Transcript North and Central African societiesx

North and Central African Societies
Chapter 15 Section 1
 Describe
where the kingdom of Aksum was
located. How did its location benefit it’s
development?
 Who
was King Ezana? What was he famous
for doing?
 What
was the Kingdom of Aksum’s longest
lasting accomplishment?
 The
Efe are a group of hunter-gatherers in
the Democratic-Republic of Congo.

Modern day Efes live in small groups of
between 10 and 100 members who are all
related.
 They
do not have permanent homes and
live a nomadic lifestyle.
 The Efe trade honey, wild game, and
other products for crops grown by farmers
in a nearby village.
A
respected older male serves as group
leader. He does not give orders or act as a
chief.
 Each family within the band makes its own
decisions and is free to come and go as
they please.
 Group members settle arguments with long
discussions, as daily life for the Efe is not
governed by formal written laws.
 How
do you think our society would work if
we solved all our problems with discussions?

In this scenario, there are no written laws.
 Could
every disagreement be settled?
 The
family is central to organization in
central Africa.

Members of a lineage believe they are
descendants of a common ancestor. Within a
lineage, members feel strong loyalty towards
each other.
 South
of the Sahara, many African groups
developed systems of government based
on lineage.
 In
some African societies, lineage
groups took the place of rulers and
formed stateless societies – there
was no centralized system of power.
 Authority
was balanced among lineages
of equal power so that no one family
had too much control.

If a dispute arose, respected elders from
different lineages settled the problem.
 Family
lineage determines how
possessions and property are passed
on.
 Patrilineal
societies trace their
ancestors through their fathers.
 Inheritance passes from father to son.
 Matrilineal societies trace their
ancestors through their mothers.
 Inheritance passes through their
mother’s name.
Islam
played a vital role in North
Africa.
 Muslims
swept across the
northwest part of the continent
and spread their Islamic Empire.

They converted many to Islam.
Sometimes by the sword, other times
peacefully.
 By
670 C.E. Muslims ruled Egypt and had
entered the Maghrib – the Mediterranean
coast.
 As Islam spread, some African rulers
converted to Islam and based their
government upon Islamic law.

Muslims believe that God’s law is a higher
authority than any human law. Therefore,
religious scholars often served as government
advisers.
 In
Islam, Muslims do not separate
their personal life from their
religious life and Islamic law
regulates almost all areas of human
life. Islamic law helped bring order
to Muslim states.
 Various states often had ethnic and
cultural differences, as well as
different interpretations of Islamic
law.