AFRICAN CIVILIZATIONS

Setting the Stage

  • ______spreads across the equator. It includes a broad range of Earth’s environments-from coastal plains to mountains.
  • Some parts of Africa suffer from constant ______, while others receive over 200 inches of rain a year!
  • ______varies from sand dunes and rocky wastelands to dense green rain forests.
  • Interaction with the African environment has created unique cultures and societies.
  • Each group found ways to ______to the land and the resources that it offers.

Africa’s Geography

  • Africa is the 2nd largest ______; it stretches 4600 miles from east to west and 5000 miles from north to south, it occupies 1/5 of Earth’s land surface.
  • Each African environment offers its own challenges:
  • Desert-Sahara and Kalahari are largely ______for human life and hamper movement.
  • Rain forest-partly uninhabitable because of the ______forests and the tsetse fly.
  • Savanna-grassy plains where most people live; support abundant ______production.

Africa’s Geography

  • Africa has several distinct ______zones.
  • The northern fringe, on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, is ______.
  • South of the mountain ranges is the largest ______on Earth, the Sahara.
  • South of the Sahara, Africa is divided into several ______.
  • In the west, the Sahara gradually gives way to ______in the interior and tropical ______on the coast.
  • In the East, the Great Rift Valley is full of snow-topped mountains and deep ______, with a grassland region that is Congo Basin populated with animals.
  • The Congo Basin is full of dense vegetation fed by the ______River. These tropical rainforests eventually fade to hills and plateaus, high flat land areas and deserts to the south.

Africa’s Climate

  • Africa has four distinct ______zones: Desert, Rain Forest, Savanna, and the Mild Zones.
  • The ______Zones are the smallest regions, and stretch across the Northern coast and the southern tip of Africa, plus a region near the Drakensberg Mountains in the Southeast.
  • ______form the second climate zone. The Sahara in the north and the Kalahari in the south are the two largest deserts. Together they cover about 40% of Africa.

Africa’s Climate

  • The ______is the third climate zone. It stretches along the equator and is about 10% of the continent. Heavy rains and warm temperatures produce dense forests where little farming and travel are possible. The rainforest is also home to disease-carrying insects, including the tsetse fly, which produces sleeping sickness in humans and animals.
  • The final climate zone is the ______, the grass plains with small trees and shrubs. The Savannas make up about 40% of the continent. They receive enough rainfall for farming and herding animals. Each of the zones is populated with people, who have adapted to the geographical and climate challenges in unique ways.

Ghana

  • Many ______routes crossed the savanna through the region farmed by the Soninke people.
  • The Soninke called their leader ______, or war chief.
  • By the 700s, Ghana was a ______, and its rulers were growing rich by taxing the goods that traders carried through their territory.
  • The two most important trade items were ______and salt.
  • Gold came from a forest region between the Niger and Senegal Rivers.
  • ______came from the Sahara Desert.
  • By 800, Ghana had become an empire.

The king of Ghana:

  1. Controlled ______by storing large amounts of gold and salt that only he had the power over.
  2. Commanded a large ______
  3. Demanded ______and gifts from chiefs of surrounding lands, and would allow them to live in peace if payments were made,
  4. And acted as a______leader and the chief judge
  • Ghana developed in West Africa between the Niger and the Gambia Rivers. It was an important kingdom there from about AD 300 to about 1100. The rivers helped Ghana to grow rich because they were used to ______goods and develop ______. Ghana also collected taxes from traders who passed through the kingdom. The people called their nation Wagadu; we know it as Ghana --that was the word for war chief. The kingdom of Ghana probably began when several clans of the Soninke people of west Africa came together under the leadership of a great king named DingaCisse.
  • Ghana had few ______resources except salt and gold.
  • They were also very good at making things from ______.
  • Ghanaian warriors used iron tipped ______to subdue their neighbors, who fought with weapons made of stone, bone, and wood.
  • After 700 AD, the ______of Islam began to spread over northern Africa.
  • Followers of this religion are called ______. Muslim warriors came into Ghana and fought with the non-Islamic people there.
  • Local warriors then decided to break away from the power of ______and form their own local kingdoms.
  • This ended many of the ______networks and eventually ______the civilization of Ancient Ghana.
  • Ghana became a rich and powerful nation, especially when the ______began to be used as a source of transport.
  • Ghana relied on ______and their trade was made faster and better with the use of the camel.

Mali

  • By 1235 the kingdom of ______had emerged.
  • Its______wereMande-speaking people, who lived south of Ghana.
  • Mali’s wealth was also built on ______.
  • A powerful king named Sundiata ruled Mali from around 1230-1255 AD. He became known as a mansa, or ______.
  • He led the people in ______and expanding his kingdom to be as great as Ghana had been.
  • Mali had 7 rulers in the 50 years between Sundiata and ______.
  • Perhaps the greatest king of Mali was Mansa Musa (1312-1337). He developed the______and ______trade of Mali and his kingdom became very powerful and rich.
  • Mansa Musa was a Muslim; he built many beautiful ______, or Islamic temples in western Africa as well as attending public prayers, and supporting holy men.
  • In 1324 Mansa Musa made a ______, or pilgrimage ( a journey to a holy place) to ______, which is a holy city in Arabia.
  • He traveled with 60,000 servants and followers and 80 camels carrying more than 4,000 pounds of gold to be ______among the poor. Of the 12,000 servants 500 carried a staff of pure gold. This showed his power and wealth to the other people he visited.
  • After returning he ordered mosques to be built in the major cities of ______and Gao.
  • When Mansa Musa died there were no______as powerful as he was to follow.
  • The great kingdom of Mali ______.
  • Eventually a group of people known as ______came into the area and other people came up from the south to claim territory that was once part of the kingdom.
  • Although Mali fell, another advanced African kingdom took its place, the kingdom of ______.

Kush

History

  • By 2000 BCE, the area south of Egypt, called ______, had developed extensive trade.
  • Nubians traded ______, ebony, frankincense, and ______skin
  • Nubia was controlled by ______until around 1000 BCE
  • In 750 BCE, the ______conquered Egypt, but were overwhelmed by the Assyrians less than a hundred years later, in 663 BCE
  • The Kush were still using______and______, while the Assyrians used______spears and swords
  • After the ______conquered Egypt, the Kushites returned to their land in Nubia

Kush Economics & Society

  • Kush economics were based on ______and ______.
  • They built a capital city in Meroe, which became a ______center.
  • Meroe had a large supply of ______ore; the Kush were able to make the iron ______they had seen on the Assyrians
  • The Kush was a major trading empire, taking Kush trade went as far as ______, ______, and ______.
  • Traded: iron, ______, ebony,
  • Received: jewelry, ______, luxury goods
  • Not much is known about ______society.
  • They left behind tombs full of ______items, demonstrating that they were prosperous and had traded with distant countries.
  • This suggests there was probably a large ______or merchant class in Kush society.
  • The Kush ______from about 250 BCE to approximately 150 CE, but declined because of the rise of a new power in the region.

Axum

  • South of the Kush was ______, where the Axum were located.
  • Originally started as an Arab colony, ______emerged as an independent state that combined African and Arabic cultures.
  • Axum was prosperous because of it’sprime______on the Red Sea, which allowed them to trade between India, the Mediterranean, and southern Africa.
  • Like the Kush, they ______ivory, spices, and slaves. They ______textiles, metal goods, wine and olive oil.
  • Axum ______with the Kush for control of the ivory trade.
  • In the fourth century CE, King Ezana, the Axumite ruler, invaded Kush and ______it.
  • The most distinctive feature of the Axumites was their ______.
  • Around 330 CE, the king converted to ______, which was brought to Axum by ______. The king made Christianity the official religion of Axum.
  • After King Ezana died, the Axum kingdom flourished until the rise of ______, which brought Arab forces into northern and eastern Africa.
  • In 641, ______forces took control of Egypt. By the700s, the entire coast of North Africa was under Arab rule.
  • The Muslim trading states lived______with Axum until the 12th century, when the Muslims started moving inland into Africa.
  • By the 15th century Axum was in constant ______with the Muslim states.