ancient african social structure

Most involved a keen belief in spirits of different kind; of the afterlife; of a spiritual dimension to the land; and of evil. Interesting Facts about Traditional Religions of Ancient Africa The people of the Mali Empire believed in a magical force called "nyama." The religious beliefs of Africans impacted all aspects of their everyday lives including their food, work, and family life. Ancient Africa's government was not very stable because everyone was not unified this is because every village had a different leader. Given the nomadic nature of these societies the spiritual power in question could not be tied to a particular area might, indeed, be a universal spirit who controlled all the land. A medieval (c. 1220-1450) kingdom located in modern-day Zimbabwe. FIAT DOBLO (2015-) VANIKA DO KUFRA. They must also have all been centers of exchange, yet many African towns, especially outside West Africa (where commercial activity was a major function in urban settlements), seem to have had no markets. When Europeans arrived in the region, in the 1500s, they found only a small population of hunter-gatherers there. African societies never really ceased to be colonizing societies, and this profoundly influenced all aspects of African culture. Eventually, however, immigrant rulers usually learnt to co-exist with local religious practitioners. They have used a wide range of techniques, building up the productivity of the land through manuring, terracing, and digging channels to lead water from stream to field, sometimes across wooden aqueducts. Although it is generally agreed that the term social structure refers to . On the whole, though, anthropologist have emphasized the rational, experimental nature of African medicine. The original settlers became the founding ancestors of the new community, and because it was they who had struck the original pact with the spirits of the land, it was they alone who could communicated with them, even (or especially) after death. There was a strongly felt urge to claim new land for future generations by burying their dead in it. NTlmYTU5OWZlYjIyNzk0NmRkZjAxMGZiMTRhMzBkYWViYTY4ZmNjYjlmNDMz In some kingdoms, such as Songhai and the Hausa states in West Africa, and Kongo and Luba in Equatorial Africa, slave labour was on a larger scale than in other places. However, populations of pygmies also inhabited large tracts of tropical forest which covered much of equatorial and western Africa. Anthropologists have noted that much of the education of the young has involved attaining an incredibly detailed knowledge of soils and plants, and their properties. Cleverness, bravery, charm, charisma and aggression could provide the success to bring high status and abundant wealth in many circumstances. The continent of Africa covers several broad climatic zones. To judge by reports of early European travelers, many Africans had the misfortune to find themselves without kin, and unable to work. A popular form of leisure was a board game called mankala. Here are eight of Africa's greatest ancient civilizations. Equality was very important in these tribes and all people were treated equally. Highly advanced and sophisticated African civilizations, cultures, societies, and statessuch as Ancient Egypt, Kush/Nubia, Axum, Ghana, Mali, and Asanteevolved throughout the continent from the ninth century before the Christian era (BCE) to the nineteenth century CE.African political systems and institutions were traditionally based on kinship and lineage (i.e., common ancestry . This wilderness was the abode of wild animals, fatal diseases, violent fugitives, evil spirits and other shadowy dangers which posed a constant threat to settled life. But this use of the term is inaccurate; Bantu peoples make up only about a third of Africa . Throughout sub-Saharan Africa, therefore, metalworkers were held in awe. The foundation myths of several states, including the kingdom of Benin, tell of populations inviting a foreigner to settle among them, to settle their disputes and provide them with leadership. At a much higher level, some kingdoms gave high status to female members of the royal family. Learn about the Bantu migrations,. Mostly the colonizers centralized power in the hands of the chiefs of the native administration so that these chiefs could better accomplish the tasks given them, like the collection of taxes. MWI3NWQ1OWEzZmIwYTEzNDljYTRjZTRiNTE5OTBiMjQ1YTI5NDk3ODM0ZDY5 Whereas the people round about were Berbers, they were of black descent, either descended from captives brought there from further south or the last remnants of Negroid peoples who had lived in the region when it had a wetter climate. Village clusters would be located in areas suitable for intensive crop production river valleys, floodplains, lakesides and other well-watered places. Stateless peoples As a result of these factors, throughout Africas premodern history, locations where densely-populated farming societies could emerged, and in which urban civilizations could be built, have been fewer and more scattered than most other regions of the world. On the other hand, everyone, regardless of sex or age, was required to work in the fields in times of peak activity such as harvest, and in some societies men prided themselves in their diligence as farmers. One way in which the older generation could impose its control on the younger was through initiation. Your access to this site was blocked by Wordfence, a security provider, who protects sites from malicious activity. This bred a society in which extra-marital sex was common and accepted, and young men adopted an attitude of machismo and insolence towards their elders. Metalwork held a special place in African culture. In many places herders and cultivators, or cultivators and hunter-gatherers, lived in close proximity with each other, exchanging products on a regular basis. Keywords population phratries gene citizenship metics slavery Type Chapter Information Men were usually killed, perhaps as ritual sacrifices. This article looks at the societies and cultures of sub-Saharan Africa in pre-modern history. In many cases, however, craft production was devoted to local, regional or long-distance trade. Their inhabitants regulated their affairs by means of commonly-accepted custom, relying on shamans or priests at area shrines for mediation, hierarchies of titled individuals of varying ranks who had moral authority within their communities, and/or in some cases on secret societies. The donkeys also were domesticated independently in the Ethiopian and Somalian region, but the majority of the domesticated animals came there from the regions around . In many societies, the village chief, as the senior descendant of the founding ancestor, was deemed to have a special relationship with the spirit world. Here, regional trade networks grew up based on such geographically specialized products as fish and salt. At the opposite end of the scale, however, women probably made up the majority of slaves, and occupied a powerless and utterly dependent position in society. Secondly there was the nobles, people who fought in the King's army and provided it with weapons. Such famines were usually caused by drought, but plagues of locusts or unseasonably heavy rains could also devastate crops. In cattle-herding societies, and some crop-growing societies which were in close proximity to them, the young men were grouped into an age set of junior warriors. 1. They also had a reputation for being independent-minded. (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1969) p.33 Lucy P. Mair, "African Marriage and Social Change," in Survey of African Marriage and Family Life, Edited by Arthur Phillips, (London: Oxford University Press, 1953). They had done this by the start if the first millennium BCE. Famine was another source of slaves, causing people to sell themselves, or their children, into slavery in order to survive. Olikenyi (2001) explains that, African hospitality which he contends is a vital aspect of existence in Africa in general, is one of the few facets of ancient African culture that is still intact and strongly The 25th dynasty was a line of pharaohs who originated in the Kingdom of Kush that reigned in part or all of Ancient Egypt for nearly a century, from 744 to 656 BC. Some towns specialized in a particular industry, such as leather-making, bead-making or metal-work, for which they were renowned over a large area. African kingdoms suffered severely from the divisive effects of violent competition between royal princes. Social There were six social classes in Ancient Ghana. Tenkamenin was in management of the traded gold along the Sahara Desert into West Africa. The geography of Sub-Saharan Africa poses severe challenges to the rise and spread of pre-modern civilization. The unequal access to women made for severe tensions between males of different generations the young men felt frustration, envy and anger with the older men for monopolizing the female sex. New findings from a study of 12 diverse groups in Africa shed new light on the origin of modern humans, ancient . These more local groups formed the enduring units of African societies, centers of local power which provided the building blocks of larger polities, and outlasted them. Having said that, no one can look at a Benin bronze figure and argue that skills of the very highest level were lacking in African craftsmanship; and fine crafts were to be found up and down the continent. However, population pressures often forced farmers out onto drier land. Many African kingdoms had lineages of rulers who traced their origins to foreign lands. The main city, Adulis, at the time was a very important port. Not only so, but the general health of the population was regularly weakened by famine. These terms are used to describe societies that did not have a well-defined and complex or centralized systems of government, such as political systems of Ghana, Oyo or Zimbabwe that you studied in Module Seven A In fact, we should not think of communities of cultivators or pastoralists concentrating entirely on a single subsistence strategy. They represent the spectrum of human conditions, from kings and courtiers to the diseased and the executed. They include the second largest freshwater lake in the world, Lake Victoria. Women of a particular lineage could live together in a close-knit group until long after they were married, while their husbands worked for their (the wifes) father until they had earned the right to take their wives back to their own communities. 7. Oratory, debate, story-telling, poetry and conversation were all held in high esteem, and were developed into a highly sophisticated art at the royal courts of African kingdoms and chiefdoms. These were the miners. Compounding these difficulties, sub-Saharan Africa has been largely cut-off from the great centers of civilization elsewhere in Eurasia. -----END REPORT-----. They are in a style of idealized naturalism, most representing kings at the height of their powers. The surrounding bush remained untamed, wild, a source of harm, the abode of dangerous animals and evil spirits. This was usually played communally, and noisily, in the open air, with plenty of noise. Virtually all young men in a community were unmarried. 7th-13th century). NmQ3NzU3NWZiNGRmMjNjOWYyMzgyNGI5NTRhMWYxMDU4YzQ3NDY5ZWFiYmU3 YzZiNWViMjQ5Iiwic2lnbmF0dXJlIjoiNTc2NWJhZDg5MGU4Y2RkZTIxYTFi 4.7. With the evolving of African settlements into bigger towns and cities, the Caste system slowly began to take shape and become a distinctive social structure. The more high-status and long-distance traders, however, were men. This arrangement had the double benefit of giving the group as a whole more security and leaving the older men at home in more secure possession of their wives. Such states could also organize the colonization of outlying areas in a more systematic fashion, perhaps under the leadership of a prince of the royal family. ZWQ2YjhiMDdhMDFlMTNjNjE4OWFkMjBlNjMwYzRjZDFhNjY5OGI2YjhmZDc0 The caste system in India is not the only cultural institution designed to create divisions between social classes. In these, men did the more highly valued work of herding, protecting or raiding cattle, while women did the household chores and cultivated crops a lowly occupation in such societies. Hunter-gatherer peoples had inhabited sub-Saharan Africa for millennia prior to herders, and later agriculturalists, starting to settle the region. As suggested by the above reference to status titles, however, stateless societies were by no means always egalitarian ones. Those humans whose livelihood depended on adventuring into the bush hunters above all but also herbalists and iron workers, who needed wood for their furnaces were regarded with awe, for they must be protected by strong magic to survive such trips. Where there is a spring, a lake or a river, however, cultivation is possible, and in some areas, for example in the inner delta of the River Niger (see below), or on the shores of Lake Chad in West Africa, or the Great Lakes of central Africa, intensive cultivation has allowed concentrations of dense population to grow up. NzlkMGVmMDZkZjMzN2QyN2NjYTRkMGVkOTczNzJjZGYxZTAxZDM3MjAwYWJj In some societies which were sparsely scattered across the land, such a group might form its own hamlet or small village. This crosses the content from its west coast to the east coast. OTBhNmZkZTE4ZDBjMTQzMTljMWY4NDIyMjYxZmIwY2JkZjc4OTk4ZGE1OWMx These West African trade systems were facilitated by an international currency based on cowrie shells, whose distinctive appearance, durability, and limited supply made them very suitable for such a role. For cultivators in particular, any religious beliefs were underpinned by a deeply-held idea about the world in which they found themselves. There were many African societies which have been classified by political historians as stateless or de-centralized. All this implies that womens status in African societies was low, and in some this was indeed the case, especially amongst cattle-herders. It was not well suited to the milder, temperate climate of South Africa. -----BEGIN REPORT----- In many of the great kingdoms of Africa, administration was carried on entirely orally. This crosses much of the continent from east to west, from the Atlantic coast to the highlands of Ethiopia. OWM2MGJhN2I4ZTEwYzE2ZWQ2NDg2N2UzNTJhMWExYjMzMDUxMzM2ZjYzZGU0 Underpopulation meant that disgruntled people could always seek new land beyond the reach of royal authority. YWRiNDliMWQ0MWZmY2UzNDg1NWZhM2Q5NmQzMTM1MzQwZWY5MGZjYjQwNWI2 Herders grew crops as a secondary activity where conditions were suitable, and cultivators also kept animals (outside the forests), fished and hunted hunters were respected, even feared, by other members of the community as they ventured into the hostile wilderness in pursuit of game. But it was ancestors with whom these people directly interacted, and approaching them with sacrifices of cattle. It is inhabited by the San hunter-gatherer people who have adapted their lifestyle to this forbidding environment over 20,000 years. Heredity counted for much, as in most societies, premodern and modern; passing status down from father to son was an important dynamic. The mysteriousness of such knowledge might be reinforced in societies where secret associations had a monopoly of spiritual activity. First are the hunter-gatherer societies. Apart from in West Africa and on the Swahili coast, where true cities had developed, African towns tended to have the appearance of large villages, or clusters of villages. These ancestral spirits thus became the channel through which spiritual forces could be accessed. They were much more likely to have to go and live in their husbands familys village after marriage, which put them in a comparatively powerless position. However the more organized societies such kingdoms had groups of full-time professional craftsmen. Egyptian society was structured like a pyramid. African farming has relied on a thorough understanding of local environments, to an extent which has astonished Western observers. Just south of the narrow band of temperate climate in North Africa is the largest desert in the world, the Sahara. Throughout sub-Saharan Africa, this often took the form of inter-generational tensions between elder males with multiple wives and younger males with no wives. The untamed forests have remained home to hunter-gatherer peoples, notably the pygmies. All these diseases were, despite higher levels of resistance in indigenous populations to foreign ones (West Africa in particular would become known as the The White Mans Grave) were all widespread killers.

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