1. African Kingdoms

2. Bell Work 12/15/08
How has geography influenced the development of civilizations we have talked about so far?

3. African Geography
Savannas- vast stretches of dry grasslands make up most of Africa.
Other landscapes include tropical rain forests, jungles, and deserts.

4. Other Areas
3. Mt. Kilimanjaro- a dormant volcano and the tallest mountain in Africa. Located in Tanzania.

5. How is history passed down from generation to generation?
Think and Write
How is history passed down from generation to generation?

6. African History
4. African history is passed down much like everywhere else: from stories, artifacts, landscapes, articles (books).
5. However it is difficult to explain the different tribes in Africa. So, Linguists (scientists who study languages) have studied the various languages to translate African history.
6. One of the languages/cultures is Swahili which has developed out of the Arabic language.

8. African Kingdoms
7. There is a great mixture of cultures and tribes found in Africa. Two of the reasons for this mixture is the Islamic faith and trade.
8. There is a variety of things that is traded, but the main two are Gold and Salts.

9. Kush Kingdom
9. Kush was established through trade along the Nile river. It was ruled by Pharaohs and was able to develop because of isolation. Over the years, the Kush became a distinct kingdom building many temples and made great pottery.
10. They built the
Lion Temple
which shows
their power.

10. Aksum Kingdom
11. Took over the Kush because it controlled their trade routes of the Red Sea and Indian Ocean.
12. The Aksum Kingdom became a major trading center for the Middle East because of its location along the Red Sea.

11. East Africa & Great Zimbabwe
13. Zimbabwe was important because it established a trading route in the South. It was the first trade route that had gone through the mountains of the south.
14. A group called the Shona, started trade in this area where mining and shipping gold were becoming a commodity.
15, The Shona built many great landmarks with their wealth and power. However, they declined in the 1400’s due to over population. They could not keep up with the demands of people.

12. Ghana Kingdom
16. Was the earliest of East African kingdoms and was established by the Soninke. They profited from the Gold-for-salt exchange.
17. After settling in large cities, kings arose. One in particular was Tunka Manin. He took controll of trade routes by force with weapons like bows and iron-pointed spears.
18. After Manin, disputes over the next leader lead to the fall of Ghana’s Kingdom and the rise of Mali.

13. Mali Kingdom
Came after the fall of Ghana with the rise of Mansa Musa as leader. Mansa Musa is famous for his journey to Mecca with 80,000 people, primarily slaves carrying sacs of gold for trading.
Disputes over Mansa Musa’s successor weakened Mali and rival members fought for leadership. Soon, a rebel leader Sonni Ali took over and captured Timbuktu.

14. Timbuktu Timbuktu became a very important trading city.
22. It became the center of learning in Sub-Saharan Africa for Islamic learning and culture.