West African Civilizations 3 Empires emerge by dominating trade across the Sahara Empire of Ghana Empire of Mali Empire of Songhai Objectives Understand why gold and salt were important in early Africa ID: 752479
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Slide1
West African CivilizationsSlide2
West African Civilizations
3 Empires emerge by dominating trade across the Sahara
-
Empire of Ghana- Empire of Mali- Empire of Songhai Slide3Slide4
Objectives
Understand why gold and salt were important in early Africa.
Describe how the rulers of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai built strong kingdoms.
Summarize how other West African societies developed.
West African CivilizationsSlide5
As trade in Africa expanded, cities such as Gao and Timbuktu developed and became wealthy centers of commerce.
Between
A.D. 800 and A.D. 1600, several kingdoms gained control of prosperous cities such as these.
How did the kingdoms of West Africa develop and prosper?
West African
CivilizationsSlide6Slide7
Salt and Gold
Too much or
too little salt
in the diet can lead to muscle cramps, dizziness which can cause neurological problems, or death. US Department of agricultureSlide8
West African Civilizations
The
Sahara had an abundance of salt, which people needed in their diet to replace salt lost in perspiration.
In the savanna, salt was scarce. A merchant might trade one pound of gold for one pound of salt
.
As trade grew, cities developed on the northern edges of the savanna
.Slide9
West African Civilizations
How did the kingdom of Ghana develop?
By A.D. 800, the rulers of the Soninke people united many farming villages to create
Ghana
.
Rulers
of Ghana controlled gold-salt routes across West Africa.
Muslim merchants from North of the Sahara brought Islam to Ghana
.Slide10
West African Civilizations
Ghana fell in around 1050. In time, the new kingdom of Mali replaced Ghana
.
Mali was founded in 1235 Sundiata. The kings of Mali, or mansas, took control of gold-mining regions and the gold-salt trade.Slide11
Founder of MaliSlide12
Mansa MusaKing of West AfricaSlide13
After a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324, Mansa Musa brought Muslim scholars and architects to Mali.
He built a university at Timbuktu that became a great center of learning.
This map shows Mansa Musa’s pilgrimage to Mecca.Slide14Slide15
Mansa Musa!Slide16
Inflation: Mansa Musa’s hajj
devalued gold for a decade
in Cairo, Medina, and Mecca.Slide17
He formed strong ties to the Muslim world.
When he died, the emperor Askia Muhammad expanded Songhai territory, holding court at Gao.
The soldier-king Sonni Ali brought trade routes
& cities
under his control.
In the 1400s, Mali weakened and the new West African kingdom of
Songhai
arose.Slide18
In 1591, invaders from
Morocco conquered the empire.
Though the invaders couldn’t maintain control, the glory of the Songhai kingdom was over.
The Songhai kingdom experienced disputes
over succession in the late 1500s.Slide19
Kingdom
Notable Cities
Years
Ghana
Kumbi Saleh
800–1050
Mali
Timbuktu
1235–1400s
Songhai
Gao
1464–1591
Great Kingdoms of West AfricaSlide20
What
products
did the kingdoms of Ghana, Songhai, and Mali have that the rest of the world
wanted?What came across the Sahara to West Africa?Slide21
Benin rose on the Guinea Coast during the 1300s. Its people knew how to cast bronze and brass.
The Hausa of West Africa became prominent in the 1300s. They lived in walled city-states.
The Hausa came to dominate many Saharan trade routes.
In addition to the great kingdoms of Ghana,
Mali, and Songhai, there were several smaller societies in the region.Slide22
Benin
How did the
Kingdom of Benin
stay rich and powerful?What did they supply?Slide23Slide24Slide25
East African Kingdoms and
Trading StatesSlide26
Explain how religion influenced the development of Axum and Ethiopia.
Understand how trade affected the city-states
in East Africa.
Describe the economy of Great Zimbabwe.
ObjectivesSlide27
Axum
–
trading center and powerful ancient kingdom in northern present-day Ethiopia
Adulis – an Axum port city on the Red Sea, one of two major cities in the kingdom that commanded a trade network in the regionEthiopia – a Greek term used by Axumite kings to refer to their kingdom
Terms and PeopleSlide28
King
Lalibela
–
the ruler of Ethiopia in the early 1200sSwahili – an East African language and culture that emerged by the 1000s from a combination of African, Asian, and Arabic influencesGreat Zimbabwe – powerful East African medieval trade center and city-state between 900 and 1500. Located in southern present-day Zimbabwe
Terms and People
(continued)Slide29
The kingdom of Axum expanded across the northern Ethiopian highlands of East Africa after 100 B.C.
This civilization gained control of the Red Sea and grew rich from trade.
As East Africans traded and exchanged ideas with people from Asia and the Middle East, a new culture and language emerged.
What influence did religion and trade have on the development of East Africa?Slide30
Axum stretched from the mountains of present-day Ethiopia to the Red Sea.
The people there were descended from
African farmers and Middle Easterners.
The two cultures blended and created a new language called Geez.
The kingdom of
Axum
flourished between 300 B.C. and A.D. 600.Slide31
One of its main cities,
Adulis,
was a port on the Red Sea. Here, goods such as
ivory, animal hides, and gold were brought to market.Axum controlled a triangular trade network between Africa, India, and the Mediterranean.
Axum grew very wealthy through trade.Slide32
This conversion
strengthened the kingdom
’
s ties with North Africa and the Mediterranean.However, when Islam spread in the 600s, Axum became isolated from many of its trading partners.Civil war and economic weakness led to the decline of Axum.
Axum converted to Christianity in the 300s.Slide33
King Lalibela
came to power in Ethiopia in the early 1200s.
He directed the building of Christian churches, carved into solid rock.Protected by rugged mountains, Ethiopia kept its independence for centuries.
The legacy of Axum survived in medieval
Ethiopia
.Slide34
Ethiopian Christianity
absorbed local
customs over time.
Some made
pilgrimages to
Jerusalem.
Ethiopian Christians kept ties with the Holy Land
in the Middle East.
Some Ethiopians practiced Judaism. Jews known as Falasha lived in Ethiopia until the late 1900s.Slide35
Phoenician, Greek, Roman, Indian, Muslim, and Asian traders had visited since ancient times.
By the 600s, sailors learned that
monsoon winds would carry them
from India to Africa each year.Foreign trade helped local rulers build strong, independent city-states, such as Kilwa.
A rich cultural mix existed along the East African coast. Slide36
Trade linked distant ports in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.Slide37
This vibrant trading culture on the coast of East Africa led to the emergence of a new language.
Swahili
developed as greater numbers of people began to settle in East Africa.
Arabic words were absorbed into the Bantu-based language to create Swahili, an Arabic word meaning
“
of the coast.
”Slide38
Bantu-speaking people who lived in this region between 900 and 1500
built huge stone towers in their capital city.
The ruins left behind today are called
Great Zimbabwe. Archaeologists are working now to learn more about this civilization.
South of the coastal city-states, a great inland empire existed.Slide39
It had artisans and skilled builders.
The ruler was probably a god-king who presided over a large court.
Zimbabwe declined by 1500, probably due to civil war and slowing trade.
Great Zimbabwe
was part of an extensive trade network. It reached its height around 1300.