PP

1. AFRICAN CIVILIZATIONS
Unit 10

2. KEY TERMS
 1. savannas
 2. plateau
 3. clan
 4. Swahili
 5. extended family
 6. matrilineal
 7. oral history
 8. spiritual

3. AFRICAN BEGINNINGS
 Scientists believe the first humans lived in Africa more than 150,000
years ago.
 The geography of Africa affected its early people.
 Africa is the second largest continent on Earth.

4.  Geographic Zones: Rain forests, Savannas, Deserts, Mild climate areas.
 Plateaus cover most of Africa’s land. A plateau is an area of high, mostly
flat land.
 Egypt and Kush grew along the Nile River in North Africa.

5. TRADING EMPIRES IN AFRICA
 Trade began when the Berbers found a way across the Sahara desert.
 The use of camels increased trade between North Africa and West
Africa.
 Goods such as ivory, spices, and leather were traded.

6. WEST AFRICAN KINGDOMS
 Caravans also traveled from North Africa to West Africa. One of the
important goods they carried was salt.
 Trade brought wealth to West Africa and also helped the population
grow.

7. EAST AFRICAN KINGDOMS
 The East African kingdom of Axum became an important stop on trade
routes that connected Africa, the Mediterranean world, and India.

8. AFRICAN RULERS AND SOCIETY
 Powerful empires such as Ghana and Mali had strong, central
governments.
 Leadership in Ghana was passed only to the son of the king’s sister.
 Leaders in Mail divided the empire into provinces and hired generals to
govern provinces and protect Mali from invaders.

9. TRADITIONAL AFRICAN RELIGIONS
 Most African societies shared some common religious beliefs. Many
shared a belief in a single creator god.
 Igbo: In West Africa, they believed in a single creator god.
 Yoruba: In West Africa, they believed a chief god sent his son from
heaven in a canoe; this son created the first humans.
 Ashanti: In Ghana, they believed in a supreme god whose sons were
lesser gods.

10. ISLAM ARRIVES IN AFRICA
 African rulers welcomed Muslim traders.
 Much of Africa’s population south of the Sahara converted to Islam by
the end of the 1400s.
 Islam slowly spread in East Africa.
 A new society called Swahili helped it spread beginning in the 1100s
and 1200s. The Swahili culture and language are a mixture of African
and Muslim Cultures.

11. AFRICAN SOCIETY
 Family was the basis of African society.
 Many people lived in extended families made up of several generations.
 Many villages were matrilineal meaning that people traced family
history through mothers instead of fathers.

12.  African families valued children. Children meant that families would live
on and prosper. Family members and other villagers educated children.

13. THE SLAVE TRADE
 Slavery had existed in Africa since ancient times.
 It was a common practice in many parts of the world.
 People who were enslaved included: enemies captured during war,
people who owed money, and criminals.
 Enslaved people became part of the African trade.

14.  The arrival of Europeans caused the slave trade to grow even more.
 The European slave trade began in 1441 when African captives were
taken to Portugal.
 Other European countries began to participate in the slave trade in the
1400s to help them settle the Americas.
 They brought enslaved Africans to the Americas to help grow crops
such as sugar, tobacco, rice, and cotton.

15. CULTURE IN AFRICA
 Music and dance in Africa related to everyday life.
 Enslaved Africans used music to remember their homeland.
 In America, songs that told of hard times became known as the blues.
 Spirituals are gospel songs.
 They developed from songs of religious faith and hope for freedom.