Starter quiz
- What is the Sahel?
- A river in West Africa.
- The name given to a king's palace in West Africa.
- A dry region bordering the southern Sahara Desert. ✓
- A rich salt mine in the Sahara Desert.
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- How did the Carthaginian explorer Hanno first make contact with West Africa?
- He walked across the Sahara Desert.
- He sailed along the west coast of Africa. ✓
- He rode a horse through the Congo rainforest.
- He rowed a boat down the Nile.
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- Which religion spread into Africa in the 7th century?
- 'Islam' ✓
- Which two of the following tribes acted as guides for travellers and traders journeying across the Sahara Desert?
- Berber ✓
- Lakota
- Nanman
- Sami
- Tuareg ✓
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- Complete the sentence: the Ghana Empire was nicknamed 'the land of ______'.
- 'gold' ✓
- Place these empires in chronological order.
- 1⇔The Egyptian Empire
- 2⇔The Roman Empire
- 3⇔The Ghana Empire
- 4⇔The British Empire
Exit quiz
- What is 'desertification'?
- The spread of a desert into formerly fertile land. ✓
- The creation of towns and cities in a desert.
- The changing of desert land into grassland.
- Deliberately destroying an enemy's farmlands so that nothing can grow there.
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- Match the group to their description.
- Almoravids⇔a strict Islamic group ✓
- Ghana⇔first great empire of West Africa ✓
- Sosso⇔ruled by a sorcerer king ✓
- Mali⇔led by Sundiata Keita ✓
- What is the name given to the traditional belief system of people from West Africa?
- Animism ✓
- Confucianism
- Taoism
- Zoroastrianism
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- Complete the sentence: Sundiata Keita was nicknamed the '______ Prince'.
- 'Lion' ✓
- Match the keywords to the correct definition.
- empire⇔a group of territories ruled over by one person or group of people ✓
- trade⇔exchange of goods ✓
- Mansa⇔the word used in the Mali Empire to refer to the king or emperor ✓
- Islam⇔the religion of Muslim people ✓
- Which word best describes Ibn Battuta's reaction to seeing the Mansa taking part in non-Muslim rituals?
- amused
- appalled ✓
- excited
- indifferent
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Worksheet
Presentation
Video
Lesson Details
Key learning points
- New civilisations grew up in the Sahel as the Ghana Empire declined and trade increased.
- Trade from new gold fields bypassed the Ghana Empire, which made other kingdoms in the region wealthy and powerful.
- The Mali Empire was one new civilisation which expanded.
- The rulers of Mali and the people who lived in cities were generally followers of Islam.
- The people who lived in the countryside generally retained their traditional religious practices.
Common misconception
All followers of the same religion practise their religion in the same way.
There are often large differences between followers of the same religion: people include elements of their own culture in their worship.
Keywords
Empire - a group of territories ruled over by one person or group of people
Trade - exchange of goods
Mansa - the word used in the Mali Empire to refer to the king or emperor
Islam - the religion of Muslim people
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