8
• Have your notebook and something to write
with on your desk.
Kingdom of Ghana
• The first people in Ghana were farmers known as
the Soninke who lived along the Niger River.
• The Soninke began to band together to protect
themselves against nomadic herders by doing
this the Soninke created the kingdom of Ghana.
• Ghana was in an ideal position to become a
trading center because it was close to the Sahara
a great source of salt and Ghana itself was rich in
gold.
Kingdom of Ghana part 2
• Salt was extremely valuable because it could be used
to preserve food Africans even sometimes cut up slabs
of salts and used the pieces as money.
• Ghana built up armies equipped with iron weapons
these armies allowed Ghana to take control of trade
routes from merchants.
• By 800 A.D. nearly all trade between North and
Southern Africa passed through Ghana.
• The rulers of Ghana made vast amounts of money
from traders by having the traders pay taxes on the
goods that they brought into and out of the city.
Islam in Ghana
• Ghana's extensive trade routes brought them into
contact with the religion of Islam.
• Islam was founded by a Arab named Mohammed.
• followers of Islam believe that god spoke to
Mohammed through an angel and made him a
prophet
• after Mohammed's death his followers wrote down
his teachings in a book called the Quran.
Islam in Ghana part 2
• In 1060 a Muslim group called the Almoravid’s
attacked Ghana in an effort to force its
leaders to convert to Islam.
• The Almaravid’s would weaken Ghana's
Empire by cutting off their trade routes.
• Ghana would fall to the influence of Islam
and Islam would become the most practice
religion in the region.
Kingdom of Mali
• Mali gained its independence and conquered the nearby
kingdom of Ghana under the leadership of Sundiata.
• Mali’s greatest ruler was Mansa Musa he added many
cities to the kingdom of Mali such as Timbuktu.
• Religion was extremely important to Mansa Musa he
wanted all Muslims to be able to read the Quran so he set
up schools where people could learn to read and writes in
the Arabic language.
• After the death of Mansa Musa poor leadership led to the
downfall of the kingdom of Mali.
Songhai
• The Empire of Songhai rose to power after the
fall of the kingdom of Mali
• Songhai's greatest ruler was Askia the Great like
Masa Musa he was a devout Muslim and
supported education.
• Songhai had a government with specialized
departments to oversee various tasks much like
modern day governments.
Songhai Part 2
• Songhai Would fall when invaded by the
Moroccans who wanted to control the
Saharan salt mines.
West African slave trade
• Over time the slave trade became very
important to the West African economy Kings
traded slaves for valuable goods such as
horses from the Middle East and textiles and
weapons from Europe
6
• Have your notebook and something to write
with on your desk.
The physical world
• Physical geographers- want to know what
causes the different shapes on earths surface.
• Physical geographers also want to know why
various parts of the world have different
weather and climate patterns.
• To answer these questions physical
geographers keep careful records and track
any change that occurs over time.
Uses of physical geography
• Earth is made up of hundreds of types of
physical features only by fully understanding
these features can we fully understand our
world.
• Studying the physical changes that take place
on our planet can help us prepare to live with
those changes.
The human world
• Human geographers study where people live and
why as well as what people do and why they do
it.
• Because people's lives are so different around the
world human geographers often specialize in
smaller areas of study.
• Other geographers choose not to limit their study
to one place but instead they choose to examine
only one aspect of people's lives.
Uses of human geography
• Human geography can help on a local level by
helping people design their cities and towns
• Human geography can also help on a global
scale by working with government agencies
to protect the environment.
Other fields of geography
• Economic geography- the study of how
people make and spend money
• Urban geography- the study of cities and how
people live in them
Cartography
• In the past maps were drawn by hand and
because of this they were not very accurate
• Today most maps are made using computers and
satellite images
• We can make maps that cover things as large as
the whole world or as small as an individual
neighborhood.
Hydrology
• Hydrology - is the study of water on earth
• Geographers in this field study the world's
river systems and rainfall patterns as well as
what causes droughts and floods and how
people in cities can get safe drinking water
Meteorology
• Meteorologist study weather patterns in a
particular area and then use this information
to predict what the weather will be like in the
coming days.
7
• Have your notebook and something to write
with on your desk.
Invention of writing
• One of the greatest cultural achievements that
the Sumerians made was the development of
writing known as cuneiform.
• Cuneiform was a better system of writing than
pictographs because it allowed the writer to
express more complex ideas.
• Sumerians would use cuneiform to create laws,
grammar, poems, stories, Proverbs, and songs.
Technical advances
• Some of the Sumerians most important
advances were the wheel which allowed them
to make the first chariot and the plow which
allowed the Sumerians to greatly increase
their farming production.
• The Sumerians also built sewers under city
streets and used bronze to make strong tools
and weapons.
Math and science
• The Sumerians developed a math system
based on the number 60,
• Sumerians also made lists of plants and
animals that they encountered.
• Using the plants that they catalogued the
Sumerians were able to produce many
different types of medicine.
Architecture
• Most Sumerian rulers lived in large palaces
other rich Sumerians had two-story homes
with as many as a dozen rooms.
• Bricks made from mud were the primary
building material
• Usually in city centers there was a Ziggurat for
religious worship
The arts
Cylinder seals- allowed people to show
ownership of property.