Chapter 8 Africa & The Americas

I. Africa  The history of early Africa has been shaped by its geography and its isolation from other continents.  Culture was less technologically advanced than the Mesopotamian Cultures  Africa did have wealthy empires that conducted extensive trade during Europe's Medieval period.

A) Topography and Climate  The climate and the topography of Africa have helped shape its history  Almost all of Africa is a series of plateaus with elevations gradually increasing from west to east across the continent  The Sahara Desert and the smooth coastline of Africa limited cultural contact and trade between Africa and the continents to its north.  Climate and topography also contributed to the diversity of cultures and languages.  The Great Rift Valley was a major pathway for the movement of people from north to south in the ancient history of Africa  Bantu-speaking people migrated from Central Africa to the south and east between 500 A.D. and 1500 A.D., spreading their languages and cultures, often displacing more primitive societies B) Culture  The extended family was the basic unit of producing, distributing, and consuming food and other goods in subsistence economies  The people followed traditional religions that were unique to each ethnic group  A common feature of the animist religions was a belief that spirits inhabit nature and natural objects.  By the late 1400s the religion of Islam had spread across North Africa

C) African Kingdoms  knowledge of most sub-Saharan civilizations is limited by their lack of a written language  Historians must rely upon archaeological findings, oral traditions, and the observations made by people of other cultures  Observations by people of other cultures may be distorted by prejudices and stereotypes because they reflect the values of the observers. 1. Kush  Established by the Nubians  located in what is now the nation of Sudan  established an independent kingdom by 1000 B.C.  The capital of the kingdom shifted south to Meroe which became a major iron smelting and trade center around 200 B.C 2. Axum  Conquered Kush in 350 AD  Carried on extensive trade with the Middle East and northwest Africa  Converted to Christianity in the 4th century, but went into a decline when the spread of Islam cut off its trade through the Red Sea. 3. Ghana 600 A.D  grew wealthy by taxing the trans-Saharan trade.  powerful army By., Ghana's rulers  conducted diplomatic relations with the kingdoms of Europe Ghana was succeeded by 4. Mali  13th century  Mali's ruler brought scholars and architects from Islamic nations to establish a major university at Timbuktu that became widely recognized as a major center of learning  the wealth of Mali became known throughout the Muslim world when Mansa Musa made a pilgrimage to Mecca with a large entourage that dispensed gold lavishly along the way 5. Songhai  Askiya Muhammad ruled the Songhai Empire from 1493 to 1528 6. Zimbabwe  Wealth was based on copper and gold brought from its mines to the merchant cities of the coast of East Africa  It was one of the most important of the interior kingdoms of Southern Africa from the 12th to the 15th century