1. West African Civilizations

2. Geography Africa is the second largest continent on Earth.
Africa is kind of shaped like a soup bowl. Low in the middle with mountains around the edge. In the northwest are the Atlas Mountains.
In eastern Africa, mountains are next to deep rifts.
Rifts are long, deep valleys formed by the movement of the Earth’s crust.

4. Geography
The Sahara Desert in North Africa is the world’s largest desert.
sub-Saharan Africa (Africa south of the Sahara desert) is crossed by rivers (Congo, Zambezi, Niger)

5. Geography
Niger River started as place for great West African civilizations (4 main regions):
northern band -southern part of the Sahara (sand and gravel-world’s largest desert-over 120’F - rain rare)
Sahel (divides desert from wetter areas-some animals)
Savannah (grassland with scattered trees - animals common)
Rain forests (near equator - heavy rains - lots of plants and animals)
Sahel
Savannah
Rain Forest

6. Geography - Resources Traditional crops Salt Gold Dates
Kola nuts – traditionally used in medicine
Salt
Needed addition to their diet
Came from the Sahara
Gold
Used for jewelry and coins
Came from the southern forests

7. Trade and Economy
People rarely traded in the desert because horses could not go very far without water, but in the AD 200s, Romans started to use camels. Camels could carry heavy loads and water, and could cross Sahara in two months!
Dangers of trade
Thieves
Weather
Supplies might run out
They could get lost in the desert

8. Trade and Economy Trade in Gold and Salt
Camels carried salt from the northern mines of the Sahara to the south to trade for gold.
Silent barter
People traded without contact
Salt traders would go to riverbank and leave slabs of salt
Salt traders would beat a drum and then retreat
Gold traders would come from the river and leave an amount of gold they thought was appropriate
Gold traders would beat drum and then retreat
Salt traders would return and, if they thought the amount of gold was fair, the deal was done…if not, then they would barter
Timbuktu and Djenne’ became major trading cities.

9. West African Empires

10. Empire of Ghana Politics and Government
Farmers banded together around 300 AD to protect against nomadic warriors
Learned how to work with iron, made weapons. This was superior to other armies who only had wood, bone and stone weapons.

11. Empire of Ghana
Ghana was between the Sahara Desert and the deep forests.
This location was good for trade of gold, iron and salt.
Ghana controlled the trade and became wealthy!
Armies of Ghana began to take over trade from merchants and gained wealth
Other signs of wealth: sheep, cattle, honey, leather, golden- thread tassels

12. Empire of Ghana

13. Empire of Ghana
By 800 AD Ghana was in control of West Africa’s trade routes
Ghana’s army protected the routes so it was safe to trade there – people came which made Ghana wealthier.
Traders came through Ghana and leaders started to…charge taxes on goods sold AND goods bought.
Also taxed people they conquered.

14. Empire of Ghana Ghana’s own mines gave them wealth in gold
Some of their gold was traded
Ghana’s kings also kept huge amounts of gold for themselves
All of the gold produced in Ghana was technically the property of the king.
NO ONE besides the king could own a gold nugget. Common people could only own gold dust which they used as money.

15. Empire of Ghana
Ghana’s kings could not govern such a large empire so they allowed conquered kings to keep their power and these conquered kings acted as governors of their territories.
Ghana was a mighty empire but by the end of the 1200’s it had collapsed – What happened??
Invasions – Almoravids attacked and wanted Ghana to convert to Islam.
Overgrazing – Almoravids brought lots of animals with them and the land became overgrazed and then useless.
Internal Rebellion – conquered people rose up and rebelled.

16. Empire of Mali

17. Empire of Mali Located along the upper Niger River
Fertile soil
Location allowed it to control trade on the river
First powerful leader was Sundiata (soohn- JAHT-ah)
He conquered Ghana
Took over the salt and gold trades
Improved agriculture
Crops – beans, onions, rice. He introduced cotton to Mali
Sundiata consolidated power – he took power away from local leaders and took the title mansa for himself.
Mansas were political and religious leaders – most of the later mansas were Muslim

18. Empire of Mali

19. Empire of Mali Mansa Musa was Mali’s most famous ruler
He was a Muslim king
Mali reached its height in the 1300’s
Because of Mansa Musa’s influence, Islam spread throughout West Africa
spread Islam and his own wealth—hajj to Mecca and gave gold to Egyptians
One story says he arrived in Cairo, Egypt with 100 camels each carrying 300 pounds of gold and 60,000 men!
He ruled for about 25 years
His army captured Timbuktu, Gao, and Djenne’

20. Empire of Mali Mansa Musa supported education The Fall of Mali
Schools were set up for studying the Qur’an
Timbuktu became famous for its schools
He stressed the importance learning to read and write the Arabic language
Arabic became the main language
The Fall of Mali
When Mansa Musa died his son Maghan took over the throne. He was a weak ruler
Raiders attacked and set fire to Timbuktu’s schools and mosques.
The empire was too big to control and invaders continued to weaken it.
The kingdom fell by 1500!

21. Empire of Songhai

22. Empire of Songhai Rivals of Mali Lived along the Niger River
Grew wealthy from trade
Sunni Ali
Powerful leader in 1464
Conquered lands and helped Mali fight off invaders and then kept it for himself!
Promoted unity. He was Muslim but participated in local religions as well.

23. Empire of Songhai
Sunni Ali died in 1492 and his son Sunni Baru took over. Sunni Baru was not a Muslim and the people rebelled against him
The leader of the rebellion was Muhammad Ture who took over power and became Askia the Great
Strong Muslim
Supported education – universities, libraries and mosques in Timbuktu. Djenne’ became a center of learning especially for doctors
Governors loyal to him and controlled his provinces throughout the empire
Created a large and powerful army
He lost power to his son in He had gone blind and his son exiled him to an island. He lived there for nine years and then was brought back to Songhai by another of his sons.

24. Empire of Songhai The Fall of Songhai
Morocco wanted Songhai’s salt mines in 1591 and invaded
Invaded with arquebus (early form of gun) and cannons
Slowly, African trade patterns changed. Overland trade declined and people traded more by sea.

25. Empire of Songhai

26. Religion Some religious practices were common from village to village
A traditional belief in the importance of family
Many believed that the spirits of their ancestors stayed nearby.
Animism
The belief that bodies of water, animals, trees, and other natural objects have spirits.
Shows the West African dependence on the natural world for survival.

27. Society and Culture Families Typically an extended family
Included the father, mother, children, and close relatives all living in one household.
Loyalty to your extended family was expected.
Groups
Sometimes people formed other types of groups
Age-sets = men or women of the same age would form special bonds and help each other

28. Society and Culture
Villages worked together – everyone had specific duties
Men hunted and farmed
Crops were millet and sorghum
Raised goats and sheep
Women farmed, collected firewood, ground the grain, carried water and cared for the children.
The elders (older people) taught the family’s traditions and values to the younger generations through songs, dances, and stories.
Children began working as soon as they were able.

29. Society and Culture Oral History
None of the major early civilizations of West Africa developed a written language.
They passed along information through oral histories – spoken records of past events
Storytellers were entrusted to remember and pass along West Africa’s history
Griots were West African storytellers
Highly respected in their community
Their stories were entertaining and informative. They told of past events and of deeds of ancestors
They also recited proverbs – short sayings of wisdom or truth.
Proverbs were used to teach moral lessons.
Travelers through West Africa wrote about the traditions and history of West Africa.

30. Society and Culture Art Sculpture
Made statues and carvings out of wood, brass, clay, ivory, stone and other materials
Most of the statues were made for religious rituals
Mask and cloth making
Carved elaborate masks made of wood and painted them. They would be worn during rituals
Kente cloth – a hand-woven brightly colored fabric

31. Society and Culture Music and Dance
Used to celebrate specific events or ceremonies
Call and Response

32. Science and Technology
Sometime around 500 BC West Africans discovered how to make iron
They learned that by heating the iron again they could shape it into useful things.
Tools
The Nok – early people living in what is now Nigeria – made:
The Hoe
Arrows
Spears
Iron tools allowed West Africans to live in places they couldn't live before. They used the blades to cut down trees and clear land for farming.