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Africa before the 'zuŋ u

Our land, Our People, Our culture !

• Their metalwork was highly advanced. They had furnaces and smiths churning out huge
quantities of bronze tools and weapons - and later, iron ones - for domestic use and for
export to neighbouring kingdoms.
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The Kingdom of Wagadu-Ghana Empire (c 300 BCE to c 1100 CE)
• Spread across parts of present-day Mauritania, Senegal, and Mali
• First of the great medieval trading empires of western Africa

• c 2500 BCE their ancestors had built settlements of masonry buildings with clear street
layouts

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The Empire of Mali (c CE 1235 to c CE 1670)

• Dominated West Africa between 13th and 17th centuries
• By the 14th century, the Mali Empire ruled over an area larger than western Europe. Spread
across present day The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali, Mauritania, Niger
and Senegal. Only the Mongol empire was larger

• A decentralised system of government administered by a group of literate scribes;
• It had a consultative assembly that played a vital and significant role in the Empire's
governance at a time when few such institutions existed elsewhere; a form of constitutional
monarchy long before this concept evolved in Europe

• Institutions that were at least the equal of any elsewhere in the world at the time
• A cultural and technological melting pot, spreading ideas: Timbuktu was considered a
centre of education and learning alongside Fez (Morocco), Cairo (Egypt) and Cordoba
(Spain)

• A focal point for trade with outsiders, oversaw the development of trans-Saharan trade

• A very wealthy kingdom, producing about 50% of the world's gold at that time
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Other major pre-m'zuŋ u African Empires include:
The Aksumite Empire (c 100 CE to 960 CE)

Equal to modern day Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, South Sudan,
Sudan, Yemen
The Songhai Empire (c 1000 Ce to 1591 CE)

Equal to modern day Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger,
Nigeria, Senegal, The Gambia