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Civilization in Africa. Chapter 8 Chapter 15. African Geography.
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Civilization in Africa Chapter 8 Chapter 15
African Geography “Geography is the mother of history. Nowhere in the world is this more powerfully illustrated than in Africa. The most [powerful] force in Africa’s experience is Africa’s environment… Africa has been a continent of abundant life but speedy death. Partly because of this… Africa has been the first habitat of man but the last to become truly [livable].” – Ali A. Mazrui (African scholar)
Sub-Saharan African Culture • Animism : religion in which spirits play an important role in regulating daily life • Spirits are present in animals, plants, and other natural forces, including the souls of dead ancestors • Lack of written language – oral history told by griots(storytellers)
Early West African Civilization • Djenne-Djeno – oldest known city in sub-Saharan Africa (250 BCE) • Linked to other towns by the Niger River and overland camel routes = bustling trading center • Nokpeople – earliest known culture (500 BCE – 200 CE) • Smelted iron • Skilled in sculpture and pottery
Aksum and East Africa (300-700 CE) • Modern-day Ethiopia • Ezana expanded the kingdom into the Arabian peninsula • AD 451, a split in Christianity • Coptic Church • Ethiopian Orthodox • Spread of Islam severed link to the rest of the Christian world, forced the decline of Aksum
Kingdom of Mali (1235-1400 CE) • 1st emperor (mansa) is Sundiata • Promoted agriculture • Re-established gold-salt trade • Mansa Musa (grand-nephew) • Most famous Muslim mansa • Made Timbuktu into the major trading city in the empire • Visit of Ibn Battuta • Traveled for 27 years • Visited every country in Muslim empire.
Bantu-speaking peoples • Group of over 900 languages that originated in central Africa • Made one of the greatest migrations in history and populated the southern third of the African continent
Effects of the Bantu Migration • Territorial wars with the small groups who had lived in southern Africa • Intermingling of Bantu culture/languages with “natives” = great diversity of culture • Similarities within the hundreds of Bantu languages = unifying influence in southern Africa