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History of People in Africa. Pre-Historic Africa. Where Civilization Began. Olduvai Gorge – located on the edge of the Great Rift Valley in Tanzania Archaeologists – Mary and Louis Leakey discovered bone over 2 million years old
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Where Civilization Began • Olduvai Gorge – located on the edge of the Great Rift Valley in Tanzania • Archaeologists – Mary and Louis Leakey discovered bone over 2 million years old • This has led some scientists to believe that the first people were from Africa
Early Humans Adapt to their Environments • Nomadic Lifestyle • Earliest peoples are nomadic hunter-gatherers. • Herders drive animals to find waters and graze pastures. • Transition to a Settled Lifestyle • Agriculture probably develops by 6,000 B.C. • As the Sahara dried up farmers move to West Africa or Nile Valley. • Agriculture allows permanent settlements and governments to develop
Western Desert of Egypt • Domesticated cattle, 8000 BC • Domestication of wheat and storage of grains, 7000 BC • Storage pits, 6000 BC • Domestication of sheep and goats, 5000 BC • Once you have storage of grains, you have social hierarchy.
Early Societies in Africa • Societies organized by Family Groups • Extended families made up several generations • Families with common ancestors form groups known as clans • Local Religions • Early religions usually include elements of animism-belief in spirits inhabiting objects • Keeping a History • Few African societies have written languages • History, literature, culture passed on by story tellers called griots. • Cultures in West Africa are advanced long before outsiders arrive.
On your Left Side: • Diagram or draw a visual for the characteristics of Early Societies in Africa.
North African Kingdoms
Nubian Civilization Civilizations on the Nile Egyptian Civilization The Nile used to flood each summer leaving fertile silt deposits Egyptians began farming along the Nile about 5000 B.C. Ancient Egypt was ruled by Pharaohs and Queens Hieroglyphs- picture writing symbols Nubia
Nubia was a great civilization that developed along the Nile River south of Egypt. They shared many of the same cultural traits as Egypt such as religion, architecture and art. http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/maps/egypt.html
African Empires • Kushites ("Nubians") • Beginning c.2000 BC. • Location: Sudan / Ethiopia • Many similarities with neighboring Egyptians
The Emergence of Civilization • The Land • 5,000 miles long • Sahara is the great divide • Kush • Agriculture may have first appeared in Nubia rather than the lower Nile valley • Perhaps the site of the first true African kingdom • Nubia became an Egyptian tributary • Disintegration of the Egyptian New Kingdom (end of second millennium B.C.E.) resulted in the independent state of Kush • Kush became a major trading state • Little known about the society of Kush • Seems to have been widespread material prosperity
Approximately 2000 B.C. – 200 A.D. Kush and Nubia are the same place It developed along the Nile River in present day Sudan Fought with Egypt over control of the Nile River Kingdom of Kush (Nubia)
Kingdom of Kush (Nubia) • Black Africans • Kush produced many resources like gold, ivory, copper, frankincense and ebony. • Important center of trade---Kush traded with all civilization along the Nile River. • Cultural Diffusion is a direct result from this.
These are the pyramid of Ancient Nubia. They were used as tombs. Although they are similar to those of Ancient Egypt, they have some differences. Compare these pyramids with those of Ancient Egypt.
The Land of Nubia For many centuries, the people and culture of Ancient Nubia were a mystery to the world. Even the Ancient Greeks wrote about an advanced culture that was mostly unknown to other civilizations of the time. http://www.hp.uab.edu/image_archive/um/ume.html
One reason little was known about the culture was that they did not write down their history until late in ancient times. Another reason is that they were isolated geographically. Outside people would need to cross harsh desert or many waterfalls, called cataracts, to reach Nubia. T I K N W D Nubian writing was similar to Egyptian writing but developed into a completely separate language later in time.
Kingdom of Kush[295 BCE – 320 CE] Nubia[modern-day Sudan]
On your Left Side: • Write an acrostic poem for the Kushites identifying the key characteristics they should be remembered for.
Ancient Nubia was a great kingdom that produced many resources like gold, ivory, copper, frankincense and ebony. Nubia was also known as Kush and The Land of the Bow. Nubian archers (warriors who used a bow and arrow) were feared by all who saw them in battle. Nubia had a long line of powerful kings. They were often at war with Egypt, to the North. From about 2,000 to 1,000 BC, Egypt controlled Nubia but when Egypt weakened, Nubia came north and conquered Egypt (800-700 BC.) A frankincense tree. The resin was used to make good smelling incense. www.webzone.dk/oman/ oman/dyr-og-planter.htm
Aksum or Axum Kingdom • Aksum- African kingdom located in what is now Ethiopia and Eritrea • African & Arab traders began to settle along the Red Sea and over time Aksum controlled the Red Sea area • Ideas and goods were shared along these trade routes • People became Christians • Early Ethiopian Christian Church started here
Axum, Son of Saba • Conquered Kush in first millennium C.E. • Axum founded as a colony of the kingdom of Saba (Sheba) in first millennium B.C.E. • Saba a trading state, goods from South Asia to the Mediterranean • Axum continued the trade after Saba declined • Location on trade routes responsible for prosperity • Competed for control of ivory trade • Followed Egyptian Christianity (Coptic) • Would be renamed Ethiopia • Called the “hermit kingdom” by Europeans
Black Africans Approximately 300 A.D. – 900 A.D. Important center of trade Kingdom of Axum
Kingdom of Axum • Axum and Ethiopia are the same place • They were a Naval Trading power • Traded with Kingdoms on the Nile river and East Coast of Africa • Cultural Diffusion is a result of this • Christianity was the dominate religion
AXUM’SACHIEVEMENTS Built Stelae Controlled NE African Trade Written Language Terrace Farming Spread Christianity in No. & E. Africa
Christian Church, Lalibela[Ethiopia] Coptic Christian Priest
On your Left Side with your partner: • Compare and contrast the Kingdoms of the Kushites and Axum in a T-Chart.
West African Empires & Civilizations
West African Iron Age • Learning about the past • Artifacts reveal how people lived in the past. • Evidence of sub-Saharan cultures producing iron around 500 B.C. • Nok Culture • Nok—West Africa’s earliest known culture—made iron tools and weapons
West African Iron Age • Djenne-Djeno • From 600-200 B.C., cities began to develop near rivers and oases • Djenne-Djeno, Africa’s oldest known city, was discovered in 1977. • It was a bustling trade center that was linked to other West African towns through camel trade routes.
The Sahara and Its Environs • From 8000 to 4000 B.C.E. a warm, humid climate that created lakes, ponds, grasslands, and game • Desiccation began in 6th and 5th millennium B.C.E. • After 3000 B.C.E. and farming spread to the savannas to the south; Berbers were intermediaries • Carthage became focal point of trans-Saharan trade • Ironworking by the people along the Niger River in the middle of the first millennium B.C.E., Nok culture
Cities of Trade • Used seasonal winds to plan trading • Brought Muslim religion of Islam to Africa • African traders took, ivory, gold, other metals & animal skins • Traders brought back cotton, silk, and porcelain • Swahili language- combined African & Arab languages • Most widely spoken Bantu language
North African Trade • The Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Coastline are the boundries • Carthage (Tunisia) became rich with the trade of textiles, metals, slaves and food products • May have been the wealthiest city in the world at that time • Carthage fell to the Roman Empire in 146 B.C.
