HIS 111
Unit 12: African Society

The Great Zimbabwe ruins, the Central Enclosure, a UNESCO World Heritage site; photo courtesy Jan Derk, Wikipedia Commons.  The "Great Zimbabwe," built between 400 and 1400 CE , encompassed about 1,800 acres in present-day Zimbabwe.

• Read chapter 14 and the section on Africa in chapter 6 in the textbook.
• Read the Ibn Battuta excerpt on the African kingdom of Mali.
• Read the notes on early African Society.
• Watch my short video.
• Study the Questions to Consider and the Key Terms for the unit.
• SUBMIT the required Ibn Battuta group project and peer evaluations (100 points).

• Check out the nice student project, created by Sara Anniki, on Sunjiata.

• Mansa Musa and Islam in Africa: Crash Course World History #16
• 8 The Golden Age of Ghana & Mali
• 13 Great Zimbabwe
• 7 The Kingdom of Mali: Built on Gold
• Highly recommended -- the PBS series Wonders of the Ancient World narrated by Henry Louis Gates Jr. These programs are all great, but the ones on Nubia and Kush were fantastic.
• For extra credit please suggest to your instructor a relevant video for this unit of the course. Send the title of the video, the URL and a brief explanation of why you find the video interesting and applicable to the material that is being studied in this unit.

• For up to 10 points of extra credit, read the selected Accounts of Meröe, Kush, and Axum and write a long paragraph in which you comment on aspects of ancient society in northeastern Africa.
• For up to 5 points of extra credit, you can submit the answers to the Ibn Battuta study questions.  Please write in formal, complete sentences.
• For extra credit find a complete (and legal) version of the epic of Sundiata Keita (sometimes spelled Sunjiata) online.
• For extra credit, please suggest a relevant website for this unit of the course.  Send your instructor the title of the site, the URL and a brief explanation why you find the information interesting and applicable to the material being studied this unit.

• Upon successful completion of this unit, you will be able to (1) demonstrate knowledge of African society before 1500 and (2) analyze historical primary sources.