World History

Early African

Civilizations

Africa/geography• 2nd largest continent

• Mountains along Mediterranean Sea, just south lies the Sahara= Earth’s largest desert

• Southwest of the desert = grasslands & tropical jungle cover hump of Africa jutting into Atlantic Ocean

• Great Rift valley = east

• Congo River runs through Congo basin = dense vegetation, rain forests

Great Rift Valley

Geography• Africa has 4 climate zones

• 1st = mild climate on northern coast & southern tip

• 2nd = desert/ Sahara desert = north, Kalahari desert = south –cover 40 % of Africa

• 3rd = rain forest along equator, 10% of land

• Heavy rains & heat make for dense forests & disease carrying insects

• 4th = savannas – broad grasslands dotted with shrubs & small trees that is north & south of the rainforests, cover about 40% of Africa

Sahara Desert

KalahariDesert

Congo Basin Rain Forest

Tsetse Fly

The Sahel

Savanna

Emerging Civilizations• 7-8,000 years ago farming led to the first

civilizations in Africa; Egypt, Kush, Axum

• Early heavy trade between Egypt & Nubia around 2,000 b.c.

• Nubia freed itself from Egyptian control around 1,000 b.c. & became Kush

• 750 b.c., Kushites conquered Egypt/ Assyrians “iron weapons” drove them out of Egypt to their original land

• Kush economy was originally based on agriculture & then became a major trading center

African Kingdoms

East AfricaNubiaKush

AxumEthiopia

West Africa

Ghana

Mali

Songhai

Nubian Temple

Kush Kingdom• City of Meroe was center of society/ had a large

supply of iron which led to them making iron weapons & tools

• Major trading empire for several hundred years

• It provided iron, ivory, gold, ebony, and slaves to the Roman empire, Arabia, & India for luxuries such as jewelry, silver lamps

• Flourished from 250 b.c. to ad 150/ Axum caused its decline

Pyramids at Meroe

Kush Ruins

Axum• King Ezana conquered Kush

• Founded by a colony of Arabs in present day Ethiopia/ independent state that combined Arab & African cultures

• Prospered because it was located on the Red Sea & the trading route between India & Medt. Sea

• Shipwrecked Syrians introduced Christianity to Axum/ 324, Ezana converted to Christianity & made it official religion

• Arab forces had taken control of Egypt & almost all of North Africa

Axum Stele

King Ezana

Muslim-Christians• Arab North Africa Muslims & Axum

Christians were peaceful for years

• 12 century problems arose/ Muslims moved inward to take control of slave & ivory trades from Axum/ Axum fought back

• By 15 century, Axum & Muslim state of Adal were in growing conflict

Rather be on a Beach?

Ghana• First of the trading states/ emerged in the Niger

valley grasslands/ Between Sahara & tropical forests/Modern Ghana is just east of the location

• Most people were farmers who lived in villages• Ghana kings were strong, wealthy rulers• To protect kingdoms, Ghana kings had a well

trained army of thousands of soldiers• Ghana prospered from gold & iron products• In exchange, Muslim merchants brought textiles,

horses, metal goods, & salt• Salt important for preserving & spicing food/

needed to replace lost body salt in hot climate

African Salt Trade

Africa Salt Trade• Salt is essential for Life, every person contains

about 8 ounces of salt in their body/ People lose salt when they sweat

• African salt was traded for many items; gold, ivory, slaves

• Salt trade grew with camel caravans/thousands of camels caravans carried tons of salt across the desert

• Local kings placed taxes on salt – payable by gold – for caravans crossing their realms

• 3 great empires gained great wealth from salt trade

Salt Caravan

Ghana• Ghana eventually exported ivory, ostrich feathers,

hides, & slaves• Exchanging goods was done by silent trade; At a

boundary line, no foreigner was allowed in/ foreigners would place goods & leave, Ghana would then leave gold & leave, if one side was not happy with exchange then they would leave it & suppliers would replenish with more

• Berbers = nomadic people who were main traders on the camel caravans

• Kingdom was weakened by wars & collapsed in 1200

Mali Kingdom• Arose to replace Ghana/ established by Sundiata

Keita in 13th century

• Sundiata captured Ghana capital in 1240/ united people & created strong government

• Empire extended from Atlantic coast to trading center of Timbuktu

• Mali built power on salt & gold trade

• Most people were farmers/ lived in villages with local rulers

Mali Village

Mali Kingdom• Mansa Musa = rich & powerful king of Mali• Musa encouraged the growth of Islam, study of the

Quran, & ordered mosques built• Pilgrimage to Mecca is legendary/ Gave gold to the

host everywhere he went, purchased items from merchants with gold/ Put so much gold into circulation that it lost its value

• Most famous mosque = Sankore mosque in Timbuktu

• Made Timbuktu = center of Islamic learning• Imported scholars & books to spread the word of

Allah

Mali Kingdom• Ruled from 1307 to 1337/ doubled Mali’s size/

created strong central government

• Musa was last powerful leader of Mali

• By 1359, civil war divided Mali

Timbuktu

Great Mosque at Timbuktu

Songhai Kingdoms• Niger River provided rich soil for farming & raising

cattle

• Established southeast of Timbuktu

• 1009, Kossi converted to Islam & established Dia dynasty/ prospered around the main trading center of Gao of Songhai

• Sunni Ali expanded Songhai & created the Sunni dynasty in 1464

• Ali spent most of his time on military campaigns/ able to gain control Timbuktu & Jenne which gave Songhai control of trading empire

Sunni Ali ExpandedIndependent Songhai

Songhai Kingdom• Empire reached its height under Muhammad Ture =

devout Muslim who overthrew Ali’s son in 1493 & created the Askia dynasty

• Ture created an empire that stretched a thousand miles along the Niger River

• Ture created strong central government with local provinces under the control of appointed governors

• Songhai cities prospered under Ture

• Songhai empire came to an end after Ture’s death

• Morocco came to occupy it by the 16th century

Muhammad Ture Ruled Songhai

At Its Height

Bantu• Various small states & societies took root in eastern

Africa/ Islam influence many of them/ lived by hunting & gathering, raising livestock

• Bantu migrated east & south, & to Congo Basin/ not as conquerors but as communities

• Bantu = subsistence farmers using iron & stone tools/ Women tilled the fields & cared for children/ Men tended the herds, hunted, & traded

• Bantu = traded salt, animal products, copper, iron ore

East Africa• Growth of Islam in 7th & 8th centuries brought

increased trade to the communities on the eastern coast

• Arab & Persian traders settled in these ports

• Mogadishu, Mombasa, Kilwa = major trading ports

• Kilwa was magnificent city/Great Mosque & Husuni Kubwa palace was built in Kilwa

• Portuguese sacked Kilwa in 1505 & destroyed its major buildings

Great Mosque at Kilwa

East Africa• Mixed African-Arabian culture = Swahili emerged

through the coastal area/ Swahili = “people of the coast”

• Swahili – national language of Kenya & Tanzania

South Africa• States formed more slowly in the southern half

• People lived in stateless societies/ 11th century ad = independent villages began to consolidate & form the 1st states

• Zimbabwe = (1300-1450) wealthiest & most powerful

• Prospered from trading gold with Swahili communities

• Great Zimbabwe = capital/ overlooked the Zambesi river/Great Enclosure dominated the capital

Great Zimbabwe

• Great Zimbabwe = capital/ overlooked the Zambesi river/Great Enclosure dominated the capital

• Walls were unusual/ People stacked granite blocks without mortar

• City was abandoned by 15th century/ possibly due to overgrazing or natural disaster

Great Zimbabwe

African Society• African towns began as fortified walled villages and

grew into larger communities

• Kings & people were pretty close/ Kings would hold meetings to listen to people’s complaints

• Kings often gave merchants favors

• Sense of identity was determined by membership in an extended family

• Women were subordinate to men/often worked in fields, but some became merchants

• Many African societies were matrilineal= descent traced through mother’s family

African Society• Women could inherit property & the husband would

move into the wife’s house

• African villages had a process for educating young people

• 15th century Congo, up to age 6, boys & girls learned language, family history, & songs that gave meaning to their lives from their mothers

• Boys were then sent to the “house of the men”, girls sent to the “house of the women”

• Fathers then taught boys how to hunt & fish, grow plants, & clear the fields

African Society

Kings and aristocrats closer to people.

Extended family became lineage group, ancestor worship.

Matrilineal vs. patrilineal.

Sex roles reinforced by education, puberty rituals for boys and girls.

Slaves came from war, debt and crime.

Religion was based on a creator god, lesser deities, diviners, ancestor worship and belief in an afterlife.

African Society• Mothers taught girls how to care for the house &

tend to the field/ to be good wives & mothers

• At puberty, young people entered the community entirely

• Change was marked by initiation/ young people were isolated & underwent a ritual ceremony in which they symbolically died & was reborn

Slavery• Slavery was practiced in Africa since ancient times

• Slaves were used for forced labor or were sold

• Slaves = captives, debtors, war prisoners, & some criminals

• Slaves were not necessarily seen as inferiors/ they could be trusted as servants & were respected for their talents & skills

• Life was hard for slaves with long hours of hard, tedious work

• Domestic slaves =easiest lives/ Slaves in Muslim societies were able to win their freedom more easily

African Religious Beliefs• Religions shared a belief in a single creator god

• Yoruba people of Nigeria believed that their chief god sent his Oduduwa from heaven in a canoe to create the first humans/ Many of the slaves that were transported to the Americas practiced the Yoruba religion

• Sometimes a group of lesser gods joined the creator god

• Ashanti people of Ghana believed in a supreme being Nyame whose sons were the lesser gods/ each son had a different purpose

African Religious Beliefs• Ashanti gods could not always be trusted, so people

had to appease them to avoid their anger• Some believed the creator god once lived on earth &

he got disgusted with human behavior so he left• Creator god was merciful & could be pacified with

good behavior• Rituals were one way to communicate with the gods• A special class of diviners usually performed the

rituals/ diviners believe they have the power to tell the future by working with supernatural forces/they were used to protect the interests of the ruler & community

African Culture• Early African arts served religion

• Earliest African art form was rock painting/most famed example are in the Tassili mountains of central Sahara, they show life of the people as it changed from hunting to herding to trading

• Wood carvers made masks & statues = representing gods, spirits, or ancestral figures

• Nok culture = oldest known culture in West Africa/ terra cotta figures = religious significance

• 13th & 14th centuries, Yoruba metal workers produced bronze & iron statues

Rock Paintings = Tassili Mts.

Nok Sculpture: Terra-cotta

                                         

African Culture• Music & dance served religious purpose

• Dancing = way to communicate with spirits/ African music & dance influenced western music

• Spirituals & work songs developed into blues, gospel, jazz, ragtime, & rock & roll

• African music was used to pass on history, folk legends, & religious traditions of the community