History Test 5

Spread of Islam in Africa

-Look at Map - Spreads from arabian peninsula to middle east and east and northern africa and asia -Under the umayyad caliphate is spreads across N africa but it makes its way into SSA, and notice that it follows the trans saharan trade routes down -Writing by oral tradition -Mansa musa - ruled W african and made hajj pilgrimage ----Tells us there were african kingdoms ruled by rich kings ----W africa - much more connected than lead to believe ----He knew about the places he was visiting -First empire - ghana, then mali (mansa musa) with more islam and more islamic virtues and writings, songhai -In west africa you have bantu - language, tradition, culture

Other african kingdoms

1200 CE - 1500 CE -Gap because it is deepest africa - the congo -Congo Forest Region (Congo Civ) ----Really dense rainforest - not good for wide scale settlement - there are small groups, but the pygmies of africa live in here, ----Dense - hard to have agriculture in these regions ----You will get eaten by something ----Disease - because it rains: mosquitos and breeding ground for lots of diseases ----No centralized states there ----More easily accessible areas are nearby places -Great lakes Region ----Kingdom of rwanda, buganda, etc ----You have kinds but again more rural areas that you are dealing with - much more local - not as expansive, you have iron and salt trade but mostly agriculture

Existence of GZ

300 CE - first occupation in the iron age 1000 CE - early evidence of civilization 1250 ACE - rise to power At first, historians thought GZ must have been built by foreigners because the architecture was so remarkable, but now it is thought to be built by Africans because of evidence of wood from Lebanon

Valleys and plains The great rift valley Great rift valley

3000 miles long The active area is splitting up east africa It is moving cms per year It is growing They get to find new stuff all the time Lots of really early hominids were here. So they find really ancient humanoid thingies. Seismic activity in africa Not a lot to be honest

Stages of Early Human Development

4 mil BCE - 1 mil BCE -We have different hominids --Any member of the primate family that walks more or less on 2 legs --Paleolithic age (Old stone age) 2.5 mil BCE to 8k BCE -Australopithecus africanus - one of the earliest hominids - lucy trying to help the evolutionary path -Man of skill - stone tools - E Africa 1.5 mil BCE - .25 BCE -Almost always walking upright -Upright man - homo erectus --Different primitive tech, first to use fire, moving out into europe and asia .25 mil BCE - .03 mil BCE -Homo sapiens - sapient, wise humans -Neanderthals are actually died out --We found some of their DNA in modern humans, so we know there was interbreeding -Late - homo sapien sapiens - or chromagnan man --All modern humans are descended from this .03 mil - .01 mil -Changes habits - from hunting and gathering to agriculture

Early History Timeline

5-3 mil BC - First hominids walk E and S Africa, known as Australopithecines or "Ape-Men" 3-1.5 mil BC - Early Stone Age and Emergence of Homo habilis - the toolmaker - using flaked stone scrapers 1.75-1 mil BC - Evolution of Homo erectus with the use of hand axes and shaped stone scrapers I mil-40k BC - Middle Stone Age and Evolution of early form of Homo sapiens - modern man. Shaped stone points used for spearheads 40-10k BC - Later Stone age and Rise of Homo sapiens with the development of bow and arrow and we have evidence of rock painting and a hunter gathering lifestyle 9-3k BC - Last major wet period in Africa. The Sahara is habitable with savannah, grassland, and rivers. Baked clay pottery found in African stone age communities and this is the beginnings of agriculture and domestication of animals 500 BC - Evidence of iron smelting in Nigeria and central Niger and this spreads to the rest of W Africa by 1k AD 200-500 AD - Movement of Bantu peoples to E and S Africa - the Bantu Migration 1925 - Discovery of Australopithecus near Taung, S Africa 1960's - Homo habilis skulls found in Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, and Lake Turkana, Kenya 1974 - Semi-complete skeleton of Lucy found in Omo Valley, Ethiopia 1975 - 13 Australopithecus remains found in Hada, Ethiopia and Homo Erectus skull found Lake Turkana 1976 - Australopithecus footprints found in Laetoli, Tanzania Once you have these settlements you start farming efficiently Some people specialize when you good at farming Then you have urban focus Then you develop civilization

1. What are our preconceptions about Africa? Where do these come from?

A tribal land often associated with poverty and famine. Most of these perception arise out of the real world economic problems that have faced Africa after decolonization, they also arise from racist viewpoints that try to paint africans as lesser developed and "savage". Propaganda and stereotypes.

Khoi and San African Empire

A unifying name for two groups of peoples of Southern Africa who share physical and putative linguistic characteristics distinct from the Bantu majority of the region. Culturally, they are divided into the foraging San, or Bushmen, and the pastoral Khoi, or more specifically Khoikhoi, previously known as Hottentots. The San (also called Bushmen) are generally assumed to have been the earliest inhabitants of the region comprising today's Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa. Until about 2,000 years ago, they were the only inhabitants in Namibia, but around that time the Nama (also known as Namaqua), the Khoikhoi, and the Hottentots settled around the Orange River in the south, on the border between Namibia and South Africa, where they kept herds of sheep and goats.

2. How do the unique traits of African geography impact the development of civilization?

Africa has two major sections, the saharan and the sub saharan. Because of this many different distinct civilizations were created. In places like Egypt, a river valley civilization grew that had easy contact with the middle east and the mediterranean, but in the jungles and grasslands of sub saharan Africa. these tribes are far more isolated, leading to them flourish in their own unique ways such as unique languages and religions.

4. Why did human evolution take place in Africa? What unique aspects of Africa helped foster the earliest human development?

Africa is home to many ape species one of which obviously developed into us humans. In the past Africa's great grasslands use to be full of trees and jungles but as these cleared away for open land our ancestors had to adapt to walking between these long stretches without trees. This eventually lead to bipedalism and a loss of our tails.

Role in government and rise of empires

Africa was the first continent into which Islam spread from Southwest Asia, during the early 7th century CE. Almost one-third of the world's Muslim population resides in the continent. Muslims crossed current Djibouti and Somalia to seek refuge in present-day Eritrea and Ethiopia during the Hijrah (Arabic: هِـجْـرَة‎, 'Migration') to the Kingdom of Aksum.[2] Most Muslims in Africa are Sunni; the complexity of Islam in Africa is revealed in the various schools of thought, traditions, and voices in many African countries. The practice of Islam on the continent is not static and is constantly being reshaped by prevalent social, economic, and political conditions. Generally Islam in Africa often adapted to African cultural contexts and belief systems forming Africa's own orthodoxies.[citation needed] In the government you had a lot of Muslim scholars because they could read and write and document laws and things. In empires, it was a unifying sort of factor and major religion that spread throughout.

Empire of Mali 13th cent to 15th cent

Almost were like hey we didn't succeed with the islamic kingdom we wanted, they preach through the sahel, and ruling families converted, keita was a family and a new kingdom under them was forged Mali is getting its wealth with the monopolization of the trade routed through the sahara More agriculturally fertile land and control of upper niger and they include even more people: Soninke, mande, ghao, mandinge, and adding to people The founder was sundiata keita, legendary, epic was oral traditions passed down, bit people wrote it down - EPIC OF OLD MALI SUNDIATA - he began as a royal slave among the soso people but gradually accomplish having an army and seizes major territories that are gold rich and is able to build a foundation for mali empire, but the most important and influential is mansa musa Mali is a landlocked nation in West Africa, located southwest of Algeria, extending south-west from the southern Sahara Desert through the Sahel to the Sudanian savanna zone.

Strengths and weaknesses of GZ

Architecture like a huge city with many stones still remaining and the wall, spread of the shona religion with mwari, control of gold trade, trade of cattle resources, and the soapstone sculptures were huge strengths Weaknesses were ill planned housing in the city, crowded and poorly built houses, too many people in a small area and overpopulation, too much farming in a small area and overgrazing, hierarchical government and different rankings within the community It collapsed partly due to environmental issues like drought and overgrazing, internal conflicts, overpopulation, and decline in trade

3. What factors contribute to Sub-Saharan Africa "lagging behind"?

As stated before sub- Saharan Africa is very cut off from the more "developed" world and thus has developed in its own unique ways. Huge grasslands and jungles are examples of barriers that cut them off. Also, colonization taking away their valuable resources that they may have needed.

Interesting Facts about Kush

At one time, the Kushite kingdoms were ruled by Egypt. Later however, the Kushites took over Egypt and became known as the 25th Dynasty. The Kshites often used massive burial puits to bury over 400 people at one time. The Kush religion decided when their king died, not sickness or old age.

Interesting facts about GZ

Bark cloth created Instrumen called the Mbira played and the players were called guardians Green parrot symbols in the bible Women had jobs

Development of Society

Because africa has been around for a long time and it is so big, you have the development of many little civilizations with many languages and ethnicities and stuff. Some use same language, but you have hundreds in like Nigeria

Facts about Axum

Because of strong religious heritage, Axum continues to be the holiest city in Ethiopia and the destination of many pilgrimages Because of the foundation of the Axum civilization, Ethiopia was the only African country that stayed out of foreign control, except for the Italians from 1936-41

Berbers

Berber, self-name Amazigh, plural Imazighen, any of the descendants of the pre-Arab inhabitants of North Africa. The Berbers live in scattered communities across Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Mali, Niger, and Mauretania. They speak various Amazigh languages belonging to the Afro-Asiatic family related to Ancient Egyptian. At the turn of the 21st century, there were perhaps 14 million in Morocco, 9 million in Algeria, and much smaller numbers in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, and Mauretania; in the Sahara of southern Algeria and of Libya, Mali and Niger, the Berber Tuareg number about 1 million.

Empire of Ghana 4th cent to 11th cent

Built on trade - gold and salt A bunch of different peoples that come together, sonike, monde, but they combine with some of the berbers that made their way south Not islamic sahelian kingdoms: Some people do convert towards the end and some at the height but not all the way Capitol on kumbi sale - Kumbi, also called Koumbi Saleh, last of the capitals of ancient Ghana, a great trading empire that flourished in western Africa from the 9th through the 13th century. Situated about 200 miles (322 km) north of modern Bamako, Mali, Kumbi at the height of its prosperity, before 1240, was the greatest city of western Africa with a population of more than 15,000. Within its boundaries there were—as was the custom of the early kingdoms of the western Sudan—two cities, one of which was occupied by the king, the other by Muslim traders. Kingdom ruled by hereditary king - ghana: Favourite thing is matrilineal king-ship, but the next king is determined by king's sister and her son. If you didn't have a sister, it would proceed through matrilineal line and aunt's line. They conquered chieftain areas and tribute system of sorts They acquire gold from gold and salt and copper and slave trade The leaders themselves never converted to islam, but they let muslims to settle with cities and encouraged them to government and courts because they were literate -Written - records -Oral - stories -2 traditions At the end, the berbers - almoravids became islam and declared jihad on a variety of places and then ghana and lead to the downfall - awdaghust Around 1100 we no longer see gahana as commercial or military power The Mande speaking peoples were one of the groups that made up the empire of Ghana.

Tribe - similar to the word civilization and is very loaded - denigrated groups in africa instead of helping their social structure.

Circle, ethnicity, group, social structure, because we acknowledge all aspects of what a circle is Circle - people you identify with and care about For africans, there's a sense of people who are inside and accountable and responsible to. People outside aren't like that because you have less commonalities, they may be so far away from you, and aren't connected and close Circle defines life and social interactions, and to make sure it's tight, you have a series of bonds. Language creates a unique identity for a circles. Morals Ethics How you live your life Storytelling helps pass stuff down from generations and it all creates bonds Geographic - you live in one region. You don't travel very far traditionally and you don't go five miles away from home in your entire life, not like now The nomadic people - bushmen - they, even though they don't have a settled home, they have territory that they don't go outside of Family group - subset of family Nuclear family - mom, dad, brother, sister, cat, dog - immediate family Today, you don't have extended family living with you In these situations, you live with your extended family You are living with your clan - you feel responsibility towards your clan and you will know who they are - familial obligations towards them. Polygamy and poligany If you have bonds and increasing that and the strength of a family group, it makes sense to have multiple husbands or wives to connect families Individualism You don't matter as who you are, you matter as a group You matter as an age set Old people 12 - 13 boys: rites of passage Married and unmarried woman Based on age set, you have various responsibilities. Often times, as you enter an age set, you may end up with some sort of mark (tribal mark) and often in africa, this is in the form of scarification - naturally Governing You want the people who are the most experienced in your group in creating the bonds, understanding the social structure and cultural norms, you want them in charge Old people: Elders - that age set - is going to run everything and make decision for your group. Controversy with laws of a country and laws of elders Colonies with circles squished into a single country You think of yoruba or your group before you think of yourself as nigerian This is an important thing with communication Language is the colonizer's language now Now you don't understand the other people's customs A lot of people are running for elections - how should you make your decision - People run and the circle vote their people and so you don't have competent leaders Any time you have traditional euro vs african system, you have strife

Empire of Songhai 15th cent to 16th cent

Comes under mali 3 important leaders Sunni Ali -Made gao into songhai -All about military and his aggressive -Has lots of fast ships and useful to control niger and other parts of empire -Use ships to do that and conquers timbuktu and djenne and pushes berbers farther north Later on we have a new dyansti and Askia dynasty by Askia Muhammad Toure -He seizes the oasis and takes over pushing burbors and expands territory to control trade -Centralized gov -Standard weights and measures -Standardized currency -First he used SS for the bureaucracy and replaces them with the muslims - educated and can contribute more - certain kind of riding -More islamic principles in gov Askia Daud -Largest territorial expansion -Ends up down to cameroon and it is 7 thousand cultures squished together -One of largest run by africans -Urban centers dominated by islam and islamic culture -In rural areas you see a lot of traditional african religions being followed - spiritualism and animism Downfall was too big too fast too many people that didn't wanna work together and the subject people begin to revolt and they can't control this large of an empire breaking away of areas and maghreb come down taking control of the moroccans and 1591 come down and take over songhai then collapse

Mountains and peaks

Couples of mountains -Atlas in the north east -Drakensberg in the south No tectonic things except East is seceding from africa and leaving and will chill out in the indian ocean or somewhere -So you have some mountains like mt kilimanjaro & mt kenya and Ruwenzori of mountains is cool and tiny boi The rest of africa is basically a giant plateau -Lower elevation around the edges ----Creates an escarpment - End up playing a role in keeping out explorers because when you have a big country and it is difficult to come in because of dessert, rainforest, and so on, but rivers usually work. Escarpments make it so you can't go very far into the country with rivers. It isn't discovered by euro for a while.

The congo river basin

Covers 12 perc of continent Extends over 9 countries 2720 miles long 99 perc of the country of democratic republic of the congo is in the congo river basin- Not communist

The niger river basin

Covers 7.5 perc of continent Extends over 10 countries 2600 miles long

A satellite view

Desert - very large - in the north Rainforest in the center Savannah in the coast Madagascar on east coast When thinking about africa and trying to judge it against other continents, where does it fall in the size range? SUPER BIG Mercader - Smaller than it actually is on maps, and the reason is when we first made maps, it made sense to make parallel lines of latitude. There is always distortion on map, and this is a distortion of area. Poles is stretched, and in the middle is compressed: Africa; Greenland = not same size of Africa

Africa - the tropical continent African trade winds

Distributed over the equator Cancer, then equator, capricorn Desert, rainforest, desert In the middle is the doldrums -Sits there and rains there in the center -Warm air currents go but rain comes back West africa Home of our hurricanes They make it and shoot then at us

You can go soooo much further with the DEVELOPMENT OF AFRICAN CIVILIZATIONS

Early Humans and Prehistoric Africa Earliest ones are in Africa One of the theories about evolution and the distribution of people around the world is the out of africa theory - People started out in africa and then moved There are a variety of anthropologists that are challenging this theory

Political and Social Structure of GZ

Elite class of rulers and commoners Rich = Cattle and beef was considered for only the upper class, many wives, and controlled gold and metal trade which lead to rise of power and wealth Commoners = Lived in the valley, tight, cramped, unsanitary spaces Elite had more living space, the best quality beef, imported goods like silk, embroidery, and ceramics Common people just lived in densely packed settlements in the valley Role of women: women were given equal work and opportunities to men ~ seen with the excavation of an ancient mine shaft where 9/16 skeletons were woman

The Swahili Coast

Essentially an area where the bantu spread - coming out of the W african area and moving down both sides of the continent - mixed with some arabic Language is a miz Advanced cities - more rural Bantu and arabic mixed People mixed and we have islam rising and this is before Map is we can see back to when we talk about zeng hue - people coming as far as china to the african coast - Giraffes Weather leads to cosmopolitan cities - winds changing and stuff So this contributes to all these foreigners staying for a while, conversing and exchanging ideas and good with people in cities They are at their peak when they had monopoly on trade with the arabs Decline come with the portuguese coming in with the cape of good hope Inroads into africa Arab influence - boat doah di och - good for moving quickly up and down coast

Mansa Musa

Expanded influence and there are 3 cities that he takes over completely and makes them impressive cosmopolitan cities - Timbuktu, Djenne, Gao - Mosques in Mali - and he makes them amazing Devout muslim, and we know a lot about him because many writers experienced his empire and he is known for hajj and he destabilized monetary system of egypt which is cool Catalan atlas that includes mansa musa and it's not that they colored it gold leaf was put into it He built lots of mosques throughout mali and in those big cities are the most famous. They are very unique and they still have a same basic system, but the outside is decorated way differently than you would see in the muslim world.

Relations and Religion of GZ

Generally peaceful and part of a fairly large international trading network with gold as a leading export and silk and ceramics imported However, the large wall surrounding the kingdom suggest that military threat might have existed at one time Most likely, these people were very religions and some historians believe that religious center helped GZ become powerful and a tall tower found in the city might have been used to worship Mwara, the supreme god of the Shona religion

Apex of African Empires

Ghana, Mali, and Songhai

Africa's Great Civilizations - Empires of Gold

Good description of what we talking about Maghreb - land of the setting sun is the Arabic name for the northern coast of Africa/Iberia Marrakesh was the center of politics and law and it was known for its gold, salt, and textile trade Abdullah Ibn Yasin was a theologist and islamic teacher of a tribe and tried to spread Islam. The Almoravids were the followers of him and their version of islam was very fundamentalist and strict. They wanted to control trans saharan trade. Ibn Yasin conquered Sijilmasa first and by controlling this city he got gold and resources which set him on his way. Traders used the domestication of the camel to get through hot and sandy sahara with more efficiency Next, Ibn Yasin headed to the sahel Ghana was the empire that controlled the area between Senegal and the Niger River system letting them control access to both of them and control of the gold trade The almoravids conquered Awdaghust and it lead to the conversion to their form of islam Marrakesh was the city Yusuf Ibn Tashfin settled in Koubba - simple exterior and very intricate inside - it has was a pavilion and maybe a monument. Ibn Tashfin went to Al-Andalus spain to give military support and ended up taking over as his own territory THe Almohads (A berber group) - monotheists - overthrew the almoravids. They considered literacy to be most essential, and the fez city was a center of learning and was a global intellectual area. The Kairaouine was a mosque began in 1859 and the oldest institution of higher learning and was the center of Muslim scholarship The fez's counterpart across the sahara is timbuktu - Mali controlled this city, founded by Sundiata Gold was essential in this ancient world because it shows wealth and power and it was gotten from the trans saharan trade. Salt and slaves were also traded. African gold was important for Europe because of wealth, gold standard, and currency. A trader could get a saddlebag quran by trading gold. Mansa musa was the richest man alive and he distributed so much gold on his pilgrimage to mecca that economies collapsed Ile Ife is in the west of africa, near the gulf of guinea. They produced life like sculptures better than europeans. Ife is regarded by the Yoruba as their spiritual home. A german archaeologist thought this discovery was mind blowing - Ife Heads - and was stunned and didn't believe that it could have been made by the africans. He said it could have been made by the atlantans, anyone but the, Marrakesh, Fez, Timbuktu, and Ile Ife show - merchant and artisans and scholars thrived and their riches and wealth known everywhere, swahili coast is more thriving with islam, gz grows wealthy, and conflict increases within and with outsiders

Leo Africanus and Ibn Battuta - Writings on Timbuktu

Has libraries and muslim universities - Madrasas Very big cultural center Poets and scholars and artists coming to meet here and even after mali falls, timbuktu was the islamic center for africa for quite a while Leo - african sub saharan and becomes a slave but was educated and he becomes a slave to pope leo and then he gets renamed leo africanus the african that belongs to leo. He writes a lot about timbuktu and is open minded since it is familiar. Ibn - arabi that travels all over the place - vast majority of people won't travel 10 miles at most in their lifetimes and he travels worldwide and he wrote about everything and was critical about timbuktu but he was astonished

The sahara desert

Has to do with global climate patterns On the equator

Nok culture

Importance is its pottery Terracotta art that was expertly fired and very detailed (and pretty large) We can tell that they are supposed to be human We don't see exact representation of the person

7. When and how did Islam enter Africa? Where did it have the biggest impact?

Islam entered africa through trade routes in the savanna through their connection on the east coast of Africa.... islam flourished there and spread through the continent.

The Region/Relationships/Religion of Kush

Kush, due to the abundance of precious metals in their lands, had an uneasy relationship with the Egyptians over the millennia. At times, they were seen as allies of the Egyptians, while at other times they were seen as enemies. Under the Kingdom of Kush, however, the Nubians would conquer Egypt and establish a powerful dynasty. The Kingdom of Kush was very similar to Ancient Egypt in many aspects including government, culture, and religion. Like the Egyptians, the Kushites built pyramids at burial sites, worshipped Egyptian gods, and mummified the dead. The ruling class of Kush likely considered themselves Egyptians in many ways.

Overview of Kush

Kush, or Nubia, was comprised of two main kingdoms: the kingdom Kerma (2500 -1500 BC) and the kingdom of Kush (800 BC - 350 AD). Both kingdoms were located in Northern Africa, including parts of Southern Egypt and modern day SUDAN. At its height, Kushite kingdoms spread more than 1000 km. THe kingdom of Kerma, when it was most powerful, had a population of about 2000 people.

MUHAMMAD & HIS SUCCESSORS

LIFE OF MUHAMMAD 570 - 610 CE: Early Life 595 CE: Marriage to Khadija 610 CE: Muhammad receives first revelation 610 - 622 CE: Prophetic period in Mecca 622 - 630 CE: Muhammad at Medina 630 - 632 CE: Ruler of Arabian Peninsula MUHAMMAD'S DEATH & SUCCESSION CRISIS March, 632: Muhammad's last pilgrimage Origins of Shi'ism: The Event at GhadirKhumm June 8, 632: Muhammad Dies Sunni / Shi'a Split Sunni: Abu Bakr (closet friend) Shi'a: 'Ali (son-in-law) Wars of the Ridda ISLAM AFTER MUHAMMAD Rashidun Caliphs Abu Bakr al-Saddiq(632-634) Omar ibn al-Khattab(634-644) 'Uthman ibn Affan(644-656) 'Ali bin Abi Talib(656-661) Internal Rift Hasan (Shi'a) vs. Mu'awiyya (Ummayad)

Animism

Later on, we see more masks, and a lot of this is due to and increased amount of animism Understanding the spirituality of everything in your world Wooden figures carved of spirits and such to protect them - fetishes

Centers and Civilization and the People of GZ

Located between the Limpopo and Zambezi was big centers Hill complex Valley complex Great Enclosure Ethnicity - Pastoralist Shona: Same ethnic group as 3 surrounding villages Myths of religions leaders and outsiders, but they may be historically inaccurate

The mighty nile river

Longest river in the world Is the width of the US It would flood so lots of agriculture Natural irrigation and fertilizer Helps with vast and long range of civilization No one lives anywhere past the river because it is desert Delta is much wider

6. What are the main characteristics of the Kingdoms of Axum, Kush, and Great Zimbabwe? How do they fit into our understanding of civilization?

Look up in notes!

The complete topography of africa - legit our east Natural resources

Lots of stuff in africa~ resource rich Oil up in the north & Oil in nigeria Gold in the west gold coast & Gold in the south Diamonds in the same places west and south Cash crops - Coffee and coco happen here, peanuts and sisal is great Problem with cash crops is they take up a lot of fertile land, they take up land that could be used for food crops like subsistence or cotton. They don't get the profits either. In congo, they have found other resources for modern life like minerals for technology like manganese and tungsten and stuff, so they are hugely valuable and conflict companies

Overland and Sea Trade Route by 16th cent

Lots through desert with salt gold and slave trade Controlling trade through red sea and European interest increases in africa especially when they see shiny things Imports and exports that come in

Sculptures

Made by trying to take as little from the trunk of the tree as possible Supposed to be spiritual Ashanti women carried little statues in their clothes and they represented the baby and if you kept that in your clothing, your future children would be well formed - Some tribes would decorate them with feathers, beads and stuff Some of these statues protected against things like sickness, fire, thieves They originated from the western sudan, congo and coast East have no sculpture and traditionalism Naturalism is not good emulating life exactly is bad so you emphasize which feature is most important It was purposeful to have a symbolic/religious purpose Animals to signify a particular thing - birds - intermediary between worlds, antelope - speed, etc.

9. What was the reaction to Islam on the part of many Africans? How does this reaction relate to our ideas of communal ethos?

Many Africans accepted the new religion and converted to Islam because of the easy of trade and salvation that was promised. Many African tribes began to combine their ancestral animism and spiritual religions to create a completely African version of Islam

African art and the west

Modigliani - carved and painted african art ariations Picasso - influenced by african art Created masks and painting influenced by proportions of african art

Art and economy of GZ

Most famous extant art is a set of 8 soapstone bird that are about 16 inches tall and each is on top of a yard tall column and poses both avian and human attributes like lips instead of a beak and have unique patterns that distinguish the art form other sculptures of the time period They had a very strong economy and at first relied on livestock. Then, profits from livestock allowed Shona people to gain control of gold mines and some of the mines were 35 miles away from the city. Gold was transported through the Indian ocean up to markets of Cairo and GZ possessed the most extensive gold-workings of ancient world. By 1500, economy of GZ diminished possibly due to droughts and disease.

Economy, Strengths, & Weaknesses of Axum

Most important economic activities of the Axum civilization were through trading with South Arabia and the Romans, especially by being in the middle between Rome and India -Ivory trade in Ethiopia was fought over, and ivory found was used in trade for goods like spice and glass -Worked a large amount in iron at the time of the iron age -By combining the economic benefits of trade and agriculture, the civilization was able to make a great profit and become very successful -Created its own coinage and written language (Ge'ez) -Traded with Rome and South Arabia because of its control over key areas -With industry and a large amount of wealth came a number of problems -Because they were taking out timber for iron factories, the displacement of soil led to mudslides and floods that ravaged the cities and places for agriculture -Because there were so many very wealthy people, the government was often insufficient and weak because of noble power There was no true date for the decline and eventual collapse of the Axum civilization -There was more competition in the markets of Arabia because of the emergence of the Persian empire, and it's possible there was a conflict, by likely not -As the civilization moved away from its power cities and centers of revenue, its importance started to fade

Stages of Early Human Development Part 2

Neolithic 10k BCE - 4k BCE Agricultural Revolution -Shift from nomadism to agriculture -Defining feature of new stone age You have lots of settlements

The Beginnings of Kush

Neolithic people probably migrated to the NIle river valley from Egypt and parts of the Sahara, when the desert became too dry to sustain life. Neolithic Kushites were widely acclaimed for their archery skills, causing some people to refer the early Kush as the Land of the Bow Kushite culture was widely influenced by Egyptian culture. The two cultures were intertwined since the very beginning, when Egypt ruled over Kush. later, the relationship flipped, and Kush took over Egypt. This caused heavy Egyptian influence on Kushite art, architecture, and religion.

Iron and Bronze

Nok Culture 1000 BCE - 500 CE Ironworking Used it to have much more productive farming - weapons and farming instruments Lots of population growth and spreads out from here Terracotta Benin 15th Cent CE - 19th Cent CE Hugely important Even date it back to 12th century - height around 15th Expanded quite a bit Creating not just iron works, but bronze: Difficult to get bronze in africa Control of ivory trade - very important around the world Later on, they are going to be one of the main cultures interacting with the europeans

Trade African 15th to 17th cent

Not just for wealth enticing - they found that they can grow crops here and make them work there and slave trade and stuff

The Iron Age

Now you have iron, farming, productive farming, pop growth and movement Nok - The Nok culture is an early Iron Age population whose material remains are named after the Ham village of Nok in Kaduna State of Nigeria, where their famous terracotta sculptures were first discovered in 1928. The most characteristic Nok artifacts are clay figurines of animals and stylized human beings, usually heads; perforated eyes of an elliptical or triangular shape are typical of the style. Other artifacts of the Nok culture include iron tools, stone axes and other stone tools, and stone ornaments. Improved lifestyle, and food quantities African development continues steadily up until the 1600s The sahara is a barrier but trade happens The settlements are like along the bantu migrations: 2000 BCE - 500 BCE -Start up in nigeria, south ,west, then east, then south -Spread of bantu languages and family

Prehistory

Painted on rocks in many cases Painting shows what's most important to them, whatever animals that are nearby

Art in USe

Related to religion and spirituality Recreating creation myth You are not worshipping figurines or anything in full, instead you worship through your dance The west dismissed african art completely and didn't call it art, and later on, some europeans started to emulate it

Benin

Royally sponsored art Craft guilds Sophisticated art here They would create altar pieces of heads of cast bronze, you could put a carved elephant tusk into that Ivory made stuff - only king could have that: Ivory trade with the portuguese

Deserts

Sahara Sahel -Marginal land right on edge of sahara -Marginally productive -Not exactly desert bc it has a tiny bit of groundwater -Small herds and crops -Very threatened Namib Kalahari

Africa

Sahara (talked about already), savannah, and then congo The african savannah Lots of animals 13 million square miles African rainforest Annual rainfall of up to 17 feet Rapid decomposition very humid Bad mosquitos Covers 37 countries 15 perc of land surface of africa

Desertification

Sahara is getting bigger - it is moving slowly south every year Sahel is to prevent to keeping the desert at bay, but people farming and stuff in the sahel are making it hard to keep it at bay Plant treeeees to stop it

Africa's Size

Second largest, but only 10 perc of world population 11,700,000 miles squared Lots of desert so not habitable Also rainforest have mosquitos like malaria and stuff is bad Animals that kill you Lots of stuff fit in africa

Mt kilimanjaro

Snow on the equator, but not so much nowadays

Masks

Some on prehistoric paintings Word in religious and ceremonial dances For crops, birth, mourn death, coming of age, etc You have a big dance and the people wear masks They are sacred - human form or animal form - if you keep that and you will lock it up and keep it safe. The masks are burned if they weren't gonna be used, after their purpose, you don't anyone else to have their power, so they are burned. Colors imply something depending on which social group create dit, ghosts or spirits is like white, dark and light for male and female, wide variety of different types, helmet masks, costumes.

The Oral Tradition - Griot

Storytelling is so important in the african traditions Rather than a written tradition, you have a griot - storyteller - that passes down history of a group and whose job it is to pass down cultural values, ethics, morals, how you should live and act, and it is done through speaking or music and the stories are sung Cona - Traditional instrument for griots in western africa in the senegambia area The oral tradition is great for putting groups together and it doesn't help with large empires and so it's why you had muslim bureaucrats to make written records

ISLAM, MUHAMMAD, & EMPIRES - A look at the beliefs, beginnings, and spread of Islam

THE BASICS -The Message of Muhammad -Aspects of the Revelation ISLAMIC DOCTRINE Where does it come from? Qur'an Hadith / Sunna Ijma' Qiyas What does it entail? Correct Belief Correct Ritual Correct Values Correct Law ISLAMIC DOCTRINE: BELIEF-Allah AngelsJabril/ 'Azrael / Israfil/ Michael Prophets God's BooksTorah / Zabur/ Evanjil/ Qur'an Day of Judgment Predestination ISLAMIC DOCTRINE: VALUES & LAW Correct Values Correct Law Shari'a Types of Actions FardMandubMubahMakruhHaram SACRED SPACES: MOSQUES, MECCA, MEDINA, TEMPLE MOUNT IN JERUSALEM, DOME OF THE ROCK, AL ASQA MOSQUE ,

TimeLine of Islamic Empires

TIMELINE OF ISLAMIC EMPIRES The Caliphates Rashidun Caliphate (632-661) 'Ummayad(661-747) Abbasid (747-1258) Divisions & Dynasties 'Ummayad in Spain (755-1030) 750-929 Emirate of Cordoba 929-1031 Caliphate of Cordoba 1085-1147 Almoravid Spain 1147-1238 Almohad Spain 1238-1492 Emirate of Granada Fatimids in Egypt & Tunisia (908-1171) Other Empires Seljuk Turks (1055-1194) Crusades (1100-1271) Crusaders take Jerusalem 1099 Saladin & the Ayyubids(1260) Mongols (1200-1281) Ottoman Empire (1335-1900)

Location/People/Centers of Civilization of Axum

The Axum civilization existed in modern day northern Ethiopia and Eritrea, at times extending into the Sahara and up towards Arabia -Existed from the 1st to the 7th century AD -The capital of Axum had a population of ~20,000 people on ~75 hectares of land The Agaw people from northern Ethiopia populated the city of axum and began its long history of trade, facilitated by the land's location near the Red Sea 2 centers of civilization - Aksum and Adulis -Aksum: city with an urban focus centered around the temples and cathedrals and flanked by poorer rural suburbs -Adulis: main commercial center for civilization and situated on the Red Sea Axum was a very diverse population with semitic (Habeshas), Kushitic, and Nilo-Saharan speaking people, along with a diverse array of religions

Social Part of Axum

The Axum civilization was a monarchy that held supreme power over its subjects King Azana 321-360 CE brought the Christian religion and engaged in expanding the territory into the Sahara and curbing a threat from neighboring powers King Kaleb was the first monarch to be a recognized Christian by the Byzantine Empire, reaffirming the importance of the faith in the politics It was a hierarchical society, with the king at the top and then nobles, then the general population under both Priests and traders would have been very important and the lower classes would have mostly been farmers and craftsmen Very little has been found on the status of women and families here

Review of Timbuktu

The Description of Africa - Description of Timbuktu, 1526 by Leo Africanus - very critical review highlighting everything that he saw and admired there

Basic Tenets of Islam

The Five Pillars of Islam Shahadah: sincerely reciting the Muslim profession of faith. Salat: performing ritual prayers in the proper way five times each day. Zakat: paying an alms (or charity) tax to benefit the poor and the needy. Sawm: fasting during the month of Ramadan. Hajj: pilgrimage to Mecca.

People and Structure of Kush

The Kush had heavy influence from the Mediterranean Sea and Egypt, as the Nile provided them with a close link to both. The Kush were very religious and believed priests to have divine authority. The priests could decide when the king should die, and they did. Kush's social hierarchy was similar to Egypts. The order of society had the pharaoh at the top with the nobles, craftsmen and artisans, farmers, laborers, and slaves to follow. Classes were solidly defined in Kushite society, and women held the same rights as men and dominated the population.

Ife

The bronze heads were made through the lost wax process - you create your thing in head and pack some sort of clay around it and then you fire that and you have a mold for bronze and you pour in your liquid bronze Marks on face = group and marks and scarification

Strengths and Weaknesses of Kush

The kush played a major role in mediterranean trade. They used a lot of gold in their trade. The Kush kingdoms, as a result, became a strong agricultural and pastoral society. The Kush also used a redistributive economy. Kush culture as many strengths such as their talent for craftsmanship, their ability to incorporate other cultures into their own without much trouble, their ability to build cities, their talent for trade, and their central government. They also have many notable achievements such as their style of furniture, pottery and jewelry, military power, and strategic location for trade that put them in a place with access to the gold that Egypt, their closest neighbor, desired. One of Kush's weaknesses, however, was that they were in a desert with scarce resources and harsh weather patterns. There are many theories as to why the kingdom of Kush declined, namely invasion that destroyed cities, rebellions that destroyed cities, and a failing economy.

Hydroelectric power

There's lots of it in africa Aswan high dam on the nile created nasser Prevents the nile river from flooding Provides power, but also kinda feels like they have a monopoly but ethiopia wants to build one Source of conflict and benefit

8. How did Islam impact the West African empires of Ghana, Mali and Songhai? How did it allow these kingdoms to flourish? Other effects?

These nations were brought into the Arabic trade network which offered them a whole new world of riches. Other effects was the creation of the east African slave trade through the Arabic seas

Relations, Religion, and Art of Axum

They generally had peaceful relations with the surrounding countries, by engaging in trade and other affairs, but they did invade to expand territory and quell opposition Religion played a major role in the creation and maintenance of the civilization, with Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all meeting in one spot -Before Christianity was introduced, there was not much evidence for early religion except stelae and temples found -Christianity was introduced in the 4th century and played a major role in society -An early semitic people (Beta Israel) here became the precursor for Judaism Art was heavily influenced by Greece, Rome, and South Arabia and religion -Leaders build large obelisks all over their tombs known as stelae as architectural marvels but also with religious importance

5. What are the central characteristics of a civilization? How can we decide whether or not a particular group is a civilization? What are the precautions we must take when thinking about civilizations?

Things such as organized government, division of labor, agriculture, art and music are all signs of civilization. We must not write of a group of people as "uncivilized" or "savage" just because they may lack one of these traits.

Islam in Africa Today

Today, we can see it stops after the sahara, and past that you see different religions like christianity because colonial legacies - east coast, some spread of islam down the coast of africa

Benin: Edo, Ewuare the great, Lagos, Portuguese, slavery

Tradition asserts that the Edo people became dissatisfied with the rule of a dynasty of semimythical kings, the ogisos, and in the 13th century they invited Prince Oranmiyan of Ife to rule them. His son Eweka is regarded as the first oba, or king, of Benin, though authority would remain for many years with a hereditary order of local chiefs. Late in the 13th century, royal power began to assert itself under the oba Ewedo and was firmly established under the most famous oba, Ewuare the Great (reigned c. 1440-80), who was described as a great warrior and magician. He established a hereditary succession to the throne and vastly expanded the territory of the Benin kingdom, which by the mid-16th century extended from the Niger River delta in the east to what is now Lagos in the west. (Lagos was in fact founded by a Benin army and continued to pay tribute to the oba of Benin until the end of the 19th century.) Ewuare also rebuilt the capital (present-day Benin City), endowing it with great walls and moats. The oba became the supreme political, judicial, economic, and spiritual leader of his people, and he and his ancestors eventually became the object of state cults that utilized human sacrifice in their religious observances. Ewuare was succeeded by a line of strong obas, chief of whom were Ozolua the Conqueror (c. 1481-c. 1504; the son of Ewuare) and Esigie (early to mid-16th century; the son of Ozolua), who enjoyed good relations with the Portuguese and sent ambassadors to their king. Under these obas Benin became a highly organized state. Its numerous craftsmen were organized into guilds, and the kingdom became famous for its ivory and wood carvers. Its brass smiths and bronze casters excelled at making naturalistic heads, bas-reliefs, and other sculptures. From the 15th through the 18th century Benin carried on an active trade in ivory, palm oil, and pepper with Portuguese and Dutch traders, for whom it served as a link with tribes in the interior of western Africa. It also profited greatly from the slave trade. But during the 18th and early 19th centuries the kingdom was weakened by violent succession struggles between members of the royal dynasty, some of which erupted into civil wars. The weaker obas sequestered themselves in their palaces and took refuge in the rituals of divine kingship while indiscriminately granting aristocratic titles to an expanding class of nonproductive nobles. The kingdom's prosperity declined with the suppression of the slave trade, and, as its territorial extent shrank, Benin's leaders increasingly relied on supernatural rituals and large-scale human sacrifices to protect the state from further territorial encroachment. The practice of human sacrifice was stamped out only after the burning of Benin City in 1897 by the British, after which the depopulated and debilitated kingdom was incorporated into British Nigeria. The descendants of Benin's ruling dynasty still occupy the throne in Benin City (although the present-day oba has only an advisory role in government). Benin was a hub of the slave trade. Where the Dutch and people would "capture" millions of slaves and cart them off.

Gold and Salt Trade

Trans saharan trade was absolutely essential to the rise of these 3 kingdoms and empires The reason they are able to do this is because of the camel. Camels are awesome, and can go for a while without water, they have spreading feet and wide feed on soft sand keeps them from sinking in, they have amazing eyelashes that keeps sand out of their eyes: Sahara sand is powdery. They are built for living in the desert - efficient lama and trans saharan trade Sahel is a convenient southern terminist for the trade - grasslands so you can have kingdoms that develop: these are the sahelian kingdoms In the north, the original group that controlled the coastline were the romans before the arabs -Falls in 476 and islam comes in lat 600 early 700s and interact with the people that moves in when the romans left - burbors --Burbors are a big group of people and convert to islam

Review of Mali

Travels in Asia and Africa, 1325-1354 by Ibn Battuta - talks about everything he saw and observed about Mali, their king and royals, their ceremonial of Sulayman, their festival, him judging them, and their piety and very harsh on them and women not covered - talks about hippos of the niger river and he has a similar review of timbuktu mainly talking about tribes and people

Communal Ethos

Tribe Circle Bonds Family Group Individualism Governing

Decline of mali

Tuaregs Basically these t- burbors come in and seize northern territory of mali and south is taken and so it is breaking apart Gao subjugated under mansa musa and we see the rise of the third songhai

Characteristics of a Civilization

Urban focus New political and military structure New social structure based on economic power Development of more material complexity Distinct religious structure Development of writing: Often not always, sometimes storytelling (Africa) New and significant artistic and intellectual activity

Bodies of Water

Very important Nile is important - One of very few rivers that flows north: Upper egypt and lower egypt is northern more than upper Congo - A whole system ove rivers, the big upside down U, and in the middle of the congo rainforest. Helps to contribute to very lush area that it is. Zambezi Limpopo Orange Niger - Most important civilizations develop here. Surrounding bodies like the mediterranean, atlantic, indian ocean, and red sea Buncha lakes and several named after british royals Victoria Albert Tanganica Chad Taho

Size of GZ

Walled city about 200 acres with an inner and outer wall and was 250 m long and 11 m high Population of 10 to 20 k First occupied in 300 CE and abandoned in 1600 CE

Early African Kingdoms

We move from simple villages to kingdoms and empire We will focus on three - Look at slides Kush (Nubia) My group Axum Trade power - asia and roman empire Took over - conquered kush for more control over red sea and trade of (ivory) Their trade routes went along the red sea and nile - ports on red sea - connected all the way to egypt and byzantine - powerful roman empire - actually one of the most powerful trade kingdoms in all of europe at the time and pretty well known along most of the mediterranean - and maybe asia Craftsmen valued Trade in gold and ivory valued and currency is cool Architecture was cool - massive stella obelisks paying tribute to old kings Declined with rising of islamic empires Great Zimbabwe Mavi great rituals and birds on towers - religion super important - birds power connected to kings and symbol of freedom Along with that they also had art they made - gold, beads, and pottery Cattle and crop cultivation , trade routes along the indian ocean - the smelted iron and gold and economy based on this stuff Had strong trade relationship Three structures of empire - hill complex, great enclosure, valley ruins Social hierarchy could determine where you lived and heavily implemented Living conditions not too good - many people in small area Downfall - diseases

Art

We need to understand we don't understand it Some of this is because the art was so different from what they're used to and it was rejected. Wasn't till 20 years ago, people weren't really interested in examining it. There aren't really a lot of objects that date back very far. Some of it is due to natural decay - statues and mask made out of this - but a lot is also due to the influence of european missionaries. They get rid of tribal pagan gods and burned masks and sculptures and some smaller tribes lost their art forever. Some artists started portraying christian imagery. We've lost a lot of the more traditional stuff. African art is...we can't have more permanent artwork until you settled (nomads have art but it is in the form of practical objects, textiles cuz clothes and pretty, jewelry, etc (and in other areas where they are settled they make them less heavy since they aren't carting it around). Abstract styles because naturalism and realism is disrespectful and purpose - there is no art for art's sake - instead, you make stuff for a spiritual and stuff purpose or useful object. All of these things are made with that kind of thing in mind, so when you look at a mask, you think of it as a religious artifact rather than just art.

Islam

Why do people with this communal ethos stay and assimilate? Basically anywhere their understanding of islam was vague and they reconciled with traditional values Everything in islam is based around your course and devotion to god and your responsibility to UMA (community) - Zakat - almsgiving - community - You are supposed to take care of your community and follow these monotheistic beliefs Where there is strong disagreements SSA women - egalitarian society and Islam women - hierarchy - Not necessary, so they maintain their traditional gender roles They take things that work well with the community and rejecting the things that don't comply as well No polytheism, but interesting combinations between islam and local traditions and animist with a certain extent with islam Islam also allows the rulers to govern effectively - their administrative practices and muslim laws make it much easier for states to extend their bureaucracy

Ecological Regions

deserts jungle savannah steppe great rift valley escarpments size climate desertification Cultural Split - N vs SS A The sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. According to the United Nations, it consists of all African countries that are fully or partially located south of the Sahara.[2] It contrasts with North Africa, whose territories are part of the League of Arab states within the Arab world. The states of Somalia, Djibouti, Comoros and the Arabic speaking Mauritania are however geographically in sub-Saharan Africa, although they are members of the Arab League as well.[3] The UN Development Program lists 46 of Africa's 54 countries as "sub-Saharan," excluding Algeria, Djibouti, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Somalia, Sudan and Tunisia.[4] The Sahel is the transitional zone in between the Sahara and the tropical savanna of the Sudan region and farther south the forest-savanna mosaic of tropical Africa. Since probably 3500 BCE,[5][6] the Saharan and sub-Saharan regions of Africa have been separated by the extremely harsh climate of the sparsely populated Sahara, forming an effective barrier interrupted by only the Nile in Sudan, though the Nile was blocked by the river's cataracts. The Sahara pump theory explains how flora and fauna (including Homo sapiens) left Africa to penetrate the Middle East and beyond. African pluvial periods are associated with a Wet Sahara phase, during which larger lakes and more rivers existed.[7] The use of the term has been criticized because it refers to the South only by cartography conventions and projects a connotation of inferiority; a vestige of colonialism, which some say, divided Africa into European terms of homogeneity.[8][9]

Modern Day Issues

o Negatives! Marginalization; - people using the sahel and marginal land and extracting all of the nutrients out of it turning it into desert and adding to the sahara Extraction; - there are many oil, natural gas, nuclear ore, and resources but they are extracting so much and so much outsourcing is happening Ethnicities & Tribes; - Sadly, Africa is a continent that has been continually plagued by the effects of ethnic conflict (civil war, genocide). From the conflict between the southern Igbo and the northern Hausa in the Biafra War, to the ethnic cleansings in Darfur and Rwanda, Africa has suffered tremendously as a result of ethnic discord. Legacy of slavery and colonialism; - they have tense relationships with outsiders and colonialism has left them weak and with nothing left Political Corruption & Kleptocracy; Wealth disparity & poverty; - Africa is widely considered among the world's most corrupt places, a factor seen as contributing to the stunted development and impoverishment of many African states. Difficulties with size; - too big and won't stay together and lots of resources are not equally distributed, warring states Economy - single products; - they have barely enough to feed the economy and it's worsening AIDS - disease o Positives! Diverse Has some amazing history Amazing art