Early Civilizations
Mali Empire
This West African empire was ruled by Mansa Musa during its golden age.
what is the Mali empire
This religion spread through trade and was promoted by rulers like Mansa Musa and Askia Muhammad.
What is Islam
This shiny metal was one of West Africa’s most valuable trade goods, especially in the Ghana and Mali empires.
What is gold
This desert covers much of North Africa and was crossed by traders bringing goods to West Africa.
What is the Sahara Desert?
which Empire grew most from gold and salt.
Ghana empire
Mansa Musa made a famous journey to this holy city, giving away gold along the way.
What is Mecca
This day of the week was considered holy by Muslims in ancient West African cities, where people would gather at mosques to pray.
What is Friday
This essential mineral was traded for gold and was so valuable that people in West Africa sometimes used it like money.
What is salt
This major river flows through West Africa and provided water for farming, fishing, and transportation.
What is the Niger River
this empire took over after Malis decline(1400s–1591)
Songhai Empire
This city became a center of learning and trade under Mansa Musa’s rule, known for its libraries and Islamic schools.
What is Timbuktu
The ancient city of Timbuktu became famous for its universities and scholars who studied this holy book.
What is the Qur’an
These large animals were used to carry goods across the Sahara Desert, making long-distance trade possible.
What are camels
These grassy plains are found south of the Sahara and were home to many ancient West African civilizations.
What are the savannas
This ancient city, known for its massive stone walls built without mortar, was the center of a powerful southern African kingdom between 1100 and 1450 CE.
Great Zimbabwe
Mansa Musa’s pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324 caused this economic problem in the places he passed through by flooding them with gold.
What is inflation
Before Islam, many West Africans practiced this type of religion that involved worshipping nature and ancestors.
What is traditional African religion
This trade route connected West Africa to North Africa and the Middle East, allowing gold, salt, and ideas to flow between regions.
What is the trans-Saharan trade route
This geographic feature made trade with North Africa difficult but also helped protect West African empires from invasion.
What are deserts
This Empire was influenced by Egyptian architecture and reiligon.
Nubian
Mansa Musa strengthened Mali by spreading this religion and building mosques and schools across the empire.
What is Islam
This empire was known for blending Islamic beliefs with African traditions and building mosques out of mud-brick, especially in cities like Djenne.
What is the Mali Empire
This West African empire grew rich by taxing trade and controlling important trade cities like Timbuktu and Gao.
What is the Songhai Empire
The location of West African empires near natural resources like gold and salt helped them grow this way.
What is economically/wealthy