CHAPTER 7 SECTION 1

 Africa is the second largest continent.
 The continent is almost completely surrounded by two oceans and two seas. (Atlantic and Indian Oceans, and the Red and
Mediterranean Sea)
 Northern area is mountainous.
 South of the mountains is the largest desert on Earth, the Sahara.
 To the east is the Nile River

 Grasslands in interior Africa; tropical jungles along the coast
 Far to the east is a very different terrain of snow-capped mountains, upland plateaus, and lakes.
 A distinctive feature Is the Great Rift valley, where mountains loom over deep canyons.

Four distinct climate zones:
1. Mild – stretches across the northern coast and southern tip of Africa.
Moderate rainfall, warm temperatures, fertile land.
2. desert – covers 40% of Africa, The Sahara and the Kalashari are the two largest deserts.
3. rain forest – makes up 10% of the continent, heavy rains, warm temperatures, and dense forests.
4. savannas – broad grasslands dotted with small trees and shurbs, covers 40% of Africa’s land area.

 2,000 busy trade between Egypt and
Nubia
 Egyptian merchants imported ivory, ebony, frankincense, and leopard skins from Nubia.
 In 750 B.C. Kush conquered Egypt.
 Economy was based on farming and then later became a major trading state.
 Center of the city was Meroe; iron ore resources.

 Kush provided iron products, ivory, gold, ebony, and slaves to the Roman empire, Arabia, and
India.
 The Kush imported luxury goods from India and Arabia.
 Kushite society was mostly urban.
 Kush declined because of the rise of Axum.

 Located in what is now Ethiopia, founded by Arabs, combined Arab and African cultures.
 Located along the Red Sea
 Exported ivory, frankincense, myrrh, and slaves
 Imported textiles, metal goods, wine, and olive oil
 The most distinctive feature of the Axumite civilization was its religion.
 Christianity was first brought to the area by the Syrians.
 In later centuries, a new religion – Islam – brought profound challenges to the kingdom.

 Islam rose from the Arabian Pennisula, and then spread across the region.
 641 – Arab forces captured Egypt
 700s – Arabs ruled North Africa’s coast west to the strait of Gibraltar.
 Muslims also occupied lands along the Red Sea.
 Muslims states moved inland to gain control over the trade in slaves in ivory,
Axum fought back.
 Axum became involved in a growing conflict with the Muslim state of Adal.

Page 239
Main Ideas : 2,3,4

Main Idea: Trade in gold helped create a strong economy in Ghana, bringing wealth to its merchants and its kings.

 The first great trading state in West Africa.
 Located in the upper Niger River valley, grassland region between the Sahara and the tropical forests along the West African coast.
 most of the people were farmers, lived in villages under the authority of a local ruler.
 The villages formed the Kingdom of Ghana
 The kings of Ghana were strong rulers who governed without any laws.
 T o protect their kingdom and to enforce their wishes, the kings relied on a welltrained army.
 Prospered from their possession of iron and gold

 The region had an abundant supply of iron ore.
 Blacksmiths of Ghana were highly valued because of their ability to turn this ore into tools and weapons.
 Ghana’s Gold made it the center of an enormous trade empire.
 Traded with Muslim merchants from North Africa (metal goods, textiles, horses and salt).
 Salt was a highly desired item, was used to preserve food; salt was also needed for their diet.
 Trade across the desert was carried by the Berbers, nomadic peoples whose camel caravans became known as the “fleets of the desert”.
 Hundred camels; 3 miles per hour; 40 to 60 days
 Ghana was weakened by a series of wars and collapsed during the 1100s.

Main Idea: Powerful leadership helped Mali thrive.
 Rose up after Ghana’s collapse; became a new trading state in West Africa.

 Founded by Sundiata Keita
 Defeated Ghana and captured its capital in 1240.
 United the people of Mali and created a strong government.
 Mali made its wealth and power on the gold and salt trade.
 Most people were farmers; lived in villages with local rulers(religious and administrative leaders)

 One of the richest and most
powerful kings. (1312-1337)
 Doubled the size of the Kingdom of
Mali
 Created a strong central government and dived the kingdom into provinces ruled by governors whom he appointed.
 He was a Muslim; one day decided to make a pilgrimage to Makkah.

 Traveled with thousands of servants and soldiers
 Hundreds of camels carrying gold as well as food, clothing, and other supplies.
 Gave a way so much gold that the value of gold began to fall.
 His pilgrimage demonstrated his wealth and power.
 Inspired to make Timbuktu a center of Islamic learning and culture
 He built mosques and libraries
 Timbuktu became recognized as one of the intellectual capitals of the Muslim world.

 Mansa Musa proved to be the last powerful ruler of Mali.
 1359 – civil was divided Mali
 100 years later a new kingdom arose, Songhai

Main Idea: Situated along the Niger
River, the Songhai became powerful traders.
 Ruler named Kossi converted to
Islam and established the Dia dynasty; first Songhai state.
 Benefited from the Muslim trade routes.
 Sunni Ali created a new dynasty – the
Sunni – in 1464.

 Sunni Ali spent much of his reign on horseback and on the march as he led his army in one military campaign after another.
 Two conquests- Timbuktu and Jenne; gave Songhai control of their trading empire
 Ali united rural and city dwellers
 Songhai Empire reached the height of its power during the reign of
Muhammad Ture.
 Ture divided Songhai into provinces
 Declined by 1600

 South of Axum, along the shores of the Indian Ocean and inland from the mountains of Ethiopia, lived a mixture of peoples.
 Lived by hunting and food gathering, while others raised livestock.
 The Bantu people moved into East Africa
 The Bantu communities were based on subsistence farming – growing crops for personal use not for sale.
 The Bantus spread iron-smelting techniques across Africa and the knowledge of high-yield crops like yams and bananas.
 Bantu people established the prosperous city of Great Zimbabwe.

 The eastern coast of Africa became a part of the trading network along the Indian Ocean.
 Mogadishu, Mombasa, Kilwa
 Merchants in these cities grew very wealthy.
 As time passed, a mixed African
Arabian culture, eventually known as Swahili, began to emerge throughout the coastal area.

 Main Idea: In southern Africa, independent villages organized into states, the most powerful of which was Zimbabwe.
 Stateless societies – groups of independent villages organized by clans and led by a local ruler or clan head.
 Zimbabwe – was the wealthiest and most powerful state in the region. It prospered from gold trade with the Swahili trading communities on the eastern coast of Africa.