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Chapter 8 - Africa. I. Africa’s Geography and Early History. A. Africa: Africa is the second-largest of the seven continents on Earth (Asia is the largest continent).
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I. Africa’s Geography and Early History • A. Africa: Africa is the second-largest of the seven continents on Earth (Asia is the largest continent). • Atlantic Ocean is on the west, the Indian Ocean on the east, the Mediterranean Sea on the north, and the Red Sea on the northeast.
B. Countries: • There are about 53 countries in Africa (some countries are disputed). • The biggest country in Africa is Sudan, which covers 967,500 square miles • The countries with the largest populations in Africa are Nigeria (107,000,000 people), Egypt (64,800,000), and Ethiopia (58,700,000). • C. Highest Point: • The tallest point in Africa is Mt. Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania. It is 19,340 feet tall. Africa has no long mountain chains.
D. Lakes: • Africa's largest lake is Lake Victoria; it covers 26,836 square miles. • E. Rivers: • The longest river in Africa is the Nile River - 4,241 miles long. • Other long rivers in Africa include the Congo River, the Niger River and the Zambezi River. • The Congo River crosses the equator two times.
F. Deserts: cover 1/3 of Africa • The Sahara Desert is located in northern Africa and covers 3,500,000 square miles - the largest hot desert in the world. (About the size of the entire United States) • Kalahari Desert is in the south Sahara Desert
G. Rediscovering the African Past • 1. Language - 1000 B.C. – 800 B.C. - Bantu("the people") migration spreads through Africa south of the Sahara Desert, lasts over some 2,000 years. • Bantu today refers to about 60 million people related by language. • The Bantu migration was one of the largest in human history.
2. Oral Traditions – Africans passed many stories, songs and poems by word of mouth through generations. .
3. Cultural Exchange – A strong cultural exchange existed between Asia and Africa – known through similar language and instruments.
4. Archeological Evidence – sites have been excavated throughout Africa. Evidence reveals that many early Sub-Saharan cultures were complex and highly organized
H. Patterns of Life – 1. Most early Africans lived in small herding, farming or fishing villages. 2. African women played a crucial role in farming. 3. In Sub-Saharan Africa societies were matrilineal – people traced ancestors and inherited property through mothers.
4. Religion – believed that spirits populated the world, believed in afterlife 5. Village centered society flourished through the rise and fall of many kingdoms.
8.2 Essential Question • How did Kush and Aksum develop as independent kingdoms?
II. The Kingdoms of Kush and Aksum • A. Kush • 1. The Kingdom of Kush/Nubia: began around 3800 B.C. 2. The Nile River was home to two major civilizations - Egypt and Kush.
3. Religion: Like Egypt with a few extra thrown in like the 3-headed Lion God.
4. Kush became great between 1700 and 1500 BC during Egypt’s domination by the Hyksos but then Egypt reconquered Kush • 5. In 1000 BC, Kush again arose as a major power by conquering all of Nubia. This gave the Kush wealthy gold mines.
6. Trade: • Kush had ports on the Red Sea. • Tried to work out agreements with Egypt for free access to the Mediterranean via the Nile River. • Egyptians depended on Kush for iron, gold, and for exotic goods like incense and ebony. • Kush wanted Egyptian cotton.
7. The Trans-Sahara Trade Route: Around 750 A.D., Islamic traders began to use camels to transports goods across the desert. The use of camels made it possible to get from Kush to West Africa.
B. Aksum • Ethiopian Highlands south of Kush • Between important trade routes from Red Sea to the interior of Africa
3. King Ezana a. He conquered Kush in about 350AD and set up a thriving kingdom. b. He converted to Christianity and made it the official religion of Aksum
4.This made Aksum the first Christian Kingdom of Africa a. This incorporated many of the peoples beliefs and customs which made it strong and widespread. b. This laid the foundation of the church in Ethiopia today.
5. Trade in Aksum a. Location and dominance brought great wealth to the kingdom. b. Controlled the Red Sea trade route
6. Decline (600 AD) a. Erosion (deforestation and overuse) b. Persians gained control over the Red Sea trade c. Islamic Arab powers were competition
8.3 Essential Question • How did prosperous and powerful kingdoms develop along the coast of East Africa and in West Africa?
III. Trading States of Africa • A. East Africa 1. City-states called the Swahili states developed along the coast of the Indian Ocean between AD 700s -1300s
2. This group was not a single ethnic group – but they were bound together by language and trade. 3. They spoke Swahili (a bantu language). This is still the official language today in Kenya and Tanzania.
B. Great Zimbabwe • 1. Shona people developed a kingdom, traded gold around the A.D. 900s • 2. The word Zimbabwe literally means "stone dwelling" in the Shona language. • 3. Great Zimbabwe – was their largest and most important fortress – built out of stone • 4. declined around 1400s
C. West Africa • 1. The Kingdom of Ghana – 800 - 1200 A.D. - the beginning of empires in West Africa that were involved in extensive trade. • called the "land of gold - gold was traded for salt that came down from the Sahara desert.
2. The Kingdom of Mali – 1200 -1400 A.D. • Controlled the gold trade that Ghana had controlled, but also expanded trade. • Most celebrated King - Mansa Musa. He extended Mali's territory and power. • He was Muslim and made a a pilgrimage to Mecca. He took 60,000 people and 80 camels carrying 300 lbs. of gold each.
3. Kingdom of Songhai – A.D. 1350 to 1600 • Sonni Ali - came to power in 1464, made the Songhai the most powerful state in western/central Africa at the time. • His successor was Mohammed Askia, in 1493 - He expanded the kingdom and set up a more advanced centralized government. • By 1600 A.D., the days of the great kingdoms of West Africa were over.
