World History Early African Civilization Study Guide
1. What are the four climate zones located in Africa
1. desert, semi-arid, Mediterranean, tropical, and subtropical climates,
[Link] were the first civilizations located in Africa?
2. Egypt was the first African country to experience civilization. Egypt is found in the northeastern
parts of Africa along the great river Nile. The Nile River provided the Egyptians with much-needed
water for farming. Ancient Egypt, Nubia (Kush), Carthage.
3. What was the economy of Kush based on?
3. the trade of exotic African goods with Egypt. As middlemen, Kushite traders passed along ivory,
ebony, incense, and other exotic goods from the South to the Egyptians who then traded with
other Mediterranean peoples
4. What were some of the exports of Kush?
4. The economy of the ancient Kushites relied, to some degree, on the trade of exotic African
goods with Egypt
5. Who founded Axum and what two cultures combined to make that civilizations?
5. South Arabian migrants; South Arabian and indigenous African cultures.
6. Where was Axum located and what did it mean for that civilization?
[Link] Kingdom of Aksum (or Axum; also known as the Aksumite Empire) was a trading nation in the
area of northern Ethiopia and Eritrea that existed from approximately 100 to 940 CE.
7. What was the most distinctive feature of the Axumite civilization?
7. Axum emerged in Ethiopia 1st century C.E. -most distinctive feature of Axumite civilization
was its religion.
8. Axum emerged in Ethiopia 1st century C.E. -most distinctive feature of Axumite civilization
was its religion. ?
[Link] peaceful; changed with Islamic expansion.
9. What was the first great trading state in West Africa?
9. Ghana, first of the great medieval trading empires of western Afric
10. What made the kingdom of Ghana prosperous?
10. The land's abundance of resources allowed Ghana's rulers to engage in years of prosperous
trading
11. What did Ghana have an abundant supply of and why were blacksmiths highly valued?
[Link] abundant supply of iron ore and gold.
12. What made Ghana the center of an enormous trade empire?
[Link]'s economic development and eventual wealth was linked to the growth of regular and
intensified trans-Saharan trade in gold, salt, and ivory
13. Who carried most of the trade in this region?
13. Berber merchants.
14. What country replaced Ghana and who was Mansa Musa?
14. And it really took off around the 11th century. As with all empires, and also everything else,
Ghana rose and then fell and was replaced by Mali. And the kings of Mali
15. What was Musa’s influence on Islam?
15. the importance of Islam, and the importance of its trade routes
16. What were the five African trading empires?
[Link] ghana, mali and songhaiy dranen
17. How did the Bantu take control in East Africa?
[Link] made iron weapons that strengthened them militarily.
18. What were the three major East African trading cities?
18. Mogadishu, Mombasa, Gedi, Pate, Lamu, Zanzibar, and Kilwa.
19. What was the wealthiest and most powerful state in South Africa and what did it
prosper from?
19. The economy of what was to become South Africa was dominated by subsistence agriculture
and hunting.
20. What was the difference between the kings in Asia and Africa?
20. Asia is the largest continent in the world with a massive 44.58 million km.
21. What was African identity determined by?
21. he concept of “being-with” is in fact the fundamental idea or explanation of African identity. It
is the community which makes the individuals,
22. What was the basic building blocks of African society? What advantage did this give?
22. Lineage groups were the basic building blocks of African society. All members of a lineage group
could claim to be descended from a real or legendary common ancestor.
23. What was the usual role of Women in African society?
23. taking care of the household, raising children and providing food for the family.
24. What is Matrilineal and Patrilineal?
24. Matrilineal descent refers to a system that traces lineage or kinship through women or female
relatives. Patrilineal descent refers to a system where an individual's clan or lineage group is
determined through men or male relatives.
25. When did slavery begin in Africa?
25. before the 7th century
26. What did most Africans believe about God?
26. several “high gods” and a large amount of lower gods and spirits
27. What challenged the beliefs of Africans?
27. Though Africans were forced into this new religion (Christianity), they did not stop practising their
ancestral rituals.
28. What was the major purpose of painting, literature, and music?
28. Art, music, literature, are all “creative arts,” the artist imagines what does not exist, brings it
into existence, in the forms of art, music,
29. Describe how the blues, gospel, jazz, and ragtime formed?
29. The development of jazz was heavily influenced by blues music and ragtime, two styles that
laid the groundwork for its development.
