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African Kingoms

African Kingoms. Aksum, Ghana, Mali, Songhai, Zimbabwe. Aksum (Axum). Arabians crossed the Red Sea and intermarried with people from modern-day Ethiopia These people created the kingdom of Aksum . Aksum gains power.

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African Kingoms

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  1. African Kingoms Aksum, Ghana, Mali, Songhai, Zimbabwe

  2. Aksum (Axum) • Arabians crossed the Red Sea and intermarried with people from modern-day Ethiopia • These people created the kingdom of Aksum

  3. Aksum gains power • In the 300’s AD, Aksum destroyed Kush, becoming the most powerful kingdom in Eastern Africa

  4. A trading center • Aksum becomes an important trading center for goods around the Mediterranean, Africa, and Asia • Many new ideas introduced there, including Christianity

  5. Aksum converts to Christianity • When a king named Ezana took the throne around 400 AD, he converted to Christianity and made Christianity the official religion of Aksum • There are still millions of Christians in this region today.

  6. Islamic Invasions • The Muslim’s invasions into North Africa after Muhammad’s death cut into Aksum’s territory and isolated it • Aksum would endure and become Ethiopia, but would never have the power it once held.

  7. Swahili • Refers to the people who live as far north as Somalia in the Horn of Africa and as far south • Indian Ocean trade they are linked with Arabs • Blend of Arab Culture • Islam

  8. West Africa • Below the Sahara Desert is a semi-dry region characterized by grasslands called the Sahel (also called Savannah) • The region is rich in gold deposits

  9. Gold-Salt Trade • The Sahel region lacks salt deposits, and so people there had to trade for salt from the Sahara Desert • Several powerful empires developed around the trade of gold and salt and would control much of Western Africa for almost 1,000 years

  10. Camels • Camels allowed the gold-salt trade to be successful. They allowed people to transport great quantities of gold and salt longer distances. • Other pack animals cannot cross the Sahara, but camels can because they can go up to 40 days without water.

  11. Ghana • No one is really sure when the Ghana kingdom began, but they do know that it became very powerful • It is located between the Niger River and the Sahara Desert • Ghana became powerful because of its control of gold in the gold-salt trade across the Sahara Desert

  12. Ghana

  13. Ghana declines • Ghana eventually declined in power, mostly because it lost its control of the gold trade and because new gold mines were found farther east

  14. Animism • The worship of nature spirits- spirits in plants, animals, sun, water, etc. • People from Ghana worshipped an animist religion • Still prominent in parts of Africa today

  15. Mali • As Ghana declined in the 1200’s AD, the kingdom of Mali gained in power. • Mali was centered around these new salt mines east of Ghana • Mali’s powerful king Sundiata Keita built an even larger empire • Several of its kings were very devout Muslims, even making the pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj).

  16. Timbuktu • Mali established the city, Timbuktu, which was a center for trade and learning. • Universities were established to promote learning • Many converted to Islam, and built mosques. • Others incorporated parts of Islam into their animist beliefs

  17. Mali and Timbuktu

  18. Get out your books to page 416 Read the primary source: What does the word abhorrence mean in this passage? What do the people of Mali do to guilty people? How do you think this affects the feeling of safety in Mali?

  19. Songhai • Eventually, Mali declined, and Songhai took its place and built an even larger empire • Also was also based on the gold-salt trade • And, it inherited much of Mali’s blend of Islamic and animist traditions

  20. Songhai

  21. Zimbabwe • So what do we knowabout Zimbabwe? Z L

  22. “Zimbabwe” means “stone houses”

  23. Zimbabwe abandoned • No one knows why Zimbabwe was abandoned, but they think it was because the land was over grazed and the soil depleted

  24. Your Mission • Draw a map of Africa and: • Indicate the locations of the kingdoms of Egypt, Kush, Aksum (Axum), Ghana, Mali, Songhai, and Zimbabwe • The location of the gold-salt trade • Indicate the years that Aksum, Ghana, Mali, Songhai, and Zimbabwe were in power Indicate the religion of each • Indicate how each gained economic power

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