West African Geography and History

an ancient West African city built along the Niger River

• Djenne Jenno

• Mali

• Niger River

• Egypt

the longest river in West Africa, and a kind of trading highway in early times

• Euphrates River

• Tigris River

• Niger River

• Nile River

a people living in West Africa in the 500s B.C.E. who mastered ironworking

• Ghana

• Nok

• Muslims

• Aztecs

a large, hot desert in North Africa that covers about 3.5 million square miles

• Sahel

• Gobi

• Mojave

• Sahara

a zone of semidesert, south of the Sahara, where short grasses, small bushes, and a few trees grow

• Savanna

• Sahara

• Sahel

• Syria

a vegetation zone of tall grasses and scattered trees, with a long rainy season

• Savanna

• Sahel

• Sahara

• Assyrian Empire

the process of melting ore to produce iron or other metals from it

• Smelting

• melting

• Alloy

• Iron

a medieval civilization and empire in West Africa

• Syria

• Ghana

• Cordoba

• Damascus

a family line traced through the mother

• Patrilineal

• Patriarchy

• Matrilineal

• Matriarchy

trade between peoples north and south of the Sahara

• Silk Road

• Roman Roads

• Trans-Saharan Trade

• Chasquis