GeographyAfrica is the 2nd largest
continent in the world. It measures 30, 244, 000 square kilometers wide
with 1,032,532,974 people living as of 2011.
A large part of continent is made up of deserts.
A. Sahara – largest desert in the world; Northern
part.
B. Kalahari – Southern part
The scarce rainfall in these areas bring about
the appearance of spring, which forms an oasis
Two Africas:
Mediterranean Africa – near the
region of the north Sahara with a climate
identical to that of Southern
Europe
Tropical Africa - has thick jungles,
deserts, and grass lands.
HistoryAncient peoples
settled on the Nile Valley during the Neolithic
(New Stone) Age, around 5000 BC.
Many scientists
believe that the first
people in the world came from Africa.
“Lucy”, one of the first
discovered australopithec
ines, was discovered in the Great Lift
Valley.
Early African peoples did not usually
leave a written record.
Traditional Society
Village Government – power was shared among the
members of the community, not a single leader.
Family Patterns – the group was always more important
than the individual.
Religious Beliefs – Early Africans identified with the
forces of nature and the belief that all living and nonliving
things contained spirits, this is called animism.
Rise of Communities
A. Nok (800BC – 200AD)
Known for beautiful, life-sized
metal sculptures
used as art pieces.
They also made
jewelry made from metal such
as steel, gold and
tin.
The figurines
they made were
dressed by the cloth
they wove, for the
Noks were excellent weavers.
They lived in houses
made from dried mud.
They were polytheisti
c – they believe in more than one God.
B. Bantu (600BC – 1000BCA
D)
Bantus lived in the Sahara, south
of Africa.
They spread their culture and language
throughout the continent.
They lived by farming and
animal raising. Women commonly
raised crops while men
hunted.
Magic was central to the
Bantus’ beliefs. They also
believed that soul would separate from the body at the time of death.
Ancient Kingdoms
A.Kingdom of Kush (1600BC-300AD)
In 1600BC, the Nubians
established the Kingdom of
Kush.
Egypt defeated Kush in 1525
BC.
Egypt fell in 800-700BC.
Kushites declared
freedom and elected a new king in 715BC.
In 671BC, the Kushites
escaped to Menroe.
In 350 AD, Ezana, took over the Kingdom of
Kush.
• They have a system of writing and their cities boasted palaces made of stone.
• it was the first kingdom in Africa to ever have its own money made of gold, silver, and bronze.
• The Kingdom of Aksum was strong in the north, of what is now called Ethiopia.
• Its economy was sustained by trade in the Red Sea.
• In the 4th century, the Aksum kings converted to Christianity.
• Trade in Aksum remained strong until the 7th century, the time when Islam began to spread.
B. Kingdo
m of Aksum (600-
500BC)
Early Imperial Trade
A Empire of Ghana (5th-11th Century)
Gold Coast
The Soninkes benefited from the taxes they imposed on their trade of mines, salt and gold. They controlled this trade and established a large empire called Ghana.
They also designated the value of gold, and assigned taxes to the salt and gold that were delivered.
Kumbi Saleh (now the modern desert region of Senegal) was the capital of Ghana.
Trade became the center of Soninke culture.
However they rejected the religion of Islam.
B. Empire of Kanem-Bornu (9th-19th Century)
It can be found around the Chad
Lake.
Tasted victory in the 17th century, with territories compromising southern Chad,
northern Cameroon,
northeastern Nigeria, eastern
Niger, and southern Libya.
The Kanem-Bornu was built in the middle of the 19th century. Because of its
location, it served as a
trade route from North Africa,
Nile Valley and sub-Saharan
regions.
• It is composed of Mandika people.• The Soso Empire rose, this obliterated
many races, including the Mandinka. Sundiata Kita was the lone survivor, and when he grew up, he led the successful Mandinka Revolution against the Soso reign.
• Sundiata converted to Islam. Those who succeeded him carried the title mansa, meaning “emperor”.
• The most famous emperor of Mali was Mansa Musa who governed in 1312 AD.
• The first map of Africa was drawn in 1375, showing Mansa Musa sitting on the thrown with the title, “Lord of the Negroes”.
C. Mali Empi
re
Sunni Ali was the leader who attacked the Mali empire. He was known for his belief in pagan
gods and magic.
Sunni Ali was When Sunni Ali dies, he was succeeded by Askia
Mohammed who ruled from 1493-1528.
Askia was a devoted Muslim who tried to unite his territories under one Muslim
empire through consecutive wars.
It was eventually destroyed from enemy
attacks and from conflicts from the empire
itself.
D. Songhai Empire
Contributions
Art – closely tied with religion,
made from ivory, wood and bronze.
Literary Traditions–
folktales were passed
on from generation
to generation, Arabic was a popular written
language.
Education – in most
societies, it was the
duty of the elders to
teach boys and girls
their roles in the
village.
Commerce- trade
allowed many
empires to prosper and develop as a
result of cultural
diffusion.