The Sahara Desert dominates Northern Africa, isolating the Christian kingdom of Ethiopia from its Muslim neighbors. Mansa Musa was the greatest ruler of the wealthy West African Mali empire, bringing Islamic education and technology after making the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. Many West African kingdoms depended on trade in gold and salt, while Eastern African trade networks extended as far as China.

3.  InNorthern Africa, the _____ dominates the
landscape and geography, creating a natural
barrier for trade routes and effects everyday life.

4.  The Sahara Desert

5.  Thekingdom of Ethiopia became isolated
from it’s neighbors largely because ____.

6.  They were the lone Christian kingdom
surrounded by Muslims.

7.  ________ was the greatest ruler of the
kingdom of Mali. He was a devout Muslim
and based his justice system on the Quran.
He made the hajj to Mecca and brought back
Islamic education and technology..

8.  Mansa Musa

10.  Manyof the kingdoms of Western Africa were
dependent on the trade of two commodities;
_______ and _______.

11.  Gold and Salt

12.  When a society bases their kinship and
inheritance on the mother’s side, it is known
as ________. Often times, women enjoyed
higher status and boys and men were to
protect and help the women.

13.  Matrilineal Society

14.  Due to migrations over thousands of
years, many African peoples speak a variety
languages deriving from a single, common
language. That language was known as
_____.

15.  Bantu

17.  Africa’s largest and most populated region is the
______, or grasslands.

18.  Savannas

19.  Instructed
to be built by King Lalibela, what
was peculiar or unique about some churches
in Ethiopia?

20.  Builtinto solid
rock, underground or
into the side of a
mountain

21.  Eastern Africa trade led to the development
of a new, vibrant language and culture
known as _____. In time, many Arabic words
were absorbed into the language so they
could better communicate with Muslim
traders. In fact, the term means “off the
coast” in Arabic.

22.  Swahili

24.  Much of Africa’s history has been passed down
through _________ over many centuries. In West
Africa, griots, are professional storytellers would
recite ancient stories.

25.  Oral tradition

26.  The
extent of the East African trade network
was said to have reached as far as ______!

27.  China
 EastAfricans traded
with Europe, the
Middle East, India and
far as China! Chinese
porcelain has been
found in places like
Greater Zimbabwe.

28.  The _______ kingdom of West Africa was very
powerful. In fact, they had a professional
army chosen by a draft that would protect
the empire. They also had a very organized
government with separate departments for
the treasury, military and agriculture
designed to help the emperor run his empire
more efficiently.

29.  Songhai