1. Africa

2. African Stateless Societies
Organized around kinship
Did not tax the people
No need to pay government officials, army, etc…
Little concentration of authority
Government was not a full time occupation

3. Problems with Stateless Societies
Couldn’t resist outside pressures
Couldn’t organize for warfare
Couldn’t organize for large building projects
Couldn’t support long-distant trade
Led to creation of states

4. Bantu
“Bantu” is defined as a family of African languages that stretches across sub- Saharan Africa
Bantu is not a specific language group or people group
450 known languages in the Bantu family

5. African Language Groups

7. Bantu “Migrations”
Originally, archeologist thought the Bantu migration was a mass movement
Evidence now shows that the Bantu moved about slowly and intermarried into tribes and affected the culture of these tribes
The term migration is misleading as the movement took several centuries

8. Effects of migrations
Spread agricultural techniques (iron) and herding
Led to increased production
Led to more migration as they searched for agricultural lands

9. Bananas Brought to Africa from Asia along the Indian Ocean trade lines
First in Madagascar then to the continent
Led to creation of many banana verities
Enriched African diets, which allowed them to expand more rapidly

10. Kin-Based Societies Did not depend on an elaborate hierarchy
Villages would have an average of about 100 people
Men would be in charge
A group of villages formed districts; creates ethnic loyalties

11. Chiefdoms Population growth strained resources
kin groups began fighting over resources
Led to organized military systems, which led to more organized governments
After about 1000, large city-states had developed

12. Trans-Saharan Trade Camel and camel saddle
70-90 Days to cross the Sahara
First written records from Muslim traders in the 8th century
Three large empires formed in West Africa as a result of trade:
Ghana 700 to 1100
Mali 1100 to 1400
Songhay

13. Trans-Saharan Trade
Goods that moved north: gold, slaves, cloth, ivory, ebony, pepper, kola nuts
Goods that moved south: salt, dates, horses, brass, copper, glass wear, beads, leather, textiles, clothing, and food stuffs
Gold was the most important product
West Africa provided two-thirds of gold trade in the eastern hemisphere

14. West Africa: Kingdom of Ghana
Between 4th-5th century
Began as a way to protect agriculture from desert raiders
Became center for trading gold
Capital was Koumbi-Saleh
Taxes on trade allowed for a huge military
10th century, kings became Muslims
Raids from the desert led to collapse in the early 1200s

16. West Africa: Mali Sundiata built Mali kingdom and ruled 1230-1255
Mali controlled and taxed most trade through West Africa
Capital was Niani
Rulers were Muslim

17. West Africa: Mali & Mansa Musa
Ruled
Took Hajj to Mecca
60,000 retainers, 12,000 slaves, his senior wife had 500 attendants
500 slaves carried a 4 lb gold bar
He was carried under a silk pavilion on a throne made of ebony with ivory tusks
Gold’s value declined by about 25%
Established religious schools along the way

18. West Africa: Mali and Timbuktu
Became a center for Muslim scholarship
Huge trade center for gold and salt
The mosque had massive libraries of African and Muslim texts

19. West Africa: End of Mali
Military pressures from other kingdoms and desert nomads
By late 1400’s Songhay Empire overtook Mali

20. East Africa: Aksum
Began as a group of traders out of the Arabian Peninsula looking for ivory
Dominated trade in the Red Sea and some of the Arabian Sea
Traded in:
Ivory
Silver
Gold
Frankincense (used in Greek burials)
Built stelae

21. East Africa: Aksum King Ezana (320-350 CE) converted to Christianity
At one point, Aksum had spread into modern Yemen
Fell by 800 CE
Loss of natural resources
Muslim culture prevented trade for African Christian
Ethiopia will be the next Christian Empire in Africa (will speak same language group as Aksum- Ge’ez)

22. Height of Aksum

23. Ethiopian Christianity
Refused to accept that Jesus was two parts (human & divine)
They believe that Jesus was both natures at once
Today 40 million practice Ethiopian Christianity
Possible site of the Ark of the Covenant

24. East Africa: Zimbabwe
Name came from what Swahili speakers called wooden buildings
Great Zimbabwe built a wall around its towers, palaces, and public buildings
18,000 people could have lived here at its height

25. East Africa: Zimbabwe
Kings controlled taxes and trade between coastal and interior regions
Formed many alliances and control of products

26. East Africa: Swahili Arabic term meaning “coasters”
A language group who spoke a mix of Bantu and Arabic
Trade sites from Indian Ocean routes created city-states
Began building in coral; created large mosques and public buildings

28. South West Africa: Kingdom of Kongo
Military conflicts resulted in this large kingdom by 1200
King and officials oversaw military, judicial, and financial affairs
Most tightly centralized Bantu kingdom
Had a royal currency system
Mid-1700, Portuguese show up