7th Grade

Notes 12-1

African Beginnings
Chapter 12
Section1

Changing Survival Skills
Hunter-Gatherers
Nomadic – moved with herds
Hunted animals for meat
Collected fruits, nuts, and roots
Made tools from stone
This age became known as the Stone Age

Farming and Herding
Earliest farming probably in Northern Africa- present day Sahara Desert
In the beginning harvested wild grains
Then collected seeds
Then kept seeds from stronger plants and threw out seeds from weaker plants
This is called domestication-adapting plants or animals for human use.

Early Settlements
Domestication of plants and animals meant people could stop being nomadic
Most early settlements were by water sources
Mainly rivers
Transportation
Food
Fertile soil
Surpluses allowed for specialization outside of farming

Egypt- 5000 B.C
Nile River Valley
Good soil for farming- fresh silt from flooding
Transportation
Food Source
Ruled by kings (Pharaohs) and queens that were treated and worshiped like Gods
Built temples (pyramids) to honor them
Hieroglyphs- system of writing using symbols
Specialization allowed them to develop skills like paper-making, architecture, astronomy, and medicine

Nubia- 6000 B.C.
South of Egypt along the Nile
Napata- greatest Nubian Civilization
724 B.C. Nubians of Napata conquered Egypt
Meroe- Weaker Nubian civilization, conquered by Ethiopians from Aksum around 350 A.D.

The Bantu Migration
4000 years ago in Africa, one of the largest migrations takes place
Bantu speaking peoples began to move
Southern migration fro west-central Africa into south-east and south-west Africa
Why Migrate?
No one knows for sure
May have been the new ability to farm the rainforests
overpopulation
Over 100’s of years Bantu speaking people spread all across Central and Southern Africa
Bantus Spread Their Language
People were living in regions where Bantus migrated to but Bantu language and culture came to dominate all regions they inhabited
Language and Ethnic Groups
Ethnic Groups- group that shares language, religion, family ties, and customs
Shared history
Most of today’s Africans in Southern and Central Africa speak Bantu (200 million)