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WorksheetsWest Africa in the Middle Ages
Total questions: 54
Worksheet time: 40mins
How did the growth of trade impact Islam?
Islam spread as people from the Middle East refused to trade.
Islam lost supporters as West African kingdoms conquered the Middle East.
Islam spread as trading networks grew.
Islam lost supporters as religion lost cultural importance.
What are groups of merchants and camels that travel together called?
trains
bands
caravans
troops
Which of these deserts is located in West Africa?
Gobi
Nevada
Sahara
Red Velvet
Which is the name of the major river in West Africa?
Niger
Nile
Yellow
Tigris
Which ocean is located off the coast of West Africa?
Arctic
Atlantic
Indian
Pacific
A griot is a
holy journey
group of people on a long trip through the desert
storyteller and entertainer in Ancient Africa
belief in spirits present in animals, plants, trees that are helpful or harmful to an individual
animism
shaman
indigenous
matrilineal
placing a carved statue representing a deceased family member in a special place and providing food offerings is an example of
ancestor worship
animism
indigenous
griots
a people, culture, or religion that is native to a particular geographical location
shamans
kami
griots
indigenous
Which of the following religions are most similar to the INDIGENOUS religious practices of West Africans?
Buddhism
Shintoism
Hinduism
Islam
What roles did Griots fulfill? (Choose two)
kept historical records
entertained by dancing and telling stories
lead villages as Shamans and Chiefs
served as a general if a village ever went to war.
What is the physical environment of the Sahara?
a rainforest
a grassland
a desert
a zone between desert and grassland
What river is indicated by the "A" on the map?
the Mississippi River
the Niger River
the Congo River
the Nile River
What body of water is indicated by the "2" on the map?
the Pacific Ocean
the Indian Ocean
the Gulf of Guinea
the Atlantic Ocean
The Gulf of Guinea is __________ of the Sahara Desert.
north
south
east
west
Along which physical feature did many trading cities develop?
Deserts
Mountains
Rivers
Rainforests
Africa, Europe, Asia
(a)
What is an impact of the establishment of Trans-Saharan Trade Routes in West Africa?
Europeans traveled to West Africa to study in Timbuktu
Islam and Arabic spread to West African centers of trade
Horses were transported to West Africa to carry goods.
Barber tribes were conquered and cease to exist.
What is animism?
a religion in which humans worship spirits
a religion in which humans worhip animals
a belief that gods - always nearby - influence the lives of people
a belief that spirits - present in animals, plants and trees - help the living
What was the key to the success of the West African kingdoms?
Military
Trade
Religion
What were the three most important trade goods in West Africa?
Salt
Slaves
Copper
Linen
Gold
Which of these is necessary for survival, especially in the desert?
Salt
Gold
Slaves
Clothes
Which two terms describe the Kingdom of Ghana relative to other West African kingdoms?
Earliest
Smallest
Largest
Youngest
What were the two most important cities in Mali?
Gao
Djenné
Timbuktu
Abijan
Rome
What is the importance of Timbuktu and Djenné?
They were the capital cities of the Kingdoms of Ghana and Mali.
They had large gold and salt mines in them that made the kingdom wealthy.
They strengthened cultural and trading connections between West Africa and the world.
Which West African kingdom had a ruler named Mansa Musa?
Ghana
Mali
Songhai
What was the significant effect of Mansa Musa’s pilgrimage to Mecca?
Military leaders eventually controlled Mali
Islamic Culture and learning expanded in Mali
The trading of salt and gold ENDED
True or False: Salt was used to help preserve food in West Africa.
True
False
Buying and selling goods and services.
Smelting
Trade
Commodity
Exchange
The first West African ruler to practice Islam devoutly.
Mansa Musa
Griot
Folk Tale
Muhammad
A group of traders traveling together.
Smelting
Profit
Caravan
Camels
A talented poet-musician of the Mande people, who tells stories, sings songs, and recites poems to share history
Commodity
Oral Tradition
Genealogies
Griot
In what order did the three great West African Kingdoms occur historically?
Mali - Songhai - Ghana
Songhai - Mali - Ghana
Ghana - Mali - Songhai
Ghana - Songhai - Mali
What was the backbone of the economy for all three West African Kingdoms?
The ivory trade
The gold-salt trade
The silk trade
The slave trade
What African King was one of the richest men to ever live and famously went on Hajj in 1324?
Sunni Ali
Mansa Sulayman
Leo Africanus
Mansa Musa
What was the city of Timbuktu known for in the Middle Ages?
Breakfast Pastries
Its many centers of learning
long-haired house cats
as a center for metal working
What was a major use for salt in the Middle Ages?
Food preservation
De-icing roadways
Mummifying human bodies
Manufacturing salt water
The _____ River is a major West African river that runs through a number of different environments and was central to trade in the Ghana, Mali, and Songhai Empires.
Nile
Potomac
Tigris
The West African Kingdoms were protected from invasion to the north by the ______ Desert.
Gobi
Rub Al Khali "Empty Quarter"
Taklimakan
What goods were traded in the trans-Saharan trade? Check all that apply.
Gold
Teachings of Islam
Salt
Porcelain
What was the main way in which Islam spread to West Africa?
Trade
Conquest
Sufi Missionaries
Islam began in West Africa
An example of cultural diffusion along trade routes of ancient West Africa would be...
Apartheid
spread of the Ebola Virus
spread of Islam
wars between rival tribes
How did Mansa Musa establish West Africa as a center of Islamic culture?
He spent so much gold on his haij that it upset the economy of Egypt for years.
He extended Mali’s territory and made Mali one of the largest empires of its time.
He brought Muslim scholars, artists, and teachers from his haij to work in Timbuktu.
He established trade links with Muslim salt merchants in North Africa.
The kingdom of Ghana was very wealthy in ancient Africa. How did the kingdom of Ghana get its wealth?
by producing a lot of salt
by producing a lot of gold
by taxing the trade of gold and salt
through war and conquest of neighboring kingdoms
How were the Berbers able to reach and trade with West Africa?
They sailed around the horn of Africa
They navigated up the Niger River
Through a series of catapult delivery systems
They traveled in caravans of camels
Why was none of West Africa's history written down before the introduction of the Arabic language?
West Africa had no writing system
The Umayyads ordered all writings be destroyed
All records were lost in a great fire
None are correct
Information from the past that you get from people talking to each other is
written history
artifacts
conversation
oral history
What would make it hard to travel through the Saharan desert?
wind and sand
lack of water
heat
all of the above
