Sub-Saharan Africa

Question 1

Sahara Climate

Answer 1

• On a 41000 year cycle between arid desert and grassland
• massive diversity between climate zones
• Due to climate diversity, there are many differences between cultures and practices in each area

Question 2

Saharan Trade

Answer 2

• Desert was originally crossed with oxen, mules, and horses
• After the introduction of the camel, a trans-Saharan trade route was developed within 25 years
• Caravans replaced wheeled carts because camels could carry heavier loads
• Highly predictable seasonal trade winds
• A trip that included all the major trade areas could be accomplished in just a year
• Trade materials included copper, gold, iron, slats, ivory, wooden poles, and enslaved people

Question 3

First Kingdoms and Empires

Answer 3

• 2000 years ago the earliest states began growing
• First unified kingdoms in 600 AD with a single ruler, politics, and control over large territories
• Kingdom of Ghana with a wealthy Muslim ruler who lived in a fortified stone palace. The capital was made up of two cities, one for trade and the other for royal precincts. Ghana later became a province of Mali
• Mali was ruled by king Musa, who had a mud brick palace and was said to have been pious and wise. Mali held most of the world’s gold stores and was incredibly rich
• Ruler of Mali bankrupted Egypt
• Songhay overthrew the last king of Mali at the same time the New World was discovered. This caused a sharp decline in African gold trade, and Songhay crumbled
• Great Zimbabwe in South Central Africa
• Jenne-jeno started out as a small farming village, but became a major trade center when trade routed with North Africa became popular
• Mapungubwe existed alongside Great Zimbabwe as a source of gold and ivory

Question 4

South Central Africa Environment

Answer 4

• Contained many valuable trade resources
• Savanna woodland
• Resources included gold, ivory, cloth, and glass

Question 5

Great Zimbabwe Economy

Answer 5

• Originally the economy was built around cow herding with the largest herds being symbols of power
• Trade mostly occurred in the Great Enclosure
• Traded all over the world for goods such as Ming porcelain, Persian faience, Arabian coins, and more
• Surrounding area had 4000 gold mines, and 500 copper mines
• 40% of the world’s gold came from this area

Question 6

Great Zimbabwe Organization

Answer 6

• The hill complex is the oldest portion of Great Zimbabwe, and houses distinct material culture such as the soapstone birds. This portion is walled and sits at the top of a hill
• The great enclosure is the second oldest section with inner and outer walls. It also has a conical tower, the only one of its kind in the area. This was a center of trade and also may have been where the royal families lived
• The valley complex is the youngest site and is divided into upper and lower sections. There are no stone walls but there was wooden architecture that could have been just as grand as the stone. this is where everyday people would have lived

Question 7

Great Zimbabwe Walls

Answer 7

• Massive blocks of cut granite without mortar
• Used he natural landscape around them
• Earliest examples are present at the hill complex

Question 8

Great Zimbabwe Complexes Structuralist Approach

Answer 8

• States that each complex had its own use
• Hill complex was for rituals
• Valley complex was for every day citizens
• Great enclosure was for kings and their families, as well as trade

Question 9

Soapstone Birds

Answer 9

• Small statues of birds found at the Hill complex
• May have represented the Bateleur Eagle

Question 10

Harmful European Practices and Ideas

Answer 10

• Difficult to answer many large scale questions about the city because of all of the damage done to the site by European archaeologists
• Much of our information comes from comparisons to other nearby Shona cultures
• Karl Mauch attributed Great Zimbabwe as the palace of the queen of Sheba in denial that Indigenous Africans could have built such a city. He presented the idea of the “Mystery of Great Zimbabwe” to Europeans and turned it into a tourist attraction with hotels and a golf course
• European tourists would often come and steal artifacts and break prats of the city
• First excavations of Great Zimbabwe were under the control of Cecil Rhodes, who promoted theories it was built by the Phoenicians, Portuguese, Arabs, Chinese, or Persians in order to justify his “restorations”
• it became policy to attribute historical sites to other cultures, and this did not end until 1979
• Richard Niklin Hall removed the “filth and decadence” representing the Indigenous people who had lived there

Question 11

European Records of great Zimbabwe

Answer 11

• First European records are Portuguese from the 16th century
• European interest in the area expanded as the race for Africa and its resources began
• The transatlantic slave trade occurred and Rhodesia was established as a colony in the 1880s
• Karl Mauch rediscovered Great Zimbabwe and formed theories as to its origins

Question 12

Stone Towns

Answer 12

• Compact trading settlements close to the shore
• each town was independent
• This was the basis for coastal trade