Question

African Empires: What Came Before Colonization?
Africa in Cantino map (1502) via Wikimedia Commons
Part I: Vocabulary
Word Definition Example Sentence
entourage (noun) a group of people helping or traveling with an important person The President's entourage included the Secret Service, his Press Secretary, and the Vice President.
vast (adjective) huge, immense All the lights of the vast cityscape were visible from the top of the skyscraper.

Part II: Reading
African Empires: What Came Before Colonization?
Hide Passage
For many of us in the Western world, African history has remained somewhat of a mystery.
The history of the kingdoms and empires of ancient Africa may not be as well-documented
as that of Europe. But there is much to appreciate about a region that produced incredible
architecture and an emperor who claimed to be the richest man in the world!

The Kingdom of Kush, in modern-day Sudan, formed around 1050 BCE. It shared many 5
cultural similarities with Egypt, its more famous neighbor to the north. The two kingdoms
had similar religious beliefs, and there were even pyramids built in Kush. Kushites blended
the Egyptian culture with other African cultures. The region where the Kingdom of Kush
ruled was known for its gold mines, and the Kushites were a wealthy empire with expert
goldworkers. The Kingdom of Kush lasted for well over a thousand years, outlasting Egypt, 10
before falling in 350 CE.

As the Kingdom of Kush began to decline, another East African empire started to gain
power. The Kingdom of Aksum, located in modern-day Ethiopia and Eritrea, formed
around 100 CE. At its strongest, it controlled much of northeast Africa as well as parts of
the Arabian Peninsula. Aksumites adopted Christianity as their religion around 325 CE. 15
The capital city is said to be the resting place of the Ark of the Covenant, the chest that
contains the Ten Commandments. The combination of climate change in the region and
the rise of neighboring kingdoms led to Aksum’s downfall in the 10th century.

In West Africa, the Mali Empire came to power around 1235 CE. One of the unifying
characteristics of the vast Mali Empire was the importance of Islam to its emperors. Not 20
all subjects of the empire converted to Islam, but it played an important role in people’s
culture and beliefs. The most famous emperor of Mali was Mansa Musa. He was known as
the richest man in the world at the time of his pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324. He brought an
entourage of 60,000 people with him on this pilgrimage and gave away gold throughout his
journey to show his riches. However, the empire began to weaken after the rule of Mansa 25
Musa ended. It formally dissolved in 1610.

We may not know much about the many kingdoms of ancient Africa, but that makes the
topic even more exciting to historians today. What we do know is that the history of this
great continent is as diverse as the culture of the dozens of nations that it is now made of.
Created for Albert.io. All rights reserved.
Complete the statement.
Select options below
In the text,
Choose... Each body paragraph the introduction
describes
Choose... an important economic achievement a different African empire

Answer 1

In the text, the introduction describes an important economic achievement. Each body paragraph describes a different African empire.