Studied by 3 people3 major African civilizations during the classical era:
Niger Valley, Axum, and Nubian civilizations
What are the estimated populations of Eurasia, Africa, and the Americas during the classical era?
A) Eurasia = 127 million people
B) Africa = 17 million people
C) the Americas = 8 million people
What 2 things caused variation and differences among Africa’s people?
The African environment
The large size of the continent (differences in region, therefore, unrelatable issues)
What are the 5 major geographic/climatic regions of Africa?
Mediterranean climate (“northern and southern extremes”)
Large deserts
Large savanna grasslands
Tropical rainforests (center of the continent)
Highlands and mountains (eastern)
What 2 major problems did Africa’s tropical climate create?
Long dry seasons and diminishing nutrients (from old soil) often followed heavy inconsistent rainfall.
Serious health problems around the continent began when the conditions helped insect/parasite populations flourish.
What were the 2 major points of trade/contact for the Africans?
Eurasia, the two continents resided close together (in comparison to other continents, e.g., the Americas)
The Arabian region resided close together, and Arbia was an exporter of domesticated animals and had rich access to many ports and trade routes.
A) Where is the Nubian civilization located?
South of Egypt in the Nile Valley
Describe Nubia’s interactions with Egypt.
-battles and trades
-One battle resulted in the Nubian Kingdom of Kush controlling Egypt for about a century.
-Afterward, Nubia relied on Egypt’s resources, despite being classified as its own individual civilization.
-The interactions between the two fizzled out over time as Egypt fell under the control of foreign nations.
-Nubia was absorbed into the center of Meroë, a southern city
Describe the governmental set-up in the city of Meroë. (Be specific and Detailed)
-The city of Meroë was ruled by a “sacred,” absolute monarch.
-A woman held the position ten times in the city’s history, either by herself or as a co-monarch with a male.
-The female rulers of Meroë were not disguised as men in sculptures but as women and displayed as equals to their co-monarchs.
-As was tradition in ancient civilizations, Meroë’s rulers were buried with sacrifices, indicating their sacred position in society.
What were the various economic specialties in Meroë? Include its most prominent industry as well.
-merchants
-weavers
-potters
-masons in the higher caste levels
-servants
-laborers
-slaves in lower caste levels
-The iron smelting and manufacturing industry was most important for creating tools and weapons for the city.
Explain how agriculture in Meroë differed from agriculture in Egypt.
-Meroë need not worry about irrigation and surviving off the Nile River
-Meroë’s climate suggested consistent enough rainfall, allowing for comfortable farming.
How did Meroë gain wealth and military power?
-Meroë gained wealth/military power from “long-distance trading connections”
-Routes extended north via the Nile, east and west via camel caravan routes
-Meroë gained a reputation around northeastern Africa and the Mediterranean for vital riches
-including: iron weapons and cotton cloth, access to gold, ivory, tortoiseshells, and ostrich feathers
-Such goods protected the area from raids and gave the city a respected value.
What were Axum’s major agricultural products?
-kingdom produced: wheat, barley, millet, and teff (grain used to make flour)
-Axum's agricultural method = plow farming.
What trade networks did Axum participate in?
-Red Sea
-Indian Ocean trade networks
-Romans created this trade network to have easier access to India’s riches.
How else did Axum generate revenue?
the largest port in East Africa, Adulis had many merchants who sought a wide range of goods.
But such trades had taxes on them, providing Axum a steady income.
Describe the stone obelisks located in the capital city of Axum.
-capital city of Axum promoted the arts
-giant stone obelisks = are speculated to have embellished royal graves
-obelisks could reach more than 100 feet tall
-for the ancient period, were “the largest structures in the world hewn from a single piece of rock.”
What was the major religion in Axum?
The primary religion in Axum was Christianity.
What factors caused the decline of Axum?
-Environmental changes like soil exhaustion, erosion, and deforestation due to intense farming contributed to the fall of Axum.
-Even more so, the rise of Islamic beliefs cut off much of Axum’s sources of trade income.
What features did Axum and Meroë share with the classical civilizations of Eurasia?
-Axum and Meroë were similar to the classical civilizations of Eurasia due to “long-distance trading connections, urban centers, and centralized states, complex societies, monumental architecture, written languages, and imperial ambitions.”
-Axum and Meroë were similarly developed to the more major/well-known civilizations of ancient times.
What is unique about the political structure of the Niger River Valley civilization?
-political structure of Niger River Valley civilization = unique because there was no political structure.
-There were no higher powers or individual structures for each city.
Many villages based on economic specialization grew in the Niger River Valley. list these specializations.
-most prominent specialization was iron smithing.
-The Niger River Valley smiths were admired and feared by many for their craft.
-Other professions included cotton weavers, potters, leather workers, and “griots (praise-singers who preserved and recited the oral traditions of their societies).”
How did these communities start to form a society that resembled classical India?
These specializations developed an essential “caste” system within the civilization according to one's occupation.
How did the commerce system work in the Niger River Valley?
-civilization had a lack of stone, iron ore, salt, and fuel
-an abundance of agricultural necessities and clay
-the commerce system for the Niger River Valley civilization was long-distance, run overseas and by donkey.
What goods did NRV import from afar?
-imported iron from 50 miles away
-copper from 200 miles away
gold from even further away sources
-salt and stone from the Sahara
What were the 3 major empires that overtook the Niger River Valley region?
-Ghana
-Mali
-Songhay
What was responsible for the Niger River Valley’s decline?
The increasing use of camel-borne trans-Saharan trade attracted the power-hungry empires to the region.
The Bantu people were able to displace, absorb, or eliminate hunters and gatherers because they had what 3 major advantages? Be detailed.
The Bantu people had a robust agricultural system that brought in much more money than hunting and gathering. Therefore, the Bantu community could house more people than the “poorer” way of life.
Bantu people were more immune to animal diseases, which infected people frequently exposed to bacteria and infections common to farming communities.
Iron, used for tools and weapons, advanced the Bantu people’s abilities compared to civilizations still using “stone-age technology.”
What did the Bantu people in East Africa adopt from the regional people there?
The Bantu people in East Africa adopted grains and domesticated sheep and cattle from the regional people there because their yam-based agriculture couldn’t keep up with the community’s growing numbers in the dry climate of East Africa.
What did the Bantu people import from Southeast Asia?
-coconuts, sugarcane, and bananas from Southeast Asia.
A wide variety of different societies/political set-ups grew among the Bantu people. Describe 4 of them. (How were they organized)
Kinship political structure. Made decisions, resolved conflicts, and maintained order by using a kinship political structure rather than having a formal political specialist.
Lineage heads who either had substantial personal wealth or proved to be skillful at mediating between the local spirits and the people would possibly become chiefs with modest political authority.
City-states that connected Africa to the Indian Ocean basin for trading.
Large, powerful kingdoms developed.
Who did the Bantu focus on for religious guidance?
“Ancestral or nature spirits” guided the Bantu people.
What did the Bantu people’s belief in witches reflect about their religious philosophy?
Many Bantu people believed in witches, for they reflected that evil acts or unfortunate events were the work of a “malicious” being.
What was the role of the “Diviners”?
-“Diviners” religious function was discovering the source of misfortune and hurt through dreams, visions, charms, or trances and then providing a remedy.
-Being a “Diviner” was viewed as a constant enterprise.
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