much of Western Africa for almost 1,000 years

10. Camels
Camels allowed the gold-salt trade to be successful. They allowed people to transport great quantities of gold and salt across the Sahara.
Other pack animals cannot cross the Sahara, but camels can because they can go up to 40 days without water.

11. GHANA
No one is really sure when the Ghana kingdom began, but they do know that it became very powerful
It is located between the Niger River and the Sahara Desert.
Ghana became powerful because of its control of gold in the gold-salt trade across the Sahara Desert

12. Ghana Declines
Ghana eventually declined in power, mostly because it lost its control of the gold trade and because new gold mines were found farther east

13. Animism
The worship of nature- spirits in plants, animals, sun, water, etc.
People from Ghana worshipped an animist religion
Still prominent in parts of Africa today

14. MALI
As Ghana declined in the 1200’s AD, the kingdom of Mali gained in power.
Mali was centered around these new gold mines east of Ghana
Mali’s powerful king Sundiata Keita built an even larger empire
Several of its kings were very devout Muslims, even making the pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj).
One such king was Mansa Musa.

15. Mansa Musa
In the 13th year of his reign Mansa Musa set out on his famous pilgrimage to Mecca.
It was this pilgrimage that awakened the world to the wealth of Mali.
Mansa Musa was accompanied by a caravan consisting of 60,000 men.
He also brought with him 80 camels loaded with 300 pounds of gold each.

16. If Mansa Musa was the richest man alive, why is the country of Mali struggling economically today?

17. Timbuktu
Mali established the city, Timbuktu, which was a center for trade and learning.
Universities were established to promote learning
Many converted to Islam, and built mosques.
Others incorporated parts of Islam into their animist beliefs

18. SONGHAI
Eventually, Mali declined, and Songhai took its place and built an even larger empire
Also was also based on the gold-salt trade
And, it inherited much of Mali’s blend of Islamic and animist traditions

19. SOUTHERN AFRICA

20. ZIMBABWE
So what do we know about Zimbabwe? Z L

21. “Zimbabwe” means “stone houses”

22. Zimbabwe abandoned
No one knows why Zimbabwe was abandoned, but they think it was because the land was over grazed and the soil depleted