Historical and Artistic Traditions of West Africa

1
Historical and Artistic Traditions of West Africa

• Chapter 6 Section 4

2
Review African Empires

• Ghana
• Controlled trade and became wealthy
• Through controlling the trade, Ghana built an
  Empire
• Ghanas decline was caused by attacking invaders,
  overgrazing, and the loss of trade
• Key words and People
• Silent Barter
• Tunka Manin

3
Review African Empires

• Mali
• A ruler named Sundiata made Mali into an Empire
• Mali reached its height under the ruler Mansa
  Musa
• Mali fell to invaders in the late 1400s
• Key words and people
• Sundiata
• Mansa Musa

4
Review African Empires

• Songhai
• Sunni Ali built a new empire in West Africa
• Askia the Great ruled Songhai as an Islamic
  Empire
• Songhai fell to Moroccan invaders, ending the
  great era of West African Empires
• Key points and people
• Sunni Ali
• Askia the Great

5
Historical and Artistic Traditions

• Key words and people
• Oral History
• A spoken record of past events
• Griots
• West African storytellers responsible for
  reciting oral history
• Proverbs
• Short saying of wisdom or truth
• Kente
• Hand-woven, brightly colored cloth made in West
  Africa

6
Storytellers Maintain Oral Traditions

• Timbuktu and Djenne cities of the academics and
  arts
• Arabic (written Language)
• Read and understand government and religious
  officials
• Result small percent were literate
• Solution Oral history in native language
• History entrusted to Griots
• Spoke in
• Epic poems
• Proverbs
• Memorized hundreds of names and dates

7
Visitors Write Histories

• West Africa did not have any written histories
• Result Visitors from other parts of the world
  would record Africa's History
• What we know comes from
• Travelers and scholars from Spain and Arabia
• Al-Masudi
• Al-Bakri
• Idn Battutah
• Leo Africanus

8
West Africans Value Arts

• Other Art forms
• Sculptures
• Wood, brass, clay, ivory, stone, and other
  materials
• Mask-making
• Bright colors reflect Animism
• Cloth-making
• Kente (worn by Kings and Queens)
• Music
• Entertainment/celebrations
• Dance
• Entertainment/celebrations