Social Studies Review - African Kingdoms

In African history, the main purpose of a "griot" was to

• Play instruments and keep alive the music of the people.
• 
  Tell stories and keep alive the history of the people.
• Teach math and science  and keep alive the education of the people.
• Perform surgeries and keep people and alive.

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.

_____ was the first of the great trading states to emerge in the area south of the Sahara in West Africa.

• Ghana

• Axum

• Nubia

• Sierra Leone

What river helped the traders in Mali transport their goods?

• Nile River
• Yangtze River
• River Thames
• Niger River

Which of the following factors is the main reason that Ghana became a powerful empire in West Africa?

• It had extremely productive agriculture
• It controlled the gold and salt trade in that region
• It traded extensively with European countries
• It was the first African empire to industrialize

The trade of which two products shaped the early history of North and West Africa?

• ivory and salt
• salt and gold
• silk and gold
• spices and ivory

The kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, & Songhai prospered primarily due to their 

• exchanges with Indian ports
• direct access to the Arabian Sea
• control of trade routes
• abundance of diamonds

What animal helped merchants cross the Sahara Desert?

• Horses
• Camels
• Mules
• Elephants

Why was salt so valuable?

• It was a good fertilizer for crops.

• It was used for gold mining.

• It kept food from spoiling.

• All of the above.

Although they were located in Africa, the Songhai and Mali Empires both adopted the main religion of the Middle East at the time, which was:

• Judaism

• Christianty

• Buddhism

• Islam