9AWH_p056_057_FNL.qxd:Layout 1
500
5
3:36 PM
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African Empires
500 B.C. (B.C.E.) to A.D. (C.E.) 1600
A.D.
B.C. (B.C.E.)
B.C. (B.C.E.)
➤A.D. (C.E.)
A.D. (C.E.)
500 B.C.
A.D.
Bantu migration begins.
E
570
Axum loses
control of Yemen.
➤
UNIT
3/14/11
A.D.
321
639
Muslim Arabs invade
North Africa.
Christianity is adopted
by king of Axum.
arly Civilizations of Africa
500
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Bantu Innovations
Many different cultures developed in Africa after Egypt and
Kush (see pages 18–19).
■ The Bantu people of western Africa spread east and south
beginning around 500 B.C. They spread ironworking,
farming, and herding across central and southern Africa.
Iron
Produced iron tools
such as axes, hoes,
knives, and spears.
■ In the east, Axum became a strong empire. It defeated
Kush and controlled trade on the Red Sea.
New Crops
Introduced plantains,
creating a year-round
supply of food.
Pastoralism
Developed the practice
of moving herds to fresh
grazing land.
■ Axum kings converted to Christianity, increasing contact
between eastern Africa and the Mediterranean region.
B
A
Bantu-speaking farmers and herders migrated for about
1,500 years. They combined with local culture groups
except in areas unsuitable for farming. Today there are
more than 300 different Bantu culture groups.
Axum
r
ge
Ni
more at
NWHatlas.com
Horses and larger breeds of cattle died of
sleeping sickness in central and southern
Africa. As a result, Bantu farmers could not
use plows. They also needed crops that
could survive heat, floods, and drought.
A FR
EST
IC A N RAINFOR
Bantu
homeland A F R I C A
e Nile
hit
EST
W
W
1 500 B.C. Bantu people seek more land
R . toNfarm
ok as their population grows.
g
Con o R
CENT
RAL
AFR
RAIN
I
FOR CAN
EST
Lake
Victoria
.
0°
EUROPE
NORTH
AMERICA
ASIA
AUSTRALIA
1000
ANTARCTICA
Lake
Nyasa
15°S
Bantu Migrations
B.C.–A.D.
1000
RI
HA
LA RT
KA ESE
D
Bantu homeland
Bantu lands, A.D. 500
Migration route
Large farming and
ironworking settlement
15°S
ATLA NTIC
OCEA N
TROPIC OF CAPRICORN
N
Kh
30°S
Khoisan Culture group
ge
an
Or
ois
Ma
da
ga
sca
r
500
500
an
4
56
500
A.D.
500 Khoisans
adopt Bantu culture.
30°S
1000 miles
0°
0
3 Bantu introduce farming
and ironworking
to southern Africa.
R.
Desert
0
0°
INDIA N
OCEA N
.
.D
–A
C.
B.
2 Tsetse flies carrying a
deadly sleeping sickness
hinder settlement in
rainforest.
50
0
Lake
Tanganyika
. 1000
.–A.D
SOUTH
AMERICA
B.C
500
AFRICA
EQUATOR
1000 kilometers
15°E
30°E
45°E
60°E
9AWH_p056_057_FNL.qxd:Layout 1
3/14/11
A.D.
A.D.
700
Ghana becomes the first
empire in West Africa.
Page 57
919
A.D.
Fatamids
take over
Tunisia.
A.D.
850
A.D.
Ayyubid sultan Saladin
captures Jerusalem.
1355
Ibn Battuta
finishes his
book Travels .
1240
Mali Empire
is established.
A.D.
1076
A.D.
Almoravids
conquer Ghana.
1100
A.D.
Great Zimbabwe
controls southern
trade routes.
1335
A.D.
Songhai
Empire is
established.
1500
Swahili city-states
thrive on trade.
A.D. (C.E.)
A.D.
Kilwa is one
of the earliest
Swahili cities.
1187
1000
A.D. (C.E.)
A.D.
3:36 PM
1500
1400
A.D.
Timbuktu is the center
of Mali culture.
1591
Songhai
falls.
Where does it come from?
Both the Axum and Bantu cultures
are indigenous to Africa, meaning
they originally developed there.
Christianity is not indigenous to
Africa but was introduced to the
continent by travelers.
The royal tombs of Axum
have large steles, or stone
monuments, carved with false
doors and windows. This stele
is for the tomb of King Ezana,
the first Christian king.
EUROPE
NORTH
AMERICA
ASIA
SOUTH
AMERICA
20°E
30°E
AUSTRALIA
A S I A
Mediterranean Sea
To Europe
ANTARCTICA
Alexandria
EGYPT
Memphis
5
A.D. 700–800 Islamic empire
cuts Axum’s trade with the
Mediterranean region.
Kingdom declines.
The Kingdom of Axum
Pe
N
i le
AFRICA
rs
R
A.D.
ia
n
.
ARABIAN
Gu
Kingdom of Axum
lf
Kingdom of Kush
Capital
Flow of trade
DESERT
S A H A R A
Re
NUBIAN
DESERT
Mecca
d
Adulis
Axum
AFRICA
White N
ile
Blue Nile
1
A.D. 520 Massacre of
Christians in Yemen
leads to Axum invasion.
4
A.D. 520–570
Axum rules Yemen.
YEMEN
Yeha
AXUM
To interior
of Africa
3
a
Kerma
Napata
Meroe
2 A.D. 350 Axum
conquers Kush.
Soba
To Arabia
Se
KUSH
To India
Zafar
Muza
of A
Gulf
den
N
E T H I O P I A N
H I G H L A N D S
A.D. 330 Led by King Ezana,
Axum adopts Christianity
decades sooner than the
Roman Empire.
100–800
INDIAN
OCEAN
Cataract (waterfall)
Desert
0
0
200
200
400 miles
400 kilometers
D
Axum controlled the
ivory and incense trade
to India and the
Byzantine Empire.
Axum fought Persia for
control of Yemen and
Arabia just before
Muhammad was born
in Mecca (see page 46).
50°E
57