Women who could not bear children were held in contempt, and by the same token male potency was esteemed. Ancient Mali Social Hierarchy The Mali Empire was an ancient empire in West Africa between c.1230 to c.1600. Throughout sub-Saharan Africa, therefore, metalworkers were held in awe. There are also some large mountain ranges, such as the Ruwenzori mountains in Uganda (the Mountains of the Moon). With distances between centers of population usually large, transport costs were high. The diet in most parts of Africa meant that many did not reach sexual maturity until their late teens or early twenties. NTNjZjkxMjQ0YmE1NWYxYzRjOTRkMTFjNWZkYWE5MjRjMWE1NjA0Mzk5Yzhh Metalwork held a special place in African culture. 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. The foundation myths of several states, including the kingdom of Benin, tell of populations inviting a foreigner to settle among them, to settle their disputes and provide them with leadership. The development of the Egyptian civilization is traced from the beginning of the settlement at the Nile river through to the uniting of Upper and Lower Egypt under one Pharaoh. Building the dense concentrations of population necessary for the emergence of major civilizations was not an option in most locations. As warriors they would cultivate a military ethos and be sent out to military outposts to guard the groups cattle and territory. NGMzYjY2N2JjMDIxN2EyZWI0ZmM1ODc0MjY4OTQzYmM1YmJkMTViN2U5NjAw Cleverness, bravery, charm, charisma and aggression could provide the success to bring high status and abundant wealth in many circumstances. More often, they might be tested by a poison ordeal and if found guilty, put to death, often with great cruelty. African religions. eyJtZXNzYWdlIjoiYTQ3YTllNzM5MzNhY2U5MTg3MDQzZTY2YzI0NGNiOTQx Many towns were centers of craft production. In the Great Lakes region, for example, the Lega people developed a distinctive and lively series of exquisite miniature sculptures. Some communities, especially those in rain forests, had a sacred barrier to keep the wilderness at bay. We learn about their beliefs and religion and the important structures that still stand in Egypt today. Witches were widely blamed for misfortunes, especially involving the fertility of women and the survival of children. Next were the farmers. Beside having been balkanized into several countries and branched among myriads of ethnic groups each speaking its own language and having its own cultural heritage, West Africa caste system constitutes yet another layer of its social structure. Still others were created by nomadic pastoral groups imposing control over a population of farmers, such as the Fulani kingdoms in West Africa. From the 17th century onwards, indigenous African crops were supplemented by crops introduced from America, especially maize, cassava, beans and sweet potatoes. These transformed many agricultural systems, and probably facilitated population growth. Sub-Saharan Africa was therefore never able to develop an original civilization with the material culture on the scale of, say, an ancient Mesopotamia or Egypt. Farming populations have therefore sought out well-watered locations such as river banks, lakesides and moist depressions. preloi potrebn fr holicstvo aqua presov otvaracie hodiny patologick ma v koli prst roughneck. As such it was essentially a form of theatre. Ancient Africa's government was not very stable because everyone was not unified this is because every village had a different leader. The Rhodes-Livingstone Papers. MWMwNGY0OTc1ZDgwNmQ5YzJkMWE3YWIxNDIwMGUwYWNjY2ZhYThkNTc4OWE4 Together, these might kill one third to one half of an affected population, nullifying the hard come by demographic gains of a generation. Some stateless peoples even looked to the rulers of neighboring states to provide arbitration in their disputes village communities bordering the powerful kingdom of Benin were examples of this. This was Islam, which gradually spread throughout the region over a number of centuries. Other cultural systems that were intended to create distinct classes of people and uphold a rigid hierarchy of power and control include the feudal system, slavery, Jim Crow laws, and apartheid. An extraordinarily detailed understanding of plants and their properties, already noted in above in connection to their skills as cultivators, gave African healers an unmatched mastery of herbal remedies. At one time, 16 species were named based on differences found between skeletal fossils. 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. This tradition of West African sculpture arose in a much broader context of mask-making and statuary in wood and ivory, which covered much of sub-Saharan Africa. Small, isolated areas of dense population were surrounded by large tracts of sparsely peopled wilderness. The art of ancient African was just as diverse as its cultures, languages, and political structures. There were also different social. The usual form of marriage was through bride-wealth a groom exchanged a portion for his wealth to a brides family in order to marry her. This crosses the content from its west coast to the east coast. 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. NzA0NTc2MTNjMDFjMzQ0ODY3ODRmNjZhMzc0ZGFjNDExMDIzN2VhMGNhNGE4 YmNlZWRhOWNhNTAxYjRmYjc3ZWNhZDYyMGMyNGVhMjMyYjYyODYzMmMxZTQ1 In : General history of Africa, V: Africa from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century, 5, p. 895-905 Language : English Also available in : Also available in : Franais Also available in : Portugus Year of publication : 1992 Licence type : CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO. In fact, we should not think of communities of cultivators or pastoralists concentrating entirely on a single subsistence strategy. In other traditional African societies, class structure has been based on levels of control or servitude. Indeed, they even went on strike when a neighboring ruler attempted to convert them to Islam. In many places herders and cultivators, or cultivators and hunter-gatherers, lived in close proximity with each other, exchanging products on a regular basis. Around this would be clustered the huts of other households, with four or five members each. The more high-status and long-distance traders, however, were men. This article looks at the societies and cultures of sub-Saharan Africa in pre-modern history. 1. 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. (59) $14.99. Gender and age differentials Hunter-gatherer peoples had inhabited sub-Saharan Africa for millennia prior to herders, and later agriculturalists, starting to settle the region. The most notable example is Kemet - the original name of ancient Egypt - which first developed in the Nile valley more than 5,000 years ago and was one of the first . Ironically, this attractive landscape posed a barrier to the spread of traditional farming southward, as sub-Saharan agriculture had adapted itself to tropical conditions. As in other parts of the world, textile crafts were widespread. On the whole, though, anthropologist have emphasized the rational, experimental nature of African medicine. NWIyZWQ1YTA3MjZkYTQzOWRjMzhmYTJkYjAyNzViOGRjNjIxMGM0YTRjNGJl 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. Gradually, the hunter-gatherers were squeezed off the best lands by the incoming pastoralists and cultivators, who were able to live in larger groups. At the top were the gods, such as Ra, Osiris, and Isis. Younger men would set out to seduce or rape the young wives of their elders, and their elders would be determined to prevent this. Defence could become more organized, and they could build up their numbers by large raids on neighboring peoples and bring in captives as new (if somewhat disadvantaged) new settlers. (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1969) p.33 Lucy P. Mair, "African Marriage and Social Change," in Survey of African Marriage and Family Life, Edited by Arthur Phillips, (London: Oxford University Press, 1953). Most weaving was done by women, but in some major textile centers weavers were full-time professional men. 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. makes it the largest ancient structure south of the Sahara Desert. Many African kingdoms had lineages of rulers who traced their origins to foreign lands. 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. Indigenous religions never died out, however, and the two belief-systems lived side by side in uneasy co-existence for a long time (indeed, they still do in parts of West Africa). However springs or small lakes allow oases of vegetation to flourish at scattered spots, sometimes hundreds of miles apart. In that case, though not always, the excluded group has the propensity to oppose the incumbent extractive governance system. Connected with this, feats of memory were a key part of African religious, political and commercial life. YzZiNWViMjQ5Iiwic2lnbmF0dXJlIjoiNTc2NWJhZDg5MGU4Y2RkZTIxYTFi Indeed, in some areas, particularly where grassland and forest met, all three modes were practiced locally, resulting in a particularly fruitful exchange of produce. Come drought, famine or epidemic, however, clusters would contract again. book part Here, regional trade networks grew up based on such geographically specialized products as fish and salt. These were societies that had no. The mysteriousness of such knowledge might be reinforced in societies where secret associations had a monopoly of spiritual activity. OTZhNjdjMmQ4MzVlNTAyODMzY2ZjOTFlOWE3NjJkOGI5NjVmODQ2NGRhN2Y2 First are the hunter-gatherer societies. Thus, a comparatively few number of men had access to the majority of women, meaning that the majority of men had little or no access. ZTBhMDQ4MWZjMjIzYTBiMjFlOTFiZWYwZDcxMGI4YjMwYzhkYWEwMDgwZTFk When one of the regular famines struck, these individuals were the first to die. Together with freedom it is an important element of the economy, culture and social structure of a country. The histories and cultures of Egypt, Nubia, Ethiopia and North Africa are covered elsewhere. There was constant tension between the generations, which could spill over into real violence. One common social structure among ethnic groups in sub-Saharan Africa is segmentary lineage organisation. Most involved a keen belief in spirits of different kind; of the afterlife; of a spiritual dimension to the land; and of evil. In West Africa, a new religious influence began to make itself felt in the later first millennium. Throughout sub-Saharan Africa, this often took the form of inter-generational tensions between elder males with multiple wives and younger males with no wives. 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 . The term Bantu is sometimes used to describe all Africans and African culture in general. This makes them unsuitable for long-distance trade and contact. However, populations of pygmies also inhabited large tracts of tropical forest which covered much of equatorial and western Africa. If a kinship group fell below a viable size it ceased to be able to protect itself properly and became extremely vulnerable to being absorbed, often brutally, by more fertile rivals. spracovanie papra podvanie vanika fiat doblo maxi 2015 prebva tunel Alpy. Craft workers were often dedicated to meeting the needs of the ruler and the elite, their workshops located within the royal compound. Explain the social structure, unique aspects, and decline of Great Zimbabwe . YzM1ZDJjMjdkYTczYjc3ODRiNDdmYThlOTY1N2E1MjViMmVlZDdiZjgxYWYz Zip. The earliest kingdoms we know of in West Africa, such as Ghana and Mali, were located at strategic points in the trans-Saharan trade network. The earlier populations were either absorbed into the incoming populations, or pressed, either further and further south or further and further into the rain forests. Further upstream all have their flows interrupted by falls and rapids, making them unsuitable for long-distance trade even in the interior of Africa. 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 some cases such children were castrated as a further measure to reduce ambition they would not then be able to establish an independent dynasty. These more local groups formed the enduring units of African societies, centers of local power which provided the building blocks of larger polities, and outlasted them. The land, much of which is hills and plateaux, is covered with grasslands, with some sub-tropical forests on the coast. Everyone on the community would take part, but the central roles were reserved for the mediums with their trance-dancing. Imperialism Africa was among the last regions of the globe to be subject to imperial rule. With the evolving of African settlements into bigger towns and cities, the Caste system slowly began to take shape and become a distinctive social structure. Also, iron working especially produced goods vital to farmers, hunters and warriors. ZDQwYTliY2VjMzM2YmIyZDM1ODQ4Zjc4NzY2ZWQ4NWU5YTliYzE4N2FhMTQw J. Clyde Mitchell, The Yao Village: a Study in the Social Structure of a Malawian Tribe. African kingdoms suffered severely from the divisive effects of violent competition between royal princes. The larger oases house trading towns and farming communities. Except in favorable locations, especially where fishing, or gathering aquatic resources, could supplement diets, hunting and foraging groups needed a large area of land on which to sustain themselves. MjM4NWRlOGNlZmQ4MDIzY2IzMTRjYWZhNjM1N2RmNjNjZDdlMjU4N2NlNGNl - studies work with social structure to explain matters that are such as crimes or stolen things. OGUyMjAwMmI0ZjlmYzAyMmYxYjllZmEzN2EwMTYzMmMyNzQyZGIwY2IifQ== In the 14th and 15th centuries this tradition was transferred to brass. Popular culture. They could make the Nile overflow, cause famine, or even bring death. Each passage features one paragraph of informational text and 4 multiple-choice questions. In these circumstances the population might grow to a point where the availability of good land grew short. social structure, in sociology, the distinctive, stable arrangement of institutions whereby human beings in a society interact and live together. In river floodplains communities have constructed mounds raised above the flood level from which to take advantage of the rich silt deposited by the river waters. Much more frequently however, a kingdom simply fragmented into its constituent population clusters. Iron was also an important regional trade commodity, as major smelting areas were only to be found in locations where abundant wood for the furnaces was available. Once a cluster had acquired some form of statehood, its people were able to act in a much more co-ordinated fashion. This caused individuals to be very sensitive to attacks on their personal honor, real or imagined. ODRhYzAzZTNiOTc2MTJiMGNkYmQ3ZjdiYThjMzE5M2I5MTIzMzMwODE5OWJm Many of largest population concentrations in Africa remained entirely stateless, their constituent communities jealously guarding their independence. However, there have been many YjE4NWI3ZjI1ZTFlNDUxYmJhY2U0N2E1ODZjNzFmOWJlM2FkMzA2OGZkN2Q4 Yet there is still debate about how many species of elephant bird there actually were. Surrounding this would be rings of less and less dense settlement and fields, eventually merging into the surrounding bush. Environment and population, Village society Diving into that variation, a new analysis of 180 indigenous Africans from a dozen ethnically, culturally . Egypt. As suggested by the above reference to status titles, however, stateless societies were by no means always egalitarian ones. The most spectacular practitioners of this were kings and chiefs, which gave rulers swarms of sons to contest the succession or fragment the state. The tsetse fly infested many wooded areas, especially along waterways, killing cattle and causing sleeping sickness amongst humans. But this use of the term is inaccurate; Bantu peoples make up only about a third of Africa . Difficulties in transport encouraged local self-sufficiency, and most trade consisted of purely local exchanges, for example at river banks where fish was bartered for vegetables, or where forest and savannah met, where the products of the two zones were exchanged. Other states were built around sacred shrines and their custodians, who enjoyed a concentration of religious authority which they were able to convert into political power. Ancient Civilizations are typically taught focusing on the key areas of: Geography, Religion, Achievements, Politics, Economy and Social Structure using the acronym G.R.A.P.E.S. To the south of the Sahara desert is the Savannah zone. This was that there was a fundamental distinction between the cultivated and the wild, between civilization and savagery. New findings from a study of 12 diverse groups in Africa shed new light on the origin of modern humans, ancient . Many chiefdoms and kingdoms in all parts of sub-Saharan Africa have been formed by pastoral clans dominating agricultural populations. Men were usually killed, perhaps as ritual sacrifices. The greater number of people such a community embraced, the better it meant greater security for all, and more labour for the back-breaking work of keeping the bush at bay and clearing more land. Slavery was widespread in traditional African societies. This came from exactly the same mix of European contact and American agriculture as the new crops; it was the Atlantic Slave Trade. MzcwNTgyZmZmMzczNDJkYzBjMmNjNmRjNTg1N2I5ZjkyMjExNjNjOGY5NTFh They include the second largest freshwater lake in the world, Lake Victoria. In larger population clusters, each village would be similarly surrounded by rings of fields and outlying woodland separating it from neighboring villages. Social There were six social classes in Ancient Ghana. This bred a society in which extra-marital sex was common and accepted, and young men adopted an attitude of machismo and insolence towards their elders. At the opposite end of the scale, however, women probably made up the majority of slaves, and occupied a powerless and utterly dependent position in society. The wealthier the man, the more women he could marry. Female slaves were employed as domestic servants or concubines. The famous one that can be associated with the ancient Africa is the pharaoh and their pyramids. The long-distance trade networks were in the hands of comparatively large and sophisticated commercial organizations. In terms of history and culture this zone has been part of the European and Middle Eastern regions, and is therefore not covered by this article. It has captivated visitors since it was built as a royal burial chamber some 4,500 years ago.