1. Early
African
Civilizations

3. Geography Sahara Savanna Rain Forest Mild
How would Africa’s geography:
1) affect food production?
2) affect trading patterns?
Hump
Of Africa
Savanna
Horn of Africa
Rain Forest
2nd largest continent
Surrounded by 2 oceans & 2 seas
Mild

4. 3. Why is ivory unavailable today?
2. What connection is there between the mask and elephants?
1. What is this?
Ivory Tribal Mask
Ivory has been used for 1000s of years
1400s-1650s – Portuguese merchants hired ivory sculptors
3. Why is ivory unavailable today?

5. Kush
1000 B.C.E. – 150 C.E.
Upper Nile Valley (Sudan)
Capital City = Meroe
Built great temples, brick mansions, flat-topped pyramids, and reservoirs
Written language still undeciphered
Traded gold, ivory, ebony, wood, and slaves
produced iron wares

6. Axum
100 – 1400 C.E.
Founded by Arab traders
Traded ivory, slaves, & spices
King Ezana
- converted to Christianity 324 C.E.
- conquered the Kush
- built monuments = obelisks

7. Christian: Nubia & Ethiopia
Reached Africa before Rome’s conversion
Coptic (Egypt & Nubia) translated the gospels into their language & were tolerated
Ethiopia—Remained isolated and independent
King Lalibela—11 churches carved from stone
Later Dynasty—traced lineage back to Solomon & Sheba

8. Bet Giorgis, a 12th century Rock-Hewn Church in Ethiopia

9. Ghana Founded about 750-1200 C.E. Between the Senegal and Niger Rivers
Vast resources (iron, animal products, & gold)
Produced iron swords, spears, and lances
Traded gold for salt from the Saharan salt mines
Ghanian kings taxed all passing trade
Invaded by Muslims in 1076 and broken into small kingdoms

10. Berbers nomadic camel caravans ”fleets of the desert”
Gold-salt-slave trade
Picked up large blocks up salt on their journey and exchanged it for gold
Islam, Christianity was spread also
- carried goods 300 miles across the Sahara

11. Mali 1240-1400 Brought both gold & salt under their direct control
Rulers converted to Islam
Majority of the people remained faithful to the traditional animistic faiths

12. Sundiata Keita c. 1210-1260 Powerful warrior
Created the Kingdom of Mali
“Father of Mali”

13. Sundiata, Lion Prince of Mali as told by griots (story tellers)

14. Mansa Musa Ruled from 1312 – 1337 Very $ Doubled the size of Mali
Created 5 provinces
Appointed governors

15. Took 1000s with him Devout Muslim Made the Hajj
Impressed 1000s along the way with lavish gifts
Gold value along the rt.
Returned with scholars & architects

16. Timbuktu became a major Cultural Center
Encouraged new buildings
Built mosques, libraries,
New palace
Center of universities
Scholarship flourished

17. Songhai 1464 – 1600 C.E. Sunni Ali captured Timbuktu & Jenne
Brought Upper Niger under his control
Largest of West Africa’s trading kingdoms
Elaborate tax and communication system
Traded gold, salt, slaves
Controlled the West African trade
1591, defeated by Morocco
Ended the great West African kingdoms

18. Bantu Migrations Swahili
Migrated into Eastern Africa from the west
Subsistence farmers
Major trading posts:
Mogadishu
Mombasa
Kilwa
Spoke
Swahili

19. Unifying aspect 1000 different languages; 1000+ different tribes
Bantu-speaking peoples provided a linguistic base across Africa
1000 different languages; different tribes

20. Zimbabwe Wealthy “stateless society”
Independent villages ruled by clan leader
Prospered from the gold trade

21. Culture & Society Walled villages = center of government
Markets contained goods from around the world
Lineage group = sense of identity
Many matrilineal societies
Women could inherit
Community education and initiation

22. Slavery Pre-European Slave Trade Existed since ancient times
Between CE, 4.5 million Africans transported to Southwest Asia (SWA)
1st major development occurred in 7th Century
Berbers raided villages
Islamic traders traded goods for Africans
Transported them to SWA
Slavery

23. Many were captured in war, debtors, criminals
Manual labor
In Muslim & African societies, slaves had legal rights and opportunities for social mobility
In Muslim countries, many earned their freedom

24. Religion Most were monotheistic
Islam & Christianity spread slowly to Africa because many many Islamic beliefs conflicted with traditional African beliefs and customs.
Diviners = predict the future

25. Traditional African Religion
ANIMISM
1. Belief in one remote Supreme Being.
2. A world of spirits (good & bad) in all things.
3. Ancestor veneration.
4. Belief in magic, charms, and fetishes.
5. Diviner  mediator between the tribe and God.

26. Art & Culture
Art reflected religious themes
Griot = oral storyteller

27. The trade in ___?____ across the Sahara was probably next in importance to the gold trade for the western Sudan, but not for the central Sudan. There, because there was no gold, ___?____ were the mainstay of the export commerce.
-- William D. Phillips, 1985
This excerpt is from a description of Islamic trade from the seventh century to the fifteenth century. Which word correctly completes the excerpt?
A camels
B dates
C weapons
D slaves