African Adventure

By Lisa

Introduction to ZimbabweArchie the time traveling archeologist has set out for his

long journey to discover the ruins of ancient Africa. Many Europeans had thought that merchants passing through the land had created the the empire of Zimbabwe. Archie thought different, and decided to find out the truth by traveling into 700AD when the empire had first started. By 1000AD most people were hunters and gathers. Archie had seen one of the most famous buildings they had created. The Great Enclosure. This building was thought to be built for kings and for a religious place. It was made from granite so that it would last. The sight astounded Archie because who knew that these people had this much knowledge with building

Class notes, Mr. Carver

Introduction Continued with Ghana

Well time for Archie to continue his journey to Ghana. Unlike the people who wanted to get to Ghana to trade, Archie didn’t have to make his way through the “death road.” He had time traveled to the beginning of the empire in 400AD. Many people who wanted to trade in Ghana had to pay a special tax. While there he noticed many things like they were extremely skilled in working with iron and made quality tools and weapons. Many of the people turned out to be religious and were Muslim. There were still some people who were polytheistic.

Class notes, Mr. Armstrong

Introduction continued with MaliArchie’s journey continued to Mali. He had time traveled

into 1200AD to see Sandiata Keita who had over thrown the empire of Mali. Sundiata Keita was nicknamed the lion king and there is a modern movie called the lion king. The idea for the movie came from his legend. When Archie had came upon the people he saw them trading salt and gold near the Niger River. Salt was used for preserving meats and gold was traded to Europeans. When strolling down an alley he saw a griot fascinating the children with stories passed down from generation to generation. By this time almost everyone was a Muslim.

Class notes, Mr. Armstrong

Archie’s journey continued to BeninWhew my last stop of this journey. Were going to the

rainforest. You can really tell it is the rainforest because of the humidity. Since there is rainfall all year long there is lots of vegetation and farmers have no difficulty with food supply. In Benin artists excelled at sculpting and carving metal, wood, and ivory. Often farmers would have a surplus of food and would be able to trade it for things like copper, salt and leather goods. While many people were trading other people as slaves, Muslims could not enslave other Muslims so they just enslaved non Muslims. The people also lived in extended families.

Classwork, Mrs. Kallens

Explanation for Zimbabwe • Great Zimbabwe was about 250 miles inland from

the southeastern coast of Africa• During the time when Zimbabwe was at its height

it was the capital of the trading empire.• The Great Enclosure was made with rock that is

small enough for a single man to carry. The walls were 17 feet thick and 36 in height at its greatest.

• The Great Enclosure was most likely built by Bantu speaking Shona people.

• People were mostly herders and hunters because of the vast grasslands perfect for herding and hunting.

ABC Clio,WHA

Explanation for Ghana• By 1000AD Ghana was a wealthy and powerful

empire.• The main trading item was gold from the rich

mines. The traders who traveled to Ghana had to pay a special tax in order to trade.

• The beginning of 1054 a group of Muslim Berbers took over many of Ghana's key cites including the capital. For a while Ghana stayed independent but it eventually declined.

• Some people who worked with iron made quality tools and weapons.

• Most people were Muslim, but there were some people who were still polytheistic.

ABC Clio, WHA

Explanation for Ghana continued• The Soninka kings completely controlled the trade

of gold. Any gold nuggets transported or even mined from Ghana was claimed by the kings and called there property.

• One of Ghana’s most famous leaders was Dinge Cisse was was responsible for uniting most of western Africa.

• Griots told stories to to teach children important lessons

Explanation for Mali • Mali lasted from 1200 – 1468 A.D.• Mali was the trading empire and during 13th to 15th

centuries, Mali ruled large position of West Africa.• Sundiata Keita- he took charge of Mali in A.D.

1230. He was a leader of Malinke, and they soon came to control of Ghana.They made Ghana the main producer and distributor of gold.

• Mali had control over salt, gold mines, diamonds, and copper production.

• Slave trade market made rapid agricultural advancements.

• The artisans in Mali did wood carving, jewelry making, and ornament production.

Explanation for Mali continued• Mansa Musa- he was the last strong king of Mali.

He was a good leader and was able to stop people from conquering Mali.

• Most people were Muslims, and very few were polytheistic.

• Made masks to cerebrate important occasions like holiday, birthday, and death. It was made of different material, wood, gold, and mud.

• There were griots, which were story tellers who taught children, stories that were passed from generation to generation.

Explanation for Benin• In Benin, artists were good at carving, and

sculpting metal, wood, and ivory.• There were griots, the story teller and they taught

oral history, which was stories passed down from generation to generation.

• It had warm climate all year long and also had high humidity.

• Many types of trees and trees provided shade, food, and shelter.

• Many people lived in extended families. • Some were matrilineal, meaning that they traced

their descent through mothers rather than fathers.

Explanation for Benin continued

• The education was carried through out the family and other villagers.

• Trade and slavery was really common in Benin. Farmers produced a surplus, or extra supply of bananas, yams, and rice. They traded those surplus for copper, salt, and leather goods from the Savannas.However, when the trade with Muslims grew, they started to trade people.

Zimbabwe to modern life

I can connect modern America to Zimbabwe because in Zimbabwe the people were hunters and herders. Today people still hunt for various animals such as deer. Also many people today farm many animals such as cows, sheep, and goats. We use these animals for food, clothing, and various other things. The hunters hunted elephants for there ivory.

Ghana to modern life

I can connect Ghana to modern life because in Ghana people worked with iron and made quality tools and weapons. Today we still use iron for certain tools, but not all tools.