Africa

1
Africa
2

• Nile River valley supported agriculture / grazing
• Sorghum / Millet / cattle
• Development of Egyptian / Nubian civilizations
• Egyptian civilization flourished
• Nubia established as tributary
• Kush
• Removal of Egyptian administration
• Still largely Egyptian in character

3
Mero? (mer OH ee)

• Capital of Kingdom of Kush
• Discover of rich iron ore deposits
• Advances in weapons / agricultural tools
• Location
• Nile
• Overland trade route
• Trading supported Roman Empire / Arabia / India
• Camel

Apedemek, the Lion God
4
Camel

• Prior to camel, donkey / pack oxen
• Camel introduced by Romans
• Revolutionized scope / scale of
• Trade
• Cultural exchanges
• Traveled 15 - 20 miles a day
• Carried 250-300lbs
• Splayed feet better suited to negotiate soft sand
• 10 days without water

5
Axum (Aksum)

• Founded by Kingdom of Sada
• Immediacy to trade routes over Red Sea
• Importers
• Silver / Gold
• Olive Oil / Wine
• IVORY
• Slaves (captives)

6
Axum (cont.)

• Competition between Kush / Axum over ivory trade
• Central King regional rulers
• Tributes
• Control over foreign trade
• Challenges from regional rulers
• Refusal to pay tributes

7
Christianity in Axum

• 300s CE
• Transported by Christian scholars of Alexandria
• Cementing trading relations w/ Mediterranean
  Christians
• Greek Christian traders especially influential
• Evident in Greek inscriptions on monuments

8
Environment

• Desiccation (drying up)
• Deforestation / over-farming regions
• Central Africans moving East / South
• Migration means cultural exchanges
• Ironworking
• Stonecarving
• Agricultural innovations

9

• Bantu peoples arriving from North
• Common dialects
• Khoisan (koy san) people of south
• Villages / local chieftains
• Congo River Basin lush vegetation
• Zimbabwe
• Between Zambezi / Limpopo Rivers
• Village protected behind walls
• Cattle / taxation on Gold trade

10
Islam in Africa

• Century of expansion after Muhammads death (632
  CE)
• Expansion extremely rapid
• From Atlantic Ocean to Indus River Valley
• Corruption of Byzantine Empire left North Africa
  open to Islamic
• System of Islamic Poll-tax less oppressive

11
Islam

• Familiar w/ Arabs (Saba established Axum)
• Trading for centuries
• Conquered Byzantine controlled North Africa
  (Egypt / Carthage)
• Built Cairo further inland and away from
  superior Byzantine navy
• Maintained trading links in Syria / Arabia
• Christian Nubia resisted Islamic occupation

12
Cont.

• Berbers
• Northern Africans (bordered Carthage)
• Independent, resisted foreign rule
• Challenged Islamic occupiers
• Equaled Arabs in mastery of the camel / raiding
• Unable to sustain resistance
• Berber lack of unity against Islamic occupiers
• Conversion through membership in Islamic army
• Followers of Shiite movement

13
Moors

• Mauritania / Morocco
• Area of Berbers
• Land of the Blacks
• Moors
• Large Berber Islamic army crossed Straits of
  Gibraltar into Spain (711 CE)
• Moors embraced sciences / arts of Egypt, Greece,
  China, India, and Mesopotamia,
• Ruled in Spain for 700 years
• Technological innovations
• Reconfigured Chinese gunpowder / rifles
• Astrolabe / Compass

14
From Axum to Ethiopia

• Christian Kingdom of Axum
• Resilient against Islamic influence
• Eastern controlled Muslim territories
• Sought a tribute relationship with Muslim Powers
  along east coast

15
(Cont.)

• Christian Axum nearly powerless
• Zagwe Dynasty (1100s CE)
• Seized control of Axum (now known as Ethiopia
• Centralized power
• Adal
• Challenge to Christian kingdom throughout 14th
  century

16
Ethiopia

• Symbolic
• Believed cast out from paradise
• Praised Ethiopia as source of salvation
• Psalms 6831 Ethiopia shall soon stretch her
  hands unto God
• Believed to have prophesized redemption of
  African people

17
West Africa

• Expansion of trade to Atlantic
• Cultural Exchanges through traders
• Islamic conversion beginning in 8th century
• Leadership differs from East
• Rulers by divine right

18
Ghana

• Ghana (emerges in 400s)
• Located further north of present day Ghana
• More known about Kingdom of Ghana
• Arab traders
• Oral histories
• Seizure of lands from less organized neighbors
• Rulers held rural heirs as hostage
• Intermediaries
• Gold (major export)
• Slaves

19
West Africa

• Mali
• Located on Atlantic Coast
• Emerged after destruction of Ghana
• Takes over former territory
• Leader Mansa Musa in 14th century encouraged
  Islamic Conversion
• Scholarship / Building Projects
• Archives in Timbuktu rival those found in Cairo

20
African Society

• Rural Village life
• Kinship networks
• Reverence to elders
• Lineage group
• Think clan system in China
• Proximity to Chief
• Practice of polygamy
• Not uncommon in Muslim societies
• Islam influenced gender relationships
• Rich oral traditions
• But difficult to reconstruct history
• Culturally distinct regions --- dialects /
  customs
• Technological advances in iron-making /
  agriculture

21
Slavery

• African slavery established well before European
  arrival
• Common in most civilizations
• Roll of Slave differed
• Soldier
• Domestic
• Administrator
• Craftsman
• Captives
• Spoils of war
• Traded
• Freedom attainable
• Demand escalates in 15th century with arrival of
  Portuguese explorers