Africa

Chapter 1

A Wall Painting

A wall painting from an Egyptian tomb shows Nubians carrying baskets and beads. Nubia had close cultural ties to ancient Egypt.

I. A Huge and Diverse Land

Second largest continent in the world From North to South

– A succession of climatic zones– Desert, savannah, rain forest, mountain

ranges

Africa: Climatic Regions and Early Sites

Map 1–1. Africa: Climatic Regions and Early Sites.

Africa is a large continent with several climatic zones. It is also the home of several early civilizations.

II. Birthplace of Humanity

Fossil and genetic evidence– Out-of-Africa model

• Modern humans emerged 200,000 years ago • Migrated to the rest of the world 100,000 years

ago

– “Eve” model• All modern humans from a single African

woman

Fossilized Bones

Anthropologists discovered these fossilized bones of a female australopithecus afarenisis, nicknamed “Lucy,” in 1974 at Hadar, Ethiopia. Dated to 3.2 million years ago, Lucy’s bones are among the more famous in the world. They provide strong evidence that human origins lay in Africa.

SOURCE: The Cleveland Museum of Natural History

III. Ancient Civilizations

Egypt and the Nile River Valley Mesopotamia and Sumer

– Race debate• Martin Bernal

– Black Egyptians colonized ancient Greece– Became the progenitors of Western civilization

• Mary Lefkowitz– Modern racial categories irrelevant to ancient Egypt

• Egypt influenced Greek and Western civilization

Ancient Egypt and Nubia

Map 1–2. Ancient Egypt and Nubia.

Egyptian Civilization

Nile River– Annual flooding irrigates

• River banks and deposits new • Wheat, barely, goats, sheep, and cattle• Transportation and communications artery

Egyptian Society

Patrilineal/patriarchal– Male dominated

Hierarchical– Warriors, priests, merchants, artisans,

peasants– Comprehensive bureaucracy

Egyptian Society (cont.)

Women

– Owned property

– Managed household slaves

– Educated their children

– Held public office

– Served as priests

– Operated businesses

Egyptian Society (cont.)

Polytheistic religion– Re (Ra): the sun god– Osiris: god of the Nile

Immortality

– Personal and state combined in kings

• Elaborate funerary

Kush, Meroë and Axum Nubia

– Egyptian colony ~ copper and gold deposits Kush

– Nubian independent kingdom

Meroë – Africa’s first industrial center– Iron deposits and geographic location

Axum– First Christian state in sub-Saharan Africa

• Influenced by Hebrew culture

The Ruined Pyramids of Meroë

The ruined pyramids of Meroë on the banks of the upper Nile River are not as old as those at Giza in Egypt, and they differ from them stylistically. But they nonetheless attest to the cultural connections between Meroë and Egypt.

Giant Stele at Axum

This giant stele at Axum demonstrates the spread of Egyptian architecture into what is today Ethiopia. Probably erected during the first century CE, before Axum converted to Christianity, this is the last of its kind still standing.

SOURCE: Copyright Werner Forman/Art Resource, NY

IV. West Africa Physically, ethnically, and culturally

diverse– Savannah and forest

• Home to a variety of cultures and languages• Cultivated crops• Tended domesticated animals• Produced iron tools and weapons

– Trade with North Africa• Essential part of the economy and kingdoms

Ancient Ghana First known kingdom in the western Sudan

– Founded between fourth and eight centuries CE– Warfare and iron weapons created an empire

Commerce– Camel caravans– Imported silk, cotton, glass beads, horses, mirrors,

dates, and salt– Exported pepper, slaves, and gold mined in another

region and taxed passing through– Commerce and religion destroyed Ghana in the

12th century

Empire of Mali, 1230-1468

Battle of Kirina– Sundiata

• Reigned 1210-1260 • Led the Mandinka to victory over the Sosso in 1235

Larger than Ghana – Greater rainfall– More crops – Control of Wangara gold mines– Population reached eight million

Empire of Mali (cont.) Commerce, bureaucracy and scholarship

– Most merchants and rulers • Converted to gain stature among Arab states

Timbuktu – Major trading hub

• Gold, slaves, and salt

– Center of Islamic learning ~13th century– 150 Islamic schools– Cosmopolitan community

• Religious and ethnic toleration common

Empire of Mali (cont.)

Mansa Musa – Reigned 1312-1337– Pilgrimage across Africa to Mecca in

Arabia– Empire declined with Musa’s death

The Empires of Ghana and Mali

Map 1–3. The Empires of Ghana and Mali.

The western Sudanese empires of Ghana and Mali helped shape West African culture. Ghana existed from as early as the fourth century CE to 1076. Mali dominated the western Sudan from 1230 to 1468.

Mansa Musa Portrayed on Catalan Atlas

Mansa Musa, who ruled the West African Empire of Mali from 1312 to 1337, is portrayed at the bottom center of this portion of the fourteenth-century Catalan Atlas. Musa’s crown, scepter, throne, and the huge gold nugget he displays symbolize his power and wealth.

Empire of Songhai, 1461-1591 The last and largest of the Sudanese

empires– Sunni Ali

• Reigned 1464-1492• Conquered people paid tribute• Generally ran their own affairs

Empire of Songhai (cont.)

--Askia Muhammad Toure • Reigned 1492-1528• Devout Moslem• Expanded empire

– Centralized administration of the empire– Substituted taxation for tribute– Established bureaucratic trade regulation

– Used his power to spread Islam within the empire

Empire of Songhai (cont.)

Askia Daud – Reigned 1549-1582– Songhai failed to adapt to changing political

atmosphere• Portuguese established trading centers along the Guinea

coast• Arab rulers of North Africa threatened with loss of trade• King of Morocco sent mercenaries to Songhai in 1591• Defeated the Songhai army and empire fell apart

when Moroccans left the region • West Africa without a government powerful enough to stop

the Portuguese

The Nok People

The Nok people of what is today Nigeria produced terra-cotta sculptures like this one during the first millennium BCE. They also pioneered, between 500 and 450 BCE, iron-smelting in West Africa.

SOURCE: Nigeria, Nok head, 900 BC–200 AD, Rafin Kura, Nok. Prehistoric West African sculpture from the Nok culture. Terracotta, 36 cms high. © Werner Forman/Art Resource, NY

West and Central Africa, c. 1500

Map 1–4. West and Central Africa, c. 1500.

This map shows the Empire of Songhai (1464–1591), the Kongo kingdom (c. 1400–1700), and the major kingdoms of the West African forest region.

West African Forest Region

Cultural diversification– Divided labor by gender– Lived in villages composed of extended families– Patchwork of diverse ethnic groups

• Variety of languages and traditions

– Small powerful kingdoms• Benin City

– Little influenced by Islam or Christianity – Trading center

» Gold, peppers, ivory, and slaves» By 17th century dependent on slave trade

The Great Mosque

The great mosque at the West African city of Jenne was first built during the fourteenth century CE. It demonstrates the importance of Islam in the region’s trading centers.

SOURCE: Roderick J. McIntosh, Rice University

Ceremonial Offering Bowl

This carved wooden ceremonial offering bowl is typical of a Yoruba art form that has persisted for centuries. It reflects religious practices as well as traditional hairstyle and dress.

Trans-Saharan Trade Routes

Map 1–5. Trans-Saharan Trade Routes.

Ancient trade routes connected sub-Saharan West Africa to the Mediterranean coast. Among the commodities carried southward were silk, cotton, horses, and salt. Among those carried northward were gold, ivory, pepper, and slaves.

V. Kongo and Angola

Kongo-Angola region– Trade with the interior of the continent– Late 15th century rulers more welcoming of

Portuguese• Nzinga Mbemba tried to convert kingdom to

Christianity • Unrest, Portuguese greed, and slave trade

destroy the kingdom

VI. West African Society and Culture

Most were farmers– Villages and hamlets

• Extended families and clans– Some patrilineal, others matrilineal

• Produced cotton for clothes• Variety of crops

– Millet, rice, sorghum, peas, okra, watermelons– Yams replaced grains in the forest regions

Women

Served as government officials in ancient Ghana– Enslaved women in the royal court of

Dahomey also held official posts– Increased sexual freedoms– West African women could have male

friends apart from relatives

Women (cont.)

– Sande: a secret society for women • Taught sex education to girls • Initiated into adulthood

– (Poro: male secret society) • Both societies established standards of

– Male and female conduct» Emphasized female virtue and male

honor

Class and Slavery

Royalty– Landed nobles, warriors, peasants and

bureaucrats

Lower classes• Artisans and laborers: blacksmiths, butchers, tanners,

and oral historians called griots

Slavery– Common in West Africa

• More so in the savannah region than in forest areas

– Variety of forms• Not necessarily a permanent condition

Class and Slavery (cont.)

– Islamic regions• Masters responsible for slaves’ religious well-being

– Non-Islamic regions’ children of slaves • Legal rights

– Not to be sold from the land they occupied

– Slaves in royal courts or in the armies • Owned property and often held power over free people

– Agricultural slaves • Less fortunate

– Work and privilege for second and third generation offspring similar to free people

Religion

15th century West Africa– Islam

• Monotheistic• Introduced by Arab traders

– More prevalent in cosmopolitan areas– The religion of merchants and bureaucrats – Fostered learning and building mosques in

West African cities

Religion (cont.)

– Indigenous religions• Strongest in forest areas

– Polytheistic and animistic

– One creator God and a host of lesser gods – Saw the force of God in all things

» Ancestor worship, magicians, and oracles

» Ceremonies and animal sacrifices

Art and Music

Related to religious practices Excelled in woodcarving and sculpture

– Wooden masks and terra-cotta figurines• Used in funerals, medical practices, and in

coming-of-age ceremonies

Musical instruments– Drums, xylophones, bells, flutes, and

mbanzas

Wooden Harp

This six-string wooden harp is a rare example of the type of instrument West African musicians and storytellers used to accompany themselves.

Literature

Oral histories, poetry, and tales– Specially trained poets and musicians

• Served kings and nobles

– Views of common people also represented• Prose tales

– Human characters

» Tales about creation, success, romance

• Animal characters– “Trickster tales”

– Entertained and taught lessons

Events in Africa — World Events

Events in Africa — World Events

Events in Africa — World Events

Events in Africa — World Events

VII. Conclusion

The history of African Americans begins in West Africa. Family organization, work habits, language, religious beliefs, legends, and more came to America and influenced the way African Americans and others lived in their new land.