Essential Questions: How did the geography of Africa affect human cultures? How did trade develop along the East African coast? What were the important religions in Africa?
I. Kingdoms and city-states arose in Africa
A. Geography played a major role in shaping African history
1. The Nile cataracts or rapids prevented contact between Egypt
and the lands south of the Sahara
a. This feature tended to create a self-contained environment in sub-
Saharan Africa
B. The Kingdoms of Kush, Aksum and Zimbabwe arise in East Africa
1. Kush was the first major Kingdom of sub-Sahara Africa
a. Egypt dominated Kush from about 2000 to 1000 B.C.
b. In about 750 B.C., Kush conquered upper Egypt
2. In ancient times, Aksum was the capitol of Ethiopia
a. It was located in the east, close to the Ethiopian highlands and the Nile
River
-The people who lived here were Christians
3. Zimbabwe was located along the Zambezi and the Limpo Po Rivers and the
Indian Ocean
a. Much of the gold and ivory traded in Africa came from Zimbabwe
C. West African Empires Thrived on Trade
1. Ghana, Mali and Songhai were all located in West Africa
a. These Kingdoms traded gold for salt in the trans-Sahara trade
-Arab traders, eager to obtain West African gold, carried salt across
the Sahara by camel caravan
2. Places like Timbuktu became trading and learning centers
a. There, merchants traded goods under the watchful eye of a tax collector
b. In addition, different cultural and religious ideas were shared by all
D. Religions
1. African religions blended monotheism, polytheism and animism
a. Most African religions were animism (a belief that all things have souls)
2. After North Africa became part of the Islamic empire, traders brought Muslim
religion to many parts of Africa south of the Sahara.
3. Christianity also became an important religion through out the Kingdom of
Askum