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African Trade Empires

Total questions: 18

Worksheet time: 9mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

What is the purpose of the Great Green Wall?

a)

To keep the Sahara desert from spreading farther south, and allow more land to grow crops.

b)

To keep dangerous animals out of southern Africa.

c)

To create a 'rain shadow,' and allow more dry air into southern Africa.

d)

No one knows. It just appeared one day.

2.

What commodities (goods) did people trade, in the West African trade empires?

a)

gold

b)

salt

c)

cloth

d)

all of these, and more!

3.

During what centuries were the African trade empires most powerful (bigger than most European kingdoms?)

a)

the 1900s until the present day

b)

800 BC through AD 100

c)

the 500s through the 1300s

d)

so long ago that historians can't say for sure

4.

Which was the first of the great trading empires?

a)

Mali

b)

Songhai

c)

Great Zimbabwe

d)

Ghana

5.

Which two commodities were Ghana's biggest moneymakers?

a)

cloth and books

b)

salt and gold

c)

ivory and copper

d)

weapons and salt

6.

In the A.D. 1200s, which other trading power conquered Ghana?

a)

the North Pole

b)

Mali

c)

Songhai

d)

Great Zimbabwe

7.

What is a griot?

a)

a storyteller

b)

an economic leader

c)

a train of camels and / or horses used to transport trade goods, equipment, and people

d)

a kind of mineral mined in the desert, and usually traded for food

8.

Sundiata Keita, the king responsible for the rise of Mali, conquered territory that stretched from where to where?

a)

the Atlantic Ocean to Timbuktu

b)

the North Pole to the South Pole

c)

the Pacific Ocean to the city of Gao

d)

Songhai to Great Zimbabwe

9.

Who was Mali's most powerful king?

a)

Sundiata Keita (the 'Lion Prince')

b)

Tutankhamun

c)

Mansa Musa

d)

Seti IV

10.

Mansa Musa is especially famous for a journey he took. What was that journey called?

a)

the Great Pilgrimage

b)

the Grand Caravan

c)

the hajj

d)

the Decathalon

11.

What IS the 'hajj'?

a)

a religious journey to Mecca, which all Muslims are supposed to undertake at least once in their lives.

b)

a translator

c)

a kind of map

d)

a kind of book

12.

During his hajj, Mansa Musa did something that got the world's attention. What was it?

a)

He walked the whole way

b)

In the middle of the journey, he wandered off for 3 weeks, and no one knew where he was.

c)

He gave away massive amounts of gold

d)

He conquered every city along the way.

13.

Besides going on his hajj, what other contributions did Mansa Musa make to the achievements of Mali?

a)

He built many mosques and schools

b)

none

c)

He built a road across the desert.

d)

He made every single person in his kingdom wealthy.

14.

The city of Great Zimbabwe was once home to how many people?

a)

1,000

b)

700

c)

18,000

d)

180,000

15.

The city of Great Zimbabwe was the center of ______________________________.

a)

attention

b)

a great trade network

c)

a wheel-shaped system of roads connecting all of southern Africa

d)

the solar system

16.

What are the most famous feature of the ruins of Great Zimbabwe?

a)

huge, curving walls of stone

b)

stone columns

c)

a canal bringing water from the mountains

d)

a well, deeper than anything else ever dug

17.

Colonizing forces (people from Europe who took over parts of Africa, including Zimbabwe) tried to convince the world that African people had NOT been built by African people. How did they do this?

a)

They forced historians to write lies.

b)

They spent huge amounts of money to publish articles.

c)

They went on TV.

d)

They destroyed the walls so no one could check their made-up 'facts.'

18.

This racist lie has since been debunked (disproven). By whom?

a)

scientists and historians

b)

Mr. Poore's extremely intelligent 6th grade students

c)

archaeologists from the University of Sankhore

d)

satellite technology experts