Golden kingdoms of africa

Social sciences: history

Grade 6

Trading in africa’s ancient kingdoms

Module 13

Golden kingdoms of africa

What do we mean when we speak of an ancient civilisation?

Civilisation signifies a particular level of development, while "ancient" means "old": 3000 B.C. – 480 A.D., at the end of the Roman Empire. Dates like these are always approximations and different sources therefore differ. Such dates are mainly established with the help of archaeological methods (e.g. dating of pottery or other objects). Our information is mainly obtained from written sources and archaeological excavations. The activities suggested in this module will help you to understand when ancient civilisations existed.

Activity 1:

To understand different kinds of time

[lo 2.1]

Adapt the following time line to make it more learner-friendly.

Use (inspect) the following five sources and have a class debate on the following two points of view:

Activity 2:

To examine the information on africa in the following five sources and respond to the standpoints that follow

[lo 1.2]

SOURCE 1

Africa is both a large Continent and the place where the earliest people lived. The earliest African farmers lived alongside the River Nile with its fertile soils and steady source of water. Surplus food was distributed through trading. From approximately 700 B.C. remarkable kingdoms developed and were overthrown. More than 3 000 years ago sub-Saharan Africa was populated with by groups of hunter-gatherers. By 300 B.C. the inhabitants of the continent learnt how to smelt iron. This made it possible to make better tools and weapons. Black people gradually began to move away from the forests of West Africa and started their long migration eastwards and westwards through Africa. They eventually reached Southern Africa around 400 A.D.

SOURCE 2

An understanding of the geography of Africa makes it easier to understand the continent's history. Africa can be divided into the following geographical regions:

• The Sahara desert in the north and the Kalahari in the south;
• Tropical forests in the middle;
• Grasslands between the deserts and the forests.

The first kingdoms were established on the grasslands.

SOURCE 3

The Greeks and Romans were acquainted with the coast of Africa. Arab and Indian traders had been visiting the East Coast of Africa since 200 A.D. After 700 A.D. Moslem traders began crossing the Sahara desert to travel to West Africa. The Portuguese seafarers sailed past the southern tip of Africa in 1487. Since 400 A.D., trading had led to the development of powerful kingdoms all over Africa. When camels were imported from the Middle East, it became possible to undertake trading expeditions across the hot, dry Sahara and there was a further increase in trading. The most important traded products of the time were gold, salt and slaves.

SOURCE 4

European seafarers were gradually discovering the coast of Africa from the 15th century onwards. The Portuguese took the lead, and the English, Dutch, French and other nations followed them during the 16th century. Africa had become important for the Europeans, mainly because of the enormous possibilities for trading in ivory, gold and slaves.

The learning units that follow deal with the large Empires of West, North and East Africa (Learning Unit 2). The impressive Kingdom of Great Zimbabwe was situated in southern Africa, together with several other ancient settlements in South Africa (Learning Unit 3). Africa therefore was acquainted with different civilisations long before they were "discovered" by Europeans.

SOURCE 5

Uit: A. Millard: The Atlas of Ancient Worlds

Assessment

Memorandum

Activity 1

There are many indications of changes that took place in Africa, also in the arts and sciences. Some of the oldest fossils of humans have been found in Africa. The oldest advanced cultures originated in Africa (e.g. Egypt). In certain areas the learners could also have the opposite viewpoints – as long as they can be well motivated.