African
Societies
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Africa
GEOGRAPHY
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Africa: Rivers
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Climate map of Africa
http://teacherweb.ftl.pinecrest.edu/snyderd/APHG/projects/MUN-BC/maps/climate.jpg
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Key Geographic Regions
• Northern coast along Mediterranean is mountainous
• South of the mountains is a band of Sahara desert
• East is the Nile River valley, heart of Egyptian
civilization
• West Africa, the hump just south of Sahara, is made up
of grasslands in the interior and tropical rain forests on
the coast. It is rich in natural resources and home to
many ancient civilizations.
• Along the East coast, by the Indian Ocean, are
snowcapped mountains, upland plateaus, grasslands,
and lake. (The East African Rift valley in modern
Kenya is here, where early humans emerged.)
• South is made up of hills, plateaus, and deserts. It
abounds in mineral resources, like diamonds and gold.
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• How do we know about earliest
African societies?
• No written records
• Anthropological studies at sites
like Gwisho
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Gwisho:
Archeological finds
• Great number of
stone tools
• People had
domesticated
dogs
• Wooden tools
• Magnificent rock
art
• People had
worked skins
and used natural
pigments
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Saharan rock art: Cattle herders
Saharan rock art: Cattle herders
This rock painting was found in Tassili, a mountainous region in the Sahara. This scene
of cattle grazing near the group of huts (represented on the left by stylized white ovals)
reflects the domestication of animals and the development of settled pastoral
agriculture. Women and children seem to perform most of the domestic chores. (Henri
Lhote)
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Head, Nok woman, 1st Century B.C.E.
Head, Nok woman, 1st Century
B.C.E.
Ancient iron tools found at the
village of Nok on the Jos Plateau in
present-day Nigeria seem to prove
an early knowledge of ironworking
in West Africa. The Nok culture,
which enjoys enduring fame for its
fine terra-cotta (baked clay)
sculptures such as the head of this
woman, flourished from about 88
B.C.E. to 200 C.E. (National
Museum, Lagos/Werner Forman
Archive/Art Resource, NY)
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• Settled agriculture currently is
estimated to have begun in the
region along the Nile called
Nubia. It then spread west
across the Sahara to West coast
of Africa.
• Agriculture also moved south to
the Rift Valley. Raising cattle
was a prized agricultural
commodity. Cattle were often
provided as dowry for brides.
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• Axum
• Meroë
•
• South of Egypt, in
Nubia, Kush emerged
as trading center in 2nd
century millennium
b.c.e.
• It was replaced by
another trading center
at Meroe, located near
iron deposits
• There is debate about
how iron-work came to
the area, but Meroe
became a trading
center for iron goods
•
•
•
A competitor to Meroe
arose in the highlands of
modern-day Ethiopia.
Members of the populace
claimed to be descended
from the Queen of
Saba/Sheba (whose
kingdom was reportedly
on the southern tip of the
Arabian peninsula).
Saba had been a major
trade center for goods
moved from SE Asia to
the Mediterranean.
Architectural styles
suggest a relationship
between Axum and Saba.
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Stele of Aksum, 4th c.
Stele of Aksum, 4th c.
This 70-foot stone is the tallest
remnant of a field of stelae, or
standing stones, marking the tombs
of Aksumite kings in Ethiopia. The
carvings of doors, windows, and
beam-ends imitate common features
of Aksumite architecture, suggesting
that each stele symbolized a
multistory royal palace. The largest
stelae date from the fourth century
C.E. (J. Allan Cash)
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To Learn more about Axum and early history of Ethiopia, look at
BBC SERIES 1 LOST KINGDOMS OF AFRICA
(ETHIOPIA):
HTTP://YOUTU.BE/ATALUCWHJQA
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Lalibela
Lalibela
King Lalibela, who ruled the Christian kingdom of Ethiopia between about
1180 and 1220, had a series of churches carved out of solid volcanic rock to
adorn his kingdom's new capital (also named Lalibela). The church of Saint
George, excavated to a depth of 40 feet and hollowed out inside, has the
shape of a Greek cross. (S. Sassoon/Robert Harding Picture Library)
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Emperor Yekuno Amlak
Emperor Yekuno Amlak
The Ethiopian emperor Yekuno Amlak's claim that he possessed Solomon's
blood won him considerable popular support in his war against the decaying
Zagwe dynasty, which he overthrew in 1270. Here he receives Muslim
ambassadors while slaves attend him. (British Library)
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• North-South trade was conducted
across the Sahara by the
Berbers. Carthage was a great
trading port for goods brought to
the Mediterranean coast.
• Traded goods included food,
manufactured goods, salt, gold,
and slaves.
• The camel became essential in
the success of these trade routes.
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• The Garamantes
• Remains of this ancient kingdom have
been discovered in the desert in Libya.
• They traveled to trade salt, glass, metal,
olive oil, and wine to the south in return
for gold, slaves, and tropical products.
They were known to the Romans for
their trade.
• They built thousands of miles of
underground channels for irrigation.
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• The Nok in northern Nigeria
became proficient in ironworks,
and their iron goods were traded
across the Sahara by the
Berbers.
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• The Bantu
• These people may have come
from original homelands in
Nigeria. They settled along the
eastern coast of Africa.
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Africa Changed
THE COMING OF ISLAM
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• In 641Arab forces moved into Egypt
• Islam moved west along the
Mediterranean coast, and Berbers came
into contact with it. At first they resisted
Islam, but by early 8th century all of north
Africa was under Arab rule.
• Arab merchants established trading posts
along the east coast of Africa, such as
Mogadishu, Zanzibar, Pemba, and Kilwa.
The goods they traded moved as far east
as China.
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UNESCO World Heritage Site: Kilwa
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/144
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Great Mosque at Kilwa
Great Mosque at Kilwa
By the late thirteenth century, Kilwa had become the most powerful East African coastal city and a
great commercial empire comparable to Venice and Genoa. Built between the thirteenth and
fifteenth centuries to serve the Muslim commercial aristocracy of Kilwa, this Great Mosque attests
to the wealth and power of the East African city-states. (Marc & Evelyn Bernheim/Woodfin Camp &
Associates)
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• Islam in West Africa
• The first kingdom to convert to Islam
southwest of the Sahara was Gao in 10th
century.
• Islam brought the first writing system—
Arabic—to Western kingdoms. It also
brought Muslim legal codes. These
helped rulers preserve power and order.
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• Ghana
• The first large trading state in West
Africa built on West African trade with
Arab merchants. Ghana became
important to Arabs because of its gold.
• The king ruled by divine right.
• Members of dominant clans helped
preserve law and order.
• Kings of Ghana did not convert to Islam
themselves, though they welcomed
Muslim merchants.
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• Slavery in Africa
• It probably traces back to Berbers
capturing African villagers south
of the Sahara and selling them
north into Europe and the Middle
East.
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• Mali
• The kingdom of Ghana fell into decline
and was replaced by a new kingdom
called Mali.
• It extended from the Atlantic coast to
Timbuktu.
• Mali’s power was based on gold trade,
but it also ruled over farmers in villages
south of the Sahara on savannahs.
• Farm villages were ruled by a mansa, a
temporal and spiritual ruler.
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• One of the most powerful kings of
Mali was Mansa Musa.
• He encouraged the building of
mosques and study of Qur’an.
• Under his rule Timbuktu became
a great intellectual and cultural
center.
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Cresques map, Africa, of Mansa Musa
Cresques map, Africa, of Mansa Musa
Abraham Cresques, a Jewish geographer from the Mediterranean island of Majorca, drew this
lavish map in 1375, incorporating all that was known in Europe about the rest of the world. This
portion of the Catalan Atlas shows a North African trader approaching the king of Mali, who holds a
gold nugget in one hand and a golden scepter in the other. A caption identifies the black ruler as
Mansa Musa, "the richest and noblest king in all the land." (Bibliotheque nationale de France)
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Bronze striated head, Oni of Ife
Bronze striated head, Oni of Ife
Some of the most famous African
sculptures were created by the
Yoruba, a group of people in the
rain forest of what is now Nigeria.
Two successive groups of Yoruba
people made fine bronze
sculptures between 1100 and
1600. One group governed a
forest kingdom called Ife; the
second Yoruba group formed the
state of Benin. The bronze heads
of Ife were natural and lifelike. This
exquisite bronze (actually an alloy
of brass and zinc) bust of a
crowned Oni marks the
magnificent final stage of Ife art.
The delicate modelling of the
features is emphasized by the
lines running up the face
(striations). The rosette above the
face proves that this was an Oni.
(Jerry Thompson)
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• African peoples who lived from
the Congo River basin to the
southern tip of Africa were in noncentralized societies.
• They were organized by clans
and ruled by chieftains.
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Great Zimbabwe
Great Zimbabwe
At its peak, in about 1400, Great Zimbabwe occupied 193 acres and may have had 18,000 inhabitants.
Between 1250 and 1450, local African craftsmen built stone structures for Great Zimbabwe's rulers,
priests, and wealthy citizens. The largest structure, a walled enclosure the size and shape of a large
football stadium, served as the king's court. Its drystone walls were up to 17 feet thick and 32 feet high.
Inside the walls were many buildings, including a large conical stone tower. The stone ruins of Great
Zimbabwe are one of the most famous historical sites in sub-Saharan Africa. (Courtesy of the Department
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of Information, Rhodesia)
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Map: Africa Before 1500
Africa Before 1500
For centuries trade linked West Africa with Mediterranean and Asian societies. Note the various climatic zones,
the trans-Saharan trade routes, and the trade routes along the coast of East Africa. (Copyright (c) Houghton
Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved.)
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Map: The Kingdom of Mali
The Kingdom of Mali
The economic strength of the kingdom of Mali rested heavily on the trans-Saharan trade. (Copyright (c) Houghton
Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved.)
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Map: Trade Routes Between East Africa and India
Trade Routes Between East Africa and India
The Indian Ocean, controlled by the Muslim merchant fleet until the arrival of the Portuguese in the late fifteenth
century, was of far greater importance to world trade than the Mediterranean. Gold from Great Zimbabwe passed
through the cities on the East African coast before shipment north to the Middle East and east to India and China.
(Copyright (c) Houghton Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved.)
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