1. Kingdoms of Africa
Mapping

2. Left Side On your map of Africa:
Nile River
On your map of Africa:
highlight in the Nile River and Niger River
Color the Sahara desert
Niger River

3. Introduction
Anthropologists believe humanity first arose in East Africa
In ancient times, the rise of Egyptian civilization affected African cultures along the upper Nile
Kush – an early iron-producing center, grew rich from selling iron products, ivory, ebony, wood, and slaves. (It had once been a part of Egypt called Nubia)
Axum – Located in Ethiopia. Its rise caused the decline of Kush. King Ezana made Christianity the official religion (330 A.D.). Axum dominated trade in slaves and ivory.

4. Left Side Locate the kingdoms of Kush and Axum on your map.
Create a key in the lower left section of your map
Kush
Axum

5. Gold-Salt Trade
Sahara was never completely cut off from Europe and Asia
Muslim merchants crossed the Sahara because of gold and other riches in West Africa
West Africa lacked salt – vital to human survival
Merchants picked up large blocks of salt on their journey and exchanged them for gold
A thriving trade developed, based on gold-salt trade
Ideas were exchanged, such as Islamic beliefs

6. Left Side
Draw in trade routes

7. Kingdom of Ghana –
Draw an outline of Ghana on your map and add it to your key.
Kingdom of Ghana
Ghana was the first of three West African empires that rose to power by controlling extensive gold mines and trading across the Sahara

8. Kingdom of Mali –
Draw an outline of the Kingdom of Mali on your map (different than Ghana) and add it to your key.
label Timbuktu
Timbuktu
Kingdom of Mali
The Mali Kingdom began when a small kingdom within the Ghana empire grew ever more powerful.

9. Ibn Battuta –
Arab traveler that wrote about Mansa Musa and his respect for law and the power of its ruler
Because of his extensive travels and his records historians know a lot about this time period in Africa and the Middle East
He was like the Marco Polo of the Muslims

10. Timbuktu Famous trading city
Became an important center of several important universities
Attracted students from Europe, Asia, and Africa
Flourished as a center of Muslim scholarship
Also famous for the Sankore mosque

11. Kingdom of Songhai –
Draw an outline of the Kingdom of Songhai (new color) and include it on your key.
Kingdom of Songhai

12. Kingdom of Benin
Became famous for their copper and bronze sculptures, which were among the finest of all African artwork
Became involved with the slave trade

13. Kingdom of Benin Draw Benin on your map and add it to your key

14. The Great Zimbabwe
One of the best known trading kingdoms of South Africa
Great deposits of gold
Traded gold, copper, and ivory from Africa’s interior with Muslim traders along Africa’s east coast
Towers of the Great Zimbabwe

15. Other Important Info Bantu Migrations East African Trading Centers
Communities of peoples who lived on subsistence farming and spoke a common language (Bantu)
Lived throughout West, Central, and southeast Africa
East African Trading Centers
Muslims from the Arabian Peninsula and Persian Gulf settled at ports along the east coast
Merchants grew wealthy from trade here
Eventually, gave rise to mixed African-Arabian culture known as Swahili

16. Zimbabwe, Trading Cities, and Migrations.
Add Zimbabwe to your map.
Also, add the East African Trading cities of Mogadishu, Mombasa, and Kilwa.
Finally, add arrows representing the movement of the Bantu migrations.
Make sure everything is on your key.
Mogadishu
Mombasa
Kilwa
Zimbabwe