Ancient Africa
Video Questions
1. Ancient Swahili’s were great ______
traders nd even today the lives of the
people are tied to the sea.
• traders
2. The Swahili built their houses from
_______ to attain ______ and sharp
edges.
• Wet coral
• Fine detail
3. What did the beads the the Swahili
people make tell about a person?
• A: job, wealth, religion, politics, even their
age.
4. What does the word “Swahili”
mean?
• “Coast dwellers”
5. Whom did the Swahili nations
mostly trade with?
• The nations around the Arabian peninsula
6. What customs did the Swahili
people adopt from these other
nations?
• Language
• Religion
Why/how do you think these customs
were adopted?
• These customs were adopted through trading.
8. What products did the Swahili trade
the most?
• Elephant ivory
• Gold
9. Arabs would come and trade at
large Swahili cities. What goods did
they bring to trade?
• silk
• woven rugs
• porcelain
10. Gold and ivory was in such high
demand that the Swahili people could:
• Command any price
11. Their boats were held together
with:
• Coconut husks
12. Today the Swahili people speak a
mixture of what languages?
• Local African and Arabic
13. Where did the Swahili people get
the gold and ivory from?
• Great Zimbabwe
Great Zimbabwe
14. What does the term “Great
Zimbabwe” mean?
• Great stone house
15. What was unusual about the team of
archeologists that helped prove that the
Africans built the city of Great Zimbabwe?
• The were all female.
16. What is a way to meaure how old
something is?
• Carbon dating
17. In Great Zimbabwe gold was very
important. What was even more
important than gold?
• Cows
18. Sometimes _____ were even used
as _______
• Cows
• Money
19. What was so unusual about the
Great City of Zimbabwe?
• There are no single
straight lines
or right angles in
the architecture.
Even the steps are curved.
20. Why were stone buildings rare in
South Africa?
• There was not
much stone to
be found.
21. Describe the process of how people
harvested the granite outcrop without tools
• Set fire on granite
outcrop to heat it.
• Pour cold water on
granite so it would
split into slabs.
• Slabs were then
cut into stone.
22. The people of Great Zimbabwe also
sculptured soapstone into birds. The birds may
have been used in ____________________.
• Religious ceremonies
23. People of Great Zimbabwe have a high regard
for their ancestors. They use _______________
when communicating with them. They often ask
them for guidance in times of trouble.
• Song and prayer
24. Where can the bird symbol be
found today?
• The Zimbabwe flag.
25. In the year A.D. 1450, Great Zimbabwe
declined. What do you think some of the
reasons for this decline?
• Some scholars think that
city could have outgrown
itself. There are several
theories, but no concrete
reason why.