The Empire of Mali

1
The Empire of Mali

• Grade 3

2
Standards of Learning

• 3.2 The student will study the early West
  African empire of Mali by describing its oral
  tradition (storytelling), government (kings), and
  economic development (trade).
• 3.4 The student will develop map skills by
• Locating West Africa
• Describing the physical and human characteristics
  of West Africa.
• Explaining how the people of West Africa adapted
  to and or changed their environment to meet their
  needs.

3
Geography

• The empire of Mali is located in the western
  region of the continent of Africa.
• Africa is the third largest continent in the
  world.
• It contains the worlds largest desert, the
  Sahara, and the worlds longest river, the Nile.

4
Timbuktu- An Important City

• One of Malis important cities was called
  Timbuktu.
• It was located on one of the busy trade route and
  became a city of great wealth and learning.
• A university was built there with a large library
  containing Greek and Roman books.

5
Characteristics

• Characteristics- different traits
• Physical Characteristics- The early Empire of
  Mali was located in the western region of the
  continent of Africa. Mali is located among
  rivers, a desert, gold mines, and salt mines.
  Mali was located near the Niger River which
  experienced seasonal floods.
• Human Characteristics- The people of Mali were
  farmers, miners, and traders.

6
Adapting to the Environment

• People adapt to their environment in different
  ways to meet their needs.
• The people of Mali adapted to their desert
  environment by using the important natural
  resources of their region salt, gold, and water,
  to meet their needs.

7
Government

• Mali was ruled by powerful kings who controlled
  much of the trade of West Africa.

8
Economy

• Mali lay across the trade routes between the
  sources of salt in the Sahara Desert and the gold
  region of West Africa.
• For the people of the desert, salt was a natural
  resource. People used salt for their health and
  for preserving foods. Miners found gold in
  Western Africa. Therefore, salt was traded for
  gold.
• Mali became one of the largest and wealthiest
  empires in the region and was an important trade
  center.

9
How Did They Record History?

• Most of what we know about Malis history comes
  from African storytellers called griots who
  passed on traditions and stories from one
  generation to the next.
• Griots knew the beginnings, troubles, myths,
  legends, and victories of the people of Mali.
• This history was the griots memory none of it
  was written down.