1. 1500 BC- 500 AD
African
Civilizations
Chapter 8:1-3
2. In Your Notes:
⢠Check to make sure you have all main ideas
that are underlined in your notes. If you do
not, add them. If you do, mark/circle them to
find them more easily.
3. Section 1: Diverse Societies in Africa
⢠Main Idea= African peoples developed diverse
societies as they adapted to varied
environments
⢠Why it matters now? Differences among
modern societies are also based on peopleâs
interactions with their environments
⢠THEMES: how geography affects societies
4. Setting the Stage
⢠âGeography is the
mother of historyâ
⢠First human
inhabitants
⢠Early civilizations:
Egypt, Carthage and
Kush
5. Geography
⢠Second largest continent in the
world
⢠Occupies 1/5 of the earthâs land
surfaces
⢠Coastline has few harbors and
ports
⢠Africa lies on the equator (tropics)
⢠From plains to snowy mountains
⢠From drought to rainfall
⢠From rocky to rain forests
6. From Deserts to Rain Forests
⢠Desert makes up
40% of continent
⢠Deserts can reach
136 degrees
⢠Sahara and
Kalahari Deserts
⢠Rainforests- ½ of
the middle of
Africa
7. From Fertile Farmlands to Grassy
Plains
⢠Fertile land on the
northern and southern
tips
⢠Largest amount of
people live on the
savannas (grassy plains)
⢠Savannas cover 40% of
continent
⢠Desertification= a
transformation from
fertile land into desert
8. Early Humans Adapt to Environment
⢠People moved
outward from the
areaâs first migration
and adapting to the
different geography
⢠Developed
technologies to
adapt
9. Nomadic Lifestyles
⢠Roamed for food
⢠Still nomadic hunter-gatherers
roaming
Africa today
⢠Eventually,
domesticated animals
⢠Many modern Africans
are pastoral herders
10. Transition to a Settled Lifestyle
⢠Agriculture probably began
in 10,000 BC
⢠To survive many moved to
the Nile Valley and into
West Africa
⢠Savannas had the best
agricultural lands
⢠With an increased amount
of food, some could
practice other activities
(metal, pottery, jewelry)
12. Organizing Africa
⢠Different activities led to
organizing into
communities with simple
governments
⢠Village chief
⢠Centralized powers
⢠These communities
developed into great
kingdoms
13. *African Common Characteristics
⢠1. Importance of basic social unit,
the family
â Extended family
â Clan= a group that shared common
ancestors
⢠2. Belief in one creator, or god
â Animism= religion in which spirits
played an important role in
regulating life
â Spirits sent to animals, plants and
natural forces
⢠3. Oral stories kept history alive
â Griots= storytellers
14. Early Societies in West Africa
⢠How we know about Africa?
â *oral history
â Recent archaeology findings
15. Djenne-Djeno
⢠*Djenne= ancient city in
Africa, objects dated from
250 BC, oldest known city in
Africa south of the Sahara
⢠Uncovered in 1977
⢠Excavated a huge mound
with hundreds of thousands
of artifacts
⢠50,000 residents
⢠Knew how to smelt iron
⢠Houses of mud bricks
⢠Trading center
16. The Nok Culture
⢠Nok= earliest known
Western African culture
⢠Present day Nigeria
⢠500- 250 BC
Farmers
⢠*First people to know how
to smelt iron
⢠Might have taught Djenne
people
⢠Might be direct ancestors
of some modern Africans
17. Section 2: The Kingdom of Aksum &
East African Trade
⢠Main Idea: The kingdom of Aksum became an
international trading power and adopted
Christianity
⢠Why it matters now? Ancient Aksum, which is
now Ethiopia, is still a center of Eastern
Christianity
⢠THEMES: religion spread through trade
18. Setting the Stage
⢠Before Nok, Kush in the
east was powerful
enough to conquer
Egypt
⢠Assyrians came in and
drove Kushites south
⢠Kush remained powerful
until it was conquered
by another more
powerful kingdom
19. The Rise of the Kingdom of Aksum
⢠Aksum= kingdom located
in modern day Ethiopia
⢠Legend traces back to King
Solomon of ancient Israel
⢠May have begun when
Arab people crossed the
Red Sea into Africa
⢠Mingled with Kushites and
passed along their written
language, skills with stone
and building aqueducts
20. Aksum Controls International
Trade
⢠Location made it an important trading
center
⢠Red Sea coastline gave it influence
over sea trade on the Med. Sea &
Indian Ocean
⢠Along caravan route to Egypt and
Meroe
⢠Adulis= Aksumâs chief seaport
⢠*International trading power
⢠Traded: salt, rhino horns, tortoise
shells, ivory, emeralds, gold
21. A Strong Ruler Expands the Kingdom
⢠Ezana= great ruler that
brought the kingdom
of Aksum to its height
⢠Conquered Yemen,
then Kush
⢠Burned Meroe to the
ground
22. A Cosmopolitan Culture Develops
⢠Aksumites had a diverse
culture
⢠Adulis (port) was
cosmopolitan
â Included people from: Egypt,
Arabia, Greece, Rome, Persia,
Indian and Byzantium
⢠Out of all the languages of
Aksum, *Greek stood out as
the international language of
the time
23. Spread of Christianity
⢠One god= Mahrem
⢠Believed their king was
directly descended from him
⢠Animists, honored nature
and dead ancestors
⢠Offered sacrifices to those
spirits, Mahrem and the
Greek god of war, Ares
⢠Christianity spread from
trade
24. Split over Christianity
⢠Dispute: nature of
Christ, whether he was
divine, human or both
⢠Coptic Church of
Egypt and the
Ethiopian Orthodox
Church (22 million
members) formed
26. Language & Agriculture
⢠Askum was the only ancient
African kingdom known to
have *developed a written
language
⢠First south of the Sahara to
mint coins
⢠Terrace farming
⢠Dug canals to bring in water,
dams, holding tanks to store
water
27. The Fall of Aksum
⢠Lasted 800 years
⢠Declined under invaders
who practiced Islam
⢠Muslims conquered and
spread religion along as
they went
⢠Ports were cut off, and the
kingdom declined in
international power
28. Section 3: Bantu Speaking Peoples
⢠Main Idea: Throughout history, people have
been driven to uproot themselves and explore
their world
⢠Why it matters now? Migration continues to
shape the modern world
⢠Theme: Migration
29. *Causes for Migrations
⢠Environmental changes
⢠Economic pressure
⢠Political and religious
persecution
⢠Technological development
⢠Best way to study patterns
of movement is to study the
movement of languages
30. Massive Migrations
⢠*900 languages in the
Niger-Congo all stemmed
from the parent
language, Proto-Bantu
⢠Bantu-speaking peoples
⢠Bantu= âpeopleâ
⢠Bantu went south
spreading their language
32. Bantu Culture
⢠Not one people but a
group of people
⢠Nomads
⢠Skill of ironworking*
⢠Spread their skills
⢠Within 1500 years they
were able to reach the
southern tip of Africa
33. *Why did the Bantu migrate?
⢠1. Agriculture fed more
people and therefore
population increased and
they had to move (not
enough land to go around)
⢠2. Advancing Sahara Desert
(desertification)
⢠3. War between tribes
34. *Effects of the Bantu Migration
⢠Spread of culture
⢠Intermingling and
intermarrying
⢠Were a unifying
influence throughout
Africa