-These two kingdoms were among the earliest African kingdoms

-Kush (or Nubia) was founded ca 800 B.C.E.

-At its apogee, the rulers of Kush constructed pyramids at Meroe and ruled large parts of Egypt

-Axum, connected with Sheba (Yemen), was a naval and trading power

- Craftsmen from the Nok culture, e.g., mastered iron (ca 500 B.C.E.) -They also created terra-cotta sculptures of value-The trading center of Jenne, founded in approximately 250 B.C.E., has many buildings fashioned out of mud-brick (adobe)

-The Bantu migrated from West and central Africa southward from approx. 1000 B.C.E.-1000 C.E.

-The Bantu had learned how to work iron, farm, and herd animals; when they moved into new areas in southern Africa, they shared this knowledge with other peoples

-Along with their economic skills, the Bantu had an influence on languages in these southern areas

- Those that resisted the Bantu, such as the Bushmen (hunter-gatherers), were forced to move to more desolate areas (such as the Kalahari Desert)

In Africa, kin, clan and tribe play very important roles in organizing society; traditionally, elders rule in villages; little hierarchy otherwise

-Prior to the Spread of Islam to Northern and Eastern Africa, African religious beliefs were very diverse

-Common single element: a single, male creator god

-Other widespread features: ancestor worship, belief in a spirit world (animism), use of amulets

-Sasa (life) and zamani(afterlife)

-Muslim armies conquer Egypt, much of N.Africa during the 600s C.E..; they then defeat the Visigoths in Spain

They in turn are defeated by Charles Martel at Tours in 732 C.E.

-Later, the Almohads, one of these Muslim groups, established a dynasty in the Western Mediterranean

-They are ousted from power by a Moroccan Berber dynasty, the Almoravids in the 11th century

-The Almoravids , Muslim reformers who advocated a rigid orthodoxy, built the city of Marrakesh

-Malay soldiers colonize Madascar ca. 300-500 C.E.; they also introduce bananas yams, and chickens

-Trade with the Middle East already by 9th cent. C.E. (see e.g. the Zanj (slave) revolt in Mesopotamia (869 C.E.))

-Kilwa, founded in 957 C.E., is a major commercial city by the 13th century C.E.

-Pemba and Mombasa become important ports on the Indian Ocean

-Swahili (coastal) culture blended Arab and African elements

-Its basis was a flourishing Indian Ocean trade

-Wealthy city-states along the East African coast imported silk and porcelain from China, e.g.

-Chinese admiral Zheng He led two expeditions to East Africa (1417-1419, 1421-1422)

-King Ezana (fl. Ca 350 C.E.) converts to Christianity, conquers Kush

-Coptic Christianity develops in Ethiopia; it holds that Christ is fully divine, and uses Ge’ezas its ecclesiastical language (Amharic stays as the day-to-day language in Ethiopia)

-Battle of the Elephant at Makkah (570 C.E.); Axum invaders led by Abraha are repelled

-This dynasty was known for its religious and cultural achievements

-The Christian church of St. George, e.g., was hewn out of solid rock at Labilelain 1080-1100 C.E.

-North of modern state of Ghana-In addition to trading gold, ancient Ghana sold ivory and slaves-Its capital Kumbai was conquered by the Almoravids in 1076 C.E.

-Important rulers: the founder of the dynasty, Sun-Jara (aka Sundiata I), the “Lion Prince” (r.1230-1255 C.E.) and MansaMusa (r. 1312-1337 C.E.)-Mansa Musa was a fervent Muslim; he made a celebrated hajj in 1324, distributing large amounts of gold in Cairo while en route to Mecca-Jenne (and its famous 14th-century mosque), Timbuktu (university and mosque) flourish, esp. in the 14th century

-Sunni Ali Bar: r. 1464-1492 C.E.

-Sunni Ali Bar seized Jenne in 1473 C.E.

-Muhammad Toure Askia: r. 1493-1528 C.E.; one of Sunni Ali Bar’s generals, he took over after Sunni Ali Bar’s successor refused to declare himself a Muslim

-Muhammad Toure Askiasponsored scholars at Timbuktu

-Moroccans defeat the Songhai at Tondibi in 1591 C.E. and the empire collapses.

-Hausa city-states develop ca 1000 C.E. in northern Nigeria

-If, Benin – small kingdoms established ca 1100 C.E.

- The Kongo Kingdom (Wene wa Kongo in Congolese) – developed into centralized state as the result of strong trade networks, Portuguese influence by 16th cent. C.E.

-In the Kongo kingdom, King Nzinga a Nkuwaconverts to Christianity, rules as Alfonso I (r.1506-1543)

-Royal currency: cowrieshells

-By the 1640s and 1650s, the Kongo King Garcia II is often allied with the Dutch against the Portuguese

-Practiced already by 9th

century C.E.

--Most slaves were taken in battle

--Debtors, suspected witches, and criminals were also enslaved

--Slaves usually worked in agricultur

-Possession of slaves bestowed status

1. Zimbabwe

a. Stone complex called “Great Zimbabwe” built early 13th

century C.E.

b. Managed trade between internal and coastal regions

c. Abandoned ca 1450 C.E.

2. Khoisan-speaking peoples (i.e., non-Bantu hunter-gatherers including the San (Bushmen) and Hottentots tend to be found in marginal areas

-This is a very rich and complex subject. Note at least the following :

--Rock paintings – by the San esp. (5000 B.C.E. and later), incl. the Linton Panel

--Masks (see the influence on Picasso, etc.

-- Stelae (at Axum, e.g.)

--Bards (called griots in West Africa) – play a very important role in transmitting traditional culture (see, for instance, the Sundiata epic)