The first female ancestor shared by all living humans, who was identified by analysis of mitochondrial DNA.
salt
an important mineral that was traded by West African empires. It is needed to preserve food and replace the salt from human bodies when they sweat
Australopithecus afarensis
the earliest humanlike creature that flourished in eastern and southern Africa 3 to 4 million years ago
Trans-Saharan Trade
route across the sahara desert. Major trade route that traded for gold and salt, created caravan routes, economic benefit for controlling dessert, cam...
Soninke people
they farmed in western africas savanna, they calles their ruler ghana (war chief)
Hajj
A pilgrimage to Mecca, performed as a duty by Muslims
Songhai Empire
a West African empire that conquered Mali and controlled trade from the 1400s to 1591
Andrés Dorantes
the Spaniard who brought Estevan on an expedition to the New World
Great Pyramids of Giza
Egypt, Old Kingdom (c. 2500 BCE)
Gao
Capital of Songhai
Kumbi Saleh
The capital city in the Empireof Ghana
Sundiata Keita
he founded the Mali Empire
Nile River
The river in which early kingdoms in Egypt were centered around.
Paleolithic Era
called the old stone age (from 10,000 to 2.5 million years ago); they were concerned with food supply; they used stone as well as bone tools; they wer...
Santo Domingo
the place where Dorantes and Estevan landed and began their exploration in the New World
Hominid
An early ancestor of humans
Iberian Peninsula
Peninsula in southwestern Europe occupied by Spain and Portugal
pharaoh
A king of ancient Egypt, considered a god as well as a political and military leader.
Ghana Empire
Soninke clans who led the empire in the 600s-800s in West Africa and traded with caravans and camels across the Sahara
Neanderthals
In Europe, another human species lived and adapted to life in the cold climates of the last Ice Age.
Gold Coast
Region of the Atlantic coast of West Africa occupied by modern Ghana; named for its gold exports to Europe from the 1470s onward.
Estevanico
African enslaved person who went on an expedition in search of the seven cities of gold.
Islam
A religion based on the teachings of the prophet Mohammed; spread to West Africa through trade
gold
One of the most important commodities traded by the ancient African empires
Ivory Coast
a historical reference to West Africa
Mansa Musa
Emperor of the kingdom of Mali in Africa. He made a famous pilgrimage to Mecca and established trade routes to the Middle East.
Moors
Muslims of Spain
iron
used by ancient Western African civilizations in weapons and tools
Timbuktu
Mali trading city that became a center of wealth and learning
Mansa
title of the ruler of the Mali Empire
Mali Empire
Formed in 1240 when Sundiata took control of Ghana Empire. It controlled trade across Sahara, the South and the Niger River.
Sunni Ali
First great ruler of Songhai, who established the empire
Sankore Mosque
A mosque located in Timbuktu which also contained a very important university
barley, wheat, other crops
grown by the ancient Egyptians around the Nile
Lucas Vázquez de Allyón
leader of the expedition to San Miguel de Guadalape
Mandinka People
this group founded the Mali Empire
Askia Muhammad
Ruler of the Songhai empire from 1493 to 1528 who expanded the empire and organized its government
Denisovans
A newly discovered group of archaic Homo sapiens from southern Siberia dated to between 30,000 and 50,000 years ago.
Niger River
the longest river in West Africa, and a kind of trading highway in early times
homo sapiens
modern humans
Nok People
Were part of West Africa's earliest-known culture
Great Rift Valley
area in africa where parts of the plateau's surface dropped and early human fossils are found
San Miguel de Gualdape
Founded by the Spanish in 1526 in an area that is now part of Georgia, where the first slave revolt happened in the New World
Portuguese merchants
traded with the people of West Africa, bringing clothing, iron, guns, and manufactured goods and taking back gold, ivory, spices, and slaves.
terracotta sculpture
Nok produced detailed ones
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