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Lands south of the Sahara-desert from Atlantic Ocean to Red Sea.
§ B/c of its size, Sahara is compared to waterless ocean.
5 geographic regions:
§ Northern & southern coasts: narrow strips of fertile land w/ dense populations.
§ Deserts: 1/3 of land. 2 largest: Sahara (north) & Kalahari (south).
§ Dry grassland: close to desert & inland from east coast. Suitable for grazing.
o Desertification: when light soil dries out & turns to desert. Ex. Sahel.
§ Savanna: 2/5 of Africa. Largest share of Africa’s population. Rainy & dry seasons.
§ Rain forest: inland from Atlantic Ocean, stretching the equator. Damp & dangerous. |
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1st major kingdom of sub-Saharan Africa.
§ Located in middle region of Nile valley next to Red Sea.
§ Dominated by Egypt from 2000 to 1000 BCE.
§ Kushites adopted Egyptian idea of god-king, lhieroglyphics, & pyramid building.
§ 751 BCE-Kushite king conquered Egypt. 671 BCE-Kushites fall to Assyrians.
§ 550 BCE-Kushite royal family moved to Meroe near Nile. |
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Far enough from Egypt to provide security & close enough to Red Seas to take part in trade among Africa, Arabia, & India.
§ Became major center for manufacture of iron weapons and tools
§ Exchanged for jewelry, fine cotton cloth, silver lamp, & glass bottles.
§ Kushite kings ruled from beautiful palaces. Buried inside pyramids.
§ Decline b/c of strength of Axum, a rival city to the southeast. |
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Capital of Ethiopia. Located in btwn bottom of Nile & western tip of Arabia.
§ Grown rich & powerful by controlling trade btwn African interior & Red Sea.
§ Axum’s rulers remained Christian through the centuries.
§ Cut off from Christian Byzantium by Muslim conquest of Egypt & Red Sea coast
§ Stone churches carved into bedrock below ground |
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Stone churches carved into bedrock below ground.
Swahili: Blend of Bantus (from inland Africa) & Arabs b/c of intermarriage.
§ Swahili language was at first mainly Bantu but gained many Arabic words.
§ Lived by farming, fishing, & trading.
§ Small mud houses clustered in villages all along the coast.
§ Swahili ports welcomed trading vessels from Arabia, India, & even China. |
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Bantu kingdom in southeastern Africa where gold & ivory in Swahili markets came from. Inland location provided protection from Muslim influence.
§ As kingdom’s wealth increased, built impressive residence called Great Zimbabwe. |
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western Africa territory of gold-salt trade routes. Also the title for their king.
§ Ghana’s ruler demanded taxes and gifts from chiefs of surrounding lands & from Arab traders.
§ Gold & salt were hidden in royal palace to limit supply to keep price from falling.
§ The Ghana (king) acted as chief priest, judge, and military commander. |
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Empire located in Western Africa. Stretches to coast. Surrounds what was Ghana.
§ As supplies of gold gave out in forest area, miners found new deposits farther east Ù most important trade routes shifted eastward.
§ By 1200, a different group of people, the Mandingo, controlled the gold trade.
§ Mandingo ruler, Sundiata, reestablished gold-salt trade & formed Mali empire. |
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Famous Mali ruler that became Muslim b/c of Arab trader’s influence.
§ Under his leadership, Mali became a powerful empire that dominated West Africa
o Army maintained order & protected Mali from attack.
o Royal officials provided fair and efficient government. |
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§ For 27 years, he visited every country in the Islamic world. Spent year in Mali.
§ As devout Muslim, Battuta praised Mandingo for making children study the Koran. |
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Replaced Mandingo as controllers of the all-important trade routes.
§ Formed when trade routes shifted eastward again as existing mines gave out-1450.
§ Under Askia Muhammad’s rule, Songhai empire was prosperous and well-governed.
§ Declined b/c they lacked gunpowder & cannon. |
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1 of cities in Mali that flourished under Askia Muhammad.
§ Famous university attracted Muslim scholars from afar.
§ Timbuktu’s mosque showed the influence of Islam. |
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| People of West Africa (Ghana, Mali, Songhai) shared a distinctive traditional culture: |
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§ Family ties: family organization was central to society.
o Families were organized into lineages-descended from common ancestor
§ Women: Took part in commerce & trade. Matrilineal-traced ancestors through mother.
§ Religion: Mix of monotheism (Supreme/High God) & polytheism (large # of gods).
Arts in West African societies:
§ Sculpture: Made of wood, gold & bronze.
§ Music & dance
§ Oral history: No writing system. Each group handed down history by word of mouth. |
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specially trained people in West African societies. The record keepers.
§ Memorized great deeds of past kings, family histories, important events in villages. |
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Lived in valleys and canyons of American southwest. 600-1200.
§ Lived in pueblos-villages in northwestern New Mexico.
§ Did not have horses, mules, or wheel. Relied on human labor.
§ Way of life depended on having enough rain to grown corn.
§ When drought struck in 13th c., Anasazi abandoned their pueblos & vanished. |
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People that built distinctive culture in modern southern Ohio.
§ Ohio River provided Hopewell w/ central route for trade.
§ Skilled craftspeople |
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in Ohio. Burial mounds were found containing bear-teeth necklaces, copper axe, & beautifully carved pipes.
§ Hopewell buried their finest products inside earthen (burial) mounds. |
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Built wealthy empire in the Peruvian desert.
§ Built an extensive irrigation system that turned desert into fertile farmlands.
§ Warrior-priests in power ruled from pyramids. Possessed enormous wealth.
§ Masters of metalwork & irrigation, but had no written language.
§ Detailed drawings on pottery give scholars insight on Moche life.
§ Artifacts reveal they had a powerful army, doctors, weavers, and musicians.
§ Religious beliefs are not fully understood. |
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Group who ruled over Cuzco after collapse of Moche empire.
§ By late 1400s, Inca conquered empire stretching on western coast of South America
§ Incan emperors claimed to be descendants of sun god.
o Possessed absolute authority over their people.
o Large, well-organized bureaucracy carried out emperor’s commands
§ Network of stone highways helped to hold Inca empire together.
§ Developed special methods of farming to survive in dry & mountainous land.
§ 2 main crops: corn & potatoes |
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series of color-coded knotted strings used to relay official messages
§ Tallied births, crops, herds, & deaths b/c lacked written language.
§ Could only be deciphered by highly-trained specialists |
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Incan capital where all roads led to.
§ Most splendid building = Temple of the Sun dedicated to sun god Inti. |
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settled in rain forest of Mexico’s Gulf Coast (1200-100 BCE)
§ Planted crops in rich soil left by flooding rivers.
§ Built many ceremonial centers in which they performed rituals to please gods.
§ Carved huge stone heads believed to be portraits of actual rulers. |
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Settled in rain forests of Guatemala & Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula after Olmec.
§ During peak (300-900), built 80 independent cities.
§ Powerful warlords & aristocracy of priests & nobles governed each city.
§ Cities served as important centers of trade w/ no uniform currency.
§ Religion played important role in life w/ number of gods:
o 5 towering pyramids dominated Tikal (largest & most important Maya city)
§ Priests used temples on pyramids to perform elaborate rituals for gods
§ Calendars determined best times to plant crops, attack enemies, crown new rulers
o Based on astronomy & mathematics (calculated 365 days of the year).
§ Invented complex system of writing to record greatest events of time = historians
§ Decline of Maya civilization is still a mystery. |
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fierce group who invaded the Valley of Mexico between 900 & 1300
§ After 200 yrs of war, Aztec triumphed over all their neighbors
§ 1500-Aztec king took tribute (payment collected from conquered subjects)
§ Believed that the sun needed human blood to survive & without this sacrifice, it would stop shining & everybody would die.
§ King & high priests prevented this disaster by sacrificing captives regularly. |
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great capital city of Aztecs
§ Built on small islands w/ bridges that connected them w/ mainland. |
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