Chap 10.2 Slides Flashcards
What society grew in East Africa?
Around what time?
In East Africa, Aksum began to grow in power around the first century AD.
Geographically, where was Aksum?
Aksum lay south of Egypt and Kush and alongside the Red Sea
Where did Aksum come from?
What arose by the Aksum?
What was the capital and port?
- Migrants from Middle East
- By AD 100, Aksum was wealthy trading kingdom
- Two main cities: Aksum, capital; Adulis, thriving Red Sea port
How was the geography advantageous?
- Geography: well suited for agriculture;
- Red Sea proximity ideal for trade, access to Indian Ocean
What did the seaport attract?
•Seaport attracted merchants from Africa, Mediterranean, Arabia, Persia, India
The powerful king of Aksum was _________
When was his reign?
•Reached height under King Ezana, whose reign began about 320AD
How was Aksum strong?
•Aksum wealthy trading kingdom, also strong military power
Where did King Ezana hold power?
•Ezana held direct power only in capital city; outside, collected only tribute from local rulers
What was the military victory achieved by Ezana for Aksum? When?
•Under Ezana’s rule, Aksum defeated rival trading kingdom of Kush, about 350AD
What resulted from Aksum’s military victory over Kush?
- Victory gave Aksum control of trade in region
- Aksum soon became greatest power in East Africa
What did trade bring to Aksum?
- African-Arab heritage, trades gave Aksum diverse culture
- Merchants brought new ideas as well as goods
What were the new ideas brought to Aksum?
Who supported this?
- Among new ideas, Christianity 300AD
- King Ezana made Christianity official religion of Aksum
- Recorded that he would “rule the people with righteousness and justice…”
How was Aksum’s language recorded?
•inscribed on stone monument, called a stelae
Aksum’s language was called _______
•Inscriptions provide examples of Ge’ez, Aksum’s language
The first written language in Africa was _______.
This was basis of language used in ________ today
•Ge’ez one of first written languages developed in Africa, basis of written language used in Ethiopia today
Aksum was the first to do this _____________
•Aksum also first African kingdom south of Sahara to mint own coins
What lead to decline of Aksum in the 600s?
•600s, Aksum began to decline, partly because of arrival of Muslim invaders
–600s, 700s invaders conquered parts of East, North Africa
–Aksum itself was never conquered
What did the Muslim invaders do to Aksum’s trade?
What was the result?
–Muslims destroyed Aksum’s port city, Adulis, took over Red Sea trade
–Cut off from trade, Aksum lost main source of wealth
What happened to the Aksum people?
Where did they move to?
- Nearby areas became Muslim; Christian Aksum isolated
–Aksum people eventually retreated inland, settled in what is now northern Ethiopia
The Aksum people referred to themselves as __________
The people of Aksum sometimes referred to their kingdom as Ethiopia, and this name came to apply to the region where they lived
By __________, descendants of Aksum established ____________
•By 1100s, descendants of Aksum established new kingdom in Ethiopia
By 1150, kingdom grew under _____________
•1150, kingdom grew under Zagwe dynasty
Most famous king was __________
When did he rule?
What did he build?
•Most famous king, Lalibela
–Ruled during 1200s
–Known for building 11 stone Christian churches
–Impressive works of architecture; many still stand
What was Christianity like in Ethiopia?
- Lalibela churches also showed continued importance of Christianity in Ethiopia
- Ethiopian Christianity developed own unique characteristics, including elements of local African customs
Who were the next rulers of Ethiopia?
Solomonid Dynasty
How did Solomonid Dynasty rule?
Who did they believe they descended from?
How long was their rule?
- 1270, second dynasty of Christian kings came to rule Ethiopia
- Kings claimed to be descendants of Hebrew King Solomon, Queen of Sheba
- Dynasty is also known as Solomonid dynasty; ruled Ethiopia for 700 years
What were the religious wars during Solomonid dynastic?
- During first centuries of Solomonid rule, kings engaged in religious wars
- Beta Israel Jews lived in Christian Ethiopia; kings fought, tried to make leave
- Effort mostly unsuccessful; Jews remained, although faced persecution
The Muslims also fought the Ethiopians in __________
Kingdom of Adal
Were the Ethiopia conquered?
- Meanwhile, rival Muslim kingdom formed to east
- Muslim Arab merchants settled in kingdom of Adal; fought Christian Ethiopia
- Muslim forces never conquered Ethiopia, which remained independent
What was the slave trade?
Where did slaves get send?
Where did slave trade increase?
- Enslaved Africans also exported through coastal city-states to slave markets in Arabia, Persia, India; then sent to regions across Asia
- Trade of slaves would later increase after Europeans began coming to Africa
Who were the ancestors of present day country of Zimbabwe?
Where were they located?
Shona people established a kingdom called Great Zimbabwe around the 1100s.
This kingdom was located between the Limpopo and Zambezi rivers in southeastern Africa.
What was Zimbabwe part of?
- Great Zimbabwe was part of trade network because of its location
- Lay along trade route linking interior gold mines to city-states on coast
What was the role of Zimbabwe?
Middlemen role
- Great Zimbabwe served as middleman between gold miners, ivory hunters in southern Africa, traders on coast
- Middleman is person who buys something from one person, sells to another, making profit on sale
What showed the height of Great Zimbabwe?
What happened by 1400s?
Scholars think as many as 18,000 people lived in Great Zimbabwe at its height. Yet sometime during the 1400s they abandoned the area.
Why did Great Zimbabwe fall into ruins?
- People of Great Zimbabwe raised cattle
- Soil may have lost fertility
- By the 1500s, when first Europeans saw site, Great Zimbabwe already in ruins
Believed _________ founded the _________ empire
•Oral tradition has Mutota as founder of Mutapa Empire
Mutota became known as ________-
What did he build in the 1400s?
•Became known as Mwene Mutapa, “master pillager”
Built his empire in the 1400s
How did the Mutapa Empire grow strong?
- By 1500, Mutapa Empire controlled much of what is now Zimbabwe
- Grew wealthy exporting gold, controlling trade in large area
