Chapter 7, Section 3

The BIG IdeaIdeas, Beliefs, and Values

African society was centered on village and family life, with distinct religious beliefs and a

rich culture.

African towns began as fortified walled villages and gradually grew

into larger communities.

These towns were the centers of government and trade.

• In African society the gulf between the king and his subjects was not great.

• Rulers would often hold meetings to allow people to voice their complaints.

• As most Africans lived in small villages, few ever went to the meetings with the Kings.

• Their sense of identity was determined by their membership in an extended family and a lineage group.

• Lineage groups served as the basic building blocks of African society.

• Lineage groups: In many African societies, extended families are very important. Lineage groups are comprised of people who share a common ancestry. Lineage groups play an important role in the governing of decentralized societies.

• Members were expected to support and care for one another.

• Women were usually subordinate to men.

• In some communities women were valued for their ability to increase the size of the lineage group or were merchants.

• African societies were matrilineal, meaning the lineage was based on the mother rather than the father.

• In typical African villages, a process existed for educating young people.

• In the Congo for example—

– Boys and girls were raised by their mothers until the age of 6 learning language, their family history, and the songs that gave meaning to their lives.

– At age 6 girls went the “house of women,” and boys went to the “house of the men.”

• Fathers taught sons how to hunt and fish, grow plants and clear fields. Fathers prepared their sons to survive in the natural world.

• Mothers taught daughters how to take care of the home and work in the fields. Daughters were taught how to be good wives and mothers. Marriage and motherhood would be their entry into the adult female community.

• Finally, young people reached a point where they were expected to fully enter the adult community.

• The transition occurred at puberty and was marked by an initiation ceremony.

–First they were isolated from the community, then they symbolically died and were reborn.

• Slavery had been practiced in Africa since Ancient times.

• Berber groups regularly raided farming villages south of the Sahara for captives.

• Slaves included people captured in war, debtors, and criminals.

• They were not all seen as inferior, some were trusted servants.

• Generally varied from place to place, but had some common ideas.– Common ideas: Single creator god who was

merciful and could be pacified by proper behavior– Uncommon ideas: Creator god joined by lesser

gods, Creator god had once lived on Earth

• Communication with gods through diviners (people who believe they have the power to foretell events, usually by working with supernatural forces).

• The importance of ancestors. Rituals were dedicated to them because they were believed to be closer to the gods.

• Belief in an afterlife. Human life occurred in two stages, on Earth and then in the afterlife.

• Islamic influence likely began as a result of trade merchants from Muslim territories.

• Islam swept across northern Africa in the wake of the Arab conquest.

• South of the Sahara the process was slower.

• The process was slowest in East Africa, where Christianity continued to gain followers.

• Art was a means of serving religion.

• A work of art was meant to express religious conviction.

Wood-carvers throughout Africa made remarkable masks and statues to represent the gods, spirits or ancestral spirits.

• African music and dance served religious and social purposes.– African dance was a way to communicate with

the spirits and pass historical stories to young people

• Storytelling was used in the absence of written language.– Storytellers were known as griots.– Much of what we know about Ancient Africa

came from the oral traditions of the griot.

• Most griots learned the craft from their griot parents.

• Traditionally griots were men, however there have been female griots.

• Griots spend years memorizing the long complex historical stories.

(and their)

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