Post on 23-Dec-2015
Coins of AksumCoins used by the Kingdom of Aksum
How similar are these coins?
How are they different?
Aksum
How important was Aksum at its peak?
How important were the kings of Aksum?
How important was trade to Aksum?
What was Aksum like?
Aksum: Decline & Legacy
How did the kingdom of Aksum come to an end?
How was Ethiopia influenced by Aksum?
What happened to Ethiopia after the spread of Islam?
The Swahili Coast
The east coast of Africa was home to a number of city-states.
The Swahili were a combination of African and Islamic culture.
By 1100 CE many of the city-states had become wealthy and powerful.
Why?
The Swahili Coast
How did the Swahili become influenced by Islamic culture?
Why were the city-states wealthy and powerful?
The Swahili Coast
The city-states were part of the Indian Ocean Trade.
Who did they trade with?
Coins found in Kilwa
Kilwa & the Swahili Coast
Was the coast the only part of Africa impacted by the Indian Ocean Trade?
Where else might have been?
Great Zimbabwe
Gold beads found in Great
Zimbabwe
Do these items provide a
clue?
Great Zimbabwe controlled the gold and ivory trade to the coast.
Great Zimbabwe“It can be taken as a fact that the wood which we obtained [from
Great Zimbabwe] actually is cedar-wood and it cannot come from anywhere else but from the Lebanon. Furthermore, only the Phoenicians could have brought it here; also, Solomon used a lot of cedar-wood for the building of the temple [in Jerusalem].”
Karl Mauch, German explorer & geographer (1871)
“The word ‘peacocks’ in the Bible may be read as parrots and amongst the stone ornaments from Zimbabwe are green parrots.”
Cecil Rhodes, English businessman & politician (1891)
“In recent years, most Africans have not only claimed the ruins as the product of an indigenous African society but have taken pride in them as a reminder of past glories.”
Peter Garlake, Zimbabwean archaeologist & art historian (1973)
Great Zimbabwe
What do you think?
In a short essay, determine who built Great Zimbabwe and explain why.
Be sure to consider historical thinking in your response.