Lesson 15: Early Societies in West Africa

• Muslim scholars first began writing about Ghana in the 800's. But people have lived in West Africa for thousands of years, which leads historians and archaeologists to ask questions, looking at evidence such as rivers and vegetation for clues.
• How did the geography of West Africa affect early inhabitants there?


  • the savanna's rainy season allowed people to grow crops
  • need for items grown in different climates prompted the establishment of trade
  • people used the Niger River as a means of transportation
• Because of the Sahara's dry climate,


  little people settled there.
• Cameroon


  mountains bordering West Africa to the East
• Sahel


  a zone of semidesert south of the Sahara, where short grasses, small bushes, and a few trees grow
• Sahara


  a large, hot desert in North Africa that covers about 3.5 million square miles
• Savanna


  a vegetation zone of tall grasses and scattered trees, with a long rainy season
• Niger River


  the longest river in West Africa, which was a kind of trading highway in early times
• What do ruins like the ones found at Dhar Tichitt likely suggest?


  villagers would work together to protect themselves against attackers
• The earliest farming communities (4000 B.C.E) settled south of the Sahara were comprised of


  extended families
• Extended family communities:


  • 15-20 members
  • farmed & traded with other communities
  • male elders made decisions
• Villages:


  • 100-200 people
  • made of family communities
  • leader selected for wisdom and strength
• Collaborating families banded together in villages to...

  • get help
  • control floods
  • mine ores
  • enforce protection
• Ironworking is believed to come from Africa by


  Hittite
• Hittites (present-day Turkey) mastered


  ironworking in 1500 B.C.E
• Why did villages grow into cities in West Africa?


  because of the growth of ironworking and expansion of trade
• Nok


  a people living in West Africa in the 500s B.C.E. who mastered ironworking
• The Nok would use smelting to create


  iron tools
• Smelting 


  the process of melting ore to produce iron or other metals from it
• Iron tools were superior to


  stone tools
• Before the discovery of Jenne-jeno, historians believed


  outsiders help Africans build their cities
• The knowledge of ironworking spread by way of


  traders who crossed the Sahara
• How did the ability to make iron tools affect food production and the types of jobs that villagers performed in West Africa?


  by producing an abundance of food and allowing villagers to specialize in other jobs like weaving and pottery making to create more items to trade
• Villages near rivers became


  trading sites
• How did the location of Jenne-jeno cause it to become a large, busy city?


  the Niger River made it an ideal place for farming and trade
• Jenne-jeno


  an ancient West African city built along the Niger River, which existed for 1600 years
• The 13-feet high wall surrounding Jenne-jeno:


  • gave city more status
  • easier to control the arrival and departure of traders
• Blacksmiths were the most respected in Jenne-jeno because the people of West Africa


  prized iron more than gold
• Ghana, Mali, Songhai


  West African kingdoms with trading powers that ruled over large areas
• Kingdoms developed with the


  collection of taxes from marketed goods and tribute
• West African kings:


  • both political and religious leaders
  • performed religious ceremonies to please the gods
  • sent governors to rule conquered areas or allowed conquered areas to rule themselves
• Disadvantages of becoming part of a West African kingdom:


  • obligation to pay tribute
  • men had to serve in the army
• Advantages of becoming part of a West African kingdom:


  • provided protection
  • safe trade routes
  • ended war between small cities
  • citizens were fairly flowered with luxury items from the king
• Tribute


  payment made by one ruler or country to another for protection or as a sign of submission
• Growing kingdoms would target other areas where trade was common.
• What was the most significant factor in development of early societies in West Africa?


  Trade