Exploring Eastern Hemisphere Cultures and the Rise of African Kingdoms

1. Bellringer • SOL Challenge! • Have out your homework. • Grab a book, and start filling out the maps on Africa and Americas if you have time! • BJOTD: What do you call a snake that makes a lot of noise when he eats?

2. The Eastern Hemisphere

3. Japan • Geography • Archipelago (4 islands) east of China in the Pacific • Mountainous islands with little farmland • Separated from the mainland by the Sea of Japan • Close to China and Korea

4. Government • Feudalistic Society • Landowners hire samurais—warriors • Followed Bushido—code of conduct for warriors • Also hired to protect the shogun (Japanese military leader)

5. Unique religion known as Shinto • Based on the idea of respecting the forces of nature • Also focuses on ancestor worship • Believe in kami—divine spirits living in nature

6. Achievements • Influenced by Chinese culture • Buddhism would mix with Shinto beliefs • Adopted Chinese culture (art, government, writing, architecture)

7. African Kingdoms • Axum • Time Period: 300-700 CE • Location: In Ethiopia, along the Nile River • Government: Monarchy • Economy: Agriculture and trade • Location important for trade • Traded necessities (salt) and luxuries such as rhino horns, tortoise shells, ivory, emeralds, gold, glass, olive oil • Axum’s Culture • Religion—originally • Animism—worshipped the spirits of nature and worshipped dead ancestors • Under the rule of Ezana, the people converted to Christianity

9. Zimbabwe • Time Period: 1200s-1400s CE • Location: Between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, and near the Indian Ocean • Built Great Zimbabwe—a city that served as the economic, political, and religious center of the empire • All trade routes went through the city

11. West African Empires • Location: along the Niger River/ in the Sahara Desert in West Africa • Trade: Specialized in the gold/salt trade via the trans-Saharan trade routes • Religion: first animism, then conversion to Islam over time as a result of trade

13. Ghana • Time Period: ~1000 CE • Trade bought Islam to Ghana • Most citizens did not convert—only the Upper class • Why? • Decline: due the rise of Mali

14. Mali • Time Period: ~1235 CE • Discovered gold further east (trade routes shifted eastward from Ghana) • Islamic rulers • Mansa Musa: expanded his empire to twice the size of Ghana, and went on a hajj to Mecca in 1325 • Timbuktu: Muslim city (Muslim judges, doctors, religious leaders, and scholars + mosques and universities) • Decline: Songhai emerged as an empire, forcing the gold trade further east

15. Mansa Musa

16. Songhai • Time Period: ~1464 CE • Empire included most of the Mali empire • Decline: Moroccan warriors using superior weapons (gunpowder and cannons) arrived and took over the empire

17. Major Trading Patterns in the Eastern Hemisphere • Silk Roads across Asia to the Mediterranean Sea • Maritime routes across the Indian Ocean • Trans-Saharan routes across North Africa • Northern European links with the Black Sea • Western European sea and river trade • South China Sea and lands of Southeast Asia

18. Common Trade Goods • Gold from West Africa • Spices from lands around the Indian Ocean • Textiles from India, China, the Middle East, and later Europe • Porcelain from China and Persia • Amber from the Baltic region

19. Technology • Paper from China, through the Muslim world to Byzantium and Western Europe • New crops (for example, sugar) from India • Waterwheels and windmills from the Middle East • Navigation: compass from China, lateen sails from the Indian Ocean region

21. Ideas • Spread of religions across the hemisphere • Buddhism from China to Korea and Japan • Hinduism and Buddhism from from India to Southeast Asia • Islam into West Africa, Central and Southeast Asia • Printing and paper money from China