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Niger River Valley: Jenne-jeno

  • West Africans who laid the foundations of their medieval empires before the year 900 C.E. had not developed written language that they could use to record historical events.
  • There is limited evidence to draw on as to how they spoke to one another or if they recorded anything in any way.
  • The Jenne-jeno population did not show any signs of a social hierarchy that most other early civilizations were exhibiting at that time.
  • There is evidence of equality and cooperation between residents, none having ultimately more wealth or power.
  • There was also no central power or authority to create a social hierarchy.
  • Some believe that if Jenne-jeno continued to grow and expand instead of declining a social heirarchy would, however, have emerged.

Religion/Myth History

Culture

Economic Activity

  • Jenne-jeno included religious functions as a daily activity.
  • Urns have been found with human skeletons arranged in a fetal position, and were buried inside and adjacent to the houses that suggests a reverence for ancestors.
  • Statuettes in a kneeling position set into walls and under floors further suggests the idea of ancestor worship. Many of them may have been used in worship for ancestors.

  • Jewelry was worn and ornaments of imported copper and semi precious stones.
  • Statues were made of bronze and other materials
  • Iron working was present at Jenne-jeno since the beginning of the settlement.
  • Terra cotta statuettes of human and animal forms also existed in these settlements, for either cultural or religious purposes.

  • Jenne-jeno reached its peak at 900 C.E., growing from a small village to a large economic trading center of West Africa.
  • Between the fertile land for farming and hunting and the many specialized occupations of people at Jenne-jeno, much trade was possible with other river valleys.
  • With the Niger River connecting them to Timbuktu and many other large cities, trade was easy at Jenne-jeno and transformed it over time

Major Accomplishments

Language

  • Jenne-jeno was a trading hub and craft production center.
  • Significant trans-Saharan trading center.
  • Bartered many products in an extensive global web of trade.
  • By the sixteenth century it had become one of the foremost market centers on the african continent.
  • Went from a small village to a city of 13,000.
  • Large contributor to the world economy.

The Jenne-jeno population was founded in 250 B.C.E. and abandoned in the 1200's C.E. It was located along the Nile River, South of Timbuktu in present day Mali in West Africa. By about 2000 years ago their village had grown into a small town, and by about 1000 years ago it had become a city with possibly as many as 13,000 people protected by a city wall 2 kilometers long. Jenne-jeno started as a small village but by its most succesful was a major economic trading center of present day West Africa. Jenne-Jeno is the first known indiginous city in sub-Saharan Africa.

Social Structure

Geography

  • Jenne-jeno was located in West Africa in present day Mali
  • Located on a floodplain of the inland Niger Delta
  • Perfect for early agriculture
  • An inland delta is where the river silts up its own bed and floodplain and creates marshes, and lakes.
  • Between this and the location of the Nile Jenne-jeno had perfect circumstances for trade

Decline

  • Jenne-jeno settlement was abandoned due to the drying of the region and because of Islamic influence and intrusion in the area.
  • The abandonment was a final result of a gradual population shift.
  • The gradual abandonment began in about 1200 C.E., being completely abandoned by 1468 C.E.
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