Bellringer
• On your map, label the items in the
left-hand column (starting with
Mediterranean Sea)
Agenda
1. Geography of Africa
2. African Empires
Objectives
Students will be able to…
57. Explain how geography influenced
the development of trade in
Africa.
58. Describe the African trading
kingdoms of Axum, Zimbabwe,
Ghana, Mali, and Songhai
Reminders
• SOL exam May 9th!!!
• I will give you a HUGE study packet
over break!
• We will have a quest (long quiz/short
test) on Thursday. It will cover the
map and the reading
Objective #57
SAHARA DESERT
Timbuktu
Niger River
Congo River
Zambezi River
Limpopo River
He who controls
trade, controls the
world
Rule #3
Objective #58
Rulers of the Nile
Egypt
Kush (Nubia)
• Aksum was a
prosperous trading
empire
• Traded with Europe,
Arabia, Egypt, Persia,
India
Mesopotamians
(Assyria, Persia, Rome)
Aksum
Aksum
• Where is it?
– Ethiopian highlands
• Adopted Christianity
– Became the
Ethiopians
– Stayed Christian until
modern times
Aksum
• Cool facts
–Written
language (Ge’ez)
–Steles
Great Zimbabwe
• Powerful inland
trade city in
Southern Africa
– Near gold
– Zambezi and
Limpopo rivers
Great Zimbabwe
• Mysterious
–Giant circular walls that don’t look
defensive
–City was suddenly abandoned
West Africa
• What is the most important
geographic feature of West Africa?
Spelling
• One time spelling counts:
–Desert = lots of sand and hot
–Dessert = lots of chocolate and
happiness
West Africa
Trade
• West Africa has something everybody
wants
GOLD!
• West Africa needs something they can
get from the desert
Salt
• What’s the best way to get stuff across a
desert?
Camels
Gold-Salt Trade
Know this.
Gold-Salt Trade
• Gold from West Africa to the world
• Salt from the Sahara to West Africa
• Ideas and goods from the
Mediterranean into Sub-Saharan
Africa
–Islam expands through trade, not
war
West African Empires
• All three West African Empires
became powerful in the same way
–Control the trade! People who
lived where the best gold mines
were built armies and conquered
everyone else
Ghana
• First empire in West Africa
• Led by a king
–Controlled the supply of gold
–Collected taxes
–Protected traders
• Safety
• Fairness
Mali
• Gold mines shifted east so new people
take over
• Sundiata (sun-JAT-ah) creates an empire
–Title “mansa,” or war chief
• Mansa Musa
–Hajj (remember the song!)
• City of Timbuktu – center of trade
Songhai
• Gold mines shifted east so new
people take over
• Just like Mali
• Conquered by Moroccans with guns
Islam in Africa
• African religion was based on the
belief in nature and ancestor spirits,
called animism
• Trade spreads Islam throughout West
Africa and East African coast
–Mali and Songhai
Essay Outline
• Compare and contrast Ghana and
Mali
–Write a thesis statement
–Write a “direct comparison” and
“analysis” for one similarity and
one difference
Direct Comparison
• Mesopotamia and Egypt were both
located near rivers BECAUSE they
both used silt for agriculture
• Egyptian kings were more powerful
than Mesopotamian kings BECAUSE
the Egyptian kings were worshipped
as gods