Section 1: Early Civilization of Africa
Summary
Africa was home to many civilizations way back when.
It is where most of our languages and our people came form today.
Carthage
- Carthage emerged along the Mediterranean in North Africa.
- They built a civilization from 800 B.C.E. to 146 B.C.E.
- Rome destroyed Carthage at the end of the Punic War.
- Rome then used North Africa for its farmlands to provide gain for their armies.
Migration From The Sahara
- Between 1000 B.C.E and 1000 A.D. people from West Africa moved south and east.
- They spoke forms of a root language called Bantu.
- The Bantu people merged with other cultures and brought skills to those of the culture.
Africa's Geographical Features
VOCABULARY!
- Africa includes tropical rain forests, grassy planes called savannas, and deserts such as the vast Sahara.
- Many obsticles limited travel and trade. Such as:
- Desert
- Rain Forests
- Rivers with cataracts
- Interior Plateaus
- Waterfalls
- Sahara-A large desert in Africa.
- Cataracts-A descent of water over a steep surface; a waterfall, especially one of considerable size.
- Desertification-The process of an area turning into a desert.
- Bantu-The root language of many South African languages.
- Nubia-Kingdom of, an ancient state in Nubia, 2000 b.c.–a.d. 1400.
- Meroe-The capital of ancient Nubia.
The Sahara Desert
- Before 1500 B.C.E., there were forests and rivers.
- This resulted in people having to leave and fing new farmlands.
- A climatic change slowly dried the area, making it a desert.
- This process is called desertification
Meroe
Settlement in Nubia
- Being forced out by Assyrian invaders, the Nubians established their capital in Meroe about 500 B.C.E.
- Nubia was developed in 2700 B.C.E. on the upper part of the Nile River.
- They were controlled by Egypt for about 500 years.
- Egypst control began in about 1500 B.C.E.
- The Egytians culture and religion influence Nubian culture and religion.
Meroe Trade
- Meroe developed into a successful trade center.
- Nearby areas were rich in iron ore and timber which they could use the timber to fuel their smelting furnaces.
- And used the iron for tools, and weapons for improving their defense.