Ancient Africa
1500 B.C. – 1500 A.D.
African Geography Desert
• Sahara dominates northern Africa• Kalahari largest desert in southern Africa
Savanna• Best areas for herd animals and growing of grains
Rainforest• Diverse life forms and natural resources, very difficult
to travel through or live in• Tsetse flies
Mediterranean• Small region in northern Africa that supports abundant
life
Tsetse Fly & African Sleeping Sickness
Early Sub-Saharan African Life East Africa was the beginning of human
life• “Lucy”
Nomadic herders• Masi and other groups still practice
Agriculture develops (~6,000 B.C.)• Permanent settlements develop• Animism = ?• Griots = ?
West African Iron Age• Nok Culture (Niger River Valley)
• Trade city of Djenne-Djeno• Use of Iron tools
Push-Pull Factors
Chart page 221 3 main migration factors
• Environmental
• Economic
• Political
Migration of the Bantu Peoples
Trace the Bantu Migrations on your map of Africa (page 222)
Where did they go? How did they adapt to each region?
• Slash & burn
• Raising cattle
• Adopting new crops
Why did they migrate?• Agriculture led to more land use and great population
Effects of Bantu Migration
Forced interaction between different groups (BaMbuti and San)
• Some mixed, some left, some fought
Brought new technologies to regions Brought Bantu ideas about politics and
social organization Centralized language branch
throughout the continent
• Niger-congo languages• 900+ different dialects and individual
languages
• Bantu is the first language of nearly 1/3 of all Africans today
Kingdom of Aksum South of Kush
• Legend traces roots of Kush back to son of King solomon and Queen of Sheba
• Modern day Ethiopia and Eritrea
International trade center (Adulis)
• Caravans to Egypt through Meroe
• Access to Mediterranean Sea & Indian Ocean through Red Sea
• Exported: salt, ivory, emeralds, gold
• Imported: cloth, glass, wine, iron, copper
Kingdom of Aksum (cont.) Ezana (325 – 360 A.D.)
• Peak of the empire
• Expanded territory into Arabian Peninsula (modern day Yemen)
• Conquered Kush
• Cosmopolitan Heritage• Greek, Roman, Persian, Indian, and
Egyptian
• Converted to Christianity• Made official religion for Aksum
Decline &Isolation• Islamic invaders began to cut into
the empire and take-over trade routes
• Moved to the mountains of northern Ethiopia• Remained isolated for a few
hundred years (632 – 750 AD)
The Pillars of Aksum Used no mortar Carved great stones
together Created false doors,
windows, as well as tall peaks
The Pillars are often dedicated to the Christian God
West African Societies
Ghana (700 – 1076 A.D.) Use of camels led to development
of the trans-Sahara trade routes Gold-Salt Trade
• Arab and Berber traders
• Gold from western Africa, salt from Sahara
Empire of Ghana developed from taxing trade routes
Ghana’s kings convert to Islam• Led to literacy (learning to read the
Qur’an)
• Commoners mostly did not convert 1076 – Muslim Almoravids
conquered
Mali (1235 – 1400s) Gold deposits east of Ghana allowed
Mali empire to gain wealth and power by moving the trade routes
2 important leaders• Sundiata – 1st emperor (mansa)
• Different than prior emperors• Peaceful
• United Mali• Conquered Ghana
• Led to period of peace and prosperity
• Mansa Musa (1312 – 1332)• Muslim leader (Sundiata’s
grandnephew• Expanded empire to twice the size of
Ghana (100,000 man army)• Hajj to Mecca in 1324-1325 exposed
riches of Mali to Arab peninsula• New trade centers develop (Timbuktu
and Gao)
Songhai (1400s – 1500s) Gained control of trade routes due to
gold deposits near Niger River (Gao) 2 important leaders
• Sunni Ali• Muslim leader
• Had a private army consisting of horse soldiers and river canoes
• Conquered Timbuktu (1468) & Djenne (1473, took 7 years)
• Military hero
• Askia Muhammad• Established bureaucracy and provinces
• Overthrew Sunni Ali’s son
• Spread more orthodox Islam
• Efficient and fair ruler Conquered by Moroccans in 1591
(guns)
East Coast Trade Cities
Islamic Influence• New trade centers on Indian Ocean after fall of
Aksum
• Spread Muslim religion along trade routes
• Slave/Gold trade Swahili language group
• Mix of Bantu & Arabic City-states
• Kilwa, Sofala, Mogadishu Great Zimbabwe (1200s – 1450) – Bantu
for stone enclose• Shona people’s in south-eastern Africa
• Controlled trade routes of gold to the coast• City taxed traders
• Disappeared suddenly• Suspected because of arrival of Portuguese
Portuguese Conquest (1488)
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