ancient african social structure ancient african social structure

The more high-status and long-distance traders, however, were men. These operated as almost military organization, and required large investment to fund. In due course he would probably be accepted back into his community through paying a fine to, or offering to work for, his wifes father. Even so, until the start of the second millennium they inhabited large areas across the continent, in the wide spaces left vacant by farmers and pastoralists. Pastoralist and farming communities have therefore lived in close proximity, which has been a major factor in state formation in these regions.if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[250,250],'timemaps_com-leader-2','ezslot_11',177,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-timemaps_com-leader-2-0'); Pastoralist communities are more dispersed, and much more mobile, than agricultural ones, as they follow their flocks and herds around in the search for good grazing. 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. The limited nature of urbanization greatly restricted transport, trade and industry. They represent the spectrum of human conditions, from kings and courtiers to the diseased and the executed. Many towns were centers of craft production. So too did the more widespread infestation of tsetse fly, which set a limit of animal transport. There was constant tension between the generations, which could spill over into real violence. Africa Africa's Great Rift Valley is the largest landform on Earth, and the only one visible from the moon. African societies were often fluid from one generation to another, however. In the Kingdom of Axum, like many other kingdoms of its time, there was a social structure or hierarchy level. 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. 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. In many agricultural societies, however, the most important spiritual beings were the spirits of the land and, closely associated with these, ancestral spirits. Begins with an engaging introduction, including an original thesis of the essay's main point Identifies three (3) civilizations introduced in the first half of the class Compares and contrasts the values and beliefs of each civilization Provides specific evidence, including well-integrated, appropriate . Therefore, it was important to keep them happy. Pastoralist people such as the Khoisan of southern Africa are closely related to San groups who still maintain their traditional hunting and foraging economy. They are in a style of idealized naturalism, most representing kings at the height of their powers. OTBhNmZkZTE4ZDBjMTQzMTljMWY4NDIyMjYxZmIwY2JkZjc4OTk4ZGE1OWMx Much religious activity, however, was in the hands of religious specialists adept at making contact with the spirit world in order to influence the forces of nature. At a much higher level, some kingdoms gave high status to female members of the royal family. However, state-building was not a straightforward process in African conditions. 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. Several high mountains rise up from the East African plains, most famously Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya. There was constant tension between the generations, which could spill over into real violence. This makes the huge effort of clearing even small areas of very dense forest worthwhile. David Beach believes that the city . In these states, violence and exploitation led to societies ruled by classes of military aristocrats or nobles. This was almost universal throughout Africa, and was a painful, even traumatic ceremony by which boys entered adulthood. This The Call of the Wild by Jack London Middle School reading unit and novel study is exactly what you need to teach your . While a caravan was on the move, its hundreds of animal drivers and traders had to submit to an almost military discipline under the caravan-master. Learning support for teachers and students. 1. Click here to be redirected to our dedicated TimeMaps help section. Throughout sub-Saharan Africa, therefore, metalworkers were held in awe. First adopted by Western scholars, the notion of caste in West Africa refers to a form of hierarchical social classification of individuals into . The Europeans then made use of existing (African) political structures, which proved themselves not primitive at all, to run the colonies. The ancientness of the continents rocks, whose minerals have leeched out over the aeons, mean that the soil is generally of a poor quality, posing challenges for farmers. In large settlements religion and healing was in the hands of professionals, whose interests naturally lay in keeping such matters out of the reach of the general populace. Agricultural populations were driven by a need to humanize the landscape, to drive back the forest, where danger lurked, and to make the land productive. The Mali empire, for example, had secretaries to conduct foreign correspondence, but its internal administration only employed word of mouth. 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. The histories and cultures of Egypt, Nubia, Ethiopia and North Africa are covered elsewhere. The main structure of the Awilu class people were considered precious in Hammurabi's Code and they were richer than the other two majorclasses in the society. Next were the farmers. African ritual experts learnt thousands of verses of religious and wisdom poetry, and expounded the appropriate one to guide kings and ministers as they resolved disputes; Rememberers treasured the traditions and histories of the kingdoms; and traders astonished early European travelers with their powers of recall. Even in West Africa, and certainly for Africa as a whole, salt was probably the most traded commodity, being an essential part of peoples diet, especially for those in regions where meat was hard to come by. To the Western mind, at least, this aspect of religion was indistinguishable from magic, and was in the hands of mediums, priests, diviners and healers. Firstly there was the King who ruled over everyone and was thought to have divine powers. Village clusters would be located in areas suitable for intensive crop production river valleys, floodplains, lakesides and other well-watered places. Many studies have been mostly about political centralisation. It was not well suited to the milder, temperate climate of South Africa. Their repertoire involved rituals, spells, dances and trances, as well as more practical applications such as herbs and ointments. Like all pre-modern medicinal practitioners, they also used traditional methods less appealing to the modern Western mind, such as bleeding, purgatives, magic and exorcism. In contrast to all this, anthropologists found that the pygmies who inhabited the deep forests, and who relied for their survival on its produce, regarded the forests as innately good, and the lands surrounding it as fearful. This caused individuals to be very sensitive to attacks on their personal honor, real or imagined. There might also be slaves who had been reduced to their lowly status through some misfortune or other famine, debt or even captivity in war. Such pragmatism made for an open attitude to ideas and practices from outside: if something worked it was acceptable, wherever it came from. Here, captives of both sexes were settled in royal estates and set to work there, effectively as serfs. In the west the southern border of the savannah is formed by the equatorial rain forests of West Africa and the Congo Basin, but to the east it continues down into East Africa, skirting round the Congo rain forests and blending into the subtropical savannah grasslands of central and southern Africa. Taking captives was a major objective in war, with most of the individuals thus enslaved being women or children. Come drought, famine or epidemic, however, clusters would contract again. 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. Camels were employed in the long-distance trans-Saharan trade, and donkeys were the normal mode of transport in the West African savannah. Many of the market traders were local women, but above them was a class of comparatively wealthy merchants. 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. We learn about their beliefs and religion and the important structures that still stand in Egypt today. 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. Many of them rose and fell throughout the African history. 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. The term Bantu is sometimes used to describe all Africans and African culture in general. On the other hand, to maintain status and authority required a Big Man to be generous why else would other men want to be his followers? Ghana was the first empire of ancient Africa. As in other parts of the world, textile crafts were widespread. In folktales, the rewards for perseverance, intelligence and courage were wives, children, status, wealth, and security in other words, to become a Big Man. One other consequence of African underpopulation was the prevalence of the polygamy (see below). MzE4Y2I3MDllMDBjODdjOGU4NDEwZGMxMWUzYzYxMDlmYmI2OWNiZmY1MGMw 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.