ancient african civilizations

• ANCIENT AKSUM = Ethiopia.
• Ethiopia is located in the Horn of Africa and is populated by many ethnic groups. It was called Abyssinia and its most prominent kingdom was Aksum.
• Aksum was established in 400 BCE. It served as a major hub between African, Arab, European, and Indian trade communities. They had their own written language called Geez and printed their own coins as currency.
• Ancient Aksum still has remains in Northern Ethiopia. With a population of 50,000 people, they are considered one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Africa.

  They have structures called obelisks, erected by Negus Ezana during the ancient times. They served as a reminder for the power that Aksum once had.
• Kingdom of Zimbabwe = Zimbabwe
• The Kingdom of Zimbabwe is located in southern Africa, established 1,000 CE by the Kalanga people of present day Zimbabwe, Botswana, and South Africa.
• The name Zimbabwe came from the stone architecture present throughout the kingdom. It included stone houses and walls surrounding the kingdom for design and protection. The kingdom lasted until 1500 CE
• Present day Zimbabwe got its name from the Kingdom after independence from the British in 1980.
• The Kingdom of Zimbabwe became an important regional power with trade with other kingdoms, including the Kingdom of Mapungubwe in present day Limpopo area of South Africa.
• Kingdom of Zimbabwe and Kingdom of Mapungubwe had a relationship which made both empires prosperous. Zimbabwe was able to control the ivory and gold trade that crossed the interior of the African continent to its south eastern coasts and was able to establish its own gold, copper, and iron mines for production and trade.
• Ancient Ghana was also known as Wagadou.
• Ancient Ghana = Mauritania and Mali.
• The influence of Ancient Ghana spread throughout West African coast and across Sahara Desert.
• History of Ancient Ghana dated back to times before writing. It appears in written records of travellers in 830 CE and was mentioned in an 11th century book called "The Book of Routes and Kingdoms".
• Ancient Ghana was known as the Land of Gold as stories told by travellers that they had gold-embroidered caps, gold saddles, shields, and swords decorated with gold. Other items were also decorated with gold.
• Ancient Ghana profited through trade of resources throughout the Sahara through Arabian, Asian, European and Indian trading markets. Their merchants and merchants from other regions traded gold, copper, iron, cola nuts, and more.
• Ancient Ghana being the Land of God, the gold mined in the kingdom was important. All gold nuggets would go to the king, and the gold dust were freely collected by citizens, making the kingdom very wealthy as they had access to tradeable gold.
• Ancient Ghana was described as a complex civilization with a heavy Islamic and traditional West African culture. Islam was introduced through trans-Sahara trade as West African and Arab merchants traded resources and culture.
• Ghanaian scholars wrote oral stories in their native Wolof language using Arabic script - the use of Arabic script to write in different words were known as Ajami.
• Ancient Harar Jugol - powerful kingdom from Ancient Abyssinia. Founded as early as 10th century as the capital of Harari Kingdom.
• Harar Jugol was an important trading society connecting the merchants from the Ethiopian highlands to coasts.
• Harar Jugol had five walled gates which surrounded the city, serving as protective barriers.

  They also divided Harar Jugol into five separate neighborhoods and corresponded with main roads and walkways throughout the city.