African Societies and Kingdoms 1000-1500 A.D.

1. John P. McKay Bennett ● D. Hill ● John Buckler
Patricia Buckley Ebrey ● Roger B. Beck
Clare Haru Crowston ● Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks
A History of World Societies
Ninth Edition
CHAPTER 10
African Societies and Kingdoms,
1000 B.C.E.–1500 C.E. modified by J. Usher
Copyright © 2011 by Bedford/St. Martin’s

2. Study Questions for Chapter 10
• How did Africa’s geography help shape its history and help to create diverse
cultures?
• What was the Bantu migration and what were some of its key features?
• How did trans-Saharan affect West African culture and society?
• What is significant about the city-state of Aksum?
• What is significant about the society that grew in Great Zimbabwe?
• Was Africa really a “dark continent,” isolated from the rest of the world, or is
that a myth?

3. I. The Land and Peoples of Africa
A. Africa’s Geographical and Human Diversity
• 1. Arid plains created opportunities to hunt wild game. Wetter regions
allowed the production of grain crops. Hunting and gathering took place in
the tropical forests. Rivers and lakes throughout the African continent
provided opportunities for fishing economies.
• 2. Coastal tribes intermingled with various trading entities such as the
Greeks or the Romans. Black Africans lived in the savanna and rain forest
region south of the Sahara.
B. Egypt, Race, and Being African
• 1. Nineteenth-century Europeans could not accept the fact that Africans
were capable of such amazing art and architecture. A now thoroughly
discredited concept known as the Hamitic thesis emerged, positing that the
advanced technologies were brought to Africa by a Caucasian race identified
as the Hamites.
• 2. Due to the history of Egypt and the varied groups, including the Greeks
and Persians, that were involved in its development, historians debate
whether Egypt is part of African culture or part of Middle Eastern culture.

5. Questions for Sculpture “Nok Woman”
• 1. How much time and effort do you think went into the creation of this terra cotta
sculpture? Given that hundreds of such pieces have been found, and that the
production process required firing in pits, what does this suggest about the
complexity and way of life of the Nok culture?
• (Answer: Making a pottery sculpture of this quality must have taken a fairly long
time. The Nok people produced many such artifacts. This suggests a society whose
members had enough leisure to devote time to production of complex art works –
probably not a hunter-gatherer group, but one whose members practiced
agriculture. )
• 2. How has the woman represented in this sculpture adorned herself? What might
this suggest about different levels of wealth in this society and its complexity?
• (Answer: The woman appears to be wearing jewelry on her cheeks and ears and to
have an intricate hairdo. This could indicate that she belonged to a wealthier
family, which might suggest a society with different levels of wealth and leisure,
where some people had the means and time to adorn themselves elaborately.
Again, this would presumably be an agricultural rather than a hunter-gatherer
group. )

7. II. Early African Societies
A. Settled Agriculture and Its Impact
• 1. Plant cultivation may have entered African culture from Judaea. The
development of settled agricultural production led to the need for the
establishment of permanent villages.
• 2. The “slash and burn” method was used to clear fields for agricultural
production.
• 3. Indigenous cereal grains such as millet and sorghum were domesticated,
while other plant varieties were brought into Africa. Livestock included
domesticated donkeys, pigs, and various types of poultry.
• 4. Settled populations took up various trades, including ironworking.
B. Bantu Migrations
• 1. Bantu languages include Swahili, Zulu, Sotho, and Tswana. Few of the
early Bantu-speakers wrote down their languages.
• 2. Reasons for Bantu migrations are unclear. Possibly rapid population
growth caused a need to migrate into eastern and southern African
territories.

9. II. Early African Societies
C. Life in the Kingdoms of the Western Sudan,
ca. 1000 B.C.E.–800 C.E.
• 1. The Senegal and Niger Rivers provided fertile soil
conducive to agricultural production. Local populations were
affiliated by blood kinship and were governed by village
chiefs.
• 2. Some of the villages formed kingdoms. The king shared
power with the Queen Mother, who was a full member of
the council and had the right to chose the next king.
• 3. Religious beliefs were based on ancestral spirits who could
seek God’s blessings for their families and communities.
Others believed in nature spirits living in the sky, rocks, and
other items of nature. Kingship and shared religious patterns
helped keep the populations together.

10. III. The Trans-Saharan Trade
A. The Berbers of North Africa
• 1. Caravan routes between the Mediterranean Sea and the Sudan were
established by the Berbers. Most caravan travel was done at night due to
the desert heat.
• 2. Caravans along the routes were threatened by the Tuareg, Berber
raiders who lived in the desert. Water wells along the routes were
sometimes poisoned so that the raids would be easier.
B. Effects of Trade on West African Society
• 1. The increase of trade influenced the development of mining for gold,
which was exported on the trade routes.
• 2. Slaves became a commodity of export and labor for local gold mines.
Many Africans were forced into Muslim military service.
• 3. The trade routes produced wealth, which helped stimulated the
development of urban centers, where Muslim traders began to settle.

11. III. The Trans-Saharan Trade
C. The Spread of Islam in Africa
• 1. Arab invaders conquered North Africa and introduced
Islam to the Berbers. Some peoples who traded with the
Berbers converted to Islam in an effort to maintain their
trading status. Others converted to avoid Muslim Berber
attacks.
• 2. Arabs began to teach populations in West Africa. The
Muslims taught the king of Ghana various uses for
technology, and he converted his kingdom to Islam.
• 3. Islam crossed the Red Sea and entered the East African
coast. The city of Mogadishu established a Muslim sultanate
with a slave military corps.

13. IV. African Kingdoms and Empires,
ca. 800–1500
A. The Kingdom of Ghana, ca. 900–1100
• 1. An indigenous tribe identified as the Soninke people called
their ruler ghana, or war chief. The kingdom of Ghana took
control of the southern caravan routes after it captured the
town of Awdaghost from the Berbers.
• 2. The Ghanaian king located his court in the city of Koumbi
Saleh, where Muslim populations lived separate from
Africans.
• 3. The king needed to produce an annual income to support
the large and expensive kingdom. Subordinate chieftains
paid tribute, while traders entering and leaving the kingdom
were charged duties.

15. IV. African Kingdoms and Empires,
ca. 800–1500
B. The Kingdom of Mali, ca. 1200–1450
• 1. Trade and agricultural production supported a large
population in Mali. The capital city of Niani was transformed
into a major financial and trading center.
• 2. Sundiata, the founder of Mali, began Mali’s imperial
expansion, conquering Ghana and increasing Mali power by
taking control of numerous cities along the trade routes.
• 3. Mansa Musa converted to Islam and made the pilgrimage
to Mecca. He later commissioned architects to build
mosques in the city of Timbuktu.

17. IV. African Kingdoms and Empires,
ca. 800–1500
C. Ethiopia: The Christian Kingdom of Aksum
• 1. Ethiopians maintained early Egyptian religious beliefs until they
were converted by Christian missionaries. The society was
influenced by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
• 2. Adulis was a main port on the Red Sea where ivory, gold, precious
gems, slaves, and other items were traded into the Islamic world.
• 3. Ethiopia’s acceptance of Christianity led to it becoming the first
African society to document its history in written form.
• 4. The Kebra Negast, Ethiopia’s national epic, states that Queen
Makeda traveled to Jerusalem seeking advice from King Solomon.
Once there she converted to Judaism and bore the Jewish king a
son.
• 5. Crusaders returned to Europe with folkloric stories of a powerful
Christian ruler named Prester John who would help restore the Holy
Land to Christianity. European explorations to find the ruler were
unsuccessful.

20. Questions for “Christianity and Islam in Ethiopia”
• Christianity and Islam in Ethiopia (p. 283)
• 1. How does the artist emphasize the power and strength of the Ethiopian Christians
compared to the Muslim fighters?
• (Answer: The Christians stand taller than their Muslim enemies; in the bottom image they
are riding horses, while their lone opponent is on foot and clearly frightened. The victorious
Christian soldiers leave piles of bloody dead and wounded Muslims behind them. )
• 2. What does the painting suggest about the relative wealth and technological capabilities of
Christian and Muslim societies in Ethiopia?
• (Answer: The Christians carry spears, while one of the Muslim warriors holds a gun. This
could relate to the fact that the Muslim states along the Red Sea coast had greater access to
firearms than the inland Christians. The difference between the clothing of the two groups
might simply reflect cultural differences. But the fact that the Ethiopian Christians are
barefoot, while the Muslim soldiers appear to wear boots might also suggest that Christian
society, centered in mountain regions with scarce resources, was poorer. )
• 3. How might a picture like this have functioned as propaganda for a Christian ruler of
Ethiopia, whose people had complex relations with neighboring Muslims?
• (Answer: At the simplest level the images glorify the power of the ruler’s warriors to crush his
enemies. But also, in a society where Christians and Muslims often lived side by side and
traded with one another, the picture drew a sharp border between the two groups. The
monarch’s claim to legitimacy rested on the idea that he or she was the Christian ruler of a
Christian people, whose power derived from a Christian god. Maintaining the separation
between Christians and Muslims was key to the ruler’s legitimacy. )

22. Questions for “The Queen of Sheba and King Solomon”
• 1. How is this composition connected to the Christian Crusades aimed at “reconquering” Jerusalem
that began in the last years of the eleventh century?
• (Answer: As the text explains, Christian participants in the early Crusades (in Palestine) heard
stories of an isolated Christian kingdom beyond the Muslim world (the kingdom of “Prester John”).
The image reflects some awareness of the Ethiopian Solomonic -dynasty’s foundation myth – the
Queen of Sheba’s visit to King Solomon of ancient Israel. )
•
• 2. This image depicts Queen Sheba presenting gifts to Solomon. Ethiopian representations of the
Solomon-Sheba story frequently show the two in bed together and/or the later theft of the Ark of
the Covenant by Sheba’s son Menilek and his retinue. Why might Catholic European artists choose
not to depict the latter scenes?
• (Answer: In the Catholic image presented, the Queen appears as a kind of supplicant, bringing gifts
as tribute to King Solomon, one of the great patriarchs of Judaism and Christianity. But the
Ethiopian myth takes this story further, claiming that Sheba fathered Solomon’s son and that
Ethiopia was the sole legitimate heir to the sacred power of Jerusalem and Solomon’s dynasty. This
was a claim that European Catholics would never have accepted. )
•
• 3. What might the “black” face of Queen Sheba, combined with her garb, suggest about European
“racial” consciousness in the twelfth century?
• (Answer: The Queen has a “black” face, reflecting European awareness of physical differences
between themselves and people from sub-Saharan Africa. However, she is a ruler, depicted as
dignified, and garbed as a European ruler might be. The image does not suggest that she is savage
or “barbarian,” in the way that Europeans of centuries later often thought of Africans.)

23. IV. African Kingdoms and Empires,
ca. 800–1500
D. The East African City-States
• 1. The Swahili culture, named after a Bantu language with a strong Arabic
influence, was distributed throughout the eastern coast of Africa.
• 2. Kilwa became the most powerful trading city on Africa’s east coast. The
island city and the nearby mainland were controlled by a sheik. Tribal chiefs
and councils of elders ruled the region farther inland.
• 3. Slaves were a major export from the East African coast. The establishment
of eastern Muslim communities increased the slave traffic.
E. Southern Africa and Great Zimbabwe
• 1. South Africa was isolated by mountain ranges and deserts. Natural resources
included precious metals and diamonds.
• 2. The earliest residents of southern Africa were hunter/gatherers. However,
the ruins of an ancient city named Great Zimbabwe indicate a wealthy
population that capitalized on the gold trade of South Africa.