african societies – similarities and differences chapter 8 (1 of 4)
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African Societies – Similarities and Differences
Chapter 8 (1 of 4)
African Diversity
There was no dominant state or religion in Africa
Africans very diverse making it hard to
generalize about them (each group different)
Diverse = Different
Stateless Societies States emerged, but many stateless
Power shared by families
No kings, so no need for
taxes
Disputes settled
easily, lot of open land to
move to
Could be large
No central power
Difficulties = hard to raise
army and defend itself
vs. organized states or
raise money for public
works
Though Diverse, some similarities Existed in African Society
Bantu people spread out, so
language similar
Even as Islam spread to Africa, these beliefs still held
Animism common throughout Africa – though local practices differed
Many believed in creator god and lesser gods
Believed in good and evil (witches evil and had to be eliminated) – similar view
to Europeans
Ancestors who founded land seen as holy, so land was holy (religion,
economics, and history closely linked)
Overall, African religion = provided view of how world worked and code
of ethics
Had been involved in trade with other parts of the world
for a while
Economies varied greatly from region
to region
Agriculture and skilled ironwork spread rapidly
throughout
Trade (especially w/Arabs increased
greatly - led to some big cities w/professional
traders – women involved too)
North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa
Africa at Trade Disadvantage
Traded away valuable resources (gold, ivory, salt) for expensive
manufactured goods
Africa didn’t gain much new technology and manufacturing
through this trade
Islam Comes to North Africa in the 600s
North Africa had been
part of classical
world for a long time already
Christianity had already
spread to the area
towards the end of the Roman era
By 670, Muslims
controlled northeast
Africa , called Ifriqiya
Soon after, Muslims got
control of northwest
Africa, called Maghrib
The North Africans
converted rapidly to
Islam
The Berbers
AlmoravidsReform movement within
the Berbers. Practiced stricter version of Islam
and spread religion through jihad.
AlmohadisIslamic reformers within
the Berbers, key to spreading Islam to sub-
Saharan Africa and Spain through jihad
Berbers = Africans from Sahara Desert (indigenous people)
The Berbers created states in North Africa
Islam Attractive to Africans
Example of social stratification that
still existed = punishment for
killing man twice as much as for killing woman
The kings and rulers were the first to convert
(they used Islam to enhance their
power
Egalitarian, so African converts would be equal to Arab Muslims
(though stratification still
existed)
Christianity Arrives 1st in Africa (Before Islam)
EGYPT
Coptic Christians = Christians of Egypt, 1st
universal religion in Africa
Coptic Christians had spread Christianity from
Egypt up the Nile to Nubia
Egypt and Ethiopia = Christian, even before
Romans converted
Arabs conquered Egypt, but Copts remained
ETHIOPIA
Click map for video on Coptic Christians
Ethiopia
Ethiopia grew when King Lalibela conquered
surrounding lands from Axum
Formed from the trading kingdom of Axum
EthiopiaThe Ethiopian Highlands -
Ethiopians lived in mountainous area so they
learned to use terrace farming
Ethiopians built many great buildings, especially massive churches which
they built from rockterrace farming
Ethiopian Religious Isolation
Ethiopia was cut off from other Christian areas (like Byzantine Empire) so it developed Christianity
independently
Ethiopia was (and still is) surrounded by Muslims countries, which caused friction (and still causes
problems today)
Ethiopia Surrounded
Ethiopia almost
conquered by Muslims in 1542, but
Portuguese helped stop the takeover
Portuguese tried to bring
the Ethiopians into the Roman Catholic
Church, but failed
Ethiopia remained an independent, and Christian kingdom, and
is mostly Christian to
this day
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