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=  North African History Culture-  =  =· Christianity reached Egypt and North Africa during the 1st century C.E., right after the faith came about. It attracted many converts (before Islam even was established) in the Mediterranean basin. = =· Northern Africa became increasingly incorporated into the Muslim world by the seventh century influencing their ideas and culture. Muslim conquerors gave the people of North Africa three choices. They could fight, convert or pay tribute. Most chose converting to Islam. Many of the teachings that Islam preached were similar enough to traditional African traditions. Therefore, even though they converted to Islam, many Africans in Northern Africa were able to retain some traditional beliefs and customs. =  =· Before the common era, North Africa above the Sahara was heavily influenced by the classical world. Phoenicians, Greeks , and Romans traded and settled here. Some key settlements included the Greek one of Cyrene located in modern day Libya, a Phoenician one in Carthage founded in 814 B.C.E in Tunisia and the Greeks under Alexander the Great conquered Egypt by 331 B.C.E. Later on, Egypt became an important province for the Roman Empire. This shows how North Africa played a role in the classical world. It was valued greatly for its abundance of grain. = =· North African women were subordinate and were made to wear veils .This was most likely due to the Muslim culture which Northern Africa was heavily influenced by. =

Social-  - Many North Africans were involved in village life along the Nile River. - Some social achievements of the Egyptians included the building of the Pyramids and the creation of Hieroglyphics. - The kingdom of Axum which is modern day Ethiopia was the only place that remained Christian when all other places in Northern Africa adopted Islam. Axum specifically adopted the Coptic form of Christianity, the Egyptian form. It converted to Christianity in 250 C.E. - Coptic Christianity is different than European Christianity in that Christ has only a single, divine nature, as opposed to the other view which states that Christ has both a human as well as a divine nature. - The kingdom of Nubia which was the ancient land of Kush and much of Egypt had communities of Christians .Here heavily influenced by the Byzantine empire, the Copts translated Greek to Coptic which was their native tongue. -<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> By 1750 the major language spoken in North Africa was Arabic. <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"> **Spread of Christianity and Islam: <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 22px;">African societies between 500 and 1500 CE were transformed by the spread of Christianity and Islam into much of Northern and Southern Africa by the development of political states, increase of trade, and the ultimate increase of power and wealth. Africa experienced an increase in contacts with the outside world from 800 to 1500 CE because of the growing international network. After the fall of Rome, the spread of Islam into much of the Mediterranean linked these civilizations and much of Europe and North Africa. The spread of Islam from its beginning in the Middle East into much of the northern third of north Africa produced profound effects on those who converted to Islam and those who did not. The spread of Islam especially linked Muslim Africa to much of the outside world by trade. The spread of Islam called for an increase in trade by way of merchants and arab conquests in Africa. The spread of Islam also called for political unification in Northern Africa, but African societies eventually divided into smaller African States that were controlled by individual rulers. The spread of Christianity into North Africa remained entirely independent although they were constantly under pressure of conversion and conquest by Muslim neighbors. Finally, the Islamic wave that spread into the Sahara Desert gave way to wealthy African States by the extensive trade of salt and gold. Overall, the transformation of African Societies by the spread of Islam and Christianity was beneficial to their individual developments.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Mansa Musa: was the lord of the African empire of Mali that is known for his famous hajj, or pilgrimage, to Mecca in the Middle East in 1324, distributing gold brought from his African Empire. Mansa Musa was fascinating towards all and his fame spread throughout the Islamic world. Mansa Musa's caravan symbolized the wealthy potential of Africa. The west African gold was well known in the world economy and africa had contact and trade with much of the world. Upon returning to Mali from his hajj to Mecca, Mansa Musa began the building of new mosques. Mansa Musa also developed his patrionism of Timbuktu as a city of scholars while on his journey to Mecca. Mansa Musa was an example of how Africa was transformed by the spread of religion. The increase in trade that was brought about by the spread of Islam in Africa can conclude to the transformation of African Societies. African societies became wealthy because of an increase in trade and developed political organization because of Islamic influences.<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> ** <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 25px;"> [By examining the map, it can be seen that the "green areas" or the states of North Africa contain the most Muslim population because Muslims had moved into North Africa beginning in 500 CE]**
 * Modern- Day Muslim Population in North Africa:



<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;"> Spread of Christianity in North Africa:

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal;">Christianity as well as Islam spread through Africa and Christian converts had been made in Egypt and Ethiopia even before the conversion of the Roman Empire. The Christians of Egypt, also known as the Copts, developed a rich tradition while in contact with the Byzantine Empire. The Copts translated the Gospels from Greek to Coptic, which was similar to the language of Ancient Egypt. When Egypt was eventually conquered by Arab armies and the majority of the population was converted to Islam, the Copts remained faithful to Christianity, and the Arabic rulers recognized this and remained tolerant. Christianity was therefore able to spread up the Nile into Nubia and into finally Kush. When Arab armies attempted to conquer Kush, there was a strong resistance by Christian descendants. Although African Christian societies such as Nubia, Kush, and Ethiopia were facing constant pressure of conversion and conquest by Muslim neighbors, these African societies remained Christian and fiercely independent. Christianity remained an independent religion in North Africa and continuously avoided the pressures and conquers of nearby Islamic city-states. <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal;">

Christian church in Ethiopia-


<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;"> <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;"> Art in North Africa: Traditional art found in North Africa are wooden masks, which might be either humans, animals, or mythical creatures are one of the most commonly found forms of art in North and West Africa. Ceremonial masks were used for celebrations initiations, crop harvesting, and war preparation. The masks could be worn in different ways: vertically covering the face as helmets, encasing the entire head as a crest, or resting upon the head. African masks often represented a spirit which was believed that the spirit of the ancestors posses the person wearing the mask. In North Africa, art contained emphasis on the human figure. The human figure was the primary subject of African art, and this emphasis even influenced certain European traditions that also emphasized on the human figure. Muslims as well influenced North African art after there appearance in North Africa by the representation of Islamic mosques, Muslim traditions, and Muslim clothing in many images of North African art.

*Phoenicians and Carthage:
===The Phoenicians came from the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea in land we now call Lebanon. Their land was arid and inhospitable for farming, so they turned to the sea to become the greatest travelers and traders of their time. The Phoenicians invented the alphabet, and taught several cultures their advanced system of writing.=== ===The Phoenicians extended their influence across North Africa and settled Carthage in the modern nation of Tunisia, as a trading post. The word Carthage means "new city". The Phoenicians chose Carthage because of its location in the center of North Africa, a short distance away from Sicily and the Italian Peninsula. When the Assyrians and the Persians conquered the original homeland of the Phoenicians, Carthage became an independent state.===
 * After the third Punic war, Rome invaded Carthage and had it burned to the ground. The great Carthaginian general Hannibal had been defeated and Rome continued its expansion into the Mediterranean.**

The Ottomans had loose control over Northern Africa. They left government rule for local governors known as “pashas”.
===North Africa at about 8000 to 3000 BC was the home to elephants, giraffes, rhinos, hippos and even fishes. The nomadic tribes started settling down into communities around this time too. North Africa’s first civilizations started really appearing around 3000 BC though. Paintings left from this time tell us that the people living in this area wore animal skins as clothing. Pottery was also left and that shows how many skillful people lived during that time.=== ===At about 122 BC, there was a first try at making a Roman colony in North Africa at Carthage. After thirty years, the idea was dismissed. Then after the death of Julius Caesar, a Roman city was developed. It became known as Colonia Julia Carthago. All of the Roman provinces were located at present day Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, and Libiya.=== ===From the 6th –7th century AD, all of North Africa was under Roman rule. The king of the Vandals was captured and it leads to Carthage being taken over. But the power eventually was back to normal and Carthage became an imperial city. This was before the Arabs came and took over though. It is known as one of the most dramatic expansion plans in history. But in 632, Muhammad dies and the whole western half of Arabia is Muslim. Then in 635, all of Arabia was considered to be Muslim.=== ===The beginning of the conquest of the Arabs was in 640 AD. The Arab army began at Babylon and captured it to make it into their own town. Next, the army moved toward the town of Alexandria. They figured out the conquest of this town wasn’t as easy as the capture of Babylon. A treaty had to be signed eventually. It said that the Arabs would give the Greeks that were in Alexandria a year to leave. The next two towns the Arab army went to were Cyrenaica and Tripoli. Then in 670 AD, there was an Arab town founded at Kairouan. This was located like 60 mile away from Carthage which at the time was a Byzantine city. By 698 AD, Carthage was destroyed again. By 711, Africa was fully controlled by the Arabs.=== ===This changed in 909 AD. Ubaydulla, an Ismaili leader conquered a huge part of North Africa. He made a dynasty called Fatimd. After a 60 year period, an army from this dynasty conquered Egypt. A capital is then founded here. By the 11th century, the empire is at its highest point of power. The capital is Cairo. This included Sicily, the western side of the Arabian peninsula and part of the Mediterranean coast.=== ===At 1062, the Berbers started conquering the northwestern part of Africa. But by 1147, the capital Marrakech falls to another dynasty of Berbers, the Almohads. Here, they practiced the Islam religion. They conquered the whole coast of north Africa by 1159. But the Almohads started losing power by 1229.=== ===In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Berber dynasties collapsed. Now that the north African coast was free, Spain and Turkey saw this as a good opportunity to conquer. This fight between these two areas went on for most of the 16th century. Finally, Turkey won the battle between them. The Ottoman empire was now in north Africa. By 1574, most of north Africa was under control of the Ottomans.===

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">**Political unity in North Africa:** ===<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> " Stateless Societies "- These societies were considered stateless societies because they were organized around a kinship, and the state lacked a concentration of political power and authority. Stateless societies had forms of government, but the power and authority could be held by council of families or communities. The religion that was practiced by most African societies was an animistic religion which was the belief in the power of natural forces, spirits and gods, and rituals and worship. The development of powerful states in Africa can help us determine the impact of the spread of Islam. Africa developed city-states that resembled the developments of western Europe. The increase in trade that arose during the spread of Islam throughout Africa could have constituted for the similarity between the city states of Ancient Greece and African city-states. But this similarity could have come primarily from the Greeks themselves, since Greek cities were established in Northern Africa before Christianity spread there. Egypt had become an important part of the Greek world, primarily because Egypt was valued especially for their surplus of grain. Between 640 and 700 CE, followers of Muhammad swept across north Africa where conversion took place rapidly and political unity was formed by the Abassid dynasty. Political unity of Northern Africa eventually broke when African societies separated and developed city-states. === Economy- -<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> From 800B.C until 600 C.E North Africa was involved in trade of barley and grain with Sumer and Persia -<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> They were also involved in iron working and trade with Rome and classical empires. -<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> Trade was conducted on camel back. -<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> After much of North Africa converted to Islam, they engaged in trade with fellow Muslims merchants. -<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> North Africa, fully involved in the Mediterranean and Arab economic world stood clearly apart from the economies of other parts of Africa .<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> -<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> Before the European Renaissance, the Muslims were the most advanced in technology and medicine. They spread this through cultural diffusion to those in North Africa. <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal;"> Africa's had little contact with the rest of the world before Muslims invaded: <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> · The Sahara Desert is hot and dry. It was almost impossible to cross without modern transportation. · The few rivers that flow from sub-Saharan Africa contain many high waterfalls that make travel difficult. · Both the sub-Saharan Africans and the people north of the desert were fearful of venturing into the ocean. · The tsetse flies that live on the edge of the desert carry deadly diseases.
 * Before the spread of Christianity and Islam in Africa, Africa lacked political unity mainly because of their differences in geography, language, religion, and politics. African Civilization had neither a universal state or religion. The spread of Christianity and Islam in Africa contributed to the development of large states and empires. Before the spread of Islam and Christianity throughout Africa, African societies had rulers who obtained control through a hierarchy of officials.**

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 29px;"> **Rise of an economy:** <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 17px;">
====<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 17px;">The Sahara desert never served as an absolute barrier to communication between human societies. Small amounts of nomadic people had began living in the Sahara Desert beginning about 5000 B.C.E. Even in classical and Ancient times of North Africa, merchants organized expeditions along the desert. The arrival of camels quickened the pace of communication and transportation across the Sahara. When Arab conquerers established their Islamic faith in North Africa during the Seventh and Eighth centuries, they also expanded the region into a rapidly growing zone of trade, commerce, and communication. Muslim merchants who were located in the North African States continuously traveled to West Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa in search of foreign goods. They especially traveled to the Principal State of West Africa at the time that completely transformed by the spread of Islam in Africa. This state was the Kingdom of Ghana, located between the Senegal and Niger rivers. Ghana developed as a state approximately during the Fourth or Fifth Century CE. As trade across the Sahara desert increased, Ghana became the most important commercial site in west Africa because it was the center for trade in gold, for consumers that came from the Mediterranean Basin and in the Islamic World (Middle East). Aside from gold, Ghana supplied ivory and slaves for the traders from North Africa. The spread of Islam in Northern Africa eventually led to the conversion of Ghana to Islam. Their conversion led to improved relations with Muslim merchants from North African States. <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal;"> Key Notes in North Africa's increase of trade: <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 17px;"> ==== <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;"> -The civilizations that flourished in ancient West Africa were all based on trade, so successful West African leaders tended to be conciliators rather than warriors. Caravans from North Africa crossed the Sahara beginning in the seventh century of the Common Era. -Gold from West Africa was exchanged for something the West Africans prized even more: salt. Salt was used as a flavoring, a food preservative, and for retaining body moisture. -The first people to make the trek across the desert were the Berbers of North Africa, who brought their strict Islamic faith across the Sahara. The Berbers converted many of the merchants of West Africa to Islam, but most of the common people retained their traditional beliefs. The ancient West Africans, like Native Americans and the Sumerians, believed that many gods existed in nature. They did not accept the Muslim belief in one god.

Map of trans-Saharan Trade Routes:
<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px;">

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">[This is an image of the trans-Saharan trade route that stretched from the Middle East to Sub-saharan Africa. Muslim merchants that were located in the city-states of North Africa traveled to West Africa and Sub-saharan Africa, spreading their Islamic faith and trading for gold and spices. As you can see, this map concentrates on the trade routes located in West Africa, specifically the Kingdom of Mali. Trade routes lead from Northern Africa to West Africa because Muslim merchants traveled to West Africa in search of gold.]

<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"> [This map of North and West Africa depicts the trade routes through the Sahara Desert as well as Mansa Musa's route to Mecca in 1324. It also shows the location of specific salt and gold mines in West Africa]

<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 25px;">**Ancient Ruins of Timbuktu-**

<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 25px;">**media type="youtube" key="GEELPdgFSxU" height="340" width="560" <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: normal; font: normal normal normal 18px/normal Helvetica; line-height: normal;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: normal; font: normal normal normal 18px/normal Helvetica; line-height: normal;">- To many westerners, Timbuktu is a shrouded mystery, existing more in the mind than on the map. The city of Timbuktu borders the Sahara Desert and is in the North-West African nation of Mali, but it was once the economic and cultural hub, enjoying a privileged position in the middle of the trans-Saharan trade routes. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">The great Djingareyber, Sankoré and Sidi Yahia mosques, built during Timbuktus golden age from the 14th to the 16th centuries. These mosques were most likely built because of muslim influence, and because Mali converted to the Islam religion in order to be on better terms with the muslim merchants. Built mainly of mud, the mosques are highly vulnerable to climate change. Sand encroachment, believed to be a result of land cultivation and grazing, represents a constant and increasing threat to the mosques. Global warming is also projected to raise temperatures still further in the region, and extreme precipitation events are expected to become more frequent and even more extreme. This combination of climate conditions will cause damage to the mosques and threatens to consign Timbuktus magnificent past to the realms of mythology. **