Seventh Grade Geography

What do we know about Africa?"Let's face it -- think of Africa, and the first

images that come to mind are of war, poverty, famine and flies.

How many of us really know anything at all about the truly great ancient African

civilizations,which in their day, were just as splendid and

glorious as any on the face of the earth?"--Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Wonders of the

African World... (PBS Online,1999): http://www.pbs.org/wonders/

5 million – 2.5 million years agoEvidence of earliest

human ancestorsHadar, Ethiopia, the

3.18 million year old remains of “Lucy” unearthed (1974 Richard Leahy)

Check the DNA Trailhttp://www.bradshawf

oundation.com/journey/

This is where oldest human fossil remains have been found

20,000 – 13,000 years agoHeight of the last glaciationSea level 425 feet lowerTemperatures lower by 5 degrees CGlaciers descendedTropical Africa drier – Lake Victoria was a

shallow pool and didn’t feed White NileRainforests much reduced

600,000 – 10,000 BCESpread of species across

Africa, Europe and Asia. Use of fire developsEarliest true Human

“homo sapiens” dates from 200,000+ years ago

Nomadic groups – San people spread throughout continent

25,000 years ago Rock paintings in North and South Africa

Early rock painting from Ayou, Tibesti – nomadic herder, followed by wife in litter

12,000 years agoWetter conditions returnedLake Victoria filled up and

fed the White NileLakes formed in inland

basins in central SaharaLake Chad was 12 times

bigger and overflowed into the Atlantic

Niger river fed by streams from Air Mountains

Senegal River reached seaSavanna animals in what is

now desert and pastoralists ( herders)

Sahara 8000-11000 years ago

Paintings in the Desert ( Algeria)

Paintings in the Desert (Garamantia – now Libya)

6,000- 4,000 BCERiver people emerge

along Nile, Niger and Congo rivers

Isonghee people of Zaire ( Congo) introduce abacus

Spread of agriculture south of Sahara – animal domestication

San groups forced into more inhospitable areas – e.g Kalahari

proudafrica.com/ Travel.html

5,000- 4,500 years ago“Final” major

climatic shiftLakes between

tropics dried upAreas turned aridPastoralists

evacuated much of Sahara and entered Nile valley

5,000 years BCEAncient Egytians

established agriculture in Nile valley

Called their land Kemet ( Land of Blacks) and Ta- Meri (Beloved Land)

Food surpluses gave time to develop glass making, pottery, metallurgy, weaving, woodworking, etc.

2,700- 1087 BCEOld Kingdom---Middle Kingdom----New

Kingdom

Origins of Egyptians – an interesting debate

What color were the Egyptians?

2 opposing schools of thought

Africanist Origins in Mount Rwenzori in East Africa, Ethiopia/Nubia or the rest of Africa

Classical Egyptologist-Origins a hybrid of European and African cultures

1000-800 BCEBantu (people) migration

spreads through Sub-Saharan Africa Largest migration in human historyLasted 2,000 years Involved 60 million people

Two branches West -> Angola, Namibia and

BotswanaEast -> Zimbabwe,

Mozambique, S.AfricaSwahili language derives from

BantuSpread iron metallurgy and

agricultural techniques throughout sub-Saharan Africa

500-200 BCENok culture thrives

in Forests of Central Nigeria ( ancestors of Yoruba peoples)Art and Terra Cottas

By 100 CERome conquered Egypt, Carthage and most

of North AfricaGranaries of the Empire

300-700 CERise of Axum

( Ethiopia) - conversion to Christianity

Lalibella- major churches carved out of rock cliffs

Axum

600- 800 CE610 Islam begins639 Khalif Omar conquers Egypt700-800 Islam sweeps across North Africa

and into sub-Saharan Africa740 Moors (Islamic Africans) invade Spain

Bring art, science, engineering, scholarship

750- 1100 CE Growth of trans-Saharan trade

The ship of the desert“Around 750 AD, under the influence of

Islamic peoples, northern and western Africans began to use the camel to transport goods across this forbidding terrain. Camels do several things exceptionally well: they can carry unbelievably heavy loads for impossibly long distances and they can keep their footing on sandy terrain. It was as if someone had invented sand ships and its effect on western African culture was just as profound as if they were sand ships”

Richard Hooker

800-1100 CEGrowth of gold trade across Sahel

“Sahel” –arabic word for “shore/coast”West African gold, Kola nuts, slaves sent

north in exchange for cloth, utensils, saltRise of Ghana, Mali and Songhai Empires

of the SavannaRise of Timbucktu & its University

1200 – 1325 Rise of Mali EmpireLocated near gold

mines and flood plain of Niger River

1324 Mansa Musa – sensational pilgrimage to Mecca – 00’s of camels laded with gold

Sankore Mosque

1400s CESwahili Cities flourish

on East African coastTrade between East

Africa and Middle East/AsiaIndonesians brought

bananas/spicesGreat Zimbabwe builtSonghai Empire

Controlled Niger River with a navy

The beginning of the slave trade1409 – Portuguese reach

Gold Coast (Ghana)1441 – First shipment of

African slaves sent directly to Portugal

1481 Sao Jorge da Mina “slave factory” established – gold, slaves, foodstuffs, ivory exchanged for ironware, firearms,textiles and foodstuffs