1. Welcome to Medieval Africa!
Kingdoms and States of Africa Jigsaw Assignment

2. Jigsaw Assignment
Read your assigned section silently to yourself. Look at any associated pictures.
Write a three- or four-sentence summary that includes the main ideas from your section. You’ll be trading this information with your classmates.
If you finish early, read “Eyewitness to History: The Salt Mines” on page 235.

3. Key ideas
Make sure your summary includes these key ideas. Highlight or put a star by them.
Ghana: gold, trade by caravan
Mali: Mansa Musa’s pilgrimage, Timbuktu
Songhai: Sunni Ali, Muhammad Ture
East Africa: Bantu, subsistence farming, Ibn Battuta
South Africa: stateless society, Zimbabwe

4. Jigsawing…
Raise your hands when you are finished trading summaries. I will check your group off on my master list.

5. I have a surprise for you all…
I have in my possession one fully-functional time machine. You each will get to visit two of the five societies we studied. Which two societies do you choose? Give me 3-4 reasons total for your choices. Use full sentences. Hand in when finished! Have fun!

6. Why does this matter?
One of the ways that Europeans justified enslaving Africans was by claiming that Africans had been unable to build an advanced civilization. Geography and climate (particularly the disease environment) hampered the development of civilizations that were advanced in the Western sense, but Africans did build large cities, establish complex kingdoms, maintain elaborate trade routes, and develop a rich religious and cultural life.

7. Today’s assignment…
Your job today is to characterize a few aspects of Medieval African culture and society.
First, pick three topics from the following list, and summarize how they are described in your textbook. You may use bullet points or sentences.
Second, choose just one aspect, and in 3-4 full sentences, compare and contrast that aspect with modern American society.
King and subject
Family and lineage
The role of women
Community education and initiation
Slavery
Religious beliefs
African cultural traditions