Period 1: Technological and Environmental Transformations to 600 B.C.E

1
Period 1 Technological and Environmental
Transformations to 600 B.C.E

• Early African Societies

2
Early Agricultural Society in Africa

• Egypt and Nubia formed complex societies based on
  agricultural and domestication of animals.
• Formed somewhat simultaneously.
• Egypt Trade with eastern Mediterranean and
  southwest Asian peoples.
• Nubia Linked Egypt with the rest of sub-Saharan
  Africa.

3
Climatic Change and the Development of
Agriculture in Africa

• 10,000 B.C.E. Africa mostly a grassy steppe
  land with numerous lakes, rivers, and streams
  Much different than today.
• 9000 B.C.E. 5000 B.C.E. Sudanic people
  organized small-scale states based on agriculture
  and animals
• Had small monarchies
• 5000 B.C.E. Climate change turns Sahara to a
  desert.
• People migrate from Sudan to the Nile River
  Valley.

4
Egypt and Nubia Gifts of the Nile

• Egypt Area along the Nile from south edge of
  the Mediterranean Sea to Aswan.
• Extremely fertile because of Nile floods.
• Drew many people and led to complex society based
  on agriculture.
• Nubia Area along the Nile south of Egypt.
• Not as fertile but still good for agriculture
• Both experienced big population growth.

5
Egypt and Nubia

• Both restructured societies to ensure
  organization and order due to population growth.
• Collaborated with one another to build irrigation
  systems and trade.
• 4000 B.C.E. Neither was unified, but had many
  rulers.

6
Unification of Egypt

• Menes Man who unified Egypt around 3100 B.C.E.
• Memphis became his capital city and eventually
  the cultural and political center of Egypt.
• Menes successors eventually became pharaohs.
• Pharaohs Egyptian rulers who claimed to be
  gods.
• P. 64 image.
• Pharaohs ruled from 3100 B.C.E. 2160 B.C.E.
  Built pyramids as tombs during this time!

7
Kingdom of Kush

• Frequent tension and violence between Egypt and
  Nubia from 3100 B.C.E. to 2160 B.C.E.
• Strongest kingdom in Nubia was kingdom of Kush
  between 3000-2400 B.C.E.
• Still traded with one another and interacted
  frequently.

8
Turmoil and Empire

• Between 2160-2040 B.C.E. Pharaohs fell from
  power, but regained in from 2040-1640 B.C.E.
• Happened because of smaller states building
  agricultural power.
• Hyksos (horse riding nomads from Southwest Asia)
  eventually used chariots and bronze weapons to
  overthrow Pharaohs and capture Memphis (1674
  B.C.E.)
• People from upper Egypt eventually recaptured
  Memphis (1550 B.C.E.)

9
The New Kingdom

• 1550 1070 B.C.E.
• New Pharaohs led a series of campaigns throughout
  Africa to establish their dominance.
• By 760 B.C.E. for attackers had over Egypt,
  however.

10
Emergence of Cities and Stratified Societies

• Key Cities
• Thebes
• Political Center
• Heliopolis
• City of the Sun (Sacred)
• Memphis
• Egyptian Capital
• Kush
• Nubian Capital

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Emergence of Cities and Stratified Societies

• Patriarchal Society Men ruled.
• Social Classes
• Pharaohs
• Military Leaders
• Tax Collectors
• Administrators
• Peasants
• Slaves
• (Not based on birth (except pharaoh) as it was in
  Mesopotamia

12
Economic Specialization and Trade

• Bronze Metallurgy - Egypt
• Iron Metallurgy - Nubia
• Transportation Use of the Nile
• Trade Networks Mediterranean and Sub-Saharan
  Africa

13
Early Writing in the Nile Valley

• Hieroglyphic Writing Pictures and Symbols
• Egypt
• Meroitic Writing Similar to Hieroglyphics
• Nubia
• Both led to formal education in both places.

14
The Development of Organized Religious Traditions

• Gods typically associated with the sun
• Mummification Process practiced by Egyptian
  elites to preserve the dead for the afterlife.
• Nubian beliefs similar, but slightly different.

15
Bantu Migrations

• Bantu People living in sub-Saharan Africa
  speaking the Bantu language.
• Lived along river banks where they could farm and
  raise animals.
• Clan-based villages headed by chiefs.
• From 3000 B.C.E. 1000 B.C.E migrated south
  until they occupied most of Africa south of the
  equator.
• Used canoes to navigate rivers and move quickly.

16
Impact of Bantu Migration

• Spread agricultural and religious practices
  throughout sub-Saharan Africa.