AP World History - Ch.18 - States & Societies of Sub-Saharan Africa
Résumé
TLDRThis chapter explores the historical development of states and societies in sub-Saharan Africa from the 1st millennium BCE to 1500 CE. It examines the impact of the Bantu migrations, which spread agriculture and ironworking skills across the continent. As iron metallurgy spread, so did the cultivation of new crops like bananas, leading to significant population growth. The chapter highlights how these changes led to the rise of complex forms of government and various kingdoms controlling regional trade. The spread of Islam through trade routes significantly influenced the region’s cultural and religious landscape, with Islam often complementing rather than replacing traditional African religions. Key states such as Ghana, Mali, and the Swahili city-states became major trade centers for gold, ivory, and slaves, thus integrating Africa more closely with Eurasian trade networks. Additionally, it emphasizes the structure of African societies, marked by kinship and gender roles, decentralized village networks, and the growth of Islamic and Christian religious practices blended with local traditions.
A retenir
- 🌍 Bantu migrations spread agriculture and iron across Africa.
- 🕌 Islam influenced African societies significantly through trade.
- 🌱 Banana cultivation led to increased population growth.
- 🏛️ Various states emerged based on control of trade routes.
- 📜 Historians now recognize pre-European African history more fully.
- 📈 Trade in gold, ivory, and slaves drove economic growth.
- 🔄 African societies blended Islam with traditional religions.
- 👬 Kinship and gender played central roles in social structures.
- ⛓️ Slavery evolved into a commoditized trade network.
- 🗿 Significant architectural developments occurred during this period.
Chronologie
- 00:00:00 - 00:05:00
The Bantu migrations led to the spread of agriculture and iron metallurgy across Sub-Saharan Africa, resulting in population growth and the emergence of complex governments. Islam was introduced, supplementing traditional beliefs, and trade networks involving gold, ivory, and slaves flourished, with major kingdoms like Congo, Zimbabwe, Ghana, and Mali becoming influential.
- 00:05:00 - 00:10:00
Historians have revised views on African history, acknowledging the continent's pre-European trade and cultural achievements. Agriculture, iron production, and trade were more interconnected globally than previously thought. The introduction of bananas from Southeast Asia boosted population growth significantly as they adapted well to the African environment.
- 00:10:00 - 00:15:00
The successful adaptation of bananas in Africa due to suitable climate conditions led to substantial population increase. Stateless societies with kin-based structures were common, resolving disputes ad hoc. As populations grew, competition and conflicts arose, leading to the development of small chiefdoms and kingdoms, indicating evolving governance structures.
- 00:15:00 - 00:20:00
In the Congo region, Bantu societies developed centralized trade networks. The arrival of Islam via trans-Saharan caravans and maritime trade influenced African kingdoms. Arabian camels were crucial for Sahara crossings, boosting trade networks. The Ghana Kingdom thrived as an African gold trade center, innovating in trade with regions as far as Eurasia.
- 00:20:00 - 00:25:00
The Ghana Kingdom centered its economy on gold, alongside ivory and slaves, interacting with North African traders. Islam was partially integrated with local traditions, and rulers like Sundiata of Mali expanded empires through trade networks without enforcing religious conversion. Mali became a hub of wealth and Islamic culture under leaders like Mansa Musa.
- 00:25:00 - 00:30:00
Eastern coast city-states like Swahili thrived on Indian Ocean trade, adopting coral and stone in architecture, importing goods like Chinese silk. Kilwa exemplified the transition from fishing to agriculture and trade, symbolizing the integration of local economies into global networks. Zimbabwe's growth further illustrated trade's central role in societal development.
- 00:30:00 - 00:35:00
Islamic influence spread, harmonizing with local customs. Societies were structured around ruling elites and kin-based groups. Slavery persisted, with a surge in the trade of slaves due to demand. This period saw internal conflicts and a shift towards a market-based slave trade system. Religious practices involved male creator deities and ancestor worship.
- 00:35:00 - 00:44:53
Ethiopian Christianity diverged under isolation, with unique practices like amulet use and strong spiritual beliefs. The chapter highlights the evolutionary governance, complex trade relationships, societal roles, diverse religious practices, and external cultural influences in Africa, emphasizing the continent's dynamic history before modern interventions.
Carte mentale
Questions fréquemment posées
What was the Bantu migration?
The Bantu migration was the gradual spread of Bantu-speaking peoples across sub-Saharan Africa, starting around 2000 BCE and ending around the 1st millennium CE, spreading agriculture and iron metallurgy.
How did Islam spread into sub-Saharan Africa?
Islam spread into sub-Saharan Africa through the trans-Saharan trade routes and maritime trade along the East African coast, significantly impacting the region by the 8th century.
Why is agriculture significant in African history?
Agriculture, including the cultivation of bananas, led to population growth and the development of more complex societies in Africa.
What role did trade play in sub-Saharan Africa's development?
Trade, especially in gold, ivory, and slaves, was crucial for the emergence of powerful states, facilitating cross-cultural interactions and economic prosperity.
What is the significance of the kingdom of Ghana in African history?
It was a major center of African gold trade and played a significant role in West Africa's Islamic states formation through strategic trading practices.
Who was Mansa Musa?
Mansa Musa was the grand-nephew of Sundiata who ruled the Mali Empire from 1312-1337, known for his pilgrimage to Mecca and significant influence on the Islamic world.
What are the Swahili city-states?
The Swahili city-states were prosperous trade hubs along the East African coast, engaging in extensive maritime trade from the 11th century.
What is the kingdom of Kongo?
The Kingdom of Kongo was a centralized Bantu kingdom in Central Africa, known for its active participation in trade networks and unique currency system.
What were the roles of gender and kinship in African societies?
Kinship and gender played central roles in societal organization, with men often engaging in skilled labor while women had expanded roles beyond agriculture.
How did African traditional religions coexist with Islam and Christianity?
African traditional religions often blended with Islam and Christianity, with local beliefs and practices such as ancestor worship and magic being retained.
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- 00:00:00what we do here just go back back back
- 00:00:05[Music]
- 00:00:10hello and welcome to mr. Toyama xapi
- 00:00:12world history this is chapter 18 states
- 00:00:14and societies of sub-saharan Africa
- 00:00:17first up agricultural and herding spread
- 00:00:20gradually throughout sub-saharan Africa
- 00:00:21from about 2000 BCE until the end of the
- 00:00:241st millennium CE II through a process
- 00:00:25known as the Bantu migrations after
- 00:00:28about 500 BCE the knowledge of iron
- 00:00:29metallurgy also was disseminating
- 00:00:32throughout Africa as a result of these
- 00:00:34movements of the introduction of new
- 00:00:36nutritious foods such as bananas and of
- 00:00:38long-distance trade the population of
- 00:00:40Africa grew dramatically and
- 00:00:41increasingly complex forms of government
- 00:00:43began to emerge most sub-saharan African
- 00:00:46cultures work in based and organized
- 00:00:47into relatively small villages that were
- 00:00:49loosely applied in two districts
- 00:00:50governed by a chief occasionally larger
- 00:00:52and more structured kingdoms and empires
- 00:00:54appeared these larger states generally
- 00:00:56consolidated their position through
- 00:00:57controlling long distance trade in their
- 00:00:59regions in general the history of
- 00:01:01sub-saharan Africa from 1000 to 1500 C
- 00:01:04II is noted for the following number one
- 00:01:06the introduction and widespread
- 00:01:07dissemination of the Islamic religion in
- 00:01:09many cases the belief in Islam
- 00:01:11supplemented rather than supplanted
- 00:01:13traditional religious practices in
- 00:01:15subsidy sub-saharan societies became
- 00:01:18important centers of worship and
- 00:01:20learning in the Islamic world a regular
- 00:01:22and reliable flow of trade goods gold
- 00:01:24ivory and slaves being the most
- 00:01:26important exports these trade networks
- 00:01:28both overland particularly notable was a
- 00:01:30transparent camel caravan routes and
- 00:01:32maritime where East African city-states
- 00:01:34became important stops in the Indian
- 00:01:35Ocean see ways and finally the emergence
- 00:01:38and growth of states that became highly
- 00:01:39influential in the cross-cultural
- 00:01:40interactions of this period the states
- 00:01:43of Congo Zimbabwe Ghana and Mali and the
- 00:01:46song Healy city-states became trade and
- 00:01:48religious centers whose fortunes were
- 00:01:50clearly tied into those of Eurasia so
- 00:01:53we're first going to talk about some big
- 00:01:54ideas
- 00:01:55number one is trade this chapter kind of
- 00:01:58highlights some things that historians
- 00:02:00have been talking about for a little bit
- 00:02:01that we didn't really understand a ton
- 00:02:03about the history of Africa during this
- 00:02:05period for a very long time
- 00:02:07many Europeans as they were writing
- 00:02:09their history wanted to almost whitewash
- 00:02:14if it were the history of Africa by
- 00:02:17saying that most of Africa could not
- 00:02:20have created its own culture or its own
- 00:02:22history without the help of Europeans
- 00:02:23and this is kind of changed over the
- 00:02:26last number of years because historians
- 00:02:28have been able to unearth pre-european
- 00:02:30interaction with African cultures and
- 00:02:33are now now starting to see more and
- 00:02:35more African centered or African started
- 00:02:39ideas trade networks and processes that
- 00:02:42we weren't aware of before and so one of
- 00:02:45the big things again is gold ivory
- 00:02:47enslaves agriculture and iron production
- 00:02:49is huge and it's more interconnected
- 00:02:51than the world and we previously thought
- 00:02:53before we thought Africa was doing its
- 00:02:55own thing and in a number of rears
- 00:02:58recently we've kind of noticed that
- 00:03:00Africa probably was interacting with
- 00:03:03Europe and Asia more readily than we
- 00:03:07previously thought kin groups are big
- 00:03:09and Islam is a big part of Africa during
- 00:03:12this period so the effects of the early
- 00:03:14African migration Andrew speaking people
- 00:03:15settle south of the Equator around 1,000
- 00:03:19c/e these are some of the people that
- 00:03:23kind of are we don't have a ton of
- 00:03:26information about them but we do know
- 00:03:29that they settled probably south of the
- 00:03:31Equator they started with agriculture
- 00:03:32start of civilizations herding spreads
- 00:03:34within the Bantu migrations and they
- 00:03:36practice iron metallurgy they get axes
- 00:03:38hoes and aids aids uh this like weird
- 00:03:43kind of tongue kind of thing that you
- 00:03:46use to dig in the ground it's kind of
- 00:03:47like a hoe but it looks more like a
- 00:03:48spiky kind of thing cultivation of
- 00:03:51bananas domestication in Southeast Asia
- 00:03:53so we know that in Africa there was a
- 00:03:55big shift in our understanding when we
- 00:03:58started to figure out the cultivation of
- 00:03:59bananas as it traveled from Southeast
- 00:04:01Asia to Africa originally melee soldiers
- 00:04:04or Indonesian sold excuse me sailors
- 00:04:07colonized madagascar the small island to
- 00:04:09the south-east of the continent of
- 00:04:12africa around 300 to 500 seee they
- 00:04:15introduced bananas yams and chickens
- 00:04:17couple things number one chickens are a
- 00:04:19really good source of protein they don't
- 00:04:21require a lot of food most chicken
- 00:04:23scavenge their own food they can eat
- 00:04:25leftover grains the bugs from the ground
- 00:04:27they can be grown relatively quickly
- 00:04:30they also provide other sources of
- 00:04:32protein in the form of eggs and you can
- 00:04:34get a lot of them going very easily for
- 00:04:37a supplement to your diet yams yams are
- 00:04:42very calorie rich and they grow
- 00:04:45underground
- 00:04:46they can be stored just like potatoes
- 00:04:48could in North America and in similar
- 00:04:51ways they provide a lot of calories and
- 00:04:52a lot of nutrition and finally bananas
- 00:04:55bananas are specifically very important
- 00:04:58because of their introduction of the
- 00:05:02ability to grow abundantly well outside
- 00:05:05of its original habitat one of the
- 00:05:07things about the way we study history is
- 00:05:11looking at how trade affects the goods
- 00:05:13and the people but also how does the
- 00:05:16supplanting or changing of where those
- 00:05:19original Goods started affect the
- 00:05:21regions that those areas those items
- 00:05:23move to a perfect example of this that
- 00:05:25many of you would understand is cocaine
- 00:05:28cocaine as a drug is originally in the
- 00:05:32coca leaf and many of the villagers
- 00:05:34around the areas where cocaine comes
- 00:05:37from and is naturally grown used the
- 00:05:40coca leaves as kind of like chewing kind
- 00:05:43of tobacco kind of thing they would grab
- 00:05:45it grind up some leaves stuffing in
- 00:05:47their cheeks and just kind of chew on
- 00:05:48that leaf all day but as people start to
- 00:05:52experiment with chemistry and they start
- 00:05:53to learn more and more about
- 00:05:55synthesizing and purifying the raw like
- 00:06:00good and drug that's inside of that leaf
- 00:06:05people made it into a powder form and
- 00:06:07then the introduction of pure cocaine
- 00:06:09into the Americas and into the larger
- 00:06:12the world at large now has created a
- 00:06:15drug problem for many people and drug
- 00:06:17epidemics around the world
- 00:06:18well bananas are kind of like that in
- 00:06:20the sense that in Indonesia bananas grow
- 00:06:24fairly well but they grow exceptionally
- 00:06:27well in Africa where the they are well
- 00:06:30adapted to the African climate it's hot
- 00:06:33they also can grow very quickly
- 00:06:36bananas basically are their own little
- 00:06:38seed pods you can take a banana throw it
- 00:06:40in the ground let it be a read for a
- 00:06:44while water a banana tree will pop up
- 00:06:46the heat the humidity from Africa itself
- 00:06:48will allow the banana tree to grow
- 00:06:49quickly
- 00:06:50it grows lots of bananas on bushels
- 00:06:52those bushels can be used to feed people
- 00:06:56and this supplements their caloric
- 00:06:59intake and food supply increases with
- 00:07:01this key prop and like we've talked
- 00:07:03about before when calorie counts
- 00:07:04increase so does population growth
- 00:07:07around 400 BCE we see we only have about
- 00:07:10two to three million peoples within
- 00:07:14Africa and about the Year Zero or right
- 00:07:17about approaching 11 million but after
- 00:07:20the introduction of the crop of bananas
- 00:07:21around 800 C we're at 17 and by 1,000 C
- 00:07:24the time we're talking about we're at 22
- 00:07:25million people with living within the
- 00:07:29area of Africa
- 00:07:30shinbei society stateless segmented
- 00:07:33societies they didn't believe in having
- 00:07:34a large formed government it was
- 00:07:37segmented meaning that there were
- 00:07:38sectioned off areas even though people
- 00:07:40were living close by there were no
- 00:07:42elaborate hierarchies or bureaucracies
- 00:07:44the average population of the village
- 00:07:46was only about 100 it was ruled by
- 00:07:48elders or the oldest people living
- 00:07:50within that group these network of
- 00:07:52villages resolve disputes in an ad hoc
- 00:07:54manner ad hoc just means kind of going
- 00:07:57by the situation ad hoc sometimes means
- 00:08:01that the dispute would be solved in a
- 00:08:03traditional fashion sometimes a dispute
- 00:08:05would be solved in an irrational fashion
- 00:08:07sometimes a dispute with viewers not
- 00:08:10really get resolved so it just depends
- 00:08:11on how the people at the time wanted to
- 00:08:14deal with this situation this reminds me
- 00:08:16a lot of what we talked about with the
- 00:08:18Mongols
- 00:08:19and this kind of brings us back to the
- 00:08:23point of comparing and contrasting
- 00:08:24societies the traditions and encounters
- 00:08:26textbook does a really good job of
- 00:08:27matching up chapters of peoples that
- 00:08:30kind of have similar structures to their
- 00:08:34society similar outcomes and similar
- 00:08:37outlooks on their world and as we look
- 00:08:40at what their kin based society it looks
- 00:08:42like in Africa we can compare this to
- 00:08:44the Eurasian Central Asian Plains the
- 00:08:49we talked about in the last chapter the
- 00:08:51higher government authorities were rare
- 00:08:53during this time leading to back to this
- 00:08:55whole kin based society chiefdoms
- 00:08:58population pressures the growth of
- 00:09:00people after 1000 see increased
- 00:09:02competition and disputes people are
- 00:09:04competing over land more people means
- 00:09:07just more conflict in general small
- 00:09:10chiefdoms appear an over well
- 00:09:12kin based groups as these chieftains
- 00:09:16appear these kinder based groups kind of
- 00:09:18break up the traditional family and
- 00:09:20extended family structures that we had
- 00:09:22during the time before 1000 CE II these
- 00:09:25small kingdoms formed during this time
- 00:09:27based around a chief or a great leader
- 00:09:29the kingdom of if and Benning here are
- 00:09:34the kingdom's empires and city-states of
- 00:09:35sub-saharan Africa from 800 to 1500 C II
- 00:09:37you can see in the purple we have the
- 00:09:39trans-saharan trade routes which you're
- 00:09:41going to talk about the maritime trade
- 00:09:42routes of Eastern Africa so we're going
- 00:09:44to talk about we have the Mali Empire
- 00:09:46overlapping in areas where the songhay
- 00:09:49will spread out the kingdom of Ghana in
- 00:09:51the red we're gonna talk about all those
- 00:09:52in just a second so first we have the
- 00:09:54kingdom of Kongo the basin of the Congo
- 00:09:56or Zaire River it was a conglomeration
- 00:09:58or gathering together of several village
- 00:10:00alliances they participated actively in
- 00:10:02trade networks most centralized rule of
- 00:10:05early Banta Bantu kingdoms what happened
- 00:10:09is during this time these bantu kingdoms
- 00:10:11that we talked about that weren't really
- 00:10:13a well-structured well organized kind of
- 00:10:16group kind of moved together to kind of
- 00:10:21organize themselves in a way that found
- 00:10:23commonalities in terms of trade networks
- 00:10:25their royal currencies were called or
- 00:10:28calories and/or seashells that they got
- 00:10:31from the Indian Ocean now if you think
- 00:10:32about where I'm talking the Congo River
- 00:10:34in the village of the year we have on
- 00:10:37the western coast so we now know that
- 00:10:41when we look at these royal currency
- 00:10:43that these calorie seashells come from
- 00:10:45the Indian Ocean we know that there was
- 00:10:46large-scale transcontinental migrate
- 00:10:51trade networks that were set up early on
- 00:10:53even in this kingdom of Kongo they ruled
- 00:10:56from the 14th to the 17th century until
- 00:10:57undermined by Portuguese slave traders
- 00:10:59which we'll talk about in a later
- 00:11:00chapter
- 00:11:01the Islamic Kingdom and empires Islam
- 00:11:03spreads to West Africa originally
- 00:11:06through trans-saharan caravans and
- 00:11:07coastal East Africa through maritime
- 00:11:10trade they have a profound influence
- 00:11:11after the eighth century if you think
- 00:11:13about where a map is situated between
- 00:11:17where Mecca would be situated where
- 00:11:19Mohammed starts his proselytizing and
- 00:11:25pronouncement of Islam and then you
- 00:11:27think about the spread of Islam through
- 00:11:29its empires you start to see that
- 00:11:31there's only a few ways that Islam can
- 00:11:34spread into Africa number one it can
- 00:11:35travel through the Islamic sailors that
- 00:11:38are traveling up and down the coast of
- 00:11:40East Africa through the maritime trade
- 00:11:43and then you can also see that this
- 00:11:44trans-saharan Caravan these caravans led
- 00:11:47by camels and again Mohammed was a
- 00:11:49trader by my profession he was very big
- 00:11:53into making money through trade this
- 00:11:57transparent Caravan is only accessible
- 00:11:59through the use of camels which mainly
- 00:12:02come from the Middle East
- 00:12:03using camels to cross the Sahara Desert
- 00:12:05that kind of goes across the entirety of
- 00:12:08North Africa you can only really make it
- 00:12:12through that desert with the caravans
- 00:12:14through the process of using an animal
- 00:12:16that doesn't take up a lot of water that
- 00:12:18can carry a very heavy load and this is
- 00:12:21how Islam spread throughout Africa the
- 00:12:24trans-saharan trade in Islamic states in
- 00:12:26West Africa we just talked about how
- 00:12:28there was a desiccation or a desert off'
- 00:12:30occasion of sahara begins around 5000
- 00:12:32BCE and then there's an introduction of
- 00:12:35Arabian camels which revolutionizes the
- 00:12:36trade it takes only about 70 to 90 days
- 00:12:39to cross the Sahara not terribly long
- 00:12:41for this time but it was able to reach a
- 00:12:45new market for the goods that were
- 00:12:47coming in to Africa Arabs established
- 00:12:50trading communities specifically in Gao
- 00:12:53next we have the kingdom of Ghana it's
- 00:12:56not related to the modern state of ganda
- 00:12:58but developed the 4th to 5th century CE
- 00:13:00II
- 00:13:02protection against camel driving Raiders
- 00:13:05now if you were one of the peoples that
- 00:13:07were trading across the Sahara you would
- 00:13:09think of having
- 00:13:12a good amount of money with you going
- 00:13:14back and forth well if you are an
- 00:13:16enterprising thief
- 00:13:17you could also raid and wait in the
- 00:13:21Sahara and just attack the caravans that
- 00:13:24travel through the Sarah it becomes
- 00:13:27apparent to the kingdom of God that they
- 00:13:29need to come together to protect
- 00:13:31themselves against these camel driving
- 00:13:33Raiders and it becomes the center of
- 00:13:35African gold train they imported from
- 00:13:37South to Ghana and also sold ivory
- 00:13:40slaves exchanged horses cloth and salt
- 00:13:44so this most of the gold deposits in
- 00:13:50Africa really come from the south if
- 00:13:53you're one of the traders that is
- 00:13:55looking to find gold you're gonna have
- 00:13:57to travel very far across pretty much
- 00:13:58the whole of Africa well the people of
- 00:14:00Ghana figure out that their main way of
- 00:14:03making money would be to get the gold
- 00:14:06from the south to the kingdom of Ghana
- 00:14:08and then once the camel traders come you
- 00:14:12can trade them the African gold for
- 00:14:13their goods they also sold ivory which
- 00:14:16is made of the bones or the tusks of
- 00:14:19like rhinos and elephants
- 00:14:21it's a highly prized as a good for
- 00:14:24making different kind of like handles
- 00:14:27for knives and boxes it's just a very
- 00:14:30fancy kind of good today
- 00:14:33ivory trade is a very big problem in
- 00:14:36those places because of the need to kill
- 00:14:41some of the world's most endangered
- 00:14:43species specifically rhinoceros and
- 00:14:45elephants slaves also are traded the
- 00:14:49people have gone out were not the first
- 00:14:51people to be trading slaves this goes
- 00:14:54back to even far to the Greeks and the
- 00:14:56Romans that we talked about they had
- 00:14:57slaves and so the use however of slaves
- 00:15:02being sold for the purpose of Commerce
- 00:15:04is a very new introduction to Africa
- 00:15:08during this time people had used slaves
- 00:15:10before this in terms of war as we had
- 00:15:13seen with other cultures you attack a
- 00:15:15village or a town or a group of people
- 00:15:17they you don't kill all the people they
- 00:15:20then become your slaves but then the
- 00:15:23kingdom of Ghana starts to sell slaves
- 00:15:24during this time
- 00:15:25they did exchange horses which is again
- 00:15:30a very profitable part of the caravan
- 00:15:34they're able to move lots of good goods
- 00:15:36they move quickly for warfare as well
- 00:15:38cloth is another thing in salt salt is
- 00:15:41highly prized good in commodity for
- 00:15:43preserving meat for flavoring food our
- 00:15:47bodies naturally need salt to function
- 00:15:50to function and yeah
- 00:15:53salt becomes one of the things that's
- 00:15:55traded in the kingdom of Ghana next we
- 00:15:58get como saleh the capital of the
- 00:16:00kingdom of ghana principal training
- 00:16:01center high point is in the 9th to 12th
- 00:16:03century population about 15,000 to
- 00:16:0520,000 much larger than those original
- 00:16:07villages we talked about before and it
- 00:16:09was a military and cultural center so
- 00:16:11here is a map of africa and then here is
- 00:16:15the area we're talking about and then
- 00:16:17here is gonna be saleh right there where
- 00:16:21that red box just fell so just to kind
- 00:16:23of give you an understanding if you look
- 00:16:24at these lines you can see some of the
- 00:16:26trade network routes that kind of
- 00:16:27crisscross across the sahara and kombu
- 00:16:32combee salad a becomes one of the main
- 00:16:36military and cultural centers for the
- 00:16:39kingdom of ghana islam in West Africa
- 00:16:42Kings have gone and convert in the 10th
- 00:16:43century as a positive impact on trade
- 00:16:45and relations with North Africa if you
- 00:16:47think about it the more in line you are
- 00:16:49with the people you're trading the more
- 00:16:50likely you are to get a fair deal the
- 00:16:52more likely you are to get along and not
- 00:16:53compete also less fighting less rating
- 00:16:57in general they synthesized Islam with
- 00:16:59local traditions practicing magic and
- 00:17:01wooden idols in Islam Muhammad was very
- 00:17:04much against magic in the sense that you
- 00:17:07were bending a laws will and the will of
- 00:17:10what Allah has set up for the world to
- 00:17:14your will and especially with Islam
- 00:17:16being about submission to what Allah
- 00:17:18wants practicing magic almost is an
- 00:17:20affront to God because you're saying
- 00:17:22that you know what's best for the world
- 00:17:25and so by practicing magic you are
- 00:17:27trying to go around the will of Allah
- 00:17:30like for example if your kid was sick
- 00:17:33and you practice magic to trying to
- 00:17:36divine or get
- 00:17:37a positive outcome where your kid is no
- 00:17:41longer sick
- 00:17:41you are almost resisting some of the
- 00:17:44will that Allah has while we might beg
- 00:17:47that Allah heals your kid it is
- 00:17:50absolutely unacceptable with an Islam to
- 00:17:53try to use magic to create a favorable
- 00:17:56outcome outside of praying to Allah for
- 00:17:59deliverance from the illness also they
- 00:18:02said they used wooden idols all if you
- 00:18:05remember back to my stories of Muhammad
- 00:18:07he when taking over Mecca goes into the
- 00:18:11Kaaba and he destroys all the idols
- 00:18:12within the Kaaba and this is his belief
- 00:18:18that the destruction of these idols will
- 00:18:20lead the people to only worship Allah as
- 00:18:22he is the only true God and that there
- 00:18:24should be no graven images of other gods
- 00:18:26but within is in what Islam in West
- 00:18:29Africa you have people that are not
- 00:18:31willing to completely give up every
- 00:18:34little bit of what they were practicing
- 00:18:37before in religion and instead are
- 00:18:39willing to kind of blend together Islam
- 00:18:42with some of their tribal traditions in
- 00:18:46nearby at ecru
- 00:18:47there's aggressive missionaries to Islam
- 00:18:50these aggressive missionaries basically
- 00:18:53were very violence-prone to try and
- 00:18:56convince people to convert to Islam
- 00:19:00Sundiata the lion prince who rules from
- 00:19:0312:30 to 12:55 as the Empire of Mali
- 00:19:06extends over the kingdom of Ghana they
- 00:19:09do this through the process of cavalry
- 00:19:11we talked about this with the Mongols
- 00:19:13chapter quick hits guerrillas hostile
- 00:19:15warfare faints the neighboring kingdoms
- 00:19:18as well or conquered by Sundiata the
- 00:19:19lion Prince took greater advantage of
- 00:19:22the trans-saharan trade network
- 00:19:23nominally he was a Muslim but didn't
- 00:19:25force conversion as a ruler you have
- 00:19:27some decisions that you can make you can
- 00:19:29choose to make all of your subjects
- 00:19:30follow your faith to the letter and be
- 00:19:33very brutal in their practice or non
- 00:19:36practice of your faith or you could be a
- 00:19:41for this example with Sundiata Muslim
- 00:19:44but not force the conversion over the
- 00:19:46people you rule for some practical
- 00:19:48purposes mostly to prevent
- 00:19:51if your people feel like their religion
- 00:19:53is important to them it can inspire some
- 00:19:56people within your kingdom that you're
- 00:19:58ruling to fight back against your rule
- 00:20:00because you aren't practicing the right
- 00:20:02version of what the god or gods want you
- 00:20:06to do so by not forcing conversions
- 00:20:08you're really gaining a lot of favor by
- 00:20:10the people that you're ruling then we
- 00:20:14get Mansa Musa who rules from 13 12 to
- 00:20:1613 37 he was the grand nephew of
- 00:20:18Sundiata he was a very fervent Muslim he
- 00:20:21performed the Hajj in 13 24 through 13
- 00:20:24earth 1325 when he returned he did some
- 00:20:28gold distribution spreading out gold to
- 00:20:30his subjects now this teaches us a
- 00:20:31couple things number one that the Hajj
- 00:20:33was able to be completed by somebody
- 00:20:35from West Africa relatively easily in
- 00:20:39only about a year or two to get to Mecca
- 00:20:42and to return as a king in West Africa
- 00:20:46so we know that the trans-saharan trade
- 00:20:48network was very efficient and moved
- 00:20:50people as well as goods along that
- 00:20:52transit network very efficiently we also
- 00:20:54know that this gold distribution means
- 00:20:56that the ruler Mansa Musa has access to
- 00:21:00large reserves of gold
- 00:21:01Gold is a valuable commodity to this
- 00:21:03community and that these people can now
- 00:21:06use it for trade in the larger sphere of
- 00:21:09these trade networks we've been talking
- 00:21:10about he constructed numerous mosques
- 00:21:12supported Muslim scholars and the Empire
- 00:21:15declines
- 00:21:16soon after his rule Indian Ocean trade
- 00:21:20in Islamic states in East Africa now
- 00:21:21moving to the east side east coast
- 00:21:23maritime trade with week until the
- 00:21:24second century the Bantu people's
- 00:21:26populate the coasts the Swahili or
- 00:21:28Coasters is what it means in Arabic
- 00:21:31engage in trade with the Arabs the
- 00:21:34language forms as a kind of mix between
- 00:21:37Bantu influenced by Arabic and so you
- 00:21:41can see that early interactions in the
- 00:21:4410th century with excuse me with in the
- 00:21:47second century increases through their
- 00:21:51interaction with Arabs and Islam the
- 00:21:55trade increases in the 10th century
- 00:22:00so while Healy city states great wealth
- 00:22:03why basically because of the trade
- 00:22:06networks the 11 to 12 century ce e
- 00:22:08there's development of city-states just
- 00:22:10like that in Greece but not based on the
- 00:22:12models of democracy but similar in the
- 00:22:14form that these cities whereas large
- 00:22:15estates interacted with the world
- 00:22:17independently while still being a part
- 00:22:20of larger networks of trade architecture
- 00:22:22moved from wood / mud to coral and stone
- 00:22:26they were able to harvest coral from the
- 00:22:28ocean and we're building monumental
- 00:22:31architecture during this time what we
- 00:22:32find very interesting is that Chinese
- 00:22:34silk and porcelain is also imported
- 00:22:36imported to the eastern coast of Africa
- 00:22:39meaning that the maritime trade routes
- 00:22:41were also working very efficiently
- 00:22:43during this time here is a Knox
- 00:22:46sculpture from that time period you can
- 00:22:48see it moved away from the clay and mud
- 00:22:51and more into the stone structure of
- 00:22:54what we've been talking about kilwa was
- 00:22:58a city-state on the east african coast
- 00:23:00it had fishing some limited trades from
- 00:23:02800 to 1000 CE they then turned to
- 00:23:04agriculture and increased trade in
- 00:23:06pottery and stone where it would become
- 00:23:09in became a major training center by the
- 00:23:1114th century gill was an example of how
- 00:23:13agriculture and trade radically
- 00:23:16transforms an area of the globe
- 00:23:17specifically in East Africa exporting
- 00:23:20over a ton of gold per year by the 15th
- 00:23:23century CE so as this city-state grows
- 00:23:27it from and shifts its focus from
- 00:23:30fishing and limited trade to being a one
- 00:23:33of agriculture and being a trade good in
- 00:23:36terms of pottery in stone where we see
- 00:23:38that they're able to increase their
- 00:23:39wealth and value all the way to the 15th
- 00:23:43century then we get to Zimbabwe which
- 00:23:47stands for the dwelling of the chief
- 00:23:49there's a stone complex called Great
- 00:23:51Zimbabwe built in the early 13th century
- 00:23:53seee and it was used as its capital the
- 00:23:55picture is there in the background his
- 00:23:57population was 18,000 in the late 15th
- 00:24:00century and it was one of the largest
- 00:24:02kingdoms for its time managed trade
- 00:24:04between internal and coastal regions
- 00:24:06very impressive feat for a group of
- 00:24:11people who many European said
- 00:24:13could not have done all this work or all
- 00:24:15these organizing principles for the
- 00:24:17trade networks and agriculture and
- 00:24:18monumental architecture as they believed
- 00:24:22so from my class you guys are going to
- 00:24:25be writing a paper and it says who
- 00:24:27writes history and why is it written as
- 00:24:29it is to page minimum type double
- 00:24:3112-point font Times New Roman one-inch
- 00:24:33margins typical MLA format you're going
- 00:24:36to be watching this video I'll be
- 00:24:38showing it in class you can also find
- 00:24:39out in YouTube ancient Africa a history
- 00:24:41tonight we're gonna be watching it it's
- 00:24:4351 minutes yeah go ahead and check in
- 00:24:47with me and I'll tell you when that one
- 00:24:48is - islam in east africa ruling elites
- 00:24:52in east africa accept islam without
- 00:24:54forcing general population to convert
- 00:24:57again back to that principle of keeping
- 00:25:00the peace often retain pagan religious
- 00:25:02traditions and practices islam serves as
- 00:25:04the social glue within other merchants
- 00:25:07and states it opened doors to alliances
- 00:25:08and trade if your islamic or i must
- 00:25:11accuse me if you're a muslim you don't
- 00:25:14really see any problem in believing in
- 00:25:17the brotherhood of all peoples under
- 00:25:18allah and this allows this glue of
- 00:25:22religion to kind of make people see the
- 00:25:25world in a similar way allowing people
- 00:25:28to form alliances based on trust of
- 00:25:30religion and trade networks you're
- 00:25:32trading things that people really want
- 00:25:35your training goods that you could see
- 00:25:39people needing you're not trading goods
- 00:25:41that are haraam or forbidden by islam
- 00:25:44specifically like pork or pigs and you
- 00:25:47really are able to observe things like
- 00:25:49holidays and practices like five times a
- 00:25:53day prayer and you also understand a lot
- 00:25:56of the same a worldview and you also
- 00:25:59sort of speak the same language in
- 00:26:00arabic and so this makes things a lot
- 00:26:02easier in terms of relationships between
- 00:26:04traders during this time Arabian society
- 00:26:09and cultural development some kingdoms
- 00:26:11empires city-states with well-defined
- 00:26:13classes there were ruling elites there
- 00:26:17was a merchant class peasant class
- 00:26:19sounds a lot like feudalism that we
- 00:26:22talked about before in other areas in
- 00:26:24sub-saharan Africa continue to use
- 00:26:26traditional kin
- 00:26:27based groups so some groups were this
- 00:26:31way some groups are that way other
- 00:26:33groups were another way but yeah it just
- 00:26:36depended on which group you were looking
- 00:26:38at similar again to some of the problems
- 00:26:40that we saw when we looked at the
- 00:26:41Eurasian central plains that as the
- 00:26:46Mongols and that those groups living
- 00:26:48there kind of spread out they adopted
- 00:26:50different ways of ruling different ways
- 00:26:52of organizing their society based on the
- 00:26:54needs of their people in chip groups
- 00:26:58extended families clans there was an
- 00:27:01idea of private property less prevalent
- 00:27:03they didn't really completely have the
- 00:27:06idea that the land was your land but
- 00:27:09they did kind of understand that there
- 00:27:10was like set aside land for like the
- 00:27:13king or for the people but they didn't
- 00:27:15see it as like you could own the land
- 00:27:16the land was held communally so the land
- 00:27:20for farming was held for all of the
- 00:27:22community and then the harvest was
- 00:27:25distributed by elders so these kinship
- 00:27:27groups were seen as almost a form of
- 00:27:31proto communism proto socialism the land
- 00:27:35was not owned by one person it was not
- 00:27:38seen as something that could be taken
- 00:27:42from one person and given to another
- 00:27:43person but they believed that the land
- 00:27:45was to be used by all people for the
- 00:27:47good of all people within the community
- 00:27:49these harvest being distributed by the
- 00:27:50elders would be distributed based on the
- 00:27:53needs of the individuals that came to
- 00:27:55collect the food so if you had a family
- 00:27:58of four you would get a certain amount
- 00:28:00of food but you would get probably less
- 00:28:01than the family of eight for example and
- 00:28:04the elders would use their wisdom and
- 00:28:06judgment to kind of distribute the food
- 00:28:07as well and as evenly as they could sex
- 00:28:10and gender relations men work with
- 00:28:12specialized skills canning like leather
- 00:28:14and iron work and also heavy labor they
- 00:28:18guarded their secrets to trade
- 00:28:20hereditary so if you were a tanning or a
- 00:28:22leather worker you probably would not
- 00:28:24have learned it from anyone other than
- 00:28:26maybe your grandfather your uncle or
- 00:28:28your this is to protect the kind of hold
- 00:28:34you as a family would have over the
- 00:28:36secrets of making that good
- 00:28:39if there is a lot of people doing the
- 00:28:42same trade within a small area the value
- 00:28:45of that trade goes down but if you hold
- 00:28:47on to that secrets of the trade through
- 00:28:49hereditary succession you're able to
- 00:28:51make lots of money because not a lot of
- 00:28:52people know how to do the thing that you
- 00:28:54know how to do really well both sexes
- 00:28:56however work in agriculture male rule is
- 00:28:59more common but there were expanded
- 00:29:01roles for women
- 00:29:02merchants some military activity for
- 00:29:07them but there was a lot of honor as
- 00:29:09life-giver specifically women would be
- 00:29:10praised for bringing about people and
- 00:29:16there were thing of people women are
- 00:29:20uniquely designed or uniquely suited or
- 00:29:24uniquely evolved for that purpose and
- 00:29:27one of the amazing things that this
- 00:29:30culture did was they were able to kind
- 00:29:32of see that without women they would not
- 00:29:35have any men so women almost are like
- 00:29:38the first step if kind of comes back to
- 00:29:41the if men are so great where do they
- 00:29:43all come from women is it a chicken or
- 00:29:45egg thing or egg chicken thing it's a
- 00:29:47lot of norms slow to penetrate African
- 00:29:50society age grades from during the
- 00:29:54agricultural period in the Sudan there
- 00:29:57are peer groups of a single age cohort a
- 00:29:59cohort is a group of people that share a
- 00:30:03similar goal or similar thing that
- 00:30:05they're trying to do together it crossed
- 00:30:08lines of family and kinship and these
- 00:30:10peer groups were used for a number
- 00:30:12different things
- 00:30:13excuse me specifically for the creation
- 00:30:17and of trade goods and also for the work
- 00:30:23in agriculture they also would be
- 00:30:24organized for different activities
- 00:30:28within the community as well slavery
- 00:30:31again slavery was practice since ancient
- 00:30:33times go all the way back to the first
- 00:30:35eight chapters of our book most slaves
- 00:30:37were captives of war
- 00:30:38some were debt slaves so let's say you
- 00:30:42owed me 20 bucks in this example you
- 00:30:44could be my slave for like three weeks
- 00:30:46and that would pay off your $20 dead but
- 00:30:49it usually wouldn't happen for a small
- 00:30:51amount of money it was probably
- 00:30:52thousands and millions of whatever the
- 00:30:56currency would be worth and people could
- 00:30:58sell themselves in slavery to pay off
- 00:30:59that debt rather than try and pay back
- 00:31:02through loans or a non guarantee that I
- 00:31:06would ever get repaid we also put into
- 00:31:10slavery suspected witches at this time
- 00:31:12they didn't really have the religious
- 00:31:14prohibition from Christianity that talks
- 00:31:19about not suffering a witch to live and
- 00:31:21stoning them to death but they did not
- 00:31:24really like witches so what they did is
- 00:31:27they kind of made them slaves believing
- 00:31:30that kind of harnessing their freedom
- 00:31:34would allow them to be kind of
- 00:31:36controlled and to protect the community
- 00:31:37as a whole and of course criminals were
- 00:31:40used as slaves he was principally an
- 00:31:42agricultural labor that back-breaking
- 00:31:43picking up harvesting planting kind of
- 00:31:47work and slaves are a form of personal
- 00:31:50wealth and social status this starts to
- 00:31:52kind of pervade Africa during this time
- 00:31:55more slaves you have meaning the less
- 00:31:57work you have to do but you receives the
- 00:32:00benefits and rewards of having slaves do
- 00:32:02the work for you this also provides the
- 00:32:05growth and wealth which provides a
- 00:32:07growth and social status within the
- 00:32:08community and the cycle just kind of
- 00:32:11keeps on going on slave trading
- 00:32:13increased trans-saharan and Indian Ocean
- 00:32:16trade stimulates slave trade in the
- 00:32:18ninth century CE II Africa replaces
- 00:32:21Eastern Europe as principal source of
- 00:32:22slaves originally in Eastern Europe was
- 00:32:26where most of the slaves came from think
- 00:32:28back to some of the kind of barbaric
- 00:32:32cultures that we talked about under the
- 00:32:33Romans this moves down to Africa as just
- 00:32:38kind of the quantity becomes available
- 00:32:43as a result of these trans-saharan trade
- 00:32:44networks
- 00:32:46it creates internal African slave trade
- 00:32:48more powerful States or groups of people
- 00:32:50attack smaller kinship based groups at
- 00:32:54its high point 10,000 to 20,000 slaves
- 00:32:57per year during this phase of slave
- 00:32:59trading this is before transatlantic
- 00:33:01slave trade are you our sold per year
- 00:33:05now the monetization of slavery is a
- 00:33:08very big shift in history during this
- 00:33:11time before like I talked about we
- 00:33:13basically had slavery based on a number
- 00:33:15of social problems that needed to be
- 00:33:18solved you owe me money you need to pay
- 00:33:21me back you don't have a good job or a
- 00:33:22way to pay me back you have to be my
- 00:33:24slave
- 00:33:24however slave trade in the 9th century
- 00:33:27shift to a value of creating currency or
- 00:33:32a almost trade market for people as the
- 00:33:40demand for labor goes up using slaves
- 00:33:43and capturing slaves and trading slaves
- 00:33:45becomes its own industry something in
- 00:33:48the same way that a iron worker creates
- 00:33:51some iron good or a Tanner creates some
- 00:33:53leather good aged slave trader now
- 00:33:56becomes a merchant of slaves and creates
- 00:33:58a commodity or ain't good in the form of
- 00:34:02goods not a good isn't positive for this
- 00:34:06culture and this creates a desire and
- 00:34:10demand for more and more slaves which is
- 00:34:12going to become a very large negative
- 00:34:14impact as we look at Africa going
- 00:34:18forward here is an Arabian Swahili slave
- 00:34:21trade interestingly enough this is a
- 00:34:23photograph not a painting of slave
- 00:34:26trading meaning that all the way into I
- 00:34:30want to say that this is it says 2000
- 00:34:33from the copyright but I'm positive this
- 00:34:36is not from that time even into the 19th
- 00:34:40and 20th centuries we still had slavery
- 00:34:43in Africa of people being chained
- 00:34:46together and sold as laborers to this
- 00:34:49day they're still slaves that are sold
- 00:34:53on black markets around the world and
- 00:34:54people are traded like a commodity the
- 00:34:59Zanjeer revolt this is a slave revolt
- 00:35:02slaves from Swahili coast exported to
- 00:35:03work in Mesopotamia sugar cane
- 00:35:06plantations sugar cane is back-breaking
- 00:35:07work it's very tedious it's very painful
- 00:35:09you can die a lot of times it sugar cane
- 00:35:13is very weird in that it has very weird
- 00:35:16leaves that can cut your
- 00:35:17and you have to use a machete and just
- 00:35:19like labor all day in the hot Sun also
- 00:35:24they were used for scraping out salt
- 00:35:28deposits you basically use salt from the
- 00:35:32ocean and you scrape at the salt until
- 00:35:35it basically becomes table salt and you
- 00:35:38use it for preserving meat or seasoning
- 00:35:41food or you basically go into salt mines
- 00:35:44and dig it out of the ground and work in
- 00:35:47very dangerous conditions where the mine
- 00:35:49could like collapse and you would die
- 00:35:51and so they worked in these very painful
- 00:35:54and very labor intensive industries in
- 00:35:57Mesopotamia around 869 seee slave Ali
- 00:36:01bin Muhammad mounts a revolt of fifteen
- 00:36:03thousand slaves they actually capture
- 00:36:05Basra and it's later crushed by the
- 00:36:08Ambassador
- 00:36:09I'd like you to think back to what other
- 00:36:11slave revolts that we've talked about
- 00:36:13ended in a very negative way as well if
- 00:36:17you were thinking of the Spartacus
- 00:36:19slaver pool then you'd be right next we
- 00:36:23get African religion great diversity of
- 00:36:25religious beliefs it's it's enumerable
- 00:36:28the number of religions that we could
- 00:36:30probably start to talk about in what
- 00:36:32people believe pre introduction of
- 00:36:34monotheistic religions from the Middle
- 00:36:37East there was a common element however
- 00:36:39that there was a single male creator God
- 00:36:42lesser deities were associated with
- 00:36:44natural phenomenon like wind or
- 00:36:46hurricanes or thunderstorms or whatever
- 00:36:49and they believed in ancestor worship
- 00:36:52they had diviners they had religious
- 00:36:55specialists who are principally men and
- 00:36:57these diviners could do a number of
- 00:36:59things they were oracle reading they
- 00:37:01could take chicken bones and roll them
- 00:37:03on the ground and depending on how these
- 00:37:05chicken bones when you say these magic
- 00:37:07words and they fall could create some
- 00:37:12messages for what the people were
- 00:37:14supposed to do next or what the future
- 00:37:16holds they could cast spells on people
- 00:37:18where they would maybe kill a chicken
- 00:37:21and take the blood say some magic words
- 00:37:23and curse somebody or they could use the
- 00:37:26spells to heal people they also had a
- 00:37:29number of other rituals
- 00:37:32either helped or hurt or they believed
- 00:37:35helped or hurt people in the real world
- 00:37:37there was a limited emphasis on theology
- 00:37:40or the study of God it was just kind of
- 00:37:42assumed there's a God up there he's
- 00:37:44doing stuff and we can kind of get him
- 00:37:46to be happy if we do certain rituals or
- 00:37:49we interact with him in certain ways
- 00:37:52like throwing those chicken bones or he
- 00:37:55really doesn't care about it so they
- 00:37:56didn't really focus that much on the
- 00:37:58study of God which is what theology
- 00:38:00means morality and the balance of nature
- 00:38:03was important there were good and bad
- 00:38:05actions that people needed to follow
- 00:38:07there was a positive and a negative
- 00:38:09event and the outcome of which people
- 00:38:12needed to be aware of and make sure that
- 00:38:15they didn't harm one another or steal
- 00:38:17from one another or do anything negative
- 00:38:20to one another there was also a balance
- 00:38:22to nature that they believed that for
- 00:38:24cutting down trees you need to plant
- 00:38:26trees for every time you kill an animal
- 00:38:27you need to say a blessing for killing
- 00:38:29that animal believing that there was a
- 00:38:32kind of tit for tat or yin and yang or
- 00:38:35balance style to everything within
- 00:38:38nature early Christianity in North
- 00:38:41Africa in the first century it's popular
- 00:38:43in Egypt and North Africa it's initially
- 00:38:46weak in sub-saharan Africa because of
- 00:38:48the non introduction of camels the
- 00:38:50Christian kingdom of Aksum in the 4th
- 00:38:52century CE II is around the area of
- 00:38:56Ethiopia if you are a Catholic or a
- 00:39:01Protestant you probably are familiar
- 00:39:03with the story of in the book of Acts
- 00:39:06where one of the Apostles after being
- 00:39:10given the great commission by Jesus to
- 00:39:12go out and tell everybody about the good
- 00:39:13news of what Jesus has come to do is
- 00:39:17kind of on the road one day and he comes
- 00:39:21across an Ethiopian eunuch and this
- 00:39:23Ethiopian eunuch is seen as the founder
- 00:39:25of Christianity in Ethiopia as he brings
- 00:39:27back the message of Jesus to Africa
- 00:39:29these merchants and kings then convert
- 00:39:32back into the 4th century now the Bible
- 00:39:35is translated into Ethiopian something
- 00:39:37that was very rare for the time during
- 00:39:39this time Christianity was heavily
- 00:39:41regulated by the people so we said
- 00:39:43the Western and Eastern Orthodox Church
- 00:39:46they believe that the Bible was the
- 00:39:49words of God but not to the extent that
- 00:39:52Islam would believe that Arabic was the
- 00:39:55only true version of God's Word in any
- 00:39:58translation would be a summary of what
- 00:40:02God was talking about but during this
- 00:40:04time this translation into the dialect
- 00:40:06of the people is something that is very
- 00:40:09rare for the world the people of
- 00:40:11Ethiopia could actually understand what
- 00:40:14the Bible had in it and also some of the
- 00:40:17things that Jesus said from the original
- 00:40:21text but in its own language it was
- 00:40:24isolated during the Islamic period and
- 00:40:25there was a Renaissance during 12th
- 00:40:27century CE II and then they have massive
- 00:40:29churches carved out of solid rock what
- 00:40:32they would actually do is find a rock
- 00:40:34somewhere on a hillside and then they
- 00:40:35would have people slowly carved into the
- 00:40:38rock and they would carve down into the
- 00:40:41rock creating these like hits that could
- 00:40:43be a number of stories deep and within
- 00:40:46that pit would be a tower with windows
- 00:40:48and elaborate porticos and all these
- 00:40:51different doorways that people could go
- 00:40:55into and these solid rock churches to
- 00:40:58this day are still used by many within
- 00:41:01North Africa for worship in Christian
- 00:41:04practice Ethiopian Christianity
- 00:41:08isolation from other Christian areas
- 00:41:10until the 16th century so it kind of
- 00:41:12develops independently it has a strong
- 00:41:15African influence a connection to the
- 00:41:18spirit world and amulets so as we've
- 00:41:22talked about in the past with
- 00:41:23Christianity there's a lot of back and
- 00:41:25forth between the people in Rome and the
- 00:41:27people in Constantinople and the people
- 00:41:29in Russia and the people in Alexandria
- 00:41:32Egypt who are debating what it means to
- 00:41:34be a Christian debating what it means to
- 00:41:37follow Jesus to practice the sacraments
- 00:41:40to how you're supposed to just do
- 00:41:43Christianity well because the Ethiopian
- 00:41:45Christianity is all the way in Africa
- 00:41:47and most of the Europeans are kind of
- 00:41:48obsessed with themselves
- 00:41:50Christianity kind of develops in
- 00:41:52Ethiopia in a very unique way it becomes
- 00:41:56very
- 00:41:57African in its form of religion focuses
- 00:42:00heavily on a spirit world or a spiritual
- 00:42:02world this is not a heaven but more
- 00:42:05understanding that the world has spirits
- 00:42:08to it and that the when we die we will
- 00:42:13go to a spirit world or we are all
- 00:42:16spirits within the world they also
- 00:42:18believe in amulets or protector symbols
- 00:42:20that you wear on your body think of like
- 00:42:23how some people wear crosses or crucifix
- 00:42:26on their body on a necklace they as
- 00:42:30Catholics who wear crucifix don't
- 00:42:32believe necessarily that that crucifix
- 00:42:34will protect them from bad things like
- 00:42:36getting hit by a bus but amulets however
- 00:42:38are little crosses or little symbols
- 00:42:41that people were on their body that are
- 00:42:43supposedly supposed to keep evil spirits
- 00:42:44away supposed to keep negative things
- 00:42:48from happening to you as you have them
- 00:42:51near you so we made it all the way
- 00:42:54through Africa when you finish studying
- 00:42:55this chapter you should be able to do
- 00:42:56the following number one explain the
- 00:42:58connections between agriculture and
- 00:42:59population growth in Paul's classical
- 00:43:01sub-saharan Africa there's only a couple
- 00:43:02things that happened and we talked about
- 00:43:05how as calories increase population goes
- 00:43:08up identify key features a post
- 00:43:10classical African political organization
- 00:43:11there are some organizing principles you
- 00:43:14can cling on to even though it's kind of
- 00:43:16a mishmash number three I explained the
- 00:43:19links between trans-saharan trade in the
- 00:43:20formation of West African Islamic states
- 00:43:22that one's pretty easy number for
- 00:43:24explain the roles East African Islamic
- 00:43:27states in the Indian Ocean trade also
- 00:43:28easy number five outlined the formation
- 00:43:31of social classes in post classical
- 00:43:33Africa whole slide on that one six
- 00:43:35identify key features of post classical
- 00:43:37African religion just talked about that
- 00:43:38and number seven discuss the arrival of
- 00:43:40Christianity and Islam in sub-saharan
- 00:43:42Africa and here's your writing
- 00:43:45assignment write a short response about
- 00:43:46a census to the following question
- 00:43:48specifically prayer discussing in class
- 00:43:50everyone why do you think we have so few
- 00:43:52names who associate with sub-saharan
- 00:43:54African history in this period
- 00:43:55interesting huh that we only talked
- 00:43:57about really two people and we kind of
- 00:43:58talked in a general sense about
- 00:44:00everything else how did the nature of
- 00:44:02the societies contribute to this
- 00:44:04phenomenon how did their cultural
- 00:44:06traditions contribute
- 00:44:07interesting number two listen explain at
- 00:44:10least five reasons why Islam became such
- 00:44:11a prevalent religion in sub-saharan
- 00:44:14Africa in this period use examples to
- 00:44:15justify each point there's a number of
- 00:44:17those in the book number three comparing
- 00:44:19contrast the development of the Swahili
- 00:44:20city-states with West African empires in
- 00:44:22the years from the 11th to the 15th
- 00:44:23century ooh that's so good once you know
- 00:44:26that you're going to be able to knock
- 00:44:27this out of the park as always it has
- 00:44:29been great talking to you it is time to
- 00:44:31bust open that book make sure you do
- 00:44:33those writing assignments I'm sure those
- 00:44:35will help you out I'll understand this
- 00:44:37chapter a lot better I'll see you a bit
- 00:44:39later thanks bye what we do here just go
- 00:44:44back back back
- 00:44:47[Music]
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Bantu Migrations
- Islamic Influence
- Trade Networks
- African Kingdoms
- Population Growth
- Iron Metallurgy
- Banana Cultivation
- Slavery
- Traditional Religions