1. West African Civilizations

2. West African Civilizations
3 Empires emerge by dominating trade across the Sahara
- Empire of Ghana
- Empire of Mali
- Empire of Songhai

4. West African Civilizations
Objectives
Understand why gold and salt were important in early Africa.
Describe how the rulers of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai built strong kingdoms.
Summarize how other West African societies developed.

5. West African Civilizations
How did the kingdoms of West Africa develop and prosper?
As trade in Africa expanded, cities such as Gao and Timbuktu developed and became wealthy centers of commerce.
Between A.D. 800 and A.D. 1600, several kingdoms gained control of prosperous cities such as these.

7. Salt and Gold
Too much or too little salt in the diet can lead to muscle cramps, dizziness which can cause neurological problems, or death.
US Department of agriculture

8. West African Civilizations
The Sahara had an abundance of salt, which people needed in their diet to replace salt lost in perspiration.
In the savanna, salt was scarce. A merchant might trade one pound of gold for one pound of salt.
As trade grew, cities developed on the northern edges of the savanna. 8

9. West African Civilizations
How did the kingdom of Ghana develop?
By A.D. 800, the rulers of the Soninke people united many farming villages to create Ghana.
Rulers of Ghana controlled gold-salt routes across West Africa.
Muslim merchants from North of the Sahara brought Islam to Ghana.

10. West African Civilizations
Ghana fell in around In time, the new kingdom of Mali replaced Ghana.
Mali was founded in 1235 Sundiata.
The kings of Mali, or mansas, took control of gold-mining regions and the gold-salt trade.

11. Founder of Mali

12. Mansa Musa King of West Africa

13. After a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324, Mansa Musa brought Muslim scholars and architects to Mali.
He built a university at Timbuktu that became a great center of learning.
This map shows Mansa Musa’s pilgrimage to Mecca.

15. Mansa Musa!

16. Inflation:
Mansa Musa’s hajj devalued gold for a decade in Cairo, Medina, and Mecca.

17. He formed strong ties to the Muslim world.
In the 1400s, Mali weakened and the new West African kingdom of Songhai arose.
The soldier-king Sonni Ali brought trade routes & cities under his control.
When he died, the emperor Askia Muhammad expanded Songhai territory, holding court at Gao.
He formed strong ties to the Muslim world.

18. In 1591, invaders from Morocco conquered the empire.
The Songhai kingdom experienced disputes over succession in the late 1500s.
In 1591, invaders from Morocco conquered the empire.
Though the invaders couldn’t maintain control, the glory of the Songhai kingdom was over.

19. Great Kingdoms of West Africa
Notable Cities
Years
Ghana
Kumbi Saleh
800–1050
Mali
Timbuktu
1235–1400s
Songhai
Gao
1464–1591

20. What products did the kingdoms of Ghana, Songhai, and Mali have that the rest of the world wanted?
What came across the Sahara to West Africa?

21. The Hausa came to dominate many Saharan trade routes.
In addition to the great kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai, there were several smaller societies in the region.
Benin rose on the Guinea Coast during the 1300s. Its people knew how to cast bronze and brass.
The Hausa of West Africa became prominent in the 1300s. They lived in walled city-states.
The Hausa came to dominate many Saharan trade routes.

22. Benin
How did the Kingdom of Benin stay rich and powerful? What did they supply?

25. East African Kingdoms and Trading States

26. Explain how religion influenced the development of Axum and Ethiopia.
Objectives
Explain how religion influenced the development of Axum and Ethiopia.
Understand how trade affected the city-states in East Africa.
Describe the economy of Great Zimbabwe.

27. Terms and People
Axum – trading center and powerful ancient kingdom in northern present- day Ethiopia
Adulis – an Axum port city on the Red Sea, one of two major cities in the kingdom that commanded a trade network in the region
Ethiopia – a Greek term used by Axumite kings to refer to their kingdom

28. King Lalibela – the ruler of Ethiopia in the early 1200s
Terms and People (continued)
King Lalibela – the ruler of Ethiopia in the early 1200s
Swahili – an East African language and culture that emerged by the 1000s from a combination of African, Asian, and Arabic influences
Great Zimbabwe – powerful East African medieval trade center and city- state between 900 and Located in southern present-day Zimbabwe

29. What influence did religion and trade have on the development of East Africa?
The kingdom of Axum expanded across the northern Ethiopian highlands of East Africa after 100 B.C. This civilization gained control of the Red Sea and grew rich from trade.
As East Africans traded and exchanged ideas with people from Asia and the Middle East, a new culture and language emerged.

30. The two cultures blended and created a new language called Geez.
The kingdom of Axum flourished between 300 B.C. and A.D. 600.
Axum stretched from the mountains of present-day Ethiopia to the Red Sea.
The people there were descended from African farmers and Middle Easterners.
The two cultures blended and created a new language called Geez. 30

31. Axum grew very wealthy through trade.
One of its main cities, Adulis, was a port on the Red Sea. Here, goods such as ivory, animal hides, and gold were brought to market.
Axum controlled a triangular trade network between Africa, India, and the Mediterranean. 31

32. Axum converted to Christianity in the 300s.
This conversion strengthened the kingdom’s ties with North Africa and the Mediterranean.
However, when Islam spread in the 600s, Axum became isolated from many of its trading partners.
Civil war and economic weakness led to the decline of Axum.

33. The legacy of Axum survived in medieval Ethiopia.
King Lalibela came to power in Ethiopia in the early 1200s.
He directed the building of Christian churches, carved into solid rock.
Protected by rugged mountains, Ethiopia kept its independence for centuries.

34. Ethiopian Christians kept ties with the Holy Land in the Middle East.
Some made
pilgrimages to
Jerusalem.
Ethiopian Christianity
absorbed local
customs over time.
Some Ethiopians practiced Judaism. Jews known as Falasha lived in Ethiopia until the late 1900s. 34

35. A rich cultural mix existed along the East African coast.
Phoenician, Greek, Roman, Indian, Muslim, and Asian traders had visited since ancient times.
By the 600s, sailors learned that monsoon winds would carry them from India to Africa each year.
Foreign trade helped local rulers build strong, independent city-states, such as Kilwa.

36. Trade linked distant ports in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.

37. Swahili developed as greater numbers of people began to settle in East Africa.
Arabic words were absorbed into the Bantu-based language to create Swahili, an Arabic word meaning “of the coast.”
This vibrant trading culture on the coast of East Africa led to the emergence of a new language.

38. South of the coastal city-states, a great inland empire existed.
Bantu-speaking people who lived in this region between 900 and built huge stone towers in their capital city.
The ruins left behind today are called Great Zimbabwe. Archaeologists are working now to learn more about this civilization.

39. Great Zimbabwe was part of an extensive trade network
Great Zimbabwe was part of an extensive trade network. It reached its height around 1300.
It had artisans and skilled builders. The ruler was probably a god-king who presided over a large court.
Zimbabwe declined by 1500, probably due to civil war and slowing trade.