Africa Essay, Research Paper

THE ENVIRONMENT OF ANCIENT AFRICAN CIVILIZATIONS

The environment is an extremely important factor in determaing the developement of a civilization. It can help advance a civilization or impede it. In ancient Africa, the environment affected the different civilivations, such as the Sahel, the Wagado Empire and the Mbuti of the Ituri Forest. The environment uopn many aspects of these and other civilizations, such as agriculture, technology, trade, daily life and even sometimes the physical appearence of the people in the civilization were greatly affected by their environment.

The Sahel, which was located in West Africa and south of the Sahara Desrt, was affected by its environment. In ancient times, the climate of the climate of the Sahel was not so hot and dry, it allowed the people of the civilization to cultivate the land and gro crops. There was a wet season, most of the crops would grow and a dry season, when the winter crops would grow. The lands of the Shael were covered with natural grasses, which was great for raising cattle, sheep and goats. the manure that was produced by these animals would then help enrich the soil. Some of the lands of Sahel had iron deposits, which helped advanced their technology. Iron spears ,swrods ans hoes were developed. The iron weapons helped the Sahel protect itself and the tools helped with agriculture. Iron objects were alos valueable, so they were used to of rtrading and helped the people of the Sahel become skilled traders. The environment helped advance the ancient civilization known as Sahel.

The Wagadu Empire was an Ancient African civilization whose environment impoact its trade and daily life. This empire was located south of the Sahara and in between the SEngal River and the Niger River. Due to this civilization’s location, people were able to use rivers to trade with other civilizations. In those (300-1200 AD), rivers were the fastest and easiest way to carry goods. Since the Wagadu Empire was located by the Sengal Rivel, the people in the empire were able to mine for gold in the Banbuk Mountains beyond the river. They would then this gold to trade with other civilizations for goods, such as salt. The trade of salt was important ti the Wagadu Empire due to its environment. The people lived in a tropical heat and would sweat out the salt in their bodies very quickly. This lack of salt would cause their blood to dry, which would then cause them to collapse. The people of the WAgadu Empire would trade gold for salt, put salt on their lips and lick it while eating to replace the missing salt. The environment of Wagadu Empire helped advance thecivilization, but also had some negetive affects.

The Mbuti of the Ituri Forest’s environment impacted aspects of their developement, from their physical appearence, from their physical apppearence food, and more. The Mbuti lived in a cool, dense forest known as the Ituri Forest. These people were small; no more than 140cm tall and they weighed no more than 45kg. It is believed that their compact size was a result of them adapting to their environment. Their small stature allowed them to move more easily amd smoothly though their forest homes. Th Ituri forest provided the Mubti with alll of thier needs, from food, to clothing, to shelter, to water and fire. The men would hunt the animals of teh forest for food while the women would gather mushrooms, roots, nuts, berries and grubs. They would get their clothing from the barks of the trees and their shelter from building huts out of saplings and leaves of mogongo trees. The environment of the Mbuti of the Ituri forest was vital to the development and survival of the civilization.

The environment of a civilization is very important in determining whether a civilazation will flourish or fall. It affects many aspects of the develpoment of acivilization, for example, trade, agriculuture, technology, shelter and many more. the environment of Ancient African civilizations, such as Sahel, the Wagadu and the Mbuti of the Ituri Forest, impacted their development greatly. THese civilizations would not have been what they were if their environment was different.