1. Bantu
Among the most influential people of ancient Sub-Sahara Africa were those who spoke the Bantu languages
Bantu people showed an early readiness to migrate
Canoes enabled the Bantu to move easily
Agricultural surpluses enabled the Bantu to increase their population more rapidly than the hunting, gathering, and fishing people

2. Bantu
After about 1000 B.C., Bantu began to produce iron tools which enabled them to clear land and expand their zone of agriculture
Iron weapons allowed them to defeat competitors
Iron spearheads and
hoes gave the Bantu
an advantage

3. Political Organization
By 1000 A.D, most of the migrations were complete
Instead of continued migrations, Africans developed increasingly complex forms of government that enabled them to organize their existing societies more efficiently
Initially the Bantu established “stateless societies” in which they governed themselves mostly through family and kinship groups

4. Political Organization
Stateless societies worked well in small-scale communities but as they grew into large populations, resources became strained and conflicts became more frequent
Bantu communities began to organize themselves militarily and this development encouraged more formal structures of government
Chiefdoms overrode kinship networks and imposed their own authority
In general, between 1000 and 1500, clusters of smaller entities gradually formed into larger states

5. Kingdom of the Kongo: Toward Centralization
One of the most active areas of political development was the basin of the Congo (or Zaire) River
One of the most prosperous of the Congolese states was the Kingdom of the Kongo

6. Kingdom of the Kongo: Toward Centralization
Perhaps the most tightly centralized of the early Bantu kingdoms
King and his officials who oversaw military, judicial, and financial affairs
Six provinces administered by governors
Each province had several districts administered by subordinate officials
Each district had villages ruled by chiefs

7. African Empires: Kingdoms Built on Trade
West Africa
(Ghana, Mali, Songhay)
East Africa
(Swahili
Coast,
Kilwa)
Southern
Africa
(Great
Zimbabwe)

8. Characteristics of a Civilization
Intensive agricultural techniques
Specialization of labor
Cities
A social hierarchy
Organized religion and education
Development of complex forms of economic exchange
Development of new technologies
Advanced development of the arts. (This can include writing.)
Intensive agricultural techniques, such as the use of animal power, crop rotation, and irrigation. This enables farmers to produce a surplus of food that will not be needed for their own subsistence.
A significant portion of the population that does not devote most of its time to producing food. They can go into other occupations and trade for the food they need. This is called "specialization of labor." It is possible because of the food surplus described above.
The gathering of these non-food producers into permanent settlements, called cities.
A social hierarchy. This can be a chiefdom, in which the chieftain of one noble family or clan rules the people; or a state society, in which the ruling class is supported by a government or bureaucracy. Political power is concentrated in the cities.
The establishment of complex, formal social institutions such as organized religion and education, as opposed to the less formal traditions of other societies.
Development of complex forms of economic exchange. This includes the expansion of trade and may lead to the creation of money and markets.
The accumulation of more material possessions than in simpler societies.
Development of new technologies by people who are not busy producing food. In many early civilizations, metallurgy was an important advancement.
Advanced development of the arts by those who don't have to farm for a living. This can include writing.

9. Agriculture

10. Agriculture: Bananas
The principal result of the Bantu migrations was to spread agriculture to almost all parts of Africa
Yams, sorghum, and millet were dietary staples
In the early centuries A.D., bananas brought from Asia by Malay seafarers, became well established in Africa
The introduction of bananas introduced a fresh migratory surge
Iron metallurgy and bananas were the keys to population growth

11. Cities

12. Cities: Timbuktu
Located on the southern edge of the Sahara; served as an important post on the trans-Sahara caravan route
Founded 1100 A.D. as a seasonal camp by nomads
Incorporated within the Mali Empire by Mansa Musa who built the Great Mosque of Djingareyber and a royal residence, the Madugu
Djingareyber

13. Cities: Timbuktu Center for the expansion of Islam
Intellectual and spiritual capital
Home of Sankore, a Koranic university
In the 14th century Timbuktu became an important focal point of the gold-salt trade
With the influx of North African merchants came the settlement of Muslim scholars

14. Cities: Gao
Mansa Musa expanded Mali’s influence into Gao which, like Timbuktu, was a terminus for trans-Saharan caravans
As Mali declined, Gao reasserted itself and eventually became the Songhay Empire

15. Cities: Kilwa
On the east coast (Swahili Coast), Kilwa was one of the busiest city-states
Traded gold, slaves, and ivory obtained from the interior for cotton, silk, perfume and pearls from India and porcelain from China

16. Cities: Great Zimbabwe
zimbabwe means dwelling of a chief
About the early 13th Century, a huge stone complex known as Great Zimbabwe began to arise in what is now Tanzania
Walls 32 feet high and 16 feet thick
Stone towers, palaces, and public buildings
At its height during the late 15th Century, up to 18,000 people lived in the vicinity of Great Zimbabwe

17. Cities: Great Zimbabwe
Kings residing at Great Zimbabwe controlled and taxed trade between the interior and coastal regions
Organized flow of gold, ivory, slaves, and local products from sources of supply to the coast

18. Social Hierarchy Sunni Ali King of Songhay (1464-1493)
Painting by Leo Dillon

19. Social Hierarchy Kingdoms, empires, city states
Ruling elites
Military nobles
Administrative officials
Religious authorities
Wealthy merchants
Artisans
Business entrepreneurs
Common people
Peasants
Slaves
Small states and kin-based societies
Aristocratic or ruling elite
Religious authorities
Beyond that principal considerations were kinship, sex and gender expectations, and age groupings

20. Social Hierarchy: Kinship Groups
Extended families and clans served as the main foundation of social and economic organization
Villagers functioned in society first as members of a family or clan
Notion of private property ownership did not exist in sub-Sahara Africa
Communities claimed rights to land and used it in common
Villages consisted of several extended family groups
Male heads of families jointly governed the village

21. Social Hierarchy: Sex and Gender Relations
Sex largely determined work roles
Men usually did the heavy labor
Both sexes participated in planting and harvesting
Women tended to domestic chores and child rearing
Men largely monopolized public authority but women in sub-Sahara Africa generally had more opportunities than their counterparts elsewhere
Women enjoyed high honor as the sources of life
Women acted as merchants
Some women engaged in combat and formed all-female military units
Even the arrival of Islam did not drastically curtail opportunities for women

22. Social Hierarchy: Age Grades
Members of age grades performed tasks appropriate for their development and bonded with one another socially and politically
Age grades offered some integration to a society otherwise organized based on family and kinship

23. Social Hierarchy: Slavery
Most slaves were captives of war
Others were debtors, suspected witches, and criminals
Slaveholding allowed owners to advance their personal wealth in the absence of private land ownership
After the 9th Century, expanded trade stimulated interest in slave traffic
Slave raiding increased to meet the demand
The Islamic slave trade between 750 and 1500 created a foundation for the future Atlantic slave trade

24. Economic Exchange
Empire of Mali in the fourteenth century (dashed lines trace the main trans-Saharan routes of the period)

25. Economic Exchange: Camels
Camels came to north Africa from Arabia, by way of Egypt and the Sudan, around the 7th Century B.C.
A caravan took 70 to 90 days to cross the Sahara, so the camel’s ability to travel long distances without water made it very useful
After about 300 A.D., camels had replaced horses and donkeys as the preferred means of transportation across the Sahara

26. Economic Exchange: Gold
The Kingdom of Ghana became the most important commercial site in west Africa because it was the center for trade in gold
Ghana itself did not produce gold but the kings obtained gold from lands to the south and became wealthy by controlling and taxing the trade
Muslim merchants were especially eager to procure gold for customers in the Mediterranean basin and the Islamic world
Ghana also provided ivory and slaves
In exchange they received horses, cloth, small manufactured wares, and salt

27. Economic Exchange: Gold
Mali benefited from trans-Sahara trade even more than did Ghana
From 13th until the late 15th Century Mali controlled and taxed almost all the trade passing through west Africa
The most prominent period was under the reign of Mansa Musa from 1312 to 1337

28. Mansa Musa
Expanded the kingdom of Mali by capturing the neighboring kingdom of Songhay and making its major city Timbuktu an important trade center
Made a pilgrimage to Mecca in and dispensed so much gold in Cairo that the value of gold declined up to 25% on local markets
Facsimile of a map drawn in Spain and dated to 1375, showing Mansa Musa, the king of Mali, holding a gold nugget.

29. Religion and Education
Great Mosque at Kilwa

30. Native Religion
Many African recognized a creator god as the single divine force responsible for setting the world in motion and providing it with order
Beneath him were many lesser gods associated with the sun, wind, rain, trees, rivers, and other natural features
Unlike the supreme creator god, these lesser gods actively participated in the workings of the world
Diviners were religious specialists who had the power to mediate between humanity and supernatural beings

31. Religion: Christianity
Around the middle of the 4th Century, Christianity established a foothold in the Kingdom of Axum, in the highlands of modern Ethiopia
Missionaries later established monasteries
From the 12th through the 16th Century, Christianity was especially strong in Ethiopia
As Islam spread, Ethiopian Christians became isolated from other Christian lands and therefore retained much of the original theology and rituals
Not until the 16th Century did visiting Portuguese mariners expose Ethiopian Christians to Christians from other lands
Church of St. George
at Lalibela, Ethiopia

32. Influence of Trade on Religion
Contact with Muslim merchants encouraged sub-Sahara west Africans and coastal east Africans to adopt Islam
It served as a cultural foundation for business relationships
Yet African ruling elites and merchants did not convert for purely mercenary reasons; they took their new faith seriously

34. Muslim Influence in West Africa
Muslim traders came on land routes which allowed Islam to spread wherever they traveled
Rulers like Mansa Musa supported Islamic scholars which spread the religion through religious schools and education
Mosque at Djenne

35. Muslim Influence of the Swahili Coast
Islam arrived on the African coast in many waves, at different times, rather than in one great sweep
Because Muslim traders came via ship, penetrations were very localized compared to in west Africa
The Great Mosque at Kilwa built in the 12th Century is the oldest remaining mosque on the east African coast
Great Mosque at Kilwa

36. Specialization
West African gold merchants using weights and measures

37. Specialization Textile and pottery production Metalsmithing
Leatherworking
Mining
Architecture
Trading
Religious scholars

38. New Technologies
Gold bearing quartz vein at Essakan in modern Burkina Faso in west Africa

39. Mining and Iron
The Kingdoms of Mali, Ghana, and Songhay all used superior iron metallurgy to gain advantages over their neighbors in terms of weapons and tools
Bambuk and Takkeda were mined for gold and copper

40. Mud Construction
Mansa Musa commissioned Abu-Ishaq Ibrahim-es-Saheli to construct his royal palace and the Djingareyber Mosque at Timbuktu
Es-Saheli introduced the use of burnt brick and mud as a building material to the region
Each year before the torrential summer rains, residents replastered the mosque’s walls and roof with mud

41. Manuscript from Timbuktu
Art and Writing
Manuscript from Timbuktu

42. Books: Timbuktu
As a center of learning and religious scholarship, Timbuktu became a vast hub for books
Books were written, stored, copied, imported, and distributed there
Currently some 18,000 manuscripts, many from ancient libraries, are housed in the Ahmed Baba Centre, named after the famous 15th century Timbuktu scholar, Ahmed Baba

43. Art: Lost-wax Process Create a wax sculpture of the desired object
Encase it in soft clay to create a clay mold
Bake the clay, causing the wax to melt
Pour hot molten metal into the mold
When the metal cools, break the clay mold to reveal the object
Gold weights from Ghana made
using the lost-wax process