Part 2: Ancient Kingdoms and Societies
Sept 3 (W) - Ancient Kingdoms
- Explain when and why plant domestication is believed to have occurred in Africa
- Identify on a map Africa’s four agricultural hearths, and provide example cultivars for each
- Provide evidence supporting the case that Ancient Egypt had strong connections south of the Sahara
- Identify on a map the origin of the Bantu migrations, and their major paths
- Describe two important drivers of their population expansion and spread during that migration
- Identify on a map the general location of the West African Kingdoms and Southern/East African Kingdoms
- Describe the main trade networks of the West and Southern/East kingdoms, including their trade partners, the direction, and the kinds of items traded
- Describe what travelers note about West Africa's wealth, education, hospitality and civility, and other achievements
- Identify 2-3 contributions of Islam to the Ancient Kingdoms
- Contrast the basis of wealth generation in European vs African Kingdoms
- Describe the structure of Africa's ancient kingdoms, explaining how they could be hierarchical without being tribute societies
Sept 8 (M) - African Societies
- Identify and define the five domains of social organization in traditional African societies
- Explain how kinship societies regulate access to land and labor
- Explain why terms such as lineage, tribe and ethnic group are often avoided when describing kin
- Differentiate the Eurocentric and African “family” and “household”
- Define: polygyny, bridewealth, matrilineal, patrilineal, matrilocal, patrilocal,
- Describe household economies and responsibilities
- Describe 3-4 reasons why children are important for a household / kin group
- Define gerontocracy
- Describe example age grade ranks and civic responsibilities that accompany those ranks
- Explain how age grade fits into the larger cosmology
- Identify 4-5 concepts that are commonly symbolized through initiation rights. For each, identify an example of a right that might be used to symbolize that concept
- Explain what is believed to occur if one is not initiated
- Describe how death is understood, as well as the hereafter -- where it is, and what life is like there
- Differentiate Sasa and Zamani, and explain how one moves from one to the other
- Use the Cowswitch Tail to illustrate Sasa and Zamani
- Describe the concept of God as well as the role of spirits, ancestors, priests and medicine men