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West Africa Culture and Kingdoms Review

Total questions: 56

Worksheet time: 34mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

Which is the largest desert in the world?

a)

Gobi

b)

Sahara

c)

Kalahari

d)

Mojave

2.

______ is a group of people descended from the same ancestor.

a)

A generation

b)

A clan

c)

A community

d)

A team

3.

Who made a pilgrimage to Mecca and showcased the Mali empire?

a)

Mansa Musa

b)

King Ezana

c)

al-Kahina

d)

Sundiata

4.

What was the culture and language of East Africa?

a)

Songhai

b)

Islam

c)

Christianity

d)

Swahili

5.

What were the two highly valuable resources of West Africa?

a)

Salt and Gold

b)

Salt and Pepper

c)

Salt and Silver

d)

Gold and Sugar

6.

Which river gave rise to many West African civilizations?

a)
Nile
b)
Benue
c)
Niger
d)
Tigris
7.
How did the empire of Ghana become rich?
a)
trade routes
b)
taxing traders
c)
mining gold 
d)
trading salt
8.

Which city was the leading center of learning in West Africa?

a)

Mohenjo-Daro

b)

Gao

c)

Kumbi-Saleh

d)

Timbuktu

9.

Which African kingdom developed the earliest?

a)

Ghana

b)

Mali

c)

Songhai

d)

Harrapa

10.

Africa is the __________ largest continent in the world.

a)

1st

b)

2nd

c)

3rd

d)

4th

11.

Most early African tribes were (check all that apply):

a)

based around clans

b)

nomadic

c)

Muslims

12.

This trading kingdom's capital was Timbuktu.

a)

Ghana

b)

Mali

c)

Songhai

d)

Great Zimbabwe

13.

Who does this image depict?

a)

Mansa Musa

b)

Sundiata Keita

c)

Sunni Ali

d)

Ibn Battuta

14.

__________ was the last of the wealthy West African kingdoms.

a)

Ghana

b)

Mali

c)

Great Zimbabwe

d)

Songhai

15.
Mecca and Medina are important cities to which religion?
a)
Islam
b)
Christianity
c)
Buddhism
d)
Judaism
16.

Which of the following do Sundiata and Mansa Musa have in common?

a)
both converted to Islam
b)
both took the hajj
c)
both ruled the kingdom of Mali
d)
both were Christians
17.
Which river would have been the MOST used by the West African kingdoms?
a)
Nile
b)
Niger
c)
Tigris
d)
Euphrates
18.
Which kingdom came into power after Ghana?
a)
Mali
b)
Songhai
c)
Egypt
d)
Ghana Dos 
19.

Profession of faith

5 daily prayers

Donation to charity

Fasting

Pilgrimage to Mecca

a)
5 noble truths
b)
5 pillars of Islam
c)
8 fold Path
d)
5 commandments 
20.
What do Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all have in common?
a)

the same holy book

b)
monotheistic
c)

belief that Jesus was God's son

d)

fasting during Ramadan

21.
This is a picture of a __________.
a)
sahel
b)
savanna
c)
forest
d)
desert
22.

List the kingdoms from earliest to latest...

a)

Mali,Songhai,Ghana

b)

Songhai, Ghana, Mali

c)

Bantu, Ghana, Songhai

d)

Ghana, Mali, Songhai

23.

The storyteller, historian, and poet-musicians of Africa are known as which?

a)

Eloks

b)

Bards

c)

Galagos

d)

Griots

24.

Which North African group took over Ghana in 1076?

a)

Almoravids

b)

Berbers

c)

Malians

d)

Songhai

25.

Great Zimbabwe traded with places as far away as?

a)

Australia

b)

China

c)

Newfoundland

d)

Yucatan

26.

Which is the written language that was brought to West Africa by the Berbers?

a)

Arabic

b)

Ge'ez

c)

Niger

d)

Swahili

27.

What language developed when Arabic and Bantu fused?

a)

Andalusian

b)

Ge'ez

c)

Niger

d)

Swahili

28.

Who was the African queen who fought against the Portuguese over slavery?

a)

A'isha

b)

Nzinga

c)

Dahia al-Kahina

d)

Theodora

29.

Which empire(s) were located in blue?

a)

Aksum and Ethiopia

b)

Ghana, Mali and Songhai

c)

Ile-Ife

d)

Kongo

30.

What North African group destroyed the empire of Songhai?

a)

Almoravids

b)

English

c)

Moroccans

d)

Dutch

31.

sailboats used by Arab traders

a)

dhow

b)

astrolabe

c)

chisel

32.

Tracing family descent through mothers rather than fathers

a)

clan

b)

extended family

c)

matrilineal

33.

Military or political leader who has absolute authority over a Muslim country.

a)

Janissary

b)

Rajput

c)

Sultan

34.
What is the large body of water that separates Africa from Europe?
a)
The Medierranean Sea
b)
The Atlantic Ocean
c)
The Red Sea
d)
The Indian Ocean
35.

What ocean lies directly west of Africa 

a)

The Pacific Ocean

b)
The Atlantic Ocean
c)

The Southern

d)
The Indian Ocean
36.
Who was Askia the Great? 
a)

Songhai ruler who overthrew Sunni Baru

b)

Mali ruler who was overthrown by Sundiata

c)
Famous leader who took a pilgrimage to Mecca
d)
The first ruler of Ghana
37.
How did Mansa Musa spread Islam and education throughout Mali? 
a)

He stressed the importance of learning by setting up schools

b)
He spent gold on his trip to Mecca
c)
He visited the House of Wisdom in Baghdad
d)

He forbid non-Muslims from attending the schools he had built

38.

Why was salt so valuable in Medieval Africa?

a)

To flavor and to preserve food

b)

To keep ants off of food

c)

To use in making art

d)

Nobody knew how to find it

39.
What is kente? 
a)
A hand-woven, brightly colored West African fabric
b)
Repeating patterns of color
c)
Abstract art that is meant to represent reality
d)
A trade route through the desert
40.
How was history transmitted in medieval West Africa? 
a)

Orally by Griots

b)

Through books

c)

In songs

d)

Through the library in Timbuktu

41.

What West Africa/European trade item created long lasting global problems?

a)

gold

b)

salt

c)

slaves

d)

silk

42.

Which geographical feature was a barrier to African trade?

a)

Mount Kilimanjaro

b)

Amazon River

c)

Hadrian's Wall

d)

Sahara desert

43.

Why is it difficult to study the laws of West Africa?

a)

Very little information was written down

b)

they had no laws

c)

their laws were too difficult and complicated

d)

all of the information was lost over time

44.

As West Africans embraced Islam, how did this change their culture?

a)

They started churches and practiced democracy.

b)

They practiced matrilineal succession of property and leadership.

c)

They practiced new religious devotions and embraced new ideas of government and law.

45.
Gold and salt were important to West Africa because they?
a)
created great wealth and trade networks that spread new ideas
b)
they were vital to health in the region
c)
helped develop self-sufficiency and become wealthy
d)
increased trade, bring in great wealth and spread ideas such as Christianity
46.

What are the three vegetation zones of West Africa?

a)

desert, farmland, savannah

b)

desert, rainforest, savannah

c)

forest, mountains, desert

d)

rivers, forests, desert

47.

What happened along the banks of both the Niger and Nile Rivers?

a)

forest fires

b)

erosion

c)

civilizations grew

d)

people traveled

48.

Who was the leader who conquered Mali and began Songhai, the largest of the 3 African empires that we studied?

a)

Mansa Musa

b)

Sundiata Keita

c)

Sunni Ali

49.

What made it possible to develop trade with cultures across the desert?

a)

trading cities

b)

The domesticated camel and saddle

c)

The Niger River

d)

Muslim merchants

50.

The two main trade items of West Africa were gold and silver.

a)

True

b)

False

51.

Sundiata was also known as the "_______ king".

a)
b)
c)
d)
52.

Who was the founder of the religion of Islam?

a)

Mansa Musa

b)

Sundiata Kieta

c)

Mohammad (Muhamad)

d)

Judas

53.

One of the significant long-term impacts of the trans-Saharan gold and salt trade was

a)

the eventual depletion of gold in West African mines

b)

the spread of Islam to western African kingdoms such as Songhai

c)

the syncretic blend of Christianity and African relgions found in Ghana

d)

the large conflicts that arose between Muslim merchants and African kingdoms

54.

Most of what we know about the Mali emperor Sundiata (1217-1255) comes from

a)

cuneiform tablets found in the desert

b)

the Autobiography of Sundiata (1254)

c)

Oral traditions passed down over generations

d)

Marco Polo's My Travels with Sundiata (1321)

55.

Why were griots important in African history?

a)

They acted as diplomats on trading missions

b)

They created new ways of planting and harvesting crops

c)

They helped to unify all of the kingdoms under one empire

d)

They helped to pass on their society's knowledge and history

56.

Most of the religious ceremonies in ancient West Africa were performed to ________

a)

Maintain harmony with the living and spiritual realms

b)

Establish political power over neighboring rival tribes

c)

Entertain the villagers after a day of hard work

d)

Choose their political, spiritual, and military leaders