African Kingdoms Pretest

Early African kingdoms such as Ghana (800s-1000CE) and Mali (1200-1450CE) made most of their wealth by

• selling slaves to the Portuguese.
• trading gold across the Sahara Desert.
• trading salt for silk across the Indian Ocean.
• raiding European ships sailing in the Atlantic.

What three empires in western Africa flourished because of the trans-Saharan trade of gold and salt?

• Mali, Axum, Zimbabwe
• Ghana, Mali, Songhai
• Axum, Ethiopia, Ghana
• Timbuktu, Ethiopia, Mali

Which region of Africa is characterized by semi-arid, flat grasslands which are home to small villages of subsistence farmers?

• the Sahel
• the Sahara
• the savanna
• the Altiplano

Mansa Musa, the monarch of 14th century Mali, is MOST remembered for

• defending his African kingdom from slave traders.
• his conversion to Islam and his pilgrimage to Mecca.
• his expansion of the gold trade into central and Southern Africa.
• lending his massive military forces to the Arabs during the Crusades.

The Ghana Empire (800s-1000s CE) grew rich from trading gold and salt in which trading network?

• Silk Roads
• Trans-Saharan
• Trans-Atlantic
• Mediterranean Route

The Swahili trading cities would have been MOST likely to have engaged in trade with

• Greece.
• India.
• Rome.
• Spain.

From the 1000s CE through the 1400s CE, which of these goods would have been LEAST likely to have traveled out of western Africa towards the east along the trans-Saharan trade route?

• gold
• salt
• silver
• slaves

What would Sundiata and Mansa Musa have in common?

• Both converted to Christianity.
• Both made a pilgrimage to Mecca.
• Both ruled over the Mali Empire in Africa.
• Both established a new kingdom in sub-Saharan Africa.

Although all of the choices are correct to some degree, Mansa Musa's pilgrimage to Mecca BEST illustrates his

• belief in the Islamic faith.
• position as the king of the Mali Empire.
• goal to coordinate the trans-Saharan gold trade.
• establishment of universities in the Mali Empire.

What barrier to trade separated the empires of Ghana and Mali from the trading center of Egypt?

• the Red Sea
• the Nile River
• the Sahara Desert
• the Mediterranean Ocean