http://www.hp.uab.edu/image_archive/um/painting06.jpg

Sahel Countries• All located in area known as Sahel – border

land between desert and fertile farm land• Receives little rainfall, only short grasses &

small trees grow can grow• Most people have traditionally herded livestock/

sometimes animals overgraze and strip the land bare

• Dry & wet periods follow each other/ if seasonal rains do not come, drought results

• AD 500-1500, 3 great African empires arose in the Sahel; Ghana, Mali, & Songhay

• Empires controlled trade in gold and salt between W. Africa & SW Asia-N. Africa

The Sahel

Ghana developed in West Africa between the Niger (NI-jhur) and the Gambia Rivers. It was an important kingdom there from about AD300 to about 1100. The rivers helped Ghana to grow rich because they were used to transport goods and develop trade. Ghana also collected taxes from traders who passed through the kingdom. The people called their nation Wagadu; we know it as Ghana --that was the word for war chief.

http://www.nevadasurveyor.com/africa/web/pages/niger_river.htm

The kingdom of Ghana probably began when several clans of the Soninke people of west Africa came together under the leadership of a great king named Dinga Cisse.

Ghana had few natural resources except salt and gold. They were also very good at making things from iron. Ghanaian warriors used iron tipped spears to subdue their neighbors, who fought with weapons made of stone, bone, and wood.

http://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/center/mm/eng/mm_rs_01.htm

"The King . . .(wears). . . necklaces round his neck and bracelets on his forearms and he puts on a high cap decorated with gold and wrapped in a turban of fine cotton. He (meets people) in a domed pavilion around which stand ten horses covered with gold-embroidered materials…and on his right, are the sons of the (lesser) kings of his country, wearing splendid garments and their hair plaited with gold.

At the door of the pavilion are dogs of excellent pedigree. Round their necks they wear collars of gold and silver, studded with a number of balls of the same metals."

10th century geographer Al-Bakri, quoted in Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History.

This is a primary source that describes

the court of one king of

Ghana. Complete the worksheet on the modified

reading.

Ghana became a rich and powerful nation, especially when the camel began to be used as a source of transport. Ghana relied on trade and trade was made faster and bigger with the use of the camel.

http://es.encarta.msn.com/media_461532998_761558787_-1_1/Caravana_de_camellos.html

news.nationalgeographic.com/. ../salt/photo6.html

Ghana• First of the African trading states• Most people were farmers who lived in villages• Ghana kings were strong, wealthy rulers• To protect kingdoms, Ghana kings had a well

trained army of thousands of soldiers• Ghana prospered from gold and salt products• In exchange, Muslim merchants brought

textiles, horses and metal goods• Salt important for preserving & spicing food/

needed to replace lost body salt in hot climate

After 700 AD, the religion of Islam began to spread over northern Africa. Followers of this religion are called Muslims. Muslim warriors came into Ghana and fought with the non-Islamic people there. This weakened the great civilization of Ghana. Local warriors then decided to break away from the power of Ghana and form their own local kingdoms. This ended many of the trade networks. This eventually weakened the civilization of Ancient Ghana.

Islamic Mosque in Ghana

blankbluesky.com/ travel/ghana/

http://www.btsadventures.com/img/mosque.jpg

A powerful king named Sundiata ruled this area from around 1230-1255 AD. He led the people in conquering and expanding his kingdom to be as great as Ghana had been.

Perhaps the greatest king of Mali was Mansa Musa (1312-1337). He developed the gold and salt trade of Mali and his kingdom became very powerful and rich.

Mansu Musa: Lord of the Negroes of Guinea. (Photo courtesy of History of Africa)

Mansa Musa was a Muslim, meaning he followed the religion of Islam. He built many beautiful mosques or Islamic temples in western Africa.

http://travel.u.nu/pic/ml/djenne.jpg

Great Mosque at Timbuktu

In 1324 Mansa Musa made his HAJJ to Mecca, which is a holy city in Saudia Arabia, with 60,000 servants and followers and 80 camels carrying more than 4,000 pounds of gold to be distributed among the poor. Of the 12,000 servants 500 carried a staff of pure gold. This showed his power and wealth to the other people he visited.

When Mansa Musa died there were no kings as powerful as he was to follow. The great kingdom of Mali weakened. Eventually a group of people known as Berbers came into the area and other people came up from the south to claim territory that was once part of the kingdom. Although Mali fell, another advanced African kingdom took its place, the kingdom of Songhay.

http://www.uchicago.edu/docs/mp-site/plaisanceplan/graphics/berbers.jpg

The Berbers still live in North Africa. This picture, taken in 1893, shows a Berber group.

http://www.exzooberance.com

http://www.sfusd.k12.ca.us/schwww/sch618/Travelers/Catal_AtlasAfrica.jpg

This map was created in 1375. The same trade routes were used by the merchants of the Songhay kingdom. What kinds of pictures do you see on the map and why do you think the mapmaker put them there?

The picture above is one artist’s idea of what the great Songhay leader, Sunni Ali might have looked like. Sunni Ali saw that the kingdom of Mali was weakening and he led his soldiers to conquer the area. He began the kingdom of Songhay. He also set up a complex government to rule all the lands he had conquered.

http://www.abcorpaffairs.com/gallery/

• During the kingdom of Songhay, Timbuktu became a center of Islamic learning.

• All laws in Timbuktu were based on Muslim teachings of the Quran and Sharia.

• Under the Songhay, Islam blended into every aspect of African life.

All three kingdoms of West Africa relied on trade for their strength and wealth. Look at the map at complete the “In and Out of Africa” questions in your packet.

Timbuktu Gao

Jenne

Gold, Ivory, Wood, Slaves

Silk, Ceramics, Beads, Islam from Europe and Asia

Coming into West Africa

Coming from Africa and going to Europe and Asia

Salt

Africa Salt Trade• Salt is essential for life- every person

contains about 8 ounces of salt in their body. People lose salt when they sweat.

• African salt was traded for many items; gold, ivory, slaves.

• Salt trade grew with camel caravans• Thousands of camels caravans carried tons

of salt across the desert• African kings placed taxes on salt –

payable by gold – for caravans crossing their realms

• African empires gained great wealth from salt trade

Salt Caravan

Songhay remained a rich and strong kingdom. It had a complex government centered in the city of Gao, and great centers of learning. But later rulers were not as powerful. In the late 1500s, Morocco invaded Songhay to take its rich trade routes. Moroccans had a new weapon, the gun, and the army of Songhay did not. This led to the fall of Songhay.

(Photo courtesy of African Origin of Civilization by Cheikh Anta Diop)

GHANA MALI SONGHAY

1. Small villages united to create kingdom.

2. King collected taxes on gold-salt trade routes across West Africa. Collected taxes on all goods entering and leaving Ghana.

1. Kings called MANSAS expanded their influence over gold mining and salt supplies

2. Mansa Musa expanded the borders of the kingdom, and promoted Islamic cultural diffusion while on his HAJJ.

1. Sunni Ali created the largest kingdom that had ever existed in West Africa.

2. Made Timbuktu into an Islamic center of learning.

LET’S REVIEW: As trade grew, several strong kings gained control of the most profitable trade routes and established “COSMOPOLITAN” civilizations.

Kingdom of Axum

• Axum was a powerful

Christian Kingdom situated in today's Ethiopia. Axum’s existence was first noted around 500 B.C.E.

• They lived in northeastern Africa near the Red Sea.

• Although they were off the beaten path as far as European history is concerned, they were just as cosmopolitan and culturally important in that they served as a crossroads to a variety of cultures: Egyptian, Arabic, Middle Eastern, and Indian. Perhaps an indication of this cosmopolitan character can be found in the fact that the major Axum cities had Jewish, Christian, and even Buddhist minorities.

What does COMPOLITAN mean?

Cosmopolitan – having international sophistication: multi-cultural and advanced

Axum historian showing one of the ancient church books of the Virgin Mary and Saint George

• In the fourth century, King Ezana converted to Christianity. Ezana declared Axum to be a Christian state , thus making it the first Christian state in the history of the world, and began actively converting the population to Christianity.

• Axum remained a strong empire and trading power until the rise of Islam in the 600’s AD.

• Initially, because Axum had sheltered Muhammed's first followers, the Muslim invaders left the Kingdom alone

• However, in 710 CE, Muslim armies took control of waterfront (port) cities which isolated the Kingdom and led to its decline.

• Unlike the other African kingdoms, Axum did not become an Islamic state. To keep its Christian faith, the capital city was moved into northern Ethiopia.

• This led to isolation from Christian allies from the Middle East and Europe and eventually led to the decline of the Kingdom.