African Civilizations and Societies Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards reviewing key historical terms, kingdoms, empires, figures, and cultures from African history.

Sahara

Large desert in Africa.

Lineage

Group of people descended from a common ancestor.

Matrilineal

Tracing the ancestry through the mother.

Animism

Religion in which spirits play a role in daily life.

Griot

West African storytellers.

Nok

African people who lived in what is now Nigeria from 500 BC to 200 AD.

Djenne-Djeno

Oldest know city in Africa south of the Sahara.

Aksum

African kingdom that reached the height of its power in the 4th century.

Ezana

King of Aksum who conquered Kush.

Maghrib

Part of north Africa that is today the Mediterranean coast of Morocco.

Ghana

West African Empire that grew rich from trade.

Mali

By 1235, wealth and power was based on gold trade.

Almoravids

Islamic group with an empire in north Africa and Southern Spain.

Sundiata

Founder and first emperor of the kingdom of Mali.

Songhai

West African empire that conquered Mali.

Hausa

West African people who lived in the city-states of what is now northern Nigeria.

Yoruba

West African people who formed several kingdoms in what is now Benin.

Benin

Kingdom near the Niger delta which became a West African state.

Swahili

Language that is a blend of Arabic and Bantu.

Great Zimbabwe

City that grew into an empire linking the the gold fields inland with the trading cities on the coast.

Mutapa

Southern African empire established by the leader Mutota.