1. Africa

2. Geography Savanna Desert Rain Forest Delta Sahel
grasslands, a desert-like area with lots of small plants
Desert
Little to no rainfall all year, few plants
Rain Forest
Central Africa, lots of rain, lots of trees
Delta
Triangular shaped landform at the mouth of a river, great for farming
Sahel
Region of savanna on the Southern border of the Sahara

4. empires

5. The Beginnings of Ghana
400s - a group of primarily nomadic people named the Berbers formed a kingdom just south of the Sahara desert; they called their kingdom Ghana. 
Used camels to carry goods across the Sahara
In between salt and gold trade routes

6. Empire of Ghana
Controlled by the Soninke, a group of people living in the region. 
Kumbi Saleh, capital
right on the edge of the Sahara and the city quickly became the most important southern trade center of the Saharan trade routes
Ruled by a king called the ghana.
The king was the supreme judge of the kingdom

7. Empire of Ghana
Gradually, Ghana grew very rich, due in large part to the trans- Saharan trade.
The ghana required traders to give him a percentage of the products they were trading.
If a trader was trading in gold, he was required to pay the ghana part of his gold.
The ghana also placed a tax on the local goldmines.
As Ghana grew richer, the kingdom expanded into an empire, requiring neighboring groups of people to pay tribute. This increased Ghana’s wealth and power even more.

8. Kumbi Saleh
Most of the houses were built of wood and clay, but wealthy and important residents lived in homes of wood and stone.
It was inhabited almost entirely by Arab and Berber merchants, and contained more than a dozen mosques.
Parts of the city
Palace
Sacred grove for religious ceremonies
Center of trade

9. End of Ghana 1062 – came under attack by the Berbers
Berbers (Almoravids) wanted to gain control of the Saharan trade routes
1076 – Almoravids won and converted many to Islam

10. Mali
Mali, located in the Sahel, became powerful by controlling the rich trans-Saharan trade routes between northern and western Africa
Gold trade
Agricultural rich area along the Niger River
Gold was transported up the Niger, allowing Mali to control the trade and grow their empire

11. Mali’s First King Sundiata ruled from 1230-1255
Means “Hungering Lion”
the empire of Mali extended over 1,000 miles from east to west and Mali took control of the gold and salt trade
Introduced cultivation and weaving of cotton to the area

13. Golden Age Rulers were called Mansa (emperor or master)
Mansa Musa ruled from
Grandson of Sundiata’s half brother
Ruled at a great time of prosperity and trade tripled
Doubled the land area of Mali and it became bigger than any kingdom in Europe

14. Life under Mansa Musa
Became an important trading center for all of West Africa
Mali also was home to famous centers of wealth, culture, and learning
Timbuktu
Major cultural center of Africa and the world
Vast libraries and Islamic universities were built
These became meeting places of the finest poets, scholars, and artists of Africa and the Middle East

16. Mansa Musa Muslim Made a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324
60,000 people accompanied him, along with 200 camels laden with gold, food, clothing, and other goods
As a result of Mansa Musa’s pilgrimage the world learned about the wealth of Mali

17. End of Mali Mansa Musa’s sons could not hold the empire together
In 1430 the Berbers in the north took a lot of Mali’s territory including Timbuktu

18. Songhai
Wealth can be traced back to skilled canoeists living along the Niger, south east of Gao
9th Century they became known as Songhai (Songhay)
During the 14th century Songhai fell within the orbit of the Empire of Mali, but the rulers of Mali never managed to collect taxes from the people of Gao.

19. Rise to Power
15th Century – as Mali was falling Songhai was rising to power under Sonni Ali the Great
Great military leader
Expanded the territory from the Niger valley, west to Senegal and east to Agades
Captured Timbuktu
Did not respect Islam and later Arab chroniclers portrayed him in a bad light as a result

20. Height of Power Mohammaed Ture seized power in 1493
One of Sonni Ali’s Generals
Devout Muslim
Continued to expand Songhai
Lead jihads against Mossi, who refused to convert even after being defeated

21. Fall of Songhai
Late 16th century Songhai was involved in a civil war as well as dealing with diseases and drought
1591 – the Moroccan army invaded and defeated Songhai

22. culture

23. The Griot
Griot- An African storyteller

24. Oral History Most African groups did not write down their histories.
Instead, story-tellers called griots would memorize the stories and tell them back to people.
It’s not as accurate as written history but was still very good.

25. Proverbs

26. Proverbs Proverbs are simple phrases meant to teach a lesson or idea.
They are easy to remember.
It was a way to remember things without writing them down.

27. Common English Proverbs
“Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.” -English
“The pot calls the kettle black.” -English

28. Corresponding African Proverbs
“He is a fool whose sheep runs away twice.” - African
“The dead say to each other ‘Dead one!’” –African

29. Folk Tales A folk tale is a short story that usually involves animals.
It is designed to teach a lesson.
Because Africa did not write most things, folk tales were very important.
The Tortoise and the Hare – English
The Tortoise and the Antelope - African

30. How are these stories the same?
How are they different?
What does the African story tell us about working together?