eyJtZXNzYWdlIjoiYTQ3YTllNzM5MzNhY2U5MTg3MDQzZTY2YzI0NGNiOTQx Most cultures preferred abstract and stylized forms of humans, plants, and animals, but they had a range of distinct approaches and techniques. These colonizing pioneers would clear the forest or scrub, and divide the new fields between themselves as hereditary property. A common idea was that the founders of a particular community, on first settling the area, had made a pact with the spirits of the land in order to ensure good harvests. These West African trade systems were facilitated by an international currency based on cowrie shells, whose distinctive appearance, durability, and limited supply made them very suitable for such a role. Elsewhere, transport being limited to human porterage meant that there was little long-distance trade. Egyptian society was structured like a pyramid. Virtually all young men in a community were unmarried. The Mali empire, for example, had secretaries to conduct foreign correspondence, but its internal administration only employed word of mouth. It was not well suited to the milder, temperate climate of South Africa. Further south a huge, well-nigh impenetrable swamp, the Sud, acts as a further major barrier. Big Men had four, five or more wives. In eastern and southern Africa, the folded landscape laid down by tectonic activity millions of years ago means that highland farming areas are interspersed with dry lowlands, suitable only for herding cattle. It was only with the spread of the Fulani herdsmen across West Africa in the 2nd millennium that pastoralists would begin to live in areas between agricultural clusters, a development which would have a major impact on the history of this region in the 18th and 19th centuries. In West Africa, the slow multiplication of population concentrations laid the basis for further expansion. But it was ancestors with whom these people directly interacted, and approaching them with sacrifices of cattle. Here are eight of Africa's greatest ancient civilizations. Such pragmatism made for an open attitude to ideas and practices from outside: if something worked it was acceptable, wherever it came from. Generated by Wordfence at Sat, 4 Mar 2023 18:37:22 GMT.Your computer's time: document.write(new Date().toUTCString());. They include the second largest freshwater lake in the world, Lake Victoria. Ancient Africa had many different societies, but they can be roughly categorized into four types. He was therefore required to host lavish feasts at which many could eat and drink at his expense; and to provide costly gifts to his allies and supporters. There was constant tension between the generations, which could spill over into real violence. MjU3ZDQ3NDE0ZGRiM2NlMTZjMmE3NTQ0ODIxMzVlMzExZDc3ZTk0NDYyNGQ4 The more high-status and long-distance traders, however, were men. Having said all this, disease remained common, debilitating and in may cases, fatal. MTJmOWQxYjMzYzM3MzdkNTQ0ZDhiZWYzMWEzZThiZWJlOTZmODA5ZmM3ZDI0 Men who were spared death were set to work as laborers, miners or porters; or, if they had suitable skills, as craftsmen. OTBhNmZkZTE4ZDBjMTQzMTljMWY4NDIyMjYxZmIwY2JkZjc4OTk4ZGE1OWMx The culture,language and customs of this empire were greatly influenced by the culture of Western African cities and the people were divided into sects or sections based on their social standing. Gumov vanika do kufra Fiat Doblo Maxi od 2010 (2-miesta) Fiat DOBLO 2/2010- autodiely, nhradn diely. MWMwNGY0OTc1ZDgwNmQ5YzJkMWE3YWIxNDIwMGUwYWNjY2ZhYThkNTc4OWE4 It is an environment in which they feel at home and which provides them with all the necessities of life; however, they can live here in only small numbers, in scattered family bands which are constantly on the move. However, all African cities were to some extent religious centers, as rulers were closely associated with local shrines and rituals. Africa has some giant lakes, including a number strung out down the spine of the continent, from Lake Turkana in northern Kenya to Lake Malawi in south-east Africa. NjI3NjM4ODlkZDhlYWEyNmY2NmFiMDk1NjJjYjUwZTQxNmQwMmM4M2E4Mzkz Ancient Mali Social Hierarchy The Mali Empire was an ancient empire in West Africa between c.1230 to c.1600. This bred a society in which extra-marital sex was common and accepted, and young men adopted an attitude of. The Discipline of International Relations (IR) has been broadly Eurocentric since its inception about a century ago. This was Islam, which gradually spread throughout the region over a number of centuries. Where there is a spring, a lake or a river, however, cultivation is possible, and in some areas, for example in the inner delta of the River Niger (see below), or on the shores of Lake Chad in West Africa, or the Great Lakes of central Africa, intensive cultivation has allowed concentrations of dense population to grow up. This article looks at the societies and cultures of sub-Saharan Africa in pre-modern history. Sometimes the growth of these village clusters went unchecked by major famine or disease for a long time. Difficulties in transport encouraged local self-sufficiency, and most trade consisted of purely local exchanges, for example at river banks where fish was bartered for vegetables, or where forest and savannah met, where the products of the two zones were exchanged. This close concentration of dwellings formed the core of the villages. It has been noted that herding peoples had a stronger tendency to believe in a high god, whilst cultivators were more likely to worship many gods. The first king was king Tenkamenin, and the second king of the Ghana Empire was Kaya Maghan. However springs or small lakes allow oases of vegetation to flourish at scattered spots, sometimes hundreds of miles apart. Oral traditions and Muslim and European records suggest that large-scale famines occurred every 70 years or so, and were often accompanied by epidemic disease. The land, much of which is hills and plateaux, is covered with grasslands, with some sub-tropical forests on the coast. Indeed, they even went on strike when a neighboring ruler attempted to convert them to Islam. David Beach believes that the city . Women who could not bear children were held in contempt, and by the same token male potency was esteemed. The donkeys also were domesticated independently in the Ethiopian and Somalian region, but the majority of the domesticated animals came there from the regions around . Indeed, at times such trading organizations were able to take over large areas and establish small states. Even large towns often resembled several villages grouped together, with each lineage group in its own walled sector. Those suspected of witchcraft were commonly relatives or neighbors who would benefit from a persons misfortune; and especially women whose age, childlessness, deformity or demeanor suggested bitterness. makes it the largest ancient structure south of the Sahara Desert. A patchy record. This is due to a number of factors. Apart from the Nile, all these are blocked by rapids fairly near their mouths, as a result of which seagoing craft have not been able to sail far into the interior of Africa. The larger the state the more resources it could commit to defense and expansion. Outside the oases there are some areas of scrubland, and here nomadic pastoralists Berber peoples, most notably the Tuareg graze their herds. The sheer effort of doing so, as well as the obstacles to population growth (such as the tsetse fly, mentioned above, which kills people as well as animals), meant that such clearings have formed isolated pockets of comparatively dense population surrounded by vast tracts of untamed forest. ZDQ1YTJjMTY4ZmNjMzllMjdlY2MwMTUyYmJiMDBiZTQ2M2IxYjg4OGY2YTBi Of the outlying settlements, only the more successful ones would survive. The exchange of salt for gold or grain was the foundation of the trans-Saharan trade, which had such a major impact on West African civilization. These have proved vital staging posts on the trade routes which cross the desert, allowing weary travelers to rest, and to water and feed their animals and themselves. Although they originated in the Indian Ocean, they played no major role in East African trade. Built on the orders of the pharaohs thousands of years ago, the Great Pyramid of Giza continues to reveal its secrets. They would form a group of inter-related clans, or lineages, tracing their descent back to a single ancestor. In the social pyramid of ancient Egypt . ODRiZmMzYWI1MGJhMTAxYjU4NWIxMzE1YzMyMGYxMGZlMmU4MjZkNjY1ZjVk In a few, more sophisticated kingdoms, such as Songhai, power was more centralized, with the state divided into provinces ruled by governors appointed by the king. Their impact on West African society, where trade networks were strongest, and along the East African coast, with its maritime links to the Middle East, was enormous. Cotton and woolen textiles were probably introduced at the same time, and by the 16th century cotton had become a form of currency amongst some peoples in southern Africa (for example the Shona). After about A.D. 500, several centrally organized, warring states appeared in parts of Africa. MWQxZmFmZDU1YzRiOTgwN2YwNjgwNGEyMWVmYmVjZTQ1YTI4ODkzMTA1OGQ2 The greater number of people such a community embraced, the better it meant greater security for all, and more labour for the back-breaking work of keeping the bush at bay and clearing more land. Caste systems in Africa are a form of social stratification found in numerous ethnic groups, found in over fifteen countries, particularly in the Sahel, West Africa, and North Africa. The resulting dissent, fueled by, The larger the state the more resources it could commit to defense and expansion. As in other parts of the world, textile crafts were widespread. On Thursday, scientists shared the discovery of a corridor inside the 4,500-year-old structure at an unveiling ceremony held at the Giza Plateau.. They seem mostly to have been related to the present-day San people of southern Africa. These operated as almost military organization, and required large investment to fund. In some cases such children were castrated as a further measure to reduce ambition they would not then be able to establish an independent dynasty. There was a strongly felt urge to claim new land for future generations by burying their dead in it. Social structure is often treated together with the concept of social change, which deals with the forces that change the social structure and the organization of society. Several high mountains rise up from the East African plains, most famously Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya. As well as the staple crops, cultivators have grown sometimes dozens of other crops to which their locality is suited in an effort to reduce the impact of poor harvests. This limited the number of children they might have in their child-bearing years, which would have been much more diminished, on average, by the incidence of infant mortality, childhood diseases and the dangers of childbirth. In times of external danger such societies could come together to resist attack; however, they were peculiarly vulnerable to slave raiding from predatory states. Diving into that variation, a new analysis of 180 indigenous Africans from a dozen ethnically, culturally . The work they did tended to be less valued than the mens: mundane work in the fields and in the house, rather than the demanding work of clearing the bush, which established a mans rights to a piece of land. Underpopulation meant that disgruntled people could always seek new land beyond the reach of royal authority. As we have seen, different African peoples specialized in different modes of food production hunter-gathering (and fishing), nomadic or semi-nomadic pastoralism, and cultivation of crops. As one should expect for such a vast region as sub-Saharan Africa, with its thousands of societies and cultures, religious beliefs and practices varied enormously. ZGEzYzEwNGE3M2M4NDVjZWFiNDg4OTE5MzljZGNmY2UyN2ViOTc1YTZmMTRk New findings from a study of 12 diverse groups in Africa shed new light on the origin of modern humans, ancient . The General History of Africa ( Ki-Zerbo, et al. In West Africa, a new religious influence began to make itself felt in the later first millennium. Once a cluster had acquired some form of statehood, its people were able to act in a much more co-ordinated fashion. Indigenous religions never died out, however, and the two belief-systems lived side by side in uneasy co-existence for a long time (indeed, they still do in parts of West Africa). Originally, there were two Egyptian kingdoms. Conversely, most men could afford only one wife, if that. It was here our earliest ancestors evolved. West Africa had the oldest, densest and most enduring urban tradition, with famous cities such as Timbuktu, Gao, Jenne and Kano. One common social structure among ethnic groups in sub-Saharan Africa is segmentary lineage organisation. Egyptian culture has six thousand years of recorded history. In times of famine, the people took to foraging, braving the wilderness to do so. In most patrilineal societies womens status tended to be less favorable. This wilderness was the abode of wild animals, fatal diseases, violent fugitives, evil spirits and other shadowy dangers which posed a constant threat to settled life. African Kingdoms arose in a variety of ways. As in all pre-modern societies, infants and their mothers, the very groups upon whom the successful growth of population most depended, were most at risk. Other common maladies were hookworm anaemia, yaws, leprosy, smallpox and endemic syphilis (though not the more lethal venereal kind, which was only introduced into sub-Saharan Africa in the 16th century, after Europeans arrived). Ancient West Africa was characterized by rich culture, agriculture, and trade, composed of stateless societies without organized hierarchy or government. There was constant tension between the generations, which could spill over into real violence. MjM4NWRlOGNlZmQ4MDIzY2IzMTRjYWZhNjM1N2RmNjNjZDdlMjU4N2NlNGNl OGFiY2MzM2UxNTEyOTJjNWUxYWE1ZmEyODEwNDc0MzU5OTRkZmNhNThmOTM0 Segmentary lineage societies are characterised by the foremost importance of kin relationships in determining individuals' social and political allegiances, as well as their patterns of residence. The salt miners, on the other hand, were a dependent group not much better than slaves. This would normally be a cluster of households. The surrounding bush remained untamed, wild, a source of harm, the abode of dangerous animals and evil spirits. The political history of Africa begins with the emergence of hominids, archaic humans andat least 200,000 years agoanatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens), in East Africa, and continues unbroken into the present as a patchwork of diverse and politically developing nation states. Metalwork held a special place in African culture. If they were too old, ill or handicapped to work effectively; or if through misfortune they had no children; or if they had no kinsmen to aid them clear land and tame fields, they were very vulnerable. Social Structure - Ancient Africa - Kingdom of Axum Social Structure There was not very much information on this particular topic, but this is what I did find. These were societies that had no. At the top were the gods, such as Ra, Osiris, and Isis. In most territorial kingdoms, local rulers who had been defeated were not eliminated, but became vassal rulers. Such famines were usually caused by drought, but plagues of locusts or unseasonably heavy rains could also devastate crops. Such states could also organize the colonization of outlying areas in a more systematic fashion, perhaps under the leadership of a prince of the royal family. YmNlZWRhOWNhNTAxYjRmYjc3ZWNhZDYyMGMyNGVhMjMyYjYyODYzMmMxZTQ1 Their repertoire involved rituals, spells, dances and trances, as well as more practical applications such as herbs and ointments. A large number of top officials in Hausaland, in West Africa, were eunuchs. One way in which the older generation could impose its control on the younger was through initiation. In matrilineal societies, in which which descent was traced through mothers, womens status could be particularly favored. Yams are a very productive crop, providing a large number of calories per acre harmed. OTE0MDljOTVhZWU3M2Q2ZmQ2ZGFhNWZmOTE2N2FmZWM0MGJhM2I5YzYxZjZm Cutting through these landscapes are huge rivers, outstanding amongst which are the Nile, the Niger, the Congo and the Zambezi. Perhaps the highland areas which have had most impact on the history of Africa have been the Ethiopian Highlands, which have sheltered Africas only historic Christian state; and the highlands of southern Africa, which have played a key role in that regions history. The same eye for beauty and spirit, along with a zest for color and pattern, was revealed in countless textile works from all over the continent. Their inhabitants regulated their affairs by means of commonly-accepted custom, relying on shamans or priests at area shrines for mediation, hierarchies of titled individuals of varying ranks who had moral authority within their communities, and/or in some cases on secret societies. In these states, violence and exploitation led to societies ruled by classes of military aristocrats or nobles. -----END REPORT-----. - studies work with social structure to explain matters that are such as crimes or stolen things. At their centers were located rulers palaces, usually a complex of buildings housing a large number of people the king, his wives and concubines and children, numerous attendants, often groups of skilled craftsmen such as the sculptures who produced the famous Benin bronzes, and a large body of domestic servants, often slaves. Ironically, this attractive landscape posed a barrier to the spread of traditional farming southward, as sub-Saharan agriculture had adapted itself to tropical conditions. Ancient Grains Market Global Research Report 2023 is a comprehensive business study on the current state of industry which analyses innovative strategies for business growth and describes . Although the majority of Africans were farmers, at least from the late 1st millennium onwards, large tracts of land were inhabited by nomadic or semi-nomadic pastoralists. However, state-building was not a straightforward process in African conditions. Many of them rose and fell throughout the African history. This was almost universal throughout Africa, and was a painful, even traumatic ceremony by which boys entered adulthood. Africa, where humans first evolved, today remains a place of remarkable diversity. This process only reached its completion in South Africa by the end of the 1st millennium CE. NGMzYjY2N2JjMDIxN2EyZWI0ZmM1ODc0MjY4OTQzYmM1YmJkMTViN2U5NjAw Taking captives was a major objective in war, with most of the individuals thus enslaved being women or children. The abundant insect life of the tropics makes for a very high prevalence of serious diseases, for both humans and their animals; this greatly constrains the rates at which populations can grow. The Awilu was the top most class in the social hierarchy of ancient Babylonia. YzM1ZDJjMjdkYTczYjc3ODRiNDdmYThlOTY1N2E1MjViMmVlZDdiZjgxYWYz 7th-13th century). NzA0NTc2MTNjMDFjMzQ0ODY3ODRmNjZhMzc0ZGFjNDExMDIzN2VhMGNhNGE4 This crosses the content from its west coast to the east coast. Similarly, belief that spiritual power came only through dead ancestors was common amongst herding societies. The savannah regions of West Africa specialized in millet and fonio, and further south, where rainfall was sufficient, sorghum. The earliest kingdoms we know of in West Africa, such as Ghana and Mali, were located at strategic points in the trans-Saharan trade network. Teaching literature and nonfiction through The Call of the Wild by Jack London will be engaging, thought-provoking, and thorough with this Socratic Seminar and literary nonfiction devices novel study. In many regions low or fickle rainfall greatly magnifies this problem. In more densely populated societies a number of such lineages might be clustered together to form a large village or small town. In forest regions, away from lakes and rivers, human porterage was the only means of transport as the presence of tsetse fly meant that animals could not be used; this was by definition very labour intensive and meant that agricultural produce could travel only short distances. African kingdoms suffered severely from the divisive effects of violent competition between royal princes.if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[250,250],'timemaps_com-leader-3','ezslot_12',183,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-timemaps_com-leader-3-0'); When a state fell, its population sometimes dispersed away from its core area, perhaps due to attack from and/or immigration by a new group of people, or through desiccation of the environment. The wealthier the man, the more women he could marry. NWIyZWQ1YTA3MjZkYTQzOWRjMzhmYTJkYjAyNzViOGRjNjIxMGM0YTRjNGJl Having said that, no one can look at a Benin bronze figure and argue that skills of the very highest level were lacking in African craftsmanship; and fine crafts were to be found up and down the continent. Witches were widely blamed for misfortunes, especially involving the fertility of women and the survival of children. Just as there is great cultural diversity so there is diversity in belief systems. As a result of these factors, throughout Africas premodern history, locations where densely-populated farming societies could emerged, and in which urban civilizations could be built, have been fewer and more scattered than most other regions of the world. The Bantu, a large group of related peoples, originated along what is now the border between NIGERIA and CAMEROON and spread throughout central and southern Africa. Yet there is still debate about how many species of elephant bird there actually were. Underpopulation, and the difficulties that this created for taxation and control, meant that the kind of bureaucracies which invented literacy in Sumer or Egypt could not emerge in the African context. In a world where land was plentiful, the poor were those who lacked the labour to work it. Work in rafia and other fibers was common from an early date, and in the Great Lakes region bark cloth was common, as was the use of animal skins for clothes. Rulers displayed their power by the number of retainers they had, and the sophistication of their court, where urbanity, eloquence, and quickness of wit were cultivated. So too did the more widespread infestation of tsetse fly, which set a limit of animal transport. Slavery In cattle-herding societies, and some crop-growing societies which were in close proximity to them, the young men were grouped into an age set of junior warriors. In many places herders and cultivators, or cultivators and hunter-gatherers, lived in close proximity with each other, exchanging products on a regular basis. At the opposite end of the scale, however, women probably made up the majority of slaves, and occupied a powerless and utterly dependent position in society. The histories and cultures of Egypt, Nubia, Ethiopia and North Africa are covered elsewhere. There were high levels of polygamy throughout Africa in some societies perhaps two-thirds of women were in polygamous marriages. Many towns were centers of craft production. States emerged in the forest regions to the south from the end of the first millennium, while in the equatorial forests and grasslands of central, east and southern Africa the state-building process did not start until the early- to mid-second millennium. The African History is a number one educational website that features General history of Africa which include Ancient & Pre-colonial Africa, Ancient African civilizations, Empires/Kingdoms, Great Ancient African rulers, African Culture, global black history and news. Oratory, debate, story-telling, poetry and conversation were all held in high esteem, and were developed into a highly sophisticated art at the royal courts of African kingdoms and chiefdoms. The contemporary political history of Africa is marked by imperialism, the expulsion of foreign powers and settler elites, and the post-independence travails of its roughly fifty states. The findings add support to linguistics-backed theories of population structure . That said, African oral culture was exceptionally rich, with an enormous store of myths, stories, poems and aphorisms. As the years went by they (or in some societies their entire age set) would move up the rungs to senior warrior, and then when they were thirty or so, to elder-hood. The diet in most parts of Africa meant that many did not reach sexual maturity until their late teens or early twenties. All these diseases were, despite higher levels of resistance in indigenous populations to foreign ones (West Africa in particular would become known as the The White Mans Grave) were all widespread killers. In river floodplains communities have constructed mounds raised above the flood level from which to take advantage of the rich silt deposited by the river waters. Equality was very important in these tribes and all people were treated equally. This process started to happen at different times according to region. As such it was essentially a form of theatre. The effects of disease were compounded by diets amongst crop-growing peoples low in animal protein and vitamins, in milk for infants, and, for many places, restricted access to clean fresh water. The 25th Dynasty's reunification of Lower Egypt, Upper Egypt, and Kush, created the largest Egyptian empire since the New Kingdom. Agriculture spread to the northern grasslands of sub-Saharan Africa by the beginning of the 1st millennium BCE at the latest, and soon covered all of the West African savannah. Throughout Africa, bearing and bringing up children was probably the most vital task after brute survival. Here, captives of both sexes were settled in royal estates and set to work there, effectively as serfs. NTNjZjkxMjQ0YmE1NWYxYzRjOTRkMTFjNWZkYWE5MjRjMWE1NjA0Mzk5Yzhh By taxing the trade as it passed through their territory and using the wealth gained to build up a body of warrior retainers, powerful chiefs were able to bring neighboring communities under their control and form the nucleus of a kingdom. Heredity counted for much, as in most societies, premodern and modern; passing status down from father to son was an important dynamic. It was situated between the Sahara and the headwaters of the Sngal and Niger rivers, in an area that now comprises southeastern Mauritania and part of Mali. These occupied the grasslands around (and sometimes within) the Sahara and Kalahari deserts, and the more arid grasslands which covered so much of the continent. It offers a general survey of the geographical environments they inhabited; their settlements, social structures and economies; and their religions and cultures. NTlmYTU5OWZlYjIyNzk0NmRkZjAxMGZiMTRhMzBkYWViYTY4ZmNjYjlmNDMz As a result, production was often labour-intensive, in a part of the world where labour was already scarce. They were usually much younger than their husbands, and were expected to act in a submissive way towards him and his family. The untamed forests have remained home to hunter-gatherer peoples, notably the pygmies. Over the millennia they have become highly adapted to life in an ecosystem which is fiercely hostile to other peoples. The advancements made in the ancient world continue to influence our societies today. In folktales, the rewards for perseverance, intelligence and courage were wives, children, status, wealth, and security in other words, to become a Big Man. There were also different social. Herders grew crops as a secondary activity where conditions were suitable, and cultivators also kept animals (outside the forests), fished and hunted hunters were respected, even feared, by other members of the community as they ventured into the hostile wilderness in pursuit of game.

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