The document provides an overview of African civilization, geography, history, and traditional society. It discusses: - Africa's geography including the Sahara and Kalahari deserts and climate zones. - Early settlements in Egypt and the discovery of "Lucy". - Traditional village governments focused on community over individuals and animist religious beliefs. - The rise of early communities like the Nok and Bantu people who spread across the continent. - Ancient kingdoms including Kush, Aksum, Ghana, Mali, and Songhai that developed trade networks and converted to Christianity or Islam. - Contributions of African art, literature, and education traditions.

1. African Civilization

2. Geography
Africa is the 2nd largest
continent in the world. It
measures 30, 244, 000
square kilometers wide with
1,032,532,974 people living
as of 2011.
A large part of continent is
made up of deserts.
A. Sahara – largest desert in
the world; Northern part.
B. Kalahari – Southern part
The scarce rainfall in these
areas bring about the
appearance of spring, which
forms an oasis

3. Two
Africas:
Mediterranean Africa
– near the region of
the north Sahara
with a climate
identical to that of
Southern Europe
Tropical Africa - has
thick jungles,
deserts, and grass
lands.

5. History
Ancient peoples
settled on the Nile
Valley during the
Neolithic (New
Stone) Age, around
5000 BC.
Many scientists
believe that the
first people in the
world came from
Africa.
“Lucy”, one of the
first discovered
australopithecines,
was discovered in
the Great Lift
Valley.
Early African
peoples did not
usually leave a
written record.

6. Traditional Society
Village Government – power was
shared among the members of the
community, not a single leader.
Family Patterns – the group was
always more important than the
individual.
Religious Beliefs – Early Africans
identified with the forces of nature
and the belief that all living and
nonliving things contained spirits,
this is called animism.

7. Rise of Communities
A. Nok (800BC –
200AD)
Known for
beautiful,
life-sized
metal
sculptures
used as art
pieces.
They also
made jewelry
made from
metal such as
steel, gold
and tin.
The figurines
they made
were dressed
by the cloth
they wove,
for the Noks
were
excellent
weavers.
They lived in
houses made
from dried
mud.
They were
polytheistic –
they believe
in more than
one God.

8. B. Bantu
(600BC –
1000BCAD)
Bantus lived in the
Sahara, south of
Africa.
They spread their
culture and
language
throughout the
continent.
They lived by
farming and animal
raising. Women
commonly raised
crops while men
hunted.
Magic was central
to the Bantus’
beliefs. They also
believed that soul
would separate
from the body at
the time of death.

9. Ancient Kingdoms
A. Kingdom of Kush (1600BC-300AD)
In 1600BC, the
Nubians
established the
Kingdom of
Kush.
Egypt defeated
Kush in 1525
BC.
Egypt fell in
800-700BC.
Kushites
declared
freedom and
elected a new
king in 715BC.
In 671BC, the
Kushites
escaped to
Menroe.
In 350 AD,
Ezana, took over
the Kingdom of
Kush.

10. •They have a system of writing and their cities
boasted palaces made of stone.
•it was the first kingdom in Africa to ever have its
own money made of gold, silver, and bronze.
•The Kingdom of Aksum was strong in the north,
of what is now called Ethiopia.
•Its economy was sustained by trade in the Red
Sea.
•In the 4th century, the Aksum kings converted to
Christianity.
•Trade in Aksum remained strong until the 7th
century, the time when Islam began to spread.
B.
Kingdom
of
Aksum
(600-
500BC)

11. Early Imperial Trade
A Empire of Ghana (5th-11th Century)
Gold Coast
The Soninkes benefited from the taxes they imposed on their trade of mines, salt
and gold. They controlled this trade and established a large empire called Ghana.
They also designated the value of gold, and assigned taxes to the salt and gold
that were delivered.
Kumbi Saleh (now the modern desert region of Senegal) was the capital of Ghana.
Trade became the center of Soninke culture.
However they rejected the religion of Islam.

12. B. Empire of Kanem-Bornu
(9th-19th Century)
It can be found
around the Chad
Lake.
Tasted victory in the
17th century, with
territories
compromising
southern Chad,
northern Cameroon,
northeastern
Nigeria, eastern
Niger, and southern
Libya.
The Kanem-Bornu
was built in the
middle of the 19th
century. Because of
its location, it
served as a trade
route from North
Africa, Nile Valley
and sub-Saharan
regions.

13. •It is composed of Mandika people.
•The Soso Empire rose, this obliterated many
races, including the Mandinka. Sundiata Kita
was the lone survivor, and when he grew up,
he led the successful Mandinka Revolution
against the Soso reign.
•Sundiata converted to Islam. Those who
succeeded him carried the title mansa,
meaning “emperor”.
•The most famous emperor of Mali was Mansa
Musa who governed in 1312 AD.
•The first map of Africa was drawn in 1375,
showing Mansa Musa sitting on the thrown
with the title, “Lord of the Negroes”.
C. Mali
Empire

14. Sunni Ali was the leader
who attacked the Mali
empire. He was known for
his belief in pagan gods and
magic.
Sunni Ali was When Sunni
Ali dies, he was succeeded
by Askia Mohammed who
ruled from 1493-1528.
Askia was a devoted Muslim
who tried to unite his
territories under one Muslim
empire through consecutive
wars.
It was eventually destroyed
from enemy attacks and
from conflicts from the
empire itself.
D. Songhai
Empire

15. Contributions
Art – closely
tied with
religion, made
from ivory,
wood and
bronze.
Literary
Traditions–
folktales were
passed on from
generation to
generation,
Arabic was a
popular written
language.
Education – in
most societies,
it was the duty
of the elders to
teach boys and
girls their roles
in the village.
Commerce-
trade allowed
many empires
to prosper and
develop as a
result of
cultural
diffusion.

16. African Literature
Trickster tales
characterize pre-
colonial African
Literature.
Colonial literature
tends to deal with
slavery and
themes of
independence.
Postcolonial work
often deal with
conflicts

17. Yambo Ouologuem
 Born on August 22, 1940.
 Pseudonym: Utto Rudolph.
 Works: Le Devoir de Violence (English: Bound to
Violence, 1968), Lettre à la France nègre (1969),
and Les mille et une bibles du sexe (1969).
 He learned several African languages and gained fluency
in French, English, and Spanish.
 He went to Paris in 1960, where he studied sociology,
philosophy and English.
 He is reputed to have been leading a secluded Islamic
life as a Marabout.

18. When Black Men’s Teeth Speak
Out by Yambo Ouologuem
 Theme: In the poem, “When Black Men’s Teeth Speak Out”,
it actually deals with stereotypes of oppressed people and
race relations in Africa and how this stereotyping affects
them.
 Language and Style: The poet used literary device of
repetition, but also adds onomatopoeia.
 Symbolism:
 “And there they found a tomato field in bloom” – symbolizes
the harmless occupations of most of the Africans.
 “Washed by streams flowing with palm-tree wine” -
represents the traditional popular African drink.
 “Hurrah for tomatoes” - reminds the oppressors that red is
the color of blood inside every human being regardless of
his skin color.

19.  Characters:
• Persona – He is being blamed for his country's
tourism failures saying he is a cannibal because of his teeth
and red gums.
• Society – They view the protagonist as a dreadful
animal, believing that he could occasionally and secretly
eating humans.
 Settings:
• Africa

20. Plot:
 Introduction: The character said that people think that he is
a cannibal because of his red gums and teeth.
 Rising Action: People blamed the character why there aren’t
many tourists in their country. They even accused him of
boiling or grilling the tourists alive.
 Climax: The character was surrounded, tied up, and thrown
to the ground at the feet of justice. There, he was severely
criticized and sentenced to death. Also, a girl, one of the
crowds, yapped to open the character’s stomach claiming
that his daddy was still inside.
 Falling Action: Since no knives were around, somebody
grabbed a Gillette blade and opened the character’s belly.
 Conclusion: When they opened him up, all they saw were
tomatoes for the character is vegetarian.

21. Conflict and Point of View:
 The conflict of the story was Man versus Society for the
protagonist was condemned of being the reason why the
tourism in their country is not on its full-height.
Moreover, people accused him as a cannibal.
 The point of view of the poem is considered as a first-
person point of view since the character participated and
narrated the events, which he observed in the story
using the third-person pronouns I and they.