Axum: Location relative to the Ethiopian Highlands and Nile River Christian Kingdom Zimbabwe: Location relative to the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers and the Indian Ocean Coast City of “Great Zimbabwe” as capital of a prosperous empire West African Kingdoms: Location of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai empires relative to Niger River and the Sahara Importance of gold and salt to trans-Saharan trade City of Timbuktu as center of trade and learning Roles of animism and Islam

SOL Standards: Essential Knowledge

The Story of AfricaGeography & African Civilizations

Satellite View

Africa’s Size

# Second largest continent 11,700,000 sq. mi.# 10% of the world’s population.# 2 ½ times the size of the U. S.

5000

MILES

4 6 0 0 M I L E S

1. Geography of Africaa. 2nd largest continent in the worldb. 4,600 miles from east to west; 5,000 miles from north to southc. Narrow coastlines lie on either side of a central plateaud. Waterfalls or rapids form as rivers drop to the coast from the plateau

making navigation impossible to or from the coaste. Coastline has few harbors, ports, or inletsf. Large deserts: the Sahara in the north and the Kalahari in the southg. Large rainforests with mahogany and teak trees that reach 150 feet

tallh. Most people live on the savannas or grassy plains which include

mountainous highlands and swampy tropical stretchesi. The Nile River flows north in northeast Africa

Geography & African Civilizations

BodiesOfWater

Nile River

Congo River

Zambezi River

Niger River

Orange River

Limpopo River

Mediterranean Sea

Atlantic Ocean

Pacific Ocean

Indian Ocean

Red Sea

L. Victoria

L. Albert-->

L. Chad-->

L. Tanganyika->

<--Gulf of Aden

The Mighty Nile River:“Longest River in the World”

The Niger River Basin

# Covers 7.5% of the continent.# Extends over 10 countries.# 2,600 miles long.

The African Plateau

The African Savannah:13 million sq. mi.

The Sahara Desert

African Rain Forest

# Annual rainfall of up to 17 ft.# Rapid decomposition (very humid).# Covers 37 countries.# 15% of the land surface of Africa.

2. Customs of Early Peoplesa. Early peoples were nomadicb. Experts believe agriculture started in Africa roughly by 6,000 B.C.c. The family was important and African people organized into family

groupsd. Many early cultures’ religions included elements of animisme. Animism: a religion in which spirits play an important role in daily lifef. History was kept orally, not written downg. Bantu-speaking people migrated south and east leading to:

i. Spread of farming techniquesii. Territorial warsiii. Intermarriagesiv. Spread of technology such as copper, bronze, and iron work

Geography & African Civilizations

Empire of Ghana

Website

Natural Resources

3. Early Civilizations of West Africaa. Empire of Ghana 800 A.D.

i. Became a rich kingdom by taxing traders who traveled through their lands

ii. Gold and salt were important & desirable trade itemsiii. By 800, Ghana was an empireiv. Only the king could own gold; acted as religious leader, chief

judge and military commanderv. Eventually Ghana’s rulers converted to Islam and had to learn

Arabic; much of the population never converted vi. 1076 Muslim Almoravids conquered Ghana and disrupted the gold-salt

tradevii. Ghana never regained its power

Geography & African Civilizations

Berbers

GOLD

SALT

Gold-Salt Trade

Empire of Mali

Website

b. Empire of Malii. Emerged by 1235 south of Ghana; Mali’s wealth was also build on

goldii. Sundiata militarily took over Ghana; peace and prosperity followediii. Some of Mali’s next rulers became Muslims and built mosquesiv. Mansa Musa (Muslim) divided Mali into provinces and appointed

governorsv. Within 50 years of Mansa Musa, Mali’s gold trade shifted east and

his successors were unable to govern the empire effectively

Geography & African Civilizations

Sundiata [1210-1260]

“Lion Prince”

Mansa Musa [r. 1312-1337]

Empire of Songhai

Website

c. Empire of Songhai 1400si. Capital was Gao; extended their territory to the large bend in the Niger

Riverii. Two great Muslim leaders: Sunni Ali & Askia Muhammadiii. Created an empire through military conquest and efficient tax

collectingiv. Unfortunately, Songhai lacked modern weaponsv. Defeated by Moroccan invaders and ended 1,000 years of W. African

power

Geography & African Civilizations

Sunni Ali [r.1464-1492]

Askia Mohammed [r.1493-1529]

Kingdom of Axum [300-700]

4. Early Civilizations of East Africaa. Aksum Empire

i. Located on the horn of Africa on a plateau on the Red Seaii. Conquered the Kush people who had been pushed south by the

Assyriansiii. Traders from Egypt, Arabia, Persia, India, and the Roman Empire

travelled though Adulis, Aksum’s chief seaportiv. They traded salt, rhinoceros horns, ivory, & goldv. Height of empire was 325-360 under strong military leader Ezanavi. Monotheistic: worshiped Mahrem and believed king was his

descendentvii. Aksum later becomes Christianviii.Depletion of soil and forests as well as Islamic invaders caused

decline

Geography & African Civilizations

Stele, Ezana’s Royal Tomb,Aksum (4c)

AXUM’SACHIEVEMENTS

Controlled NE African

Trade

WrittenLanguage

Spread Christianityin No. & E.

Africa

TerraceFarming

BuiltStelae

5. Early Civilizations of Southern Africaa. Great Zimbabwe 1000 A.D.

i. City built by Shona people that turned into an empire built on gold trade

ii. Leaders taxed traders and travelers who ventured throughiii. Great Zimbabwe was abandoned by 1450; no clear reason whyiv. Much of what is known about Great Zimbabwe comes from impressive

ruins

Geography & African Civilizations

Great Zimbabwe ruins

Great Zimbabwe Street

Mutapa

b. Mutapai. According to Shona legend, a man left Great Zimbabwe and settled

a new site with fertile soilii. A leader named Mutota dominated northern Shona people and

were dubbed mwene mutapa meaning conqueror; thus the name Mutapa

iii. Conquered all of modern day Zimbabweiv. Gold was a cornerstone of their economyv. By the 1500s the Portuguese unsuccessfully attempted to conquer

Mutapavi. This signaled increasing European interference in Africa for many

centuries

Geography & African Civilizations