G
RANT
T
IMES
Ancient Africa
Articles
June 2015
Volume 1, Issue 1
Ghana Politics By: Natalie Leonardis
Ghana was an interesting place. They used swords and spears when
their enemies used wooden clubs. People in Ghana used rivers to travel
and trade gold. The Ghana Empire eventually began to decline because
of invaders and invasions. With all of its little flaws, the people of
Ghana wanted more and greater control of the salt and gold supply. The
kings of Ghana grew rich from all of the gold and salt trades. Ghana
politics was very interesting for its time (My World History).
Ghana Economy By: Gianna Tomei
The People of Ghana used salt as money for trade on trade routes
of the Sahara Desert. They had labor and slaves. The Ghana Empire also traded slaves for money (which is salt) and gold. Farming,
however, was really great on the Sahara Desert because there was
oases to plant crops, to bathe and use the bathroom. The Camels
that the Saharans used can carry heavy loads of salt and gold (My
World History page 491).
The Geography of Ghana
by: Jake Calderone
The geography of Ghana is a high flat piece of land called a
plateau. Thick forests cover the south western part of Ghana.
The Niger and the Senegal Rivers provided people with water
to grow crops and to use to travel by boat. As you can see,
the geography was very important to the people of Ghana
(World Book Kids & My World History Textbook).
People's Lives in Ghana By: Jason DelPaoli
About half of Ghana's people live in rural areas. Most rural
Ghanaians were farmers. In the forest regions, many men raised
cocoa beans on small farms. Many women raise food for their
families on small plots of ground. But some people in the cities
lived in houses that have mud walls and tin roofs. In central and
southern Ghana, many people lived in rectangular houses with
mud or concrete walls, and thatched or tin roofs and often
courtyards. Many of the people in northern Ghana lived in round
houses with mud walls and cone shaped thatched roofs (World
Book Student).
Inside this issue:
Ancient Mail
Ancient Songhai
2
3
Kingdom of Kush
4
Kingdom of Axum
5
Random Articles
6
Page 2
Mali Empire Politics By: Moaz Elmajdouli
A dougou-tigui is the highest level of a village, town or
city. A kafo-tigui is the country leader. The governor of
the Mali Empire was the Mansa. It was established in
1235 CE. Eventually the empire divided into provinces,
each lead by a Ferba. Islam played a big role in the
government as most administrators were Muslim.
Mali Empire Economics By: Baylee Wnuk
The Mali Empire was a very wealthy and popular empire. Under
Sundiata,
Mali gained control of the gold-producing regions and trade routes, and grew
wealthy from trade. It traded items like gold, salt, cloth, books, and copper with
Egypt and North Africa. Mali Empire was big at the time, so mostly everybody
knew who they were. Egypt came and traded with the Mali Empire because they
needed salt for refrigeration and Egypt got gold for other trades. As you can see,
economics was a major part of the Mali Empire (My World History p. 494-495).
The Mali Empire Geography: By Aidan MacKenzie
“Sahara means ‘desert’ in the Arabic language; Sahel means
‘shore.’ Both zones stretch all the way across Africa. The Sahel, with
its short grasses and scrubby bushes is the shore of the desert--the
shore of a "sea of sand." Mali is located partly in the Sahel, although
the most productive part is in the grasslands south of the Sahel. Ancient Mali stretched north into the desert and south through the
short and tall grasslands to the edge of the forest zone” (Mali
Breakout Geography website).
Mali By: Titiksha Agrawal
Mansa Musa one of the emperors that ruled Mali and
changed the empire to make it a center of Muslim
learning and art. They followed the religion of Islam. He
came back from his hajj and brought scholars, artists,
and teachers. Timbuktu became a center for learning.
Students and teachers came from North Africa and the
Middle East to study (My World History & Google
Images).
Politics of the Songhai Empire By: Ashley Bloodgood
The Songhai Empire was ruled by a strong leader named Ali Ber who went by the
name Sunni. He had a strong military to help protect the empire. The total army
consisted of 30,000 soldiers and 10,000 horsemen. The Songhai defense
system was the largest organized force in the western Sudan. There were
warriors that protected the land and war canoes that guarded the Niger River. Ali
then used his powerful army to defeat Tuareg and take power over Timbuktu and
Djenne. By doing so, he controlled the center of trade in all of Africa. After Sunni
Ali died, Askia Muhammad took over. Under his reign the Songhai Empire
reached its greatest size (Taken from My World History text pg.497, sahistory.org.za, alvietron.com, and “Songhai
Empire” World Book Student.)
Economy- Songhai Empire
By: Julian Irizarry
The Songhai Empire was an empire in North Central Africa. A lot of
other empires and kingdoms came here to trade. The empire grew
very rich and wealthy because of trade. The empire sought salt,
gold, rice, and slaves. The Songhai Empire’s civilization had jobs
to help the civilization. These jobs include merchants and traders.
As you can see, the empire had a great economy.
How the Niger River Helps By: Diego Sauz
The Niger River was very important to the Songhai Empire.
One way it was important was by controlling ¨trading cities.¨
This allowed the Songhai Empire to grow more powerful. The
Niger River also helped with farming. Farming gave markets
food to sell which helped the economy. As you can see, the
Songhai’s geography helped the empire grow (Taken from My
World History p.479-499).
Songhai Social
By: Emily Cortes
For the Songhai Empire, there are many social things that you could write
about. A West African storyteller is called a griot; history was often passed
down from ancestors telling other people and them passing it down through
the griots. Sunni Ali became a make believe hero in Songhai folklore and was
often portrayed as having powers and was known as Sunni Ali the Great. Slaves
were used to help transport goods across the Sahara Desert to Morocco and
the Middle East, and Slaves were sold to Europeans to work in Europe and the
Americas. Slaves were captured during wars and also raids near by. Although
there are way more facts those are just some useful ones .
(Taken from Duckster.com).
Page 3
Kingdom of Kush-The Political Side
By: Piervittorio Ciccariello
At around 1,400 BC, Egypt took direct control of the Kingdom
of Kush. At about 1,000 BC, the Egyptians lost control of Kush
and Kushite rulers ruled again. At about 150 AD, the Kushite
lost control and the Kingdom of Kush started to fail. The
kingdom was now too weak to defend itself from attackers, so
it collapsed. In 325 AD, King Ezana of Axum took over Kush,
and the Kingdom of Kush was replaced by Axum (My World
History p. 500-501 & www.ancient-origins.net).
Kingdom of Kush By: Madison DelPaoli
The Nile River and the Red Sea made East Africa an ideal
location for settlement. These bodies of water made trade,
framing and transportation easier. Kushite merchants traded
heavily with Egypt, who wanted Kush’s gold. Greek and Roman
trading, settlements dotted the region. As you can see, the
economy was very important to the Kingdom of Kush (Taken
from My World History Book).
Kush by: Winston Lian
The Nile River is cut through the Kingdom of Kush. This fertile region of
the Nile Valley helped produced more than enough agricultural supply for
the ancient civilization of Kush to develop. Most of Kush’s topography is
consisted of deserts, except for the narrow strip of the Nile valley which
helped provide fertile agriculture and abundant pastures. Because of the
availability of food and fresh water, the Nile Valley was populated more so
than any other region in Kush. As you can see, the geography was very
important to the Kingdom of Kush (Ancient Sudan.org & Ducksters.com).
Kingdom of Kush by Janatha Anyanwu
The Kingdom of Kush is a kingdom in Africa. Kush is also
known as Nubia. This a kingdom along the Nile River which is
now Sudan. The people of the Kingdom f Kush worshiped the
same gods of the Egyptians. Since it got hot and rainy in Kush,
people wore robes and dresses made of light material. For fun,
they listened to stories about the wonderful gold mines. Also,
you could have been invited to a meeting where there are fun
festivals (The Kingdom of Kush / Nubia - Ancient Africa for Kids &
http://www.worldbookonline.com/student/home).
“ The Government and Rulers of the Kingdom of
Axum ” By Sarai Adams
The Kingdom of Axum had a monarchy for their government. A monarchy is when the
government is controlled by kings and queens, and Axum was ruled by kings. In the year
of 400 B.C. a kingdom named Axum formed. Axum began to grow in power in the year
of 100 A.D. and reached it’s best in 350 A.D. At it’s greatest, Axum, seized control over
other kingdoms along the Red Sea and the blue Nile River. In 325 A.D. , the king of Axum, King Ezana, took over the Kingdom of Kush. It was under the rule of King Ezana
that Axum took over the Kingdom of Kush, demolishing the capital, Meroe. The Axumites fought the Muslims from about the 600’s to the 900’s. The city of Adulis, a port
city, was ruined by Islamic invaders. Axum became remoted from other kingdoms and
this started the collapse of the ancient kingdom of Axum (My World History, World Book
Student, http://depts.alverno.edu/... & ducksters).
Kingdom of Axum Economics By: Pablo Laudani
The Kingdom of Axum traded with the Romans, Egyptians and
Persian merchants. Axum contained a lot of iron and produced
iron tools & weapons. Axum also raised cattle as a source of
food to eat & trade. They did not have a problem like many
previous kingdoms & empires had; They had enough food for
everybody. Axum had a crop called Teff; it only grew in Axum
and needed very little water. Axum used plenty of timber to
produce iron tools and weapons. Sadly, the Kingdom of Axum
did not make it to the modern day (World Book Student).
Geography of Axum
By: Jefferson Lopez
The Geography of Axum was very important. In this area there was a lot of
desert land. The Nile River brought freshwater to to the land by it, which
made this land good to grow crops. Axum was able to control the trade
routes to Roman Egypt, Southern Arabia, and Asia. Being close to the
Red Sea allowed them to trade goods such as glass, copper, brass, gold,
and slaves for textiles, tools, jewelry, and steel (My World History textbook).
The Kingdom of Axum By: Bianca Valdeiglesias
The Kingdom of Axum followed the Islamic religion.
Axum also had their own written language called
“Ge’ez”. Daily life was fun for children; they had games
like ‘The Cat and the Rat’. The Axum women were
responsible for housework and looking after the
children. The social classes were most likely based on
ownership of land (http://kingdomofaxumweebly.com/
daily-life.htmp).
Mali: Survival in a Tough Land By Brady Farrell
The Mali Empire was located in Western Africa. This country covered a large
area. It went from the coast of Senegal and Mauritania to part of Southeast
Mali. The Northern part of Mali was the Sahara Desert and the rest of the
country was covered by grasslands. Since there are grasslands, many of the
people in Mali are farmers, who live in small, rural communities. Some people
also fished in the lakes and rivers like the Senegal and the Niger. People also
lived along these rivers. They traveled across the Sahara on camels to trade.
Timbuktu was an
important trading center. The people of Mali traded
gold, salt, slaves and ivory. Having a trade route across the Sahara made Mali a
strong kingdom (Taken from World Book Encyclopedia and National
Geographic).
Geography of Ghana by Jonte Robinson
The people of Ancient Ghana lived between the
two rivers, the Niger and Senegal river. The
people used them for years to grow crops. Also,
people used the rivers to travel and trade with
West Africa. Finally, they used the river for fishing. As you can see, the geography was important
to the Ghana Empire (My World History page 490).