Name: ____________________________________ Date: ________________ Period: _____ WS:#_____
Hooker
African Civilizations 1500 BCE – 1591 CE
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
Africa is the ________________ continent; it stretches_________ miles
from east to west and ____________ miles from north to south, it
occupies _______ of Earth’s land surface.
Each African environment offers its own challenges:
Desert-_________ and __________ are largely unsuitable
for human life and hamper movement.
Rain forest-partly uninhabitable because of the dense
forests and the ________ fly, large biting flies.
Savanna-_______________ where most people live; support
abundant agricultural production.
Migration is a permanent move from one country or region to another.
Migration is usually caused by ___________________-what pushes
people out of one area or pulls them to another?
Migration falls into 3 main categories:
1.___________________ 2._________________ 3._________________
Early Africans made some of the greatest migrations in history, settling
throughout the continent and spreading their languages and culture.
The ____________________________ originally lived south of the
Sahara and moved further south and east.
The Bantu peoples were _______________, ______________________,
_____________________, etc.
Name: ____________________________________ Date: ________________ Period: _____ WS:#_____
Hooker
WESTERN AFRICAN KINGDOMS
1.__________________ 2.__________________ 3._________________
GHANA
Many trade routes crossed the savanna through the region farmed by
the _____________________people.
The Soninke called their leader Ghana, or war__________________.
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 ___________ and ________.
Gold came from a forest region between the _________ and ________
Rivers.
Salt came from the Sahara Desert.
The king of Ghana: By 800, Ghana had become an empire.
1 Controlled trade by storing large amounts of gold and salt that only
he had the power over.
2 Commanded a large army
3 Demanded taxes and gifts from chiefs of surrounding lands, and
would allow them to live in peace if payments were made,
4 And acted as a religious leader and the chief judge
Ghana developed in West Africa between the____________ and the
___________Rivers. It was an important kingdom there from about 300
CE to about 1100 CE. The rivers helped Ghana to grow rich because
they were used to transport___________ and develop
______________. Ghana also collected _______________ from traders
who passed through the kingdom. The people called their
nation_______________; we know it as Ghana --that was the word for
_____________________.
Name: ____________________________________ Date: ________________ Period: _____ WS:#_____
Hooker
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 ______________________________.
Ghana had few natural resources except __________ and __________.
They were also very good at making things from _________________.
Ghanaian warriors used iron tipped spears to subdue their neighbors,
who fought with weapons made of _______, ________, and ________.
Ghana became a ______________ and ___________________ nation,
especially when the ______________ 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 _______________________.
After 700 CE, the religion of ______________ 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 Ghana
and form their own local kingdoms.
This ended many of the trade networks and eventually weakened the
civilization of Ancient Ghana.
MALI
By 1235 the kingdom of _____________ had emerged.
Its founders were ________________________________________,
who lived south of Ghana.
Mali’s wealth was also built on ________________.
A powerful king named ______________ruled Mali from around 12301255 AD. He became known as a _____________, or emperor.
He led the people in conquering and expanding his kingdom to be as
great as Ghana had been.
Name: ____________________________________ Date: ________________ Period: _____ WS:#_____
Hooker
Mali had ____ rulers in the ____ years between
__________________ and _____________________.
Perhaps the greatest king of Mali was ________________ (1312-1337).
He developed the gold and salt 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 Mecca, which is a holy city in Arabia.
He traveled with ___________ servants and followers and ____ camels
carrying more than _________ pounds of gold to be distributed among
the poor. Of the ________ servants ______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 _____________.
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 _____________ 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
As Mali declined in the 1400s, people under its control began to break
away.
Among these were the _______________ people to the east.
They built up an army, extended their territory to the _____________,
and gained control of important trade routes.
Name: ____________________________________ Date: ________________ Period: _____ WS:#_____
Hooker
The Songhai had two very important leaders,
______________________ and __________________________.
_____________________saw that the kingdom of Mali was weakening
and he led his soldiers to conquer the area. He began the kingdom of
_______________________. He also set up a complex government to
rule all the lands he had conquered.
Sunni Ali died in ___________.
His son took over the rule of Songhai but he did not accept Islam as a
religion.
One of Sunni Ali’s generals, named _____________________,
overthrew the new king and made himself king of Songhai.
He was a follower of ___________ and continued with ____________
as the religion of his kingdom.
Songhai remained a ___________ and ____________ kingdom under
___________________________ rule.
It had a complex government centered in the city of ________, and
great centers of learning.
In the late 1500s, ____________________ invaded Songhai to take its
rich trade routes.
Moroccans had a new weapon, ______________, and the army of
Songhai did not. This led to the fall of Songhai.
Name: ____________________________________ Date: ________________ Period: _____ WS:#_____
Hooker