Unit 6 African Empires

​Unit 6
West African Empires

By Rhonda Tharp

African Kingdoms & Empires

4000 BCE - Egyptian Old, Middle and New Kingdoms

1000 BCE Bantu Migrations

500 BCE - 940 CE Aksum Empire

800 - 600 Nubia Kingdom→ Meroe → Kush

600 - 1200 Ghana Empire

1200 - 1500 Mali Empire

1220-1450 Great Zimbabwe Kingdom

1400 - 1500 Songhai Empire

Draw

Draw a circle to show where the Ghana, Mali and Songhai Empires were located in Africa.

​Ghana, Mali & Songhai Empires of W Africa

What natural resources were traded in West Africa between
600 - 1500?

How did trade influence the social and economic developments of Western Africa Empires?

Chronological order for remembering the names of the Western African Empires that had a thriving economy based on Gold/Salt Trade.

​

G M S

Reorder

Reorder the following, putting them in chronological order.

• Ghana

• Mali

• Songhai

1

2

3

• 1
• 2
• 3

Vegetables
Ivory
Copper
Slaves
Salt
but most of all... GOLD

​

​Ghana, Mali & Songhai's Resources

Salt was critical for preserving food in the hot climate and for replenishing body salts lost through sweat on long desert journeys, making it a necessary commodity for survival.

​Why would Salt be important?

Multiple Choice

Western African Empires were rich with ____ and traded this for salt.

• Silver

• Copper

• Gold

• Diamonds

Open Ended

Explain why salt was so important to people in the Middle Ages.

Location, Location, Location

Because Ghana was strategically located between the salt mines of the Saharan Desert and the gold mines in West Africa, their empire grew from the 600s-1200s due to controlling trade routes.

Attacks from the Almoravids (Moroccans) and internal conflicts led to the fall of Ghana and next, Mansa Musa of Mali, took control.

Mansa Musa became the richest man in the entire world as he strengthened the Gold/Salt Trade.

Mansa Musa became Muslim when he became king of Mali and traveled to Mecca for the hajj.

While in Egypt, he passed out so much of his gold that he crashed their economy, making gold lose value. (1324)

He brought back scholars and built infrastructure, especially schools.

Cities like Timbuktu and Gao thrived economically, academically and socially.

​

​Mansa Musa's Effects on
West Africa

Multiple Select

Why was Mansa Musa famous? Mark all that apply.

• He converted to Islam

• He made the Hajj to Mecca

• He crashed Egypt's economy

• He brought back scholars and built schools

Multiple Choice

True or False: Mansa Musa was more rich than Bezos or Musk.

• True

• False

Open Ended

Explain why Mansa Musa is significant.

The Songhai Empire was growing nearby and when Mali's Civil Wars occurred, they moved in to take over. (1500s)

​

​Mali Experiences civil wars & becomes weakened

G M S = All 3 Empires controlled Trade

Between the 600s-1500s, the Western Empires of Ghana, Mali and Songhai controlled trade and served as "middle men" to the Gold Salt Trade.

Since these empires taxed merchants and travelers and had huge amounts of gold to trade for items like salt, these empires dominated the Western area of Africa.

The trade was lucrative and these empires were able to raise large militaries and fund schools and universities.

Multiple Select

What social improvements occurred during the Gold/Salt Trade in Africa? (Mark 2 answers)

• schools & universities were built

• centers for religion (Islam) were built

• expansion of the military

• expansion of the government

Do you earn a "Salary?"

The word "salary" comes from the Latin word "salarium," which was an allowance for Roman soldiers to buy salt. Salt was a valuable and essential item in ancient Rome for preserving food, and for this reason, it was sometimes used as a form of currency or payment.

​Do you think this phrase comes from the time of the gold/salt trade in Western Africa?

​The Songhai were defeated in 1591

...by the Moroccans to the north by using firearms.

By 1620, their empire had fallen into smaller competing states.

As European coast trading increased and European Exploration discovered new places to obtain goods like salt, the African Gold/Salt trade diminished.

Multiple Choice

When the Mali Empire had internal conflicts, ___ attacked. When the Songhai Empire was in decline ___ took advantage of this and defeated them.

• Egypt

• Rome

• Tunis (Carthage)

• Morocco

Draw

Label Ghana, Mali and Songhai on the map. (you can use G, M, S)

Label Morocco on the map. (use M)

Open Ended

Explain how the Gold/Salt Trade impacted West African Empires.