AKSUM, GHANA, MALI, SONGHAI, ZIMBABWE

African Kingoms

Aksum (Axum)

Arabians crossed the Red Sea and intermarried with people from modern-day Ethiopia

These people created the kingdom of Aksum

Aksum gains power

In the 300’s AD, Aksum destroyed Kush, becoming the most powerful kingdom in Eastern Africa

A trading center

Aksum becomes an important trading center for goods around the Mediterranean, Africa, and Asia

Many new ideas introduced there, including Christianity

Aksum converts to Christianity

When a king named Ezana took the throne around 400 AD, he converted to Christianity and made Christianity the official religion of Aksum

There are still millions of Christians in this region today.

Islamic Invasions

The Muslim’s invasions into North Africa after Muhammad’s death cut into Aksum’s territory and isolated it

Aksum would endure and become Ethiopia, but would never have the power it once held.

Swahili

Refers to the people who live as far north as Somalia in the Horn of Africa and as far south

Indian Ocean trade they are linked with Arabs

Blend of Arab Culture Islam

West Africa

Below the Sahara Desert is a semi-dry region characterized by grasslands called the Sahel (also called Savannah)

The region is rich in gold deposits

Gold-Salt Trade

The Sahel region lacks salt deposits, and so people there had to trade for salt from the Sahara Desert

Several powerful empires developed around the trade of gold and salt and would control much of Western Africa for almost 1,000 years

Camels

Camels allowed the gold-salt trade to be successful. They allowed people to transport great quantities of gold and salt longer distances.

Other pack animals cannot cross the Sahara, but camels can because they can go up to 40 days without water.

Ghana

No one is really sure when the Ghana kingdom began, but they do know that it became very powerful

It is located between the Niger River and the Sahara Desert

Ghana became powerful because of its control of gold in the gold-salt trade across the Sahara Desert

Ghana

Ghana declines

Ghana eventually declined in power, mostly because it lost its control of the gold trade and because new gold mines were found farther east

Animism

The worship of nature spirits- spirits in plants, animals, sun, water, etc.

People from Ghana worshipped an animist religion

Still prominent in parts of Africa today

Mali

As Ghana declined in the 1200’s AD, the kingdom of Mali gained in power.

Mali was centered around these new salt mines east of Ghana

Mali’s powerful king Sundiata Keita built an even larger empire

Several of its kings were very devout Muslims, even making the pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj).

Timbuktu

Mali established the city, Timbuktu, which was a center for trade and learning.

Universities were established to promote learning

Many converted to Islam, and built mosques.Others incorporated parts of Islam into their

animist beliefs

Mali and Timbuktu

Get out your books to page 416

Read the primary source:

What does the word abhorrence mean in this passage?

What do the people of Mali do to guilty people?

How do you think this affects the feeling of safety in Mali?

Songhai

Eventually, Mali declined, and Songhai took its place and built an even larger empire

Also was also based on the gold-salt tradeAnd, it inherited much of Mali’s blend of

Islamic and animist traditions

Songhai

Zimbabwe

So what do we knowabout Zimbabwe?

Z

L

“Zimbabwe” means “stone houses”

Zimbabwe abandoned

No one knows why Zimbabwe was abandoned, but they think it was because the land was over grazed and the soil depleted

Your Mission

Draw a map of Africa and: Indicate the locations of the kingdoms of Egypt, Kush,

Aksum (Axum), Ghana, Mali, Songhai, and Zimbabwe The location of the gold-salt trade

Indicate the years that Aksum, Ghana, Mali, Songhai, and Zimbabwe were in powerIndicate the religion of each Indicate how each gained economic power