death road

trade route connecting western Africa to

the coast of the Mediterranean Sea

Queen Nzinga

promised to free all enslaved

 people in her kingdom

National Honor of the Trousers

reward given to

heroic solidiers in Mali

Ghana

grew wealthy from taxes on

the salt and gold trades

Songhai

the largest empire in

West Africa in the 1500's

African Diaspora

the spread of African culture

around the world by

enslaved Africans

Nile

Africa's longest river

Bantu

fishing groups that migrated

throughout Africa around

3000 b.c.

Axum

a city state in Ethiopia

Mansa Musa

journeyed to Makkah in 1324

The Sahara, rain forests, and savannas of Africa are all

on the African Plateau

Ghana's farmland

became poor over time.

Sundiata Keita was a

great worrior-king who

seized Ghana

What factor allowed artisans

 to thrive in the

rain forest kingdoms?

food surpluses

How were many traditional

African religions similar to

Christianity, Judaism, and Islam?

They shared a belief in one supreme God?

The Swahili culture was

influenced in part by Islam.

Ibn Battuta, a young

lawyer from Morocco,

was a Muslim who travelled extensively and found many West Africans studied the Quaran.

How were children educated in medieval West Africa?

by oral histories

and proverbs 

What major crop did the

Portugese produce using

enslaved Africans?

sugarcane

Songs sung by ensaved Africans

connected them to

their homeland.

How did rain forest kingdoms differ

from the savanna kingdoms?

The rain forest kingdoms like Benin and  Congo had rich farmlands and produced a surplus of foods like bananas and rice. Because of this surplus the kingdoms supported a class of artisans. These kingdoms traded food and crafts for salt and copper from the savanna.

How did Islam affect Northern

and Eastern Africa?

Islam was popular in the cities of northern and eastern Africa, but had less impact in the countryside. In E. Africa, Swahili culture combined traditional African culture with Islamic influence.  Islam influenced African laws and ideas, introduced Arabic to Africans, advanced learning, and influenced art and architecture.

Benin

an empire in the rainforest

camels

revolutionalized trade

 across the Sahara.

jazz

developed  from African music

plateau

an area of high flat land

plantations

huge farms that

grew a crop for sale

Swahili

the culture and

language of East Africa

Clan

a group of people descended from the same ancestor

griots

storytellers

matrilineal

tracing descendent through mothers

Islam

spread from Arabia into

Africa beginning in the A.D. 600s

Hans Vischer called a trade route "death road" because

it crossed 1,500

 miles of the Sahara.

The Nile and Niger Rivers

 have what in common?

Civilizations grew up

along their banks.

Ghana grew wealthy

 in part because it

kept a big army

with iron weapons

How did Sunni Ali

conquer the Berbers?

by controlling

economic resources

What religion did King Ezana

of Axum help bring to Africa?

Christianity

Who did Sundiata of Mali

 put in charge of provinces?

generals

What is the earliest form

of African art known?

cave paintings of

everyday life

What changed the nature

of slavery in Africa?

the arrival of Europeans

What lead to the growth

of centralized governments

in West Africa?

the emergence of large empires

Mansa Musa of Mali

used his pilgrimage to

 showcase his empire

How did the kingdoms in the rain forest

differ from the savanna kingdoms?

Farmland in the savanna was not rich.  Savanna kigdoms were wealthy in salt, copper, & gold

which they traded with the rainforest kingdoms for food.

How did Islam affect northern

 and eastern Africa?

Mansa Musa of Mali made his country known to the world when he went on his pilgrimage to Makkah.  This increased the Arabic world's

interest in trading with the area.