Unit 3 African Empires

African Empires

Same time as the Americas (Maya, Olmec, and Indigenous N. American peoples
Centered on native crops
Complex civilizations emerge around 1500 BCE
Contradicts the myth of Africa as 'primitive'

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Xtxq-kp0rEw?si=8vFYY8TNxq3lsWo-

3000 BCE region independently developed farming

West Africa

What do you notice about North Africa?

Multiple Choice

What vital crop was first discovered in Sub-Saharan Africa?

• Coffee

• Cocoa

• Juniper

• Currants

What breakthrough catapulted W. Africa into a new era
of development?

Open Ended

What breakthrough catapulted W. Africa into a new era
of development?

The Camel!

Domestication of the camel in around 300 CE revolutionized trade across the Sahara. Can travel 50 miles a day for days, go a month without water

Multiple Choice

Camels were vital to the growth and expansion of West African civilizations because:

• They were fun to ride

• They were faster than horses, making them very important in war

• The could cross large desert areas such as the Sahara

• They quickly became a status symbol for the wealthiest West Africans

One hump
Native to Africa
No wild Dromedaries in over 1,000 years

​​Dromedary

Two humps
Native to Central Asia
Both wild and domestic variants exist today

​​Bactrian

Multiple Choice

A Dromedary camel:

• Has two humps on its back

• Has only one hump on its back

• Still exists in the wild, as well as domestication

• Is native to Central Asia

Emerged in around 7th C, possibly as early as the 4th C
Soninke (so-NINK-ee) people; skilled traders and craftsmen
Rose to prominence by
trans-Saharan trade
between Arab salt traders
to the north, and gold/ivory
producers south of the Niger
Valley. Became known as the
Land of Gold, and its Kings
the Lords of Gold

Ghana: First of the great W. African Empires

Multiple Choice

In ancient times, soldiers were paid with _____, leading to "_____" as a modern term for a worker's pay.

• gold / money

• salt / salary

• salt / salt of the earth

• gold / goldings

Found in quantity in West & Central Africa. The King owned all the nuggets found in mines (though others could trade in gold dust). Traded to the north for salt (and other goods)

​​Gold

Found in the Sahara as rock salt (like the slabs above) either in surface deposits or shallow mines. Traded to the south for gold and occasionally slaves

​​Salt

​​Gold and the 'other gold'

But there was another resource the Ghana had....what do you think it was?

Open Ended

What other natural resource do you imagine might have been a HUGE part of Ghana's virtually unstoppable growth?

RIch deposits on West & Central Africa, and the Soninke craftsmen who knew how to work it gave Ghana a reliable source of weapons.
When the Ghana wanted to expand, nothing could really stop them!

​​Iron

There is another metal....

Multiple Choice

These metals gave Ghana its huge advantage:

• Iron and steel

• Gold and silver

• Gold and iron

• Gold and steel

Ghana enjoyed a unique set of advantages: a rich trade in goods that were constantly in demand, reliable agriculture to produce their food, and the military strength to defend it.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Xtxq-kp0rEw?si=8vFYY8TNxq3lsWo-

Trade + farming + iron weapons = POWER

Ghana

Muslim Berbers began to establish their own trade for gold to meet growing demand.
Warlords began fighting for control of trade, eventually weakening the empire

The Berbers

Ghana's decline

Sundiata: Hungering Lion

Malinke

The Lion of the Malinke

The Malinke were a small tribe that lived north of Ghana. They had been violently conquered by the Sossos. They struggled for their freedom, but failed until the 'Hungering Lion' rose to challenge them

Though born the son of
a warrior king, he was small and sickly, unable to walk. When Sossos' Sumanguru killed the rest of his brothers, he spared Sundiata as an example of the weakness of the Malinke...that may have been a mistake...

(​Sundiata: soon-JAHT-ah)

https://youtu.be/pbHc8elzpk4?si=QAug_4S8gT7ZxApF

The Malinke became known as the Mali, and they decimated their former Sossos overlords

Mali