African Empires

What do we know about life in the great African medieval kingdoms?

How do we know this?
What happened to these civilisations? Why did they fall?




VIDEO
Mansa Musa's pilgrimage
Great Zimbabwe - Lost Kingdom of Africa
West African Kingdoms
The lost library of Timbuktu



Mansa Musa, the gold of Mali and Britain's wealth




The Kingdom of Ghana - from a website created by Ghanaians keen to preserve their history.

West Africa before the Europeans - created by the National Archive, the British government's centre where historical records are kept.
West African Empires - from the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Timbuktu - from the Muslim Heritage website set up by the Foundation for Science, Technology and Civilisation.
African timelines - on a website set up by a College in the USA.
Great Zimbabwe - from the BBC.
Songhay - from the BBC.
Ancient Ghana - from the BBC.
Mali - from the BBC.
Benin - from the BBC.
Kilwa - from the BBC

For advice, ideas and help from a fellow Year 8 student click here.

For information about the trade in enslaved Africans go here or here or here