3.  Fossilevidence
shows that the
earliest humans
originate in Africa
and spread across
the globe.

5.  Mary Leakey’s team
discovers prehistoric
footprints in the
Olduvai Gorge,
Tanzania in 1978.
 These footprints
belong to hominids—
creatures that walk
upright
 walking upright on
 two legs is also known
as bipedal.

6.  Donald Johanson team
finds female hominid in
Ethiopia in 1974
 Nicknames 3.5 million-
year-old skeleton ―Lucy‖
 In 1994, another skeleton
was found. It was
nicknamed Ardi and
pushes the earliest
known hominid back to
4.4 million years ago!

7.  Lucy and Ardi are the
earliest known hominids
(creatures that walk
upright) and belong to the
species australopithecines.
 Walking upright helps them
travel farther distances
more easily.
 They also develop an
opposable thumb.

8.  Aksum- powerful trading
civilization from circa 100-
1100’s A.D.
 Crossroads of major trading
routes & civilization
 Controlledthe Nile’s trade
routes as well the route
from the Red Sea to North
Africa
 This made them rich!
 Gold, ivory, animal skins,
perfumes, slaves were traded
with Mediterranean and
Southwest Asia

10.  In the 700’s, Muslims
from the Middle East
started to conquer and
occupy North Africa.
 Gradually, Islam
became the dominant
religion and Arabic was
the main language
spoken.
 The Muslims built large
mosques and
universities in Eastern
and Northern Africa.

11.  Some cultures, such as the
Masai, (farmers, herders
and hunters), kept
traditional African ways of
life.
 The Masai live on the
grasslands of the savannahs
and practice a simple way
of life and continue to do so
today.
 The Masai people also
practice traditional African
or animistic religions.

12.  While many African’s
converted to Islam and
others remained
traditional, some mixed the
influences.
 One of these mixed cultures
is Swahili.
 Swahili developed as a need
for communication arose
between Africans and people
from the Middle East.
 ―Swahili‖  ―of the coast‖
 Swahili language is a mix of
traditional African and
Arabic.

13.  Eventually, the kingdom
of Aksum fell and gave
way to the Kingdom of
Ethiopia.
 Many people Ethiopia did
not convert to Islam,
instead they kept
Christianity as their main
religion.
 This isolates Ethiopia
from their neighbors in
North Africa, but creates
a unique culture.

14.  King Lalibela of Ethiopia had a vision
Jerusalem (which was under Muslim
control at the time) in a dream.
 He then ordered the building of
many churches to help build a ―New
Jerusalem‖.
 Many of the churches are carved
right out of stone in the sides of
cliffs.
 No one really knows how it was done
as records have been lost.
 He simply is quoted as saying that he
―carved these churches out of stone
with only the help of angels.‖

17.  More currently, Ethiopia was
one of the only countries in
Africa to successfully resist
and remain independent from
European rule.
 Ethiopia remained free by
buying modern weapons from King Melenik II
France & Russia and
defeating the Italians to
remain independent.
 Because of this, Ethiopia has
been able to hold on to it’s
own unique individuality.

18.  1970s – most of East Africa had regained its independence
from Europe
 Internal disputes and civil wars
 Ex: colonialism inflamed the peoples of Rwanda and helped to
cause a bloody conflict in the 1990s.
 Causes: European colonial powers had not prepared East
African nations for independence
 Ethnic boundaries created by the Europeans forced cultural
divisions that had not existed before colonialism.
 Cultural divisions = internal conflicts among native groups.

20.  Some of the first
civilizations in
Africa arise along
the 4,100-mile
Nile River on
narrow strip of
fertile land in
Egypt.

21.  Yearly flooding
brings water and
fertile black
mud—silt
 Farmers build
irrigation system
for wheat and
barley crops
 Egyptians worship
Nile as a god
The blue figure is the Nile god Hapi

23.  To the Egyptians,
kings are gods;
Egyptian god-kings
called pharaohs
 Pharaohs control
religion,
government, army,
well-being of
kingdom
 Government based
on religious authority
-theocracy

24.  Narmer – Unites Egypt
 Amenhotep – Changes Egypt
from polytheism to monotheism
 Nefertiti – Beautiful wife of
Amenhotep

25.  Tutankhamen – Son of Amenhotep.
Famous because his tomb was
found completely intact
 Khufu – Built the Great Pyramid at
Giza
 Ramses II – Built many elaborate
temples. Sent Moses and the
Hebrews into exodus.

26.  Kings believed to rule
even after death; have
eternal life force, ka
 Build elaborate tombs,
pyramids, to meet
needs after death
 Pyramids made with
blocks of stone, 2−15
tons each; 481 ft. high
 Kingdom had
leadership,
government;
economically strong

27.  The pyramid is estimated to  Every angle in the base is
have about 2,300,000 stone exactly 90 degrees,
blocks weighing from 2-30 forming a perfect square.
tons each with some  Even though it is located
weighing as much as 70 tons. in Egypt, where
 The mortar used is of an temperatures can get well
unknown origin. It has been over 100 degrees
analyzed and it's chemical Fahrenheit, the
composition is known but it temperature inside The
can't be reproduced. It is Great Pyramid remains
stronger than the stone and constant at 68 degrees F.
still holding up today This is the same as Earth’s
average temperature.

28.  The pyramid was once covered
with a smooth mantel stone
that would reflect the sun up  Egyptians wrote
to 100 miles away. about and kept
 Even though the builders of the records of
great pyramid did not have EVERYTHING!
accurate measuring
devices, great pyramid is
However, there is no
within 1 centimeter of being written record of
perfectly level. them ever building
 The Great Pyramid is located the pyramids. Why?
at exactly 31 degrees north
and 31 degrees east.

30.  Egyptians believe in
2,000 gods and
goddesses—
polytheistic
 Believe in life after
death; person judged
by deeds at death
 Develop
mummification,
process that prevents
body from decaying
 Book of the Dead
contains prayers and
spells, guides soul
after death

31.  Ra – The Sun God
 Anubis – God of the Dead

32.  Osiris – God of the Afterlife
 Isis – Goddess of Protection
 Horus – Son of Osiris and Isis,
God of the Sky

33.  Religion played a pivotal role in all aspects of
Egyptian life, including death.
 Death was an important phase in a person’s
life.
 Ancient Egyptians believed death was just a
transitional phase that preceded a better life
in the next world.
 They believed that a person could only reach
their full potential in the afterlife.
 The belief in rebirth after death became a
driving force in their funeral practices.

34.  There were several steps
in mummification and it
was a complicated
process. The following are
the steps in embalming
(preserving) the body:
1.The brain needed to be
removed. Egyptians had no idea
what the brain was for so
therefore they went ahead and
removed it. The typically stuck
a hooked tool up through the
nose, scrambled the brain and
then pulled it out.

35. 2.Next to be removed were
the internal organs: the
liver, the lungs, the
stomach, and the intestines.
A small slit was made on the
left side of the
abdomen, then the
embalmers reached in and
pulled out the organs. Each
of the organs was
individually
mummified, then stored in
little coffins called canopic
jars. There were four
canopic jars, one for each of

36. 3.The body was placed on
a slab and covered with
salt. The slab was tilted
so that the water would
run off into a basin. This
removed moisture and
prevented rotting. The
body was taken outside
and let dry for about
forty days. After the
body was completely
dried out, the wrapping
of the body began.

37. 4.Wrapping the body was a
painstaking process.
Hundreds of yards of linen
were used to wrap the
body, and each toe and
finger was wrapped
separately. A final shroud
was placed on the mummy
to keep all the wrappings
together. Mummia was
added to the shroud to
"glue" it all together.
(That's where the word
"mummy" comes from.)

38. 5.Finally, the body was
placed in an ornate,
painted and decorative
coffin before the final
funeral procession and
burial.

39.  Inhieroglyphics writing system, pictures
represent words or ideas
 Paperlike sheets made from papyrus reeds
used for writing

41.  Up till the early 1800’s,
no one could read
Egyptian hieroglyphics
until the Rosetta Stone
was found in the town of
Rosetta, Egypt.
 It had texts from 3
different languages;
hieroglyphics, demotic
and Greek.
 Using the Greek text, we
could now understand
Egyptian hieroglyphics.

42.  Egyptians invent calendar
of 365 days and 12
months
 Develop system of
written numbers and a
form of geometry
 Skilled engineers and
architects construct
palaces, pyramids
 Egyptian medicine
famous in the ancient
world

43.  Egyptian pharaohs,
would lose control of
Egypt around 2200
BC.
 Some pharaohs gain
power back but the
struggle would
continue.
 A new age would be
ushered in when the
Greeks take control.

44.  To the south of Egypt, another
civilization was growing, the
Kingdom of Nubia.
 The Nubians were in close
contact with the Egyptians.
 They accepted many ideas
and traditions from Egypt.
 They even began to build
pyramids, to worship Egyptian
gods, to wear Egyptian
clothing, and to use a form of
writing that was similar to the
writing used in Egypt.

45.  Eventually, Muslim
traders made their
way into North
Africa from the
Middle East.
 Muslim traders
introduce camels
to traverse across
the Sahara.
 Much of Northern
Africa converts to
Islam.

46.  Today, Islam is the
major cultural and
religious influence in
North Africa.
 Life is generally
centered around the
males.
 Few women work after
marriage
 Generally eat & pray
separately

47.  Black Gold-
 Most North African countries
economies are based on oil first, then
farming & mining second.

49.  In southeast Africa a the
gold and ivory trade helped
people in southeast Africa
grow wealthy and establish
a big city around 1000 C.E.
known as Greater
Zimbabwe.
 Greater Zimbabwe became
a powerful economic,
political and religious
center during it’s time.

50.  East Africans had an
extensive trade
network.
 They traded with
Europe, the Middle
East, India and even as
far as China!
 Chinese porcelain has
been found in places
like Greater Zimbabwe.

51.  In the early 1800’s, the
British start to settle in
South Africa.
 This brings them into
conflict with the Zulus,
a large tribe of people
in South Africa.
 The Zulus and the
British fight several
wars until the British
finally defeat them in
1887.

52.  After the defeat of
the Zulus, both the
British and Dutch
(Boers) settle in South
Africa.
 Eventually, they will
fight over territory
and slaves in South
Africa.
 Once again, the British
win and establish the
Union of South Africa.
(1910)

53.  Being the dominant
culture in South
Africa, the British
supported a social
divide amongst the
people in South
Africa.
 Beginning in 1948,
there was a
separation of the
races that lasted
until the early 1990’s.

55.  In the west, there was a much more
modest people known as Bantus.
 The Bantus were West African
farmers and herders who migrated
about 2000 years ago!
 This is a key event in African
history.
 Look at the Bantu migrations on the
map
 Where did they go?
 They spoke Bantu language.
 They spread their knowledge about
farming, ironworking,
domesticating animals.
 Bantu influence is still around, in
fact, hundreds of languages in
Africa are based on Bantu.

57.  Salt was very rare in most of Africa,
but was highly valued
 Need salt to retain water, preserve food
 The Sahara in Northern Africa had lots
of salt
 Western Africa (Ghana, Nigeria,
Senegal) had almost no salt, but lots
of gold.
 In fact, up until the 1300’s, 60% of
the world’s gold came from Ghana!
 Many times, they would trade a
pound of gold for a pound of salt!

58.  Western African’s
would trade with
Muslims from North
Africa in great
trading centers such
as Timbuktu.
 Muslims introduced
written language,
coins, business
methods,
technology, etc. to Timbuktu was built where trade routes
the west. intersected and was once a very
 Some people (not prosperous trading center.
all) adopted Islam.

59.  In
the 1700’s, Slave Trade became a large
enterprise European rulers wanted slaves for
their plantation farms
 Millions were shipped off
 Many died en-route

60.  Before the Europeans entered the scene, most slaves
in Africa were war captives.
 Europeans bought slaves in return for guns, gold, and
other European goods.
 Many African rulers saw this as an opportunity to
make money and joined in the slave trade.
 They moved inland to capture people and brought
them to the coast to sell to European traders.
 The slave trade depopulated areas, deprived many
African communities of their youngest and strongest
men and women, and increased local warfare as
different traders and rulers competed with each
other and raided neighbors for slaves.

63.  Because of European
colonialism, slave
trade, etc. many West
African countries went
from being the centers
of culture, art, music
and vibrant trade to a
country that was torn
apart by war and slave
trade.
 Today, the people
suffer from corrupt
governments, little
infrastructure, poor
education, war, famine
and disease.