Notes on Ancient African Civilizations

Ancient African Civilizations

Learning Objective

To identify ancient African civilizations and explore their contributions to human history.

Retrieval Question

  • Level 8 & 9: Name one of the oldest civilizations that was settled in Africa.

  • Level 6 & 7: Name three natural resources found in Africa.

  • Level 5: Name two rivers and two deserts in Africa.

  • Level 4: Name two countries in Africa.

Starter: Brainstorm

List as many ancient African civilizations as you can.

Vocabulary

  • Ethnic group

  • Delegation

  • Harar Jugol

  • Abyssinia

  • Ancient Aksum

  • Negus

  • Ajami

  • Ancient Ghana

  • Obelisks

  • Horn of Africa

  • Great Zimbabwe

  • Predecessor

Lesson Objectives

  • I can identify the names of ancient African civilizations.

  • I can list facts about ancient African civilizations.

  • I am able to create dual coding for the cultural history of ancient African civilizations.

Assessment

Success criteria to achieve the objective of this lesson.

Ancient Harar Jugol

Established as early as the 10th century, Harar Jugol was the capital of the Harari Kingdom. It was an important trading society connecting merchants from the Ethiopian coast to those in the Ethiopian highlands.

Ancient Harar Jugol had five walled gates that surrounded the city. These gates served as protective barriers for the city, dividing Harar Jugol into five separate neighborhoods and corresponded with main roads and walkways throughout the city.

Ancient Aksum

Modern-day Ethiopia, located in the Horn of Africa, was known as Abyssinia in ancient times. Ancient Aksum was a powerful kingdom in Abyssinia.

The Kingdom of Aksum was established in 400 BCE. It was a major hub between African, Arab, European, and Indian trade communities. The people of Aksum had their own written language called Geez and printed their own coins to use as currency.

Remains of the Kingdom of Aksum are still visible in Northern Ethiopia. The city of Aksum is considered one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Africa, with a population of over 50,000 people.

Archaeologists have discovered large structures called obelisks, which were erected by Negus Ezana in ancient times.

The Kingdom of Zimbabwe

Located in southern Africa, the Kingdom of Zimbabwe was established about 1000 CE by the Kalanga people of present-day Zimbabwe, Botswana, and South Africa. The name comes from the stone architecture that was present throughout the kingdom. The structures included stone houses and massive walls surrounding the entire kingdom as a means of artistic design and protection. The kingdom lasted till about 1500 CE.

Present-day Zimbabwe took its name from the original Kingdom of Zimbabwe after independence from the British in 1980.

The kingdom rose to become an important regional power through trade with kingdoms in other areas. One of Great Zimbabwe's major trading partnerships was with the civilization called the Kingdom of Mapungubwe, located in the present-day Limpopo area of South Africa.

The relationship between the Kingdom of Great Zimbabwe and the Kingdom of Mapungubwe contributed to both kingdoms being prosperous. Through this relationship Great Zimbabwe was able to control the ivory and gold trade that crossed from the interior of the African continent to its south-eastern coasts. Additionally, Great Zimbabwe established its own gold, copper, and iron mines for production and trade.

Ancient Ghana

The Kingdom of Ancient Ghana, or Wagadou, was a large and powerful West African kingdom located in present-day Mauritania and Mali. Its influence was spread throughout the West African coast and across the Sahara Desert.

Ancient Ghana profited from the ability to trade resources to countries across the Sahara and into Arabian, Asian, European, and Indian trading markets. The merchants of Ancient Ghana traded gold, copper, iron, ivory, salts, cola nuts, and other resources with merchants from other regions.

Since Ghana was known as the Land of Gold, the gold mined within the kingdom was of high importance. There was a common rule that all gold nuggets belonged directly to the king, while the miners and other citizens could freely collect the gold dust. This made the kingdom very wealthy since both the king and his subjects had access to tradable gold.

Early travelers described Ancient Ghana as a complex civilization with a heavy Islamic and traditional West African culture. Islam was introduced to Ghana through trans-Sahara trade as West African and Arab merchants traded resources and culture.

Ghanaian scholars began to write their oral stories. The writers sometimes wrote in their native Wolof language but used Arabic script. This mixture of Wolof words in Arabic script was called Ajami, which refers to the use of Arabic script to write in different languages.

Ancient Ghana was known along trade routes and in distant kingdoms as the Land of Gold. Travelers told stories of gold-embroidered caps, golden saddles, shields and swords decorated with gold, and other items they saw people using made of gold.

Like Great Zimbabwe, the present-day West African country of Ghana took its name from its ancient predecessor. The Kingdom of Ancient Ghana has a very long history dating back to times before writing. Ancient Ghana appears in written records of travelers in 830 CE. Ghana is mentioned again in an 11th-century book entitled The Book of Routes and Kingdoms.

Mid Plenary Questions

  1. Which present-day countries made up the ancient Kingdom of Ghana?

  2. What was a major product of Ghana, one that it was remembered for in history?

  3. Which ancient African kingdom was located in Western Africa?

  4. Which ancient African kingdom was located in Eastern Africa?

  5. Which ancient African kingdom was located in Southern Africa?

Group Activities

Group 3

List 5 facts from the text about Ancient Aksum and Ancient Harar Jugol. Explain how they were similar and different.

Group 4

  1. Why was ancient Zimbabwe referred to as "Great Zimbabwe?" Give two examples.

  2. What was another kingdom that traded with "Great Zimbabwe?" Which products were traded?

  3. What is Ajami? How was it important in recording the history of the Ancient Ghanaian people?

Group 5

Explain the similarities and differences among the ancient African kingdoms. Use any of the following tools:

  • Venn diagram

  • Compare and contrast table

  • Timeline Charts

  • Literature and Textual Analysis

  • Dual coding

Assessment Criteria

  • Starting: I am not able to identify ancient African civilizations.

  • Approaching: I can identify the names of ancient African civilizations.

  • Meeting: I can list at least 5 facts for the ancient African civilizations.

  • Exceeding: I can clearly state the ancient African civilizations along with the facts. I can compare and contrast ancient African civilizations and able to create dual coding on the cultural history of these African civilizations.

Plenary - Knowledge Harvest

Fill the mind map with four-five key terms and concepts from the lesson.