World CulturesUnit 2: Africa – DBQ – Africa’s Past CivilizationsYou are part of a team of eminent historians hired to research and interpret various pieces of evidence from past civilizations in Africa. Examine each piece of evidence/artifact and consider the questions that follow. Think about how the pieces of evidence fit together to form an overall image of the past civilizations of Africa.

Questions to consider: Who is the creator of each source? Is it reliable? Is it biased? Was it written or created for a specific

purpose? What does each source tell us about Africa’s past? Is it a primary or a secondary source?

As you sort through the evidence, divide each artifact/source into the following categories: Economic Religion/Philosophy Political Science Language, Education and the Arts

Sociology (Organization) Geography History

Use the artifacts and evidence provided to respond to the following prompt/question:

It has been said that African culture did not exist until the coming of Europeans. What evidence do we have that rich and vibrant cultures have existed in Africa prior to European contact?

Create a graphic organizer that clearly displays your evidence. Make sure that all observations and statements are anchored with specific detail/facts (include the document/artifact number). Refer to the example below to get it started.

Example:The various African tribes practiced a complex polytheistic religion based on Animism and ancestor worship.

Now find three anchors to hold your statements down.o Eg. – Document # 6 – Yoruba Ancestor Poem

This document presents a strong argument for the practice of ancestor worship among ancient and traditional African societies. Throughout the poem, an emphasis is placed on the line “Those who are dead are never gone…” but are with the community in all aspects of life, society and nature; “They are in the hut, they are in the crowd…They are in the forest, they are in the house…”

Cultural Element Artifact/Evidence information

Economic

Religion &

Philosophy

Political Science

LanguageArts

Education

Sociology

Geography

History

DocumentsDocument #1Leo Africanus: Description of Timbuktu from The Description of Africa(1526)

El Hasan ben Muhammed el-Wazzan-ez-Zayyati was born in the Moorish city of Granada in 1485, but was expelled along with his parents and thousands of other Muslims by Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492. Settling in Morocco, he studied in Fez, and as a teenager accompanied his uncle on diplomatic missions throughout North Africa and and to the Sub-Saharan kingdom of Ghana. Still a young man, he was captured by Christian pirates and presented as an exceptionally learned slave to the great Renaissance pope, Leo X. Leo freed him, baptised him under the name "Johannis Leo de Medici," and commissioned him to write in Italian the detailed survey of Africa which provided most of what Europeans knew about the continent for the next several centuries. At the time he visited the Ghanaian city of Timbuktu, it was somewhat past its peak, but still a thriving Islamic city famous for its learning. "Timbuktu" was to become a byword in Europe as the most inaccessible of cities, but at the time Leo visited, it was the center of a busy trade in African products and in books. Leo is said to have died in 1554 in Tunis, having reconverted to Islam.

The name of this kingdom is a modern one, after a city which was built by a king named Mansa Suleyman in the year 610 of the hegira [1232 CE] around twelve miles from a branch of the Niger River. (1)

The houses of Timbuktu are huts made of clay-covered wattles with thatched roofs. In the center of the city is a temple built of stone and mortar, built by an architect named Granata, (2) and in addition there is a large palace, constructed by the same architect, where the king lives. The shops of the artisans, the merchants, and especially weavers of cotton cloth are very numerous. Fabrics are also imported from Europe to Timbuktu, borne by Berber merchants. (3)

The women of the city maintain the custom of veiling their faces, except for the slaves who sell all the foodstuffs. The inhabitants are very rich, especially the strangers who have settled in the country; so much so that the current king (4) has given two of his daughters in marriage to two brothers, both businessmen, on account of their wealth. There are many wells containing sweet water in Timbuktu; and in addition, when the Niger is in flood canals deliver the water to the city. Grain and animals are abundant, so that the consumption of milk and butter is considerable. But salt is in very short supply because it is carried here from Tegaza, some 500 miles from Timbuktu. I happened to be in this city at a time when a load of salt sold for eighty ducats. The king has a rich treasure of coins and gold ingots. One of these ingots weighs 970 pounds. (5)

The royal court is magnificent and very well organized. When the king goes from one city to another with the people of his court, he rides a camel and the horses are led by hand by servants. If fighting becomes necessary, the servants mount the camels and all the soldiers mount on horseback. When someone wishes to speak to the king, he must kneel before him and bow down; but this is only required of those who have never before spoken to the king, or of ambassadors. The king has about 3,000 horsemen and infinity of foot-soldiers armed with bows made of wild fennel [?] which they use to shoot poisoned arrows. This king makes war only upon neighboring enemies and upon those who do not want to pay him tribute. When he has gained a victory, he has all of them--even the children--sold in the market at Timbuktu.

Only small, poor horses are born in this country. The merchants use them for their voyages and the courtiers to move about the city. But the good horses come from Barbary. They arrive in a caravan and, ten or twelve days later, they are led to the ruler, who takes as many as he likes and pays appropriately for them.

The king is a declared enemy of the Jews. He will not allow any to live in the city. If he hears it said that a Berber merchant frequents them or does business with them, he confiscates his goods. There are in Timbuktu numerous judges, teachers and priests, all properly appointed by the king. He greatly honors learning. Many hand-written books imported from Barbary are also sold. There is more profit made from this commerce than from all other merchandise.

Instead of coined money, pure gold nuggets are used; and for small purchases, cowrie shells which have been carried from Persia, (6) and of which 400 equal a ducat. Six and two-thirds of their ducats equal one Roman gold ounce. (7)

The people of Timbuktu are of a peaceful nature. They have a custom of almost continuously walking about the city in the evening (except for those that sell gold), between 10 PM and 1 AM, playing musical instruments and dancing. The citizens have at their service many slaves, both men and women.

The city is very much endangered by fire. At the time when I was there on my second voyage, (8) half the city burned in the space of five hours. But the wind was violent and the inhabitants of the other half of the city began to move their belongings for fear that the other half would burn.

There are no gardens or orchards in the area surrounding Timbuktu.

Translated by Paul Brians

(1) Mansa Suleyman reigned 1336-1359. The city was in fact probably founded in the 11th century by Tuaregs, but became the chief city of the king of Mali in 1324.

(2) Ishak es Sahili el-Gharnati, brought to Tinbuktu by Mansa Suleyman.

(3) By camel caravan across the Sahara Desert from NorthAfrica.

(4) 'Omar ben Mohammed Naddi, not in fact the king, but representative of the ruler of the kingdom of Songhai.

(5) Such fabulous nuggets are commonly mentioned by Arab writers about Africa, but their size is probably grossly exaggerated.

(6) Cowrie shells, widely used for money in West Africa, sometimes came in fact from even farther away, from the Maladive Islands of Southeast Asia.

(7) A Sudanese gold ducat would weigh .15 oz.

(8) Probably in 1512.

Document #2The Selection of Aspalta as King of Kush, c. 600 BCE

Now the entire army of his majesty was in the town named Napata, in which Dedwen, Who presides over Wawat, is God---he is also the god of Kush---after the death of the Falcon [Inle-Amon] upon his throne. Now then, the trusted commanders from the midst of the army of His Majesty were six men, while the trusted commanders and overseers of fortresses were six men.... Then they said to the entire army, "Come, let us cause our lord to appear, for we are like a herd which has no herdsman!" Thereupon this army was very greatly concerned, saying, "Our lord is here with us, but we do not know him! Would that we might know him, that we might enter in under him and work for him, as It-Tjwy work for Horus, the son of Isis, after he sits upon the throne of his father Osiris! Let us give praise to his two crowns." Then the army of His Majesty all said with one voice, "Still there is this god Amon-Re, Lord of the Thrones of It-Tjwy, Resident in Napata. He is also a god of Kush. Come, let us go to him. We cannot do a thing without him, but a good fortune comes from the god. He is the god of the kings of Kush since the time of Re. It is he who will guide us. In his hands is the kingship of Kush, which he has given to the son whom he loves.....

So the commanders of His Majesty and the officials of the palace went to the Temple of Amon. They found the prophets and the major priests waiting outside the temple. They said to them, "Pray, may this god, Amon-Re, Resident in Napata, come, to permit that he give us our lord, to revive us, to build the temples of all the gods and goddesses of Kemet, and to present their divine offerings! We cannot do a thing without this god. It is he who guides us. Then the prophets and the major priests entered into the temple, that they might perform every rite of his purification and his censing. Then the commanders of His Majesty and the officials of the palace entered into the temple and put themselves upon their bellies before this god. They said, "We have come to you, O Amon-Re, Lord of the Thrones of It-Tjwy, Resident in Napata, that you might give to us a lord, to revive us, to build the temples of the gods of Kemet and Rekhyt, and to present divine offerings. That beneficent office is in your hands---may you give it to your son whom you love!"

Then they offered the king's brothers before this god, but he did not take one of them. For a second time there was offered the king's brother, son of Amon, and child of Mut, Lady of Heaven, the Son of Re, Aspalta, living forever. Then this god, Amon-Re, Lord of the Thrones of It-Tjwy, said, "He is your king. It is he who will revive you. It is he who will build every temple of Kemet and Rekhyt. It is he who will present their divine offerings. His father was my son, the Son of Re, Inle-Amon, the triumphant. His mother is the king's sister, king's mother, Kandake of Kush, and Daughter of Re, Nensela, living forever, He is your lord."

Document #3Abû Ûthmân al-Jâhiz: From The Essays, c. 860 CE On the Zanj [ "Black Africans"]

Everybody agrees that there is no people on earth in whom generosity is as universally well developed as the Zanj. These people have a natural talent for dancing to the rhythm of the tambourine, without needing to learn it. There are no better singers anywhere in the world, no people more polished and eloquent, and no people less given to insulting language. No other nation can surpass them in bodily strength and physical toughness. One of them will lift huge blocks and carry heavy loads that would be beyond the strength of most Bedouins or members of other races. They are courageous, energetic, and generous, which are the virtues of nobility, and also good-tempered and with little propensity to evil. They are always cheerful, smiling, and devoid of malice, which is a sign of noble character.

The Zanj say to the Arabs: You are so ignorant that during the jahiliyya you regarded us as your equals when it came to marrying Arab women, but with the advent of the justice of Islam you decided this practice was bad. Yet the desert is full of Zanj married to Arab wives, and they have been princes and kings and have safeguarded your rights and sheltered you against your enemies.

The Zanj say that God did not make them black in order to disfigure them; rather it is their environment that made them so. The best evidence of this is that there are black tribes among the Arabs, such as the Banu Sulaim bin Mansur, and that all the peoples settled in the Harra, besides the Banu Sulaim are black. These tribes take slaves from among the Ashban to mind their flocks and for irrigation work, manual labor, and domestic service, and their wives from among the Byzantines; and yet it takes less than three generations for the Harra to give them all the complexion of the Banu Sulaim. This Harra is such that the gazelles, ostriches, insects, wolves, foxes, sheep, asses, horses and birds that live there are all black. White and black are the results of environment, the natural properties of water and soil, distance from the sun, and intensity of heat. There is no question of metamorphosis, or of punishment, disfigurement or favor meted out by Allah. Besides, the land of the Banu Sulaim has much in common with the land of the Turks, where the camels, beasts of burden, and everything belonging to these people is similar in appearance: everything of theirs has a Turkish look.

Document #4

Benin Palace Ancestral Altar, dedicated to Oba Ovonramwen, Benin City, Nigeriaphotograph by Eliot Elisofon, 1970Eliot Elisofon Photographic

Archives

Once a powerful city-state, Benin exists today as a modern African city in what is now south-central Nigeria. The present-day oba of Benin traces the founding of his dynasty to A.D. 1300. In the late 1400s, a flourishing and wealthy royal court was in place, with a palace harboring a vast compound where metalsmiths, carvers and others created objects for the king and his court. The casting of brass was an art controlled by the king himself; anyone found casting brass without royal permission faced execution. The Edo--the people of Benin--associated brass, which resists corrosion, with the permanence and continuity of kingship. Fundamental to Edo belief, as well, was the veneration of ancestors, whose spirits were thought to protect the living. Cast commemorative heads of deceased kings were displayed on altars at numerous shrines in the royal palace.

Document #5

The Great Zimbabwe is the most famous of a large group of stone-walled enclosures on the Zimbabwean plateau. The modern Zimbabwe nation took its name from this major cultural monument.

In the language of the Shona people of eastern Zimbabwe, the word zimbabwe means "stone building." The highest point of the site is a fortress that has a commanding view of the surrounding grasslands, and can only be approached through a series of narrow defiles. According to scholars, the structure was erected by Shona people over the course of about four hundred years, beginning in the early 11th century.

At its height in the 13th century, Great Zimbabwe's capital was home to as many as 18,000 people. Subsistence to support such population concentrations remained crucial, and it is likely that cattle and agricultural surplus played a highly visible role in the maintenance of power.

Document #6Ancestor Poem from the Yoruba

Those who are dead are never gone:They are there in the thickening shadow.The dead are not under the earth:They are in the tree that rustles, They are in the wood that groans, They are in the water that runs, They are in the water that sleeps, They are in the hut, they are in the crowd:The dead are not dead.

Those who are dead are never gone, They are in the breast of the woman, They are in the child who is wailing, And in the firebrand that flames, The dead are not under the earth:They are in the fire that is dying, They are in the grasses that weep, They are in the shimmering rocks, They are in the forest, they are in the house.The dead are not dead.

Document #7

Document # 8Al-Bakri – 11 c. Arab geographer

The city of Ghana consists of two towns situated on a plain. One of these towns is inhabited by Muslims. It is large and possesses a dozen mosques, one being for the Friday prayer, and each having imams (prayer leaders), muezzins (people to make the call to prayer), and salaried reciters of the Quran. There are juris-consults (legal specialists) and scholars. Around the town are sweet wells, which they use for drinking and for cultivating vegetables. They royal city, called al-Ghaba (“the grove”), is six miles away, and the area between the two towns is covered with habitations. Their houses are constructed of stone and acacia wood. They king has a palace with conical huts, surrounded by a fence like a wall. In the king’s town, not far from the royal court, is a mosque for the use of Muslims who visit the king on missions…The interpreters of the king are Muslims, as are his treasurer and the majority of his ministers…

The court of appeal is held in a domed pavilion around which stand ten horses with gold embroidered trappings. Behind the king stand ten pages holding shields and swords decorated with gold, and on his right are the sons of the subordinate kings of his country, all wearing splendid garments and with their hair mixed with gold. The governor of the city sits on the ground before the kings, and around him are ministers seated likewise. At the door of the pavilion are dogs…wearing collars of gold and silver, studded with a number of balls of the same metals.

Document # 9

Document # 10

Document # 11Duarte Barbosa, a Portuguese trader, 1500.

KILWA. Going along the coast from this town of Mozambique, there is an island hard by the mainland which is called Kilwa, in which is a Moorish town with many fair houses of stones and mortar, with many windows after our fashion, very well arranged streets, with many flat roofs…Around it are streams and orchards and fruit gardens with many channels of sweet water. It has a Moorish king over it. From this place they trade with Sofala, whence they bring back gold…Before the King our Lord (of Portugal) sent out his expedition to India,

the Moors of Sofala, Cuama, Angoya, and Mozambique were all subject to the king of Kilwa, who was the most mighty king among them. And in this town was great plenty of gold, as no ships passed towards Sofala without first coming to this island….

SOFALA. They came in small vessels named zambucos from the kingdoms of Kilwa, Mombasa, and Malindi, bringing many cotton cloths, some spotted and others white and blue, also some of silk, and many small beads, gray, red, and yellow, which things come to the said kingdoms from the great kingdom of Cambay (India)…

The Moorshof botala kept they wares and sold them afterwards to the heathen of the Kingdom of Benemetapa, who came thither laden with gold which they gave in exchange for the said cloths without weighing it. These Moors collect also great store of ivory which they find hard by Sofala, and this they also sell in the Kingdom of Cambay.

Document #12This Stool is made to represent Iroko, a deity who makes peace when Esu, the trickster and divine messenger, causesa fight.