African Civilization

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.