African Empires4 Essay, Research Paper
The Ancient African Empires were very advanced for there times, they were advanced before any European contacts. Each Empire had its similarities and its differences but none of the empires were exactly the same, but they were all advanced Empires for their time. Even though many people believe that Africa was nothing until the Europeans stumbled upon the land they are very mistaken. The African Empires had set up strong economy, a government system, religious beliefs, and significant advancements without the involvement of Europeans.
The economy of Ancient African Empires was mostly based on trade. Without trade the empires would have no source of economy besides gold. The trade systems of the empires were advanced, the trade market went throughout Africa and had many traders come from many lands mostly Arabs. The Europeans were interested in African products. When they began trading with the Songahi Empire but the Songhai only wanted gold from the European traders. The Africans main trade was food, tools and gold, gold was the most popular trade for all the Empires. Many things were transferred from different areas of Africa due to trade. The Ghana Empire taxed traders that came through, taxes and gold was Ghana s main economy. Without any help from the Europeans the Africans created a steady trade market and a very wealthy economy.
Most of the African Empires had a Monarchy style government that was ruled by a king. The Aksum Empire set up laws for the people to live by and a jail system for criminals to serve time in. Just because you were the king in Africa that didn t mean that you were rich, as in the case of the Ghana King, he wasn t rich yet he was very powerful as commander in chief. In the case of the Kush Empire, they followed off the Egyptian Culture and the way they governed. Some of the government systems in the Empires were more organized then European Governments during that time period.
Many of the African Empires at first were polytheistic, but many of the Empires converted religions. The Islamic and Christian Religion spread into Africa through trade, as well as many other influences in the African Empire. The Aksum Empire at first started off as polytheistic but then converted to Christianity and their main goal was to pray to god. The Ghana Empire also started off being polytheistic but converted to Islamic. Some Empires stayed Polytheistic such as the Kush; the Mali Empire had an Islamic Religion because their first king Sundiaty influenced them.
The significant achievements of the African Empires might surprise many skeptical people. The Aksum Empire had a written language that they used and developed different kinds of art, architecture and technology s without European help. The Ghana Empire transported across the sea and used camels to travel through the desert. Each Empire had its own different style of architect and art to create their own individuality yet show their advancements of their advanced civilizations.
All and all, The African Empires had set up strong economy, a government system, religious beliefs, and significant advancements without the involvement of Europeans. They were advanced in all of those fields and they had there own style of doing it. They were very civilized people with strong religious beliefs; they learned off other cultures applying there ideas to their own daily life creating a perfect civilization that could easily be compared to the Europeans.