Transcript Africa and the Roots of Islam

Africa
and the
Roots
of Islam
A focus of Northern Africa
and the Middle East
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/n_africa_mid_east_pol_95.jpg
Life in a Desert Land
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Middle East
The Arabian Peninsula, or Arabia, is
located in the southwest corner of
Asia. It lies near the intersection of
Africa, Europe, and Asia.
Physical Features and Climate
The Middle East lies in a region with
hot and dry air.
Summer temperatures reach 100°F
daily
Deserts stretch across Arabia with
sand dunes, or hills of sand shaped
that can rise to 800 feet high and
stretch for hundreds of miles!
There is a very limited amount of
water, which causes many oases.
An oasis is a wet, fertile area in a
desert.
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Africa
Second largest continent
Desert’s and mountains stretch
across most of North Africa
Rifts are throughout the land.
Rifts are long, deep valleys
formed by the movement of
the earth’s crust.
South of the mountains are
mighty rivers including the
Congo, the Zambezi, and the
Niger.
Regions of West Africa
The Niger River allowed many
people to live in West Africa
Along the Niger’s middle section
is a low-lying area of lakes and
marshes where animals find food
and shelter there and fish are
also plentiful.
Ways of Life
• Nomads- lived in tents and raised herds of
sheep, goats, and camels.
• Other people lived in settlements and were
traders.
• These people made their homes in oases
where they could farm and trade.
• A caravan is a group of traders that travel
together.
Region’s in West Africa
• Four different regions surround the Niger River
– The northern band is the southern part of the
Sahara
• Rain is rare
– Next is the Sahel (sah-HEL)
• a strip of land with little rainfall that divides the desert
from wetter areas.
– Farther south is the savannah
• open grassland with scattered trees
– The fourth is near the equator and gets heavy rain
• rainforests, or moist, densely wooded areas.
Region’s in the Middle East
• The Middle East is a very divided land
• Each group operates as their own
individual tribes
• Most all are Muslim
• Dry-deserts with plenty of coast lines for
shipping & trading
• Only fertile land around the coast
Resources in Africa
• Because of its many climates, the land
can produce many different crops.
• Other resources were minerals.
– Gold and Salt
• Salt kept food from spoiling, and people needed
it in their diet to survive Africa’s hot climate.
• The biggest export for the continent of
Africa are diamonds.
Resources in the Middle East
• Because of its dry climate, it is hard to
produce crops.
• The main resource in this area is oil.
• The Middle East has to rely on importing
and exporting to survive.
• Many different people in this area battle
over it’s scarce resources.
Family
• In early Africa life focused around the
extended family.
• It usually included the father, mother,
children, and close relatives in one
household.
• Loyalty to family helped the people of a village
to work together. The men hunted, farmed, and
raised livestock. Women farmed, collected
firewood, ground grain, carried water, and
cared for children.
Beliefs
• Religion was central in village life.
• West Africans believed that their ancestors’ spirits stayed nearby
after death, so they carved statues there.
• Animism—the belief that bodies of water, animals, trees, and
other natural objects have spirits.
• Technology helped communities grow
– They could heat certain kinds of rock to get a hard metal.
– Iron was strong and good for making tools and weapons.
• West Africans began to trade the area’s resources with buyers
who lived thousands of miles away.
• Gold and salt mines became a source of great wealth.
• Traders used camels to cross the Sahara. They took gold, salt,
cloth, slaves, and other items to North Africa and the Islamic
world.