Chapter Seven Pages. 185-191 (Beginning at “Sub-Saharan Africa”)

1. Chapter Seven Pages. 185-191 (Beginning at “Sub-Saharan Africa”)

2. A Challenging Geography • The Sub-Saharan peoples depended on rivers for transportation. • They had dramatic changes in environment going north to south. S.S.A had three different regions which included tropical rain forests, mountains, and flat, grassy land. • Because of the different environments, they had a hard time going across the lands to trade.

3. Geography

4. The Development of Cultural Unity • Cultures included literature, shared religious beliefs, shared legal beliefs, ethical codes, and an educated attitude. • The major cultures were called Great Traditions and the smaller local beliefs and common customs were called Small Traditions. • The small traditions had been developed because of the isolation of the region, and through migration of new peoples into the region, these traditions were transformed.

5. The Development of Cultural Unity (Continued) • The people of Africa were extremely diverse, even though there wasn’t a large population, which was the one thing you would notice before its cultural unity, even though cultural unity was important too. • There were more than two thousand languages, had many different religious beliefs, rituals, and social systems that depended on where they were from originally before they migrated into S.S.A. • Some societies were still hunting and gathering, while others were cultivating their own crops (banana trees, yams, grains, etc.) • People who lived on the outskirts of society didn’t show as much diversity as people in the main civilizations.

6. Development of Cultural Unity (Continued)