African Civilizations Test

What river helped the traders in Mali transport their goods?

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

This Muslim leader in Mali started to spread Islam through west Africa:

• Sundiata
• Mansa Musa
• Askia the Great
• Muhammad Ture

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

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

In Africa, griots became less necessary once societies began to

• develop instruments

• develop farming

• develop a written language

• develop a system of math

What natural resource in West Africa was valued as much as gold?

• Salt

• Iron

• Ivory

• Kola nuts

What were the two most prominent religions within West Africa?

• Animism and Judaism

• Christianity and Islam

• Islam and animism

• Hinduism and Christianity