2. Ancient Empires of Africa World History

3. Stinger 1.What vocabulary do you need to know in order to understand the map? 2.What is the purpose of the map? 3.What information does the map provide. 4.Identify patterns in the map. 5.Explain why those patterns exist. 6.Why is this map important to understanding the development of African empires?

4. Thoughts on the map African empires are sparse Lack of civilizations in the Sahara Geographic obstacles to settlement Cluster of civilizations in West Africa Large rivers Warm climate Access to trade via oceans and seas Access to Mediterranean civilizations Cluster of civilizations near the Arabian Peninsula Access to Asian civilizations Proximity to Egypt for trade Some civilizations in the South Fertility and moderate climate make foraging easy Abundant plant and animal life

5. Trade Routes 1.With which civilizations were Aksumites able to trade? 2.Which trade routes (land or sea) seem to be most important to Aksum? 3.Do you suspect that askum was wealthy or impoverished based on these trade routes? Explain.

6. Ethiopian Coins 1.Of which metals do these coins appear to be made? What does that tell you about the strength of the Askumite economy? 2.How consistent or well made do the coins appear? What does this tell you about the Aksumite’s skill with metalworking.

7. Aksumite Architecture 1.What similarities do you see between the Askumite architecture and the architecture of other empires of the period (Greek, Roman, Egyptian, etc.)? 2.What differences do you see between the Aksumite architecture and the architectures of other empires of the period? 3.What does the existence of monumental architecture like that pictured here tell you about the stregnth of the Aksumite economy?

8. Aksumite Mask 1.What do you expect was the purpose of the mask at the right? Why? 2.What does this type of art tell you about the Aksumite view of individuality? Why? 3.What does this type of mask tell you about Aksumite values?

9. Article instructions Read and summarize the article using one of the techniques below Magnet summary Read and highlight 10-15 important words in the article. Use those words to create 1-2 paragraphs that summarize the article. Underline the words that you used. 8 Step story pyramid Create a summary which creates a pyramid of words and sentences. On the first line, write one word that captures the topic of the article On the first line, write two words that illustrate two topics or categories from the article On the third line, write three words that identify three important things about the article. On the fourth line, write a four word sentence that summarizes part of the article. On the fifth line, write a five word sentence that summarizes part of the article. On the sixth line, write a six word sentence that summarizes part of the article. On the seventh line, write a seven word sentence that summarizes part of the article. On the eighth line, write an eight word sentence that summarizes part of the article. Acrostic Write the words Aksum Empire vertically. Use the vertical letters to create 11 sentences that summarize the article.

10. Video Questions How would you describe Aksum’s economy? How did the economy become that way? How did archaeologists use Aksumite coins to describe the strength or weakness of the Aksumite economy? What type of religion was practiced at the height of the Aksum empire? What evidence was used to determine this? How would you describe Aksumite architecture? Why did the Aksumites build this type of architecture?