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African Civilization

African Civilization. Birthplace of humanity?. African Stereotypes. When you think of Africa, what comes to mind? Describe how you see the people of Africa dressed. What color is their skin? What do they live in? Are they very “civilized”.

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African Civilization

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  1. African Civilization Birthplace of humanity?

  2. African Stereotypes • When you think of Africa, what comes to mind? • Describe how you see the people of Africa dressed. • What color is their skin? • What do they live in? • Are they very “civilized”

  3. Trade routes to Africa through the middle east led to the growth of African cultures, as well as the spread of Christianity and Islam. This is why so much of Africa is Islamic today.

  4. Africa The climate of Africa ranges from some of the most dry to some of the wettest climate on earth. This greatly influenced the pattern of people occupying the continent, and also decided where certain trade routes would run. Ideas, language, religion, and politics were also subject to these climate areas.

  5. Africa has many natural resources. The key has always been getting to them, and then getting them to market. This map show some of the most prosperous trade routes through areas such as Egypt and Timbuktu. Natural Resources

  6. Trade • Two of the most prominent natural resources in West Africa are salt and gold. • Early Africans had to use caravans to get natural resources to market. • The caravans were in use up to the 20th century, and could have as many as 12,000 camels. • These trade routes not only carried goods, but culture also.

  7. Salt Mines

  8. Gold Mines

  9. Ivory Trade

  10. Earliest People in Africa • Some believe that the actual birthplace of civilization was on the continent of Africa, and not in Mesopotamia as other think. • Historical record has found remains of humans some thousands of years old. • One of the most prominent finds is that of Lucy. Some researches say she was human, others say we don’t have enough evidence to support that claim.

  11. Great Rift Valley

  12. Discovered by Donald Johanson and Tom Gray in 1974 at Hadar in Ethiopia (Johanson and Edey 1981; Johanson and Taieb 1976). Its age is about 3.2 million years. Lucy was an adult female of about 25 years and was assigned to the species Australopithecus afarensis. About 40% of her skeleton was found, and her pelvis, femur (the upper leg bone) and tibia show her to have been bipedal, although there is evidence that afarensis was also partly arboreal (tree-dwelling). She was about 107 cm (3'6") tall (small for her species) and about 28 kg (62 lbs) in weight.

  13. Trade and Civilization • Massive Trade began in West and South Africa around 400 B.C. • The majority of the continent remained unexplored to people from the north until the 1700s. • This explain the reason so many people referred to Africa as the dark continent.

  14. Nations of Africa • Several prominent nations grew in Africa during the A.D. era. • Ghana, Mali, and the Songhai were all empires that grew during this time. • These empire grew in size and wealth larger than many kingdoms in Europe. The main reason for their growth was the abundance of natural resources. • However, because of their location and difficulty reaching them, they were not know about until much later.

  15. African History • The major reason history of Africa was unknown until recently, was because of the use of griots • Griots were special members of the cultures who recorded the story in their memories. They would then pass the stories down to the next generation of griots to tell. These stories became known as epics. • These epics were a primary source of information about African culture.

  16. DO NOT COPY • What were two main natural resources of Africa? • Why was African civilization limited?

  17. What were the three main civilizations that grew in west Africa? • What, besides trade, also traveled along trade routes? • How did African history pass?

  18. AFRICAN SOCIETY • Many African nations adopted ruling classes similar to those of Europe and Asia, by choosing a king or queen to rule them. • This is significant because of the idea that women could rule men. It is also mentioned in the Bible. • However, one significant difference between European rulers and African rulers hinged around the way they treated their subjects. • African rulers were much kinder to their subjects.

  19. Division of Power • One kingdom developed a system of ruling that has been copied as late as the U.S. • Ghana grew into a very large kingdom. So large in fact, that it was divided into sections. Each section had a ruler. This ruler oversaw his sections and if it was large enough, he divided his section as well. • This continued on to the clan level.

  20. EMPIRE Province Province Province District District District Clan Clan Clan Clan Clan Clan Clan Clan

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