Download Africa - Mr. Bayne

African Civilizations
West
South
East
Axum
Ghana, Mali
Songhai
Great
Zimbabwe
African Empires
• East: Egypt,
Kush, Axum
• North: Carthage
• West: Ghana,
Mali, Songhai
• South: Great
Zimbabwe (area of
Monomotapa)
Axum
Also spelled Aksum
• Axum was located
in sub-Saharan
East Africa (south
of Kush and Egypt)
• Located in the
Ethiopian highlands
• Present-day
Ethiopia and Eritrea
Trade in Axum
• Axum’s location on the
Nile and Red Sea enabled
it to become an
international trading
center
• Trade brought economic,
cultural, and religious
influences to Axum.
Christianity in
Axum
• Axum became a
Christian Kingdom
under King Ezana
• When the Muslims
invaded North
Africa, Axum moved
to the highlands and
remained Christian.
Axumite Architecture
• Stelae: Huge
stone pillars
carved out of
granite
• Christian
Rock
Churches:
carved out of
existing rock.
• The Small green building on the right
supposedly holds the Ark of the Covenant
West African Kingdoms
Arose in the area of present-day Mali
• Ghana – 11th
century
• Mali – 14th century
• Songhai – 15th
century
Western Empires
• These kingdoms arose
on the Niger River,
just south of the
Sahara Desert in the
savannah region
(Sahel).
• They grew strong by
controlling the goldsalt trade.
Salt
• necessary for survival
in Africa’s hot
climate, so it was as
valuable as gold.
• lost through sweat in
hot climates and must
be replaced.
• used to preserve
foods.
Gold- Salt Trade
• Salt was plentiful in the Sahara desert, but the
Sahel and forests to the south lacked salt.
• Gold was plentiful in the Sahel and the forest
regions.
Gold-Salt Trade
• North and South were interdependent on
each other for these natural resources, so they
traded.
Trans-Sahara Trade
• The Niger River and
the Sahara desert
were the highways of
this gold-salt trade.
• Ghana, Mali, and then
Songhai prospered
because they lay on
trade routes located
between these
resources.
Ghana
The Land of Gold
• Ghana grew rich by
taxing traders that
carried goods through
their territory
• Traders would have
to pay the king of
Ghana (in gold or salt)
whenever they
exchanged goods.
Animism
• Animisim: belief that there
are spirits present in animals,
plants, and other natural
forces which play an
important part in daily life.
Spread of Islam
• Islam spread to West
Africa through trade.
• Ghana’s rulers converted
to Islam, but many
people remained
animists.
• Some people observed
Islam, but also kept their
former beliefs.
West African
Religions
• Islam continued to
spread through trade
and conquest.
• Islam and Animism
continue to coexist in
West Africa today.
Mali
• As Ghana declined, Mali seized power and
grew into an Empire
Sundiata
• Restablished the
gold-salt trade
• Known as “The
Lion King”
Mansa Musa
• King who made Timbuktu into a great
center of learning
• Went on a Hajj across Africa to Mecca.
Timbuktu
• Largest trading city in Mali.
• Located where the desert met the Niger River.
Timbuktu
• Became a great
Muslim learning center
• Had three universities
and a library with
Greek and Roman
writings.
Islam comes to Timbuktu
Songhai
• As Mali
declined,
Songhai grew
into an empire
• Songhai was the
last and largest
of the powerful
empires which
ruled central
West Africa.
Great Zimbabwe
• Capital of a
trading empire
that thrived in
southeastern
Africa from 12001450
• Located on a plateau between
the Zambezi and Limpopo
Rivers in modern Zimbabwe.
• This location had
many advantages.
• It had fertile land.
• It was close to trade
routes linking inland
gold fields with
Sofala, a trading city
located on the
Indian Ocean.
Trading Empire
•Great Zimbabwe took control of these trade
routes.
• In Sofala
gold was
traded for
goods from
North
Africa,
India, and
China
Ruins of Great Zimbabwe
• Great Zimbabwe means “great stone
buildings”
• Most of what we know
about Great Zimbabwe
comes from these ruins.
• The city was the political,
economic, and religious
center of its empire.
Great Zimbabwe