Rise of West African Empires: Ghana

Rise of West African Empires

7.23 Analyze the growth of the kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai, including cities such as Djenne and Timbuktu as centers of trade, culture, and learning. 

​First! Geography Review!!!

7.21

​Identify and locate the geographical features of West Africa, including:
• Atlantic Ocean • Niger River • Djenne • The Sahara • Gulf of Guinea • Timbuktu

Multiple Choice

What river supported trade in West Africa?

• Niger

• Nile

• Yellow

• Tigris

Multiple Choice

Which physical feature is located at point A?

• Niger River

• Sahara Desert

• Mediterranean Sea

• Red Sea

Multiple Choice

Which physical feature is located at point B?

• Niger River

• Sahara Desert

• Mediterranean Sea

• Red Sea

Multiple Choice

Which letter shows the location of the Gulf of Guinea?

• A

• B

• C

• D

Multiple Choice

Which letter shows the location of the Atlantic Ocean?

• A

• B

• C

• D

Multiple Choice

Which letter shows the location of Timbuktu?

• A

• B

• C

• D

​Ghana

​Ghana was the FIRST West African Kingdom.


Ghana rose to power by controlling the trade of gold and salt.

Ghana's capital was the city of Koumbi Saleh.​

Multiple Choice

How did GHANA become wealthy?

• Stealing from neighboring villages

• Taxing the trade of gold and salt

• Spreading their religion to neighboring villages

• Controlling the gold and salt mines

Salt

-In the kingdom of Ghana, slaves were forced to cut large blocks of salt before camels hauled them to the savanna for trade.

Multiple Choice

Why would salt be important to the people of West Africa?

• It can be used to preserve meat.

• When we sweat we lose salt from our bodies, which can cause dehydration.

• Without enough salt in our diets, you could die.

• All of these.

• None of these.

Salt is more important than gold to the people of Africa. Without salt, they could die.

Gold

-In the kingdom of Ghana, women and children crawled deep into the gold mines to bring up gravel.

-Kings taxed gold before it could be traded.

​The Berbers are a nomadic group of traders who brought goods from North Africa across the Sahara.

They used camels for travel and as a source of food.​

​

​Berbers

The need for goods from the Mediterranean Sea led to trade routes "across the Sahara."​

​Trans-Saharan Trade Routes

​

Fill in the Blanks

What mineral was important for the survival of West Africans and was traded in exchange for gold?

Ghana lies between the area where gold and salt are mined. They don't own either the gold or the salt.

Ghana Grows with Taxing Traders

-They owned the land where traders would meet.

-They placed a tax on traders coming through the city.

-Over time, Ghana becomes extremely wealthy.

-Ghana established the idea of creating strong central governments.​

Multiple Select

What natural resources helped the Ghana kingdom become wealthy?

• gold

• grains

• salt

• copper

Multiple Choice

Powerful city states such as Ghana and Mali had strong central ____________.

• rulers

• governments

• religions

• buildings

Kings in Ghana

-Used money to buy a large military

-Allowed conquered kings to remain in charge of their territory

-Tunka Manin

What happened to Ghana?

-Invasion by a Muslim group called the Almoravids who destroyed the capital city, but established a connection to larger Muslim groups.

-Overgrazing

-Rebellion

Multiple Choice

Which of the following was NOT a reason for the fall of Ghana?

• Overgrazing

• Invasion

• Ancestor Worship

• Rebellion