Download ANCIENT AFRICAN CIVILIZATIONS • Remember that a lack of

ANCIENT AFRICAN CIVILIZATIONS
• Remember that a lack of written history does not mean that the region did not have a
history.
• Before the 15th century there existed a rich history which was characterized by well
established ancient and medieval civilizations.
Regions of Africa
Ancient Egypt
• A people in North Africa emerged because of the life giving river, the Nile.
• Natural Barriers: desert on either side of the Nile helped protect this civilization from
potential invaders.
• This civilization was known for its Religion, Technology and Architecture.
• Polytheistic and the belief in the afterlife (mummies)
• Pharaoh—king = God, thought to have supernatural powers
• Pyramids—elaborate tombs for the pharaohs and some very wealthy
• Papyrus—first form of paper made from and dried reed
• Hieroglyphics—Egyptian pictures/symbols writing system
ANCIENT AFRICAN CIVILIZATIONS
Earliest civilizations emerged in the highlands of Ethiopia.
• Kush Civilization existed from about 2000 BCE to 300 CE.
• Axum Civilization existed from 200 BCE to 700 CE.
• Kush’s history was closely linked with that of ancient Egypt.
– The Kushites actually ruled Egypt between 700 and 500 BCE.
– The Kushites were famous for their impressive architecture, (ruins of Meroe)
irrigation systems, scripts and its iron industry.
MEDIEVAL AFRICAN CIVILIZATIONS
– Empires with political structures and social orders developed with the emergence of
ancient civilizations in Sub-Saharan Africa.
– In west Africa three such empires evolved.
– These civilizations were characterized by permanent settlements and domestication of
plants – cereals and roots, and the domestication of animals.
– They had well established political structures.
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These civilizations were
– Ghana -- 700-1070 CE.
– Mali 1230 – 1430 CE.
– Songhai 1460-1590 CE.
Two features that distinguished the these empires from the ancient civilizations were:
– Islam was an important organizational philosophy in the empires of Mali and
Songhai.
– Originally Ghana was not Islamic but was later on conquered by Muslims.
These empires mined gold and salt with iron implements which resulted in extensive trade
networks across the Sahara desert into northern Africa.
– Other commodities traded were slaves.
– LOTS of MONEY due to TRADE
– In east Africa no major civilizations emerged during the medieval period.
– Instead a number of city-states emerged between 700 and 1500 CE.
A number of reasons can be attributed to the absence of civilization in Central Africa.
– Limited access.
– Sparse population.
– Lack of awareness of its resource potential (around the Congo basin too many
TREES/Rainforest).
Few civilizations emerged in Southern Africa during the early medieval period.
– Karanga emerged around 1000 CE to become the present day Zimbabwe.
– Actively engaged in gold production for international trade. Its capital was
great Zimbabwe - a city built in stone without mortar.
– Zimbabwe—”Great Stone Wall”
Most of these empires were spurred by the Bantu migrations.
– Some of these empires or kingdoms still exist today.
The Advent of Iron and the Bantu Migrations
1. Sub-Saharan agriculture had its origins north of the equator and then spread southward.
Iron working also began north of the equator and spread southward, reaching southern
Africa by 800 CE.
2. Linguistic evidence suggests that the spread of iron and other technology in sub-Saharan
Africa was the result of the Bantu migrations.
3. The original homeland of the Bantu people was in the area on the border of modern
Nigeria and Cameroon. Evidence suggests that the Bantu people spread out toward the
east and the south through a series of migrations over the period of the first millennium
CE.
4. By the eight century, Bantu-speaking people had reached East Africa.
ANCIENT CIVILIZATION
• The Bantu migrants encountered some aboriginal groups.
• These groups did not have any elaborate economic and political associations.
MEDIEVAL AFRICAN CIVILIZATIONS
• The Bantus taught the aborigines the art of smelting iron, a superior political and
economic structure, cattle herding and crop cultivation such as bananas.
• These innovations became the spring-board from which civilizations such as the Karanga
were established during the medieval period in southern Africa.
Lese Farmers
• The Lese are Bantu-speaking peoples who moved to the forest area as part of the great
Bantu migration southward.
• Today, they are farmers with more stable autonomous villages and houses
• They brought tools and weapons
MEDIEVAL AFRICAN CIVILIZATIONS
• The migrations ended about CE. 1000 and at that time, the peoples generally known as the
Bantus had extended southwards to the tip of southern Africa.
• The migrations ended about CE. 1000 and at that time, the peoples generally known as the
Bantus had extended southwards to the tip of southern Africa.
The Bantu Migrations
• Migrations
– Migration throughout sub-Saharan regions
– Population pressures
• Bantu language
– Over 500 variations of original
– 90 million speakers
MEDIEVAL AFRICAN CIVILIZATIONS
• Remember that before these migrations, no evidence points to the existence of major
civilizations in central, east-central, and southern Africa.