Transcript Chap. 3: Geography and Early History of Africa

Chap. 3: Geography and
Early History of Africa
Section 3: Early Civilizations of
Africa
Guiding Questions:
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What kinds of evidence help us learn
about the past?
How did climate changes affect ancient
Africa?
What were some achievements of early
African civilizations?
Tracking the Evidence
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The setting: Olduvai Gorge on the edge of
the Great Rift Valley in Tanzania.
The time: late 1950’s
The people: team of scientists led by Mary
and Louis Leakey
The discovery: pieces of bone embedded in
rock were almost 2 million years old.
Led to the realization that Africa was home to
the first people.
What do Archeologists Do?
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Study objects left by early people.
Use clues from pieces of bone, a few seeds, or
charcoal from an ancient fire.
Scientists from many fields help the archeologist.
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Geologists study the rock.
Botanists analyze the type of plant and the climate.
Despite scientific advances, we still know little about
early peoples.
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Archeologists are still searching for clues.
Africa’s climate works against us -- heat and humidity
destroys wood and bone.
“Written in Stone…”
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Some early people left pictures in stone.
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Painting on rock cliffs and stone walls
The paintings show tools, weapons and hunting/gathering methods of
early peoples
Rock art (refer to picture on p. 72)
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Woman using a stick to dig roots from the ground
Movement in graceful patterns, like a religious ceremony
Hunter stalks a giraffe
Rock art reveals that there were once many animals on the Sahara
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So maybe it was much wetter than it is today.
Thousands of years ago, the Sahara had lakes, rivers, and grasses.
People hunted, fished and herded cattle.
“Written in Stone…”
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A changing environment
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About 4,000 years go, the Sahara changed. Less
rain; lakes and rivers dried up. Grass no longer
grew…
People moved away; probably to the Nile Valley.
Nile Valley Civilization
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Agricultural Revolution led to less of the nomadic life
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These farming communities became the basis for advanced
civilizations
Earliest civilization: the Nile Valley in Egypt 7,000 years ago.
Fertile soil, plentiful wildlife
Farming improved; more food was produced; population grew
About 3,000 BC, powerful rulers had emerged
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United villages along the Nile
Known as “Pharaohs,” they built large empires through trade and
conquest
Exchanged knowledge and ideas with distant cultures
Religion and Government
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Egyptians were polytheistic (many gods). Different
gods ruled the forces of nature
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Belief in life after death. Journey through the
underworld was important
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Chief god was Amon-Re, the sun god.
Osiris, god of the underworld and of the Nile
Isis, his wife
Pyramids filled with food, clothing, jewels that they would need
in the afterlife
Egyptians considered the pharaoh a god
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Priests & nobles helped the pharaoh. Priests conducted
ceremonies to please gods
The Gift of the Nile
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An ancient historian called Egypt the “gift of the Nile”
Each year, the river floods and spreads mud over the
nearby farmlands
While fields are flooded, farmers work to haul stones
for the pharaoh
They are paid with grain from the royal storehouses
When water recedes, the farmers plow and plant
When the dirt dries up, they irrigate using a “shaduf” a
simple water hoist.
Crops are harvested four months later
9th period
Half the crops go to the pharaoh
Achievements of Egyptian
Civilization
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Huge temples and pyramid tombs are evidence of a
wealthy and well-organized society
Hieroglyphics - form of writing that used pictures and
symbols
Egyptian priests knew about stars and planets to
develop a 365-day calendar
Mathematicians and doctors were well advanced
Egyptian civilization lasted for thousands of years and
passed their knowledge to other African &
Mediterranean civilizations
Kingdom of Kush
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Egyptians traded with neighboring peoples
along the Nile, in Nubia and Kush.
Sometimes, pharaohs sent armies to conquer
those lands.
Egyptian culture spread southward.
But by 750 BC, Egyptian power had
weakened. King Kastha of Kush conquered
Egypt.
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Rule was short-lived, and ended when Assyrians
invaded Egypt from the Middle East.
Kingdom of Kush
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Kush continued to flourish, despite defeat by
Assyrians.
Built a new capital at Meroë.
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Egyptian influence was strong - built temples & pyramids,
worshipped sun god Amon-Re.
But eventually, they developed their own gods, adapted
Egyptian hieroglyphics and made their own alphabet.
Iron ore deposits were near Meroë. Had learned how
to use iron from the Assyrians.
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But Egyptians never picked up on it and continued to use
bronze.
5th period
Kingdom of Kush
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Trade was strong with Egypt and rest of
Mediterranean.
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Invasion and internal rivalries weakened
Kush.
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Shipped cargoes to Arabia, East Africa and India.
Pushed southward and west, as far as Lake Chad.
After 1,000 years, by 200 AD, Kush collapsed.
So how much should they figure into the
Imagine Africa project?
Kingdom of Axum
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The Kingdom of Axum developed before
Kush died out.
Located on high plateaus of what is now
Ethiopia. (see map on p. 76)
Important center of trade (like Kush).
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Send spices, gems, and ivory north into Egypt,
across Red Sea to Arabia, across Indian Ocean to
South Asia.
Around 350 AD, King Ezana conquered Kush.
Kingdom of Axum
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Ezana had converted to Christianity.
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Early Christians carried their beliefs across North Africa and up the
Nile, so Christianity took firm root in Axum.
Later, the religion of Islam spreads across North Africa.
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This cuts off Christian communities in Axum from the rest of the
Christian world.
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So the Ethiopian Church develops a little differently than the rest of the
Christian churches. Today, it’s one of the oldest Christian communities.
Ethiopians have their own sacred written language, called Geez,
as well as strong traditions of religious art.
So how much should Axum figure into the Imagine Africa
project?
1st period