African Civilizations

Setting the Stage

• Africa 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 drought, while others receive over 200 inches of rain a year!

• Vegetation 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 adapt to the land and the resources that it offers.

• Africa is the 2nd largest continent; 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 unsuitable for

human life and hamper movement.– Rain forest-partly uninhabitable because of the dense

forests and the tsetse fly.– Savanna-grassy plains where most people live; support

abundant agricultural production.

Africa’s Geography

Africa is the second largest continent on Earth. Africa has several distinct geographical zones. The northern fringe, on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, is

mountainous. South of the mountain ranges is the largest desert on Earth, the

Sahara. South of the Sahara, Africa is divided into several regions. In the west, the Sahara gradually gives way to grasslands in the

interior and tropical jungles on the coast. In the East, the Great Rift Valley is full of snow-topped

mountains and deep canyons, with a grassland region that is Congo Basin populated with animals.

The Congo Basin is full of dense vegetation fed by the Congo River. These tropical rainforests eventually fade to hills and plateaus, high flat land areas and deserts to the south.

Africa’s Geography

Africa has four distinct climate zones: Desert, Rain Forest, Savanna, and the Mild Zones.

The Mild 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.

Deserts form the second climate zone. The Sahara in the north and the Kalahari in the south are the tow largest deserts. Together they cover about 40% of Africa.

Africa’s Climate

The rain forest 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 Savannas, 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.

Africa’s Climate

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Ghana & Mali

• Many trade routes crossed the savanna through the region farmed by the Soninke people.

• The Soninke called their leader Ghana, or war chief.• By the 700s, Ghana was a kingdom, and its rulers were

growing rich by taxing the goods that traders carried through their territory.

• The two most important trade items were gold and salt.– Gold came from a forest region between the Niger and Senegal

Rivers.– Salt came from the Sahara Desert.

• By 800, Ghana had become an empire. • The king of Ghana:

– Controlled trade by storing large amounts of gold and salt that only he had the power over.

– Commanded a large army– Demanded taxes and gifts from chiefs of surrounding lands, and

would allow them to live in peace if payments were made, – And acted as a religious 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 transport goods and develop trade. 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 Dinga Cisse.

•Ghana had few natural resources except salt and gold. •They were also very good at making things from iron.

•Ghanaian warriors used iron tipped spears to subdue their neighbors, who fought with weapons made of stone, bone, and wood.

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"The King . . .(wears). . . necklaces round his neck and bracelets on his forearms and he puts on a high cap decorated with gold and wrapped in a turban of fine cotton. He (meets people) in a domed pavilion around which stand ten horses covered with gold-embroidered materials…and on his right, are the sons of the (lesser) kings of his country, wearing splendid garments and their hair plaited with gold.

At the door of the pavilion are dogs of excellent pedigree. Round their necks they wear collars of gold and silver, studded with a number of balls of the same metals."

10th century geographer Al-Bakri, quoted in Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History.

This is a primary source that describes

the court of one king of

Ghana.

•Ghana became a rich and powerful nation, especially when the camel began to be used as a source of transport.

•Ghana relied on trade and their trade was made faster and better with the use of the camel.

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•After 700 AD, the religion of Islam began to spread over northern Africa.

•Followers of this religion are called Muslims. Muslim warriors came into Ghana and fought with the non-Islamic people there.

•Local warriors then decided to break away from the power of Ghana and form their own local kingdoms.

•This ended many of the trade networks and eventually weakened the civilization of Ancient Ghana.

Islamic Mosque in Ghana

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• By 1235 the kingdom of Mali had emerged.

• Its founders were Mande-speaking people, who lived south of Ghana.

• Mali’s wealth was also built on gold.

•A powerful king named Sundiata ruled Mali from around 1230-1255 AD. He became known as a mansa, or emperor.

•He led the people in conquering and expanding his kingdom to be as great as Ghana had been.•Mali had 7 rulers in

the 50 years between Sundiata and Mansa Musa.

•Perhaps the greatest king of Mali was Mansa Musa (1312-1337). He developed the gold and salt trade of Mali and his kingdom became very powerful and rich.

Mansu Musa: Lord of the Negroes of Guinea. (Photo courtesy of History of Africa)

•Mansa Musa was a Muslim; he built many beautiful mosques, or Islamic temples in western Africa as well as attending public prayers, and supporting holy men.

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•In 1324 Mansa Musa made a hajj, or pilgrimage ( a journey to a holy place) to Mecca, 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 distributed 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 Timbuktu and Gao.

•When Mansa Musa died there were no kings as powerful as he was to follow.

•The great kingdom of Mali weakened.

•Eventually a group of people known as Berbers 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 Songhai.

The Berbers still live in North Africa. This picture, taken in 1893, shows a Berber group.

History•By 2000 BCE, the area south of Egypt, called Nubia, had developed extensive trade. •Nubians traded ivory, ebony, frankincense, and leopard skin •Nubia was controlled by Egypt until around 1000 BCEIn 750 BCE, the Kush conquered Egypt, but were overwhelmed by the Assyrians less than a hundred years later, in 663 BCE The Kush were still using bronze and stone, while the Assyrians used iron spears and swordsAfter the Assyrians conquered Egypt, the Kushites returned to their land in Nubia

Kush Economics & SocietyKush economics were based on farming and trade.They built a capital city in Meroe, which became a trading center.Meroe had a large supply of iron ore; the Kush were able to make the iron weapons they had seen on the AssyriansThe Kush was a major trading empire, taking advantage of the Nile and land routes

• Kush trade went as far as Rome, India, and Arabia• Traded: iron, ivory, ebony, • Received: jewelry, silver, luxury goods• Not much is known about Kush society. • They left behind tombs full of luxury items,

demonstrating that they were prosperous and had traded with distant countries. This suggests there was probably a large trader or merchant class in Kush society.

• The Kush flourished from about 250 BCE to approximately 150 CE, but declined because of the rise of a new power in the region.

• South of the Kush was Ethiopia, where the Axum were located.

• Originally started as an Arab colony, Axum emerged as an independent state that combined African and Arabic cultures.

• Axum was prosperous because of it’s prime location on the Red Sea, which allowed them to trade between India, the Mediterranean, and southern Africa.

• Like the Kush, they exported ivory, spices, and slaves. They imported textiles, metal goods, wine and olive oil.

• Axum competed with the Kush for control of the ivory trade.

• In the fourth century CE, King Ezana, the Axumite ruler, invaded Kush and conquered it.

• The most distinctive feature of the Axumites was their religion.

• Around 330 CE, the king converted to Christianity, which was brought to Axum by Syrians. The king made Christianity the official religion of Axum.

• After King Ezana died, the Axum kingdom flourished until the rise of Islam, which brought Arab forces into northern and eastern Africa.

• In 641, Arab forces took control of Egypt. By the700s, the entire coast of North Africa was under Arab rule.

• The Muslim trading states lived peacefully with Axum until the 12th century, when the Muslims started moving inland into Africa.

• By the 15th century Axum was in constant conflict with the Muslim states.