Transcript Early Civilizations of Africa

Early Civilizations of
Africa
 Bands of tropical rain forest,
savanna, and desert
Geography of
Africa
 Interior plateau creates
waterfalls and rapids on
rivers
 Great Rift Valley: interior
passageway
 Mediterranean and Red Sea
provide trade routes
 Natural resources encourage
trade
 Between 1000 BC and 1000
AD, a group of West African
farmers began migrating to
the south and east
Bantu
Migrations
 Their language, called Bantu,
spread with them
 Brought skills in farming,
ironworking, and
domesticating animals
 Many South and East African
languages today are varieties
of Bantu
 2700 BC-350 AD, flourished
on the upper Nile River
(south of Egypt)
Nubia
 Trade brought them in close
contact with Egypt and
sparked cultural exchange
 The capital city, Meroe, was a
center of trade and natural
resources (iron)
 Nubian culture is mysterious,
because their language is not
understood today
Outside
Influences on
North Africa
 Phoenician sailors
established trading colonies
on the North African coast
 The Roman Empire ruled
North Africa, bringing
Christianity
 Arabs later invaded, bringing
Arabic language and Islamic
religion
Kingdoms of West
Africa
 Agricultural villages traded
across the Sahara
Patterns of
Trade Develop
 From West Africa, caravans
carried leather, nuts, cotton,
and slaves
 From North Africa, Arabs
brought silk, metals, beads,
and horses
 Largest trade was gold for
salt-one pound of gold for
one pound of salt
 Groups of trading agricultural
villages united to form the
Kingdom of Ghana, between
the Niger and Senegal Rivers
Kingdom of
Ghana
 Kings of Ghana controlled
and taxed the gold-salt trade
routes
 Taxes were used to build rich
cities and mighty armies
 Many of the elite in Ghana
converted to Islam
 When Ghana lost control of
its trade routes, the Kingdom
collapsed
 Mali was united by a leader
named Sundiata who took
control of the trade routes
Kingdom of
Mali
 Villages on caravan routes
became great trading cities
like Timbuktu
 Mali’s greatest king, Mansa
Musa, made hajj to Mecca,
drawing attention to Mali’s
wealth
 As Mali weakened, the
Songhai Empire grew in
power
Songhai
Empire
 Ruler Askia the Great created
a bureaucracy, government
with different departments
with different responsibilities
 He brought Islamic scholars
to Songhai
 Weakened by fights over
succession
 Grew wealthy by controlling
the salt-gold trade
Patterns in
West African
Kingdoms
 Villages became great
trading cities
 Islamic influence
 Conquered by invaders from
the Sahara, but the invaders
could not maintain an empire
over both the Sahara and
West Africa
 The Kingdom of Benin
formed in the rainforests of
the West African coasts
Smaller
Societies of
West Africa
 Benin traded with the
savanna kingdoms to the
north and created great
bronze and brass sculptures
 The Hausa people created
many walled city states
 These city states were home
to great artisans and often
had female rulers
Kingdoms and Trading
States of East Africa
 Located from highlands of
Ethiopia to shores of Eritrea
 Descended from African
farmers and Jewish traders
Axum
 Traded throughout Africa,
with India, and the Middle
East
 Axum converted to
Christianity in the 300s, was
isolated when Islam spread to
surrounding areas
 Axum culture survived in the
highlands of Ethiopia
Ethiopia
 Ethiopians blended
Christianity with East African
traditions
 The Churches of Lallibela
were carved into the ground
downward into the
mountains
 Some Ethiopians also
practiced Judaism
 Trade cities flourished on the
East African coast-easy
access to India and the
Middle East-the culture and
language was called Swahili
East African
City States
 Traded ivory, leopard skin,
copper, gold, and slaves from
Africa for cotton, cloth, silk,
spices, porcelain, glass, and
swords from Middle East,
China, and India
 Swahili culture and language
was a mix of Arabic and
African
 Zimbabwe was the capital of
an inland trading empire
Great
Zimbabwe
 Built by Bantu speakers who
brought ironworking, mining,
and farming skills
 Part of a trading network
connecting all the way to
India