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World History
Chapter 3 Outline
Early African Societies and the Bantu Migrations
I.
Early Agricultural Society in Africa- Egypt was most prominent of early
African societies. Agricultural crops and domesticated animals reached Egypt
from sub-Saharan Africa by way of Nubia as well as from southwest Asia.
A. Climatic Change and the Development of Agriculture in AfricaA. Early Sudanic Agriculture- by 9000 BCE, early Sudan
domesticated cattle and became nomadic herders; developed
religious beliefs; developed monarchies as government; were
diverse in population and government; 7,500 B.C.E, early
Sudanic people established permanent settlements
B. Climatic Change- A long term change occurred in 5000 B.C.E. It
made the once fertile Sahara Desert inhabitable.
C. The Nile River Valley- Nile is the world’s longest river at 4,160
miles long; annually flooded and renewed the soil until a dam
was built in 1968
B. Egypt and Nubia: “Gifts of the Nile”
A. Early Agriculture in the Nile Valley
B. Political Organization- Needed to maintain order in community.
Made small kingdoms to govern their agricultural and herding
communities.
C. The Unification of Egypt
A. Menes- ambitious minor official from southern Egypt
- founded city of Memphis, near Cairo, served as capitol
- built centralized state ruled by a pharaoh
B. Archaic Period and the Old Kingdom
Relations between Egypt and Nubia
-Egyptians had strong interest in Nubia for both political and
commercial reasons.
-They were wary of Nubian kingdoms that might threaten Upper
Egypt.
-The Egyptians desired product such as gold, ivory, ebony, and
precious stones that were available only from Nubian lands.
3.The Early Kingdom of Kush – After the Nubian kingdom of TaSei was destroyed, Nubia moved farther south and established the
powerful city of Kush. The capital was Kerme and it was a wealthy
and fairly powerful state.
a. Egypt and Nubia had frequent wars between them. The Nubians
created a great military force and around 2500 B.C.E., united upper and
lower Nubia. This became known as the great kingdom of Kush. Though
not as powerful as Egypt, Kush was very wealthy and often threatened
Southern Egypt.
D. Turmoil and Empire
II.
A. The Middle Kingdom- Because of high food surpluses, certain
places in Egypt began to ignore the will of the pharaoh.
Eventually order was restored and the Middle Kingdom of Egypt
was formed.
B. The Hyksos
-little information is known about the hyksos
-most likely introduced horses to Egypt
-used bronze weapons
-claimed authority over Egypt
-Egypt gradually pushed hyksos out and was known as The New
Kingdom
C. The New Kingdom- Agricultural surpluses supported a
population of about 4 million. One department oversaw court and
royal estates, while others dealt with military forces, state
recognized religious cults, the treasury, agricultural affairs, local
government, and administration of conquered territories.
D. Egyptian Imperialism
- Tuthmosis helped conquer coastal region of East
Mediterranean sea. Egypt was at political high point.
- Then fell into a political decline.
E. The Revived Kingdom of Kush
The Formation of Complex Societies and Sophisticated Cultural Tradition
A. Egypt and Nubia areas.
B. Went by a patriarchal society and had a class system.
C.
Egypt became a trade center because of
location.
D.Writing systems such as hieroglyphics appeared.
a. The Emergence of Cities and Stratified Societies
i. Cities of the Nile Valley: Egypt- major cities included, Memphis,
Heliopolis, Tanis, and Thebes. The cities were near or around the
Nile.
ii. Cities of the Nile Valley: Nubia-These cities are not to big as
Egypt’s. Kerma, Napaton, and Meroe were all capitals of Nubia.
Kush enjoyed great prosperity b/c of participation in Nile trade
networks until gradually decline after 100 C.E.
iii. Social Classes- Peasants and slaves in Egypt played similar roles
of their Mesopotamian counterparts. Instead of urban kings, like in
Mesopotamia, Egyptians recognized the pharaoh as the one
supreme ruler. Higher classes had larger wealthier tombs than
commoners.
1.Patriarchal Society- women in elite classes oversaw domestic work
of servants, below that women even performed domestic work. Elite
men were scribes and government officials. Lower class men were
fisherman potters, craftsmen, etc. both men and women could have
property in Egypt and pass down wealth to children. In Egypt some
women ruled and became scribes.
b. Economic Specialization and Trade
2. Bronze Metallurgy
3. Iron Metallurgy:
A. Hittites developed ways to forge iron into
Anatolia about 1300 B.C.E.
B. Earliest traces of African iron production dates
back to 900 B.C.E. in the Great Lakes region of
East Africa.
C. Quickly spread throughout most of sub-Saharan
Africa
D. Furnaces churned out iron implements both in
Nubia and in West Africa by 500 B.C.E.
E. Meroe became a site of large- scale iron
productions
4. Transportation:
A. Boats were used to travel from the Upper Nile
the Lower Nile, these boats road on the currents of
the rivers.
B. Later they used boats with sails which would
allow them to travel from Lower Nile to Upper Nile
and later out to the Mediterranean and Red Sea.
C. Another form of transportation is the caravan
pulled by donkeys and other wheeled vehicles.
5. Trade Networks
a. By the time of the Old Kingdom, trade flowed regularly
between Egypt and Nubic
b. swene, meaning trade
c. African goods such as ebony, leopard skins, ostrich feathers,
gemstones, gold and slaves went down the Nile in exchange for
pottery, wine, honey, and finished products from Egypt.
d. most prized Egyptian exports- fine linen textiles, high quality
decorative and ornamental objects such as boxes, furniture,
and jewelry.
e. Egyptians traded with the Mesopotamians
f. Also traded through the Red sea and Gulf of Aden with an east
African land they called Plunt
6. Early Writing in the Nile Valley
i. Hieroglyphic Writing
1. at first, it was pictographic and then
changed into symbols representing sounds
and ideas
2. hieroglyphic means holy inscriptions
3. it was written on temple walls and papyrus
4. Hieratic was a simplified version of
hieroglyphics that was more commonly
used
ii. Education
1. Formal education and literary brought
handsome rewards in ancient Egypt
2. Scribes
3. All early Nubian writing was written in
Egyptian hieroglyphics
iii. Meroitic Writing
1. After the transfer of the Kushite capital,
Nubian scribes devised an alphabetic
script for the Meroitic language
2. Used Egyptian hieroglyphics but used
them to represent sounds, rather than
ideas, which created a flexible writing
system.
3. Scholars to this day still haven’t been able
to decipher the meaning of the langusge
b. The Development of Organized Religious Traditions
i. Amon and Re
~principal gods
~ Amon originally associated with the sun, creation, fertility, and
reproductive forces.
~ Re was a sun god worshiped at Heliopolis.
~some devotees suggested that Amon-Re might be a universal
god.
ii. Aten and Monotheism
iii. Mummification
iv. Cult of Osiris
Osiris was a mortal who was killed by his evil
brother Seth. Seth spread his remains apart, but
Osiris’s wife found al-l of his body parts and put
them back together. The gods, to reward her for
her devotion, made Osiris a god, the god of the
underworld. As god of the underworld, he was
given the ability to grant eternal life. Those
who died would face the judgment of Osiris,
there heart would be weighed against a feather,
which represented justice, and if there heart was
heavy with guilt and outweigh the feather then
they wouldn’t get immortality, however if it was
filled with good deeds then they would be
granted immortality.
v. Nubian Religious Beliefs
A. Own traditions
-Some inherited from early Sudan societies
B. Lion-god Apedomak
-Most prominent deity
C. Scbiumeker
-Creator god and divine guardian
D. Didn’t mummify the deceased like Egyptians
-Built pyramids
-Embraced some Egyptian gods
7. Bantu Migrations and Early Agricultural Societies of SubSaharan Africa
-Mesopotamian societies develop under strong influence of long-distance
trade, technological diffusion, cultural spread, and migrations.
-Bantu migrants establish agricultural societies to Sub-Saharan Africa.
-Societies participate in a large world of interaction and exchange.
a. The Dynamics of Bantu Expansion
i. The Bantu
ii. Bantu Migrations
1. by 3000 B.C.E. they spread south
2. Over the years their languages changed
into more than 500 similar tounges
3. Bantu migrations were slow processes
resulting in the spread of their language
and ethnic communities
4. Population pressures drove the migrations
5. Made canoes
a. Agricultural surpluses allowed
Bantu population to increase
rapidly
iii. Iron and Migration
b. Early Agricultural Societies of Sub-Saharan Africa
i. Spread of Agriculture
ii. Religious Beliefs
-Communities did not always have religious
beliefs.
-Sudanic people recognized singular divine force
that is the source of good and evil.
-Monotheistic beliefs
-God called Nyamba.
-Created world.
-Wasn’t discussed directly.
-Proper attention to these spirits would answer
good fortune. Neglecting these prayers would
result in punishment.
-Beliefs adapted from other communities.
8. Aten and Monotheism
A. was a cult
B. believed in Aten the sun god
C. earliest expression of monotheism
D. leader was Pharoh Akhenaten
E. encouraged worship of Aten
Mummification
a. Egyptians believe death was not the end but a beginning.
b. At first only ruling elites and their close relatives were
mummified, but the middle of the new kingdom all were
mummified.
c. Mummification never became a general practice in
Egypt.
9.
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Bronze Metallurgy
Nile societies took longer to discover metal tools and weapons.
Bronze became widespread in Egypt after the 17th century B.C.E.
The Hyskos relied on bronze weapons to impose authority on the
Nile Delta.
 After defeating the Hyskos, Egyptians forces used bronze
weapons.
 The imperial armies of Tuthmosis and other pharaohs of the New
Kingdom carried bronze weapons like Mesopotamians.
 Bronze was expensive, so it was kept away from most people.
The Bantu- Bantu means persons or people. They settled on
riverbanks and traveled by canoe. They cultivated yams and oil
palms. Bantu villages were headed by chiefs and they traded with
hunting and gathering people.
10. Spread of Agriculture
a. Started in sub-Saharan desert
b. Herders introduce sheep and cattle to the region
c. Distinctive societies and cultural traditions arose with
their societies being lead by chiefs
d. Older men cultivated fields and provided military service.
e. Women tended to domestic chores and sometimes traded
at markets.
11. Iron and Migration
a. The Bantu’s pace on their migration speed up and the
production of iron tools and weapons.
b. Iron tools helped with agricultural aspect and use.
c. The iron tools strengthened hands and helped with the
competition for land.
d. The Bantu people were credited with the spending of the
iron metallurgy through sub-Saharan Africa