Aksum, Ghana, Mali, Songhai, Zimbabwe

1
African Kingoms

• Aksum, Ghana, Mali, Songhai, Zimbabwe

2
Aksum (Axum)

• Arabians crossed the Red Sea and intermarried
  with people from modern-day Ethiopia
• These people created the kingdom of Aksum

3
Aksum gains power

• In the 300s AD, Aksum destroyed Kush, becoming
  the most powerful kingdom in Eastern Africa

4
A trading center

• Aksum becomes an important trading center for
  goods around the Mediterranean, Africa, and Asia
• Many new ideas introduced there, including
  Christianity

5
Aksum converts to Christianity

• When a king named Ezana took the throne around
  400 AD, he converted to Christianity and made
  Christianity the official religion of Aksum
• There are still millions of Christians in this
  region today.

6
Islamic Invasions

• The Muslims invasions into North Africa after
  Muhammads death cut into Aksums territory and
  isolated it
• Aksum would endure and become Ethiopia, but would
  never have the power it once held.

7
Swahili

• Refers to the people who live as far north as
  Somalia in the Horn of Africa and as far south
• Indian Ocean trade they are linked with
  Arabs
• Blend of Arab Culture
• Islam

8
West Africa

• Below the Sahara Desert is a semi-dry region
  characterized by grasslands called the Sahel
  (also called Savannah)
• The region is rich in gold deposits

9
Gold-Salt Trade

• The Sahel region lacks salt deposits, and so
  people there had to trade for salt from the
  Sahara Desert
• Several powerful empires developed around the
  trade of gold and salt and would control much of
  Western Africa for almost 1,000 years

10
Camels

• Camels allowed the gold-salt trade to be
  successful. They allowed people to transport
  great quantities of gold and salt longer
  distances.
• Other pack animals cannot cross the Sahara, but
  camels can because they can go up to 40 days
  without water.

11
Ghana

• No one is really sure when the Ghana kingdom
  began, but they do know that it became very
  powerful
• It is located between the Niger River and the
  Sahara Desert
• Ghana became powerful because of its control of
  gold in the gold-salt trade across the Sahara
  Desert

12
Ghana
13
Ghana declines

• Ghana eventually declined in power, mostly
  because it lost its control of the gold trade and
  because new gold mines were found farther east

14
Animism

• The worship of nature spirits- spirits in plants,
  animals, sun, water, etc.
• People from Ghana worshipped an animist religion
• Still prominent in parts of Africa today

15
Mali

• As Ghana declined in the 1200s AD, the kingdom
  of Mali gained in power.
• Mali was centered around these new salt mines
  east of Ghana
• Malis powerful king Sundiata Keita built an even
  larger empire
• Several of its kings were very devout Muslims,
  even making the pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj).

16
Timbuktu

• Mali established the city, Timbuktu, which was a
  center for trade and learning.
• Universities were established to promote learning
• Many converted to Islam, and built mosques.
• Others incorporated parts of Islam into their
  animist beliefs

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Mali and Timbuktu
18

• Get out your books to page 416
• Read the primary source
• What does the word abhorrence mean in this
  passage?
• What do the people of Mali do to guilty people?
• How do you think this affects the feeling of
  safety in Mali?

19
Songhai

• Eventually, Mali declined, and Songhai took its
  place and built an even larger empire
• Also was also based on the gold-salt trade
• And, it inherited much of Malis blend of Islamic
  and animist traditions

20
Songhai
21
Zimbabwe

• So what do we knowabout Zimbabwe?

Z
L
22
Zimbabwe means stone houses
23
Zimbabwe abandoned

• No one knows why Zimbabwe was abandoned, but they
  think it was because the land was over grazed and
  the soil depleted

24
Your Mission

• Draw a map of Africa and
• Indicate the locations of the kingdoms of Egypt,
  Kush, Aksum (Axum), Ghana, Mali, Songhai, and
  Zimbabwe
• The location of the gold-salt trade
• Indicate the years that Aksum, Ghana, Mali,
  Songhai, and Zimbabwe were in power
• Indicate the religion of each
• Indicate how each gained economic power