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Medieval Africa: trading empires

Medieval Africa: trading empires. By Shunmel , Tolga , S ophie, David. Kingdoms of the Rain Forest. Ghana , Mali, and Songhai ruled the savannas, couldn’t expand to southern coast because of dense rain forests. Rainforest kingdoms: Benin of the Niger delta

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Medieval Africa: trading empires

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  1. Medieval Africa:trading empires By Shunmel, Tolga, Sophie, David

  2. Kingdoms of the Rain Forest • Ghana, Mali, and Songhai ruled the savannas, couldn’t expand to southern coast because of dense rain forests. • Rainforest kingdoms: • Benin of the Niger delta • Kongo of the Congo River Basin

  3. Benin: an African Kingdom • King Ewuare founded Benin in about 1440. • Captured 201 towns that were forced to pay tribute. • Major power in West Africa.

  4. Farmers in the Rain Forest Kingdoms • They enjoyed advantages of farmable soil and the warm, wet climate. • Farmers had surplus of bananas, yams, or rice. • Surplus helped support the rulers and artisans.

  5. Benin and Kongo Artisans • Benin artists were really good at carving metal, wood, and ivory. • Kongo weavers wove fabrics from bark and plant fibers. Ivory Salt Cellar

  6. Trading • Rain forest kingdoms bordering the savannas traded their surplus food and crafts for copper, salt, and leather goods. • Later Europeans (on ships) came to the Atlantic coast, and traded items and prisoners of war as slaves. • Many salt deposits in western Africa. Salt trade was important for the African people. In ancient times, salt was traded like gold.

  7. East Africa • Ethiopia’s history started around 1005 B.C. • Glory of Kings: Ethiopia’s oldest written history. • Queen Makeda ruled the empire, which was called Saba/Sheba. • Makedamet king Solomon, king of the Israelites, and introduced their religion to East Africa.

  8. Axum • Ethiopian city-state near the Red Sea • Ethiopia: known as Abyssinia in ancient times. • Axum’s importance was because of it’s location on the Red Sea. • Goods were coming through the Red Sea from Africa which served as a prime trading center.

  9. King Ezana of Axum • King Ezanafought with Kush to gain control of the trade routes to inland Africa. • About A.D. 300, Ezana’s armies defeated Kush. • In A.D. 334, Ezana made Christianity the official religion of Axum. • A few hundred years later, the Islam religion brought many changes to the region.

  10. Coastal City States • Arab traders invented triangular sail called dhows. • In AD 700, Arab Muslim traders settled in East African states. Africans and Arab Muslims shared goods and ideas. • By 1300’s, important trading posts extended down the EastAfrican coast such as: Mogadishu, Kilwa, Mombasa, Zanzibar

  11. Kingdom of Zimbabwe • A large empire located in southeastern Africa. • Founded around A.D. 700. • Great trading center: Zimbabwe supplied gold, copper, ivory to East African coast. • Zimbabwe Kings,Mutota and Matope, built the region’s biggest empire. • The Great Zimbabwe: capitol of the kingdom.

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