Early African History

Early African History Quiz

Before beginning our study of African literature it is necessary to have a basic overview of African history.

For this assignment you will be studying web resources on early African history. On the day of the quiz you will need to write a short answer to one of the questions below. I will announce which question the day of the quiz, so be prepared to answer all of them. No notes will be allowed.

Basic answers to the questions are available on the MSU Exploring Africa website, see pages linked below. You will need to take careful notes on these pages and study your notes. You can improve or elaborate your answers by drawing on what you learn from other resources, such as the BBC Story of Africa site and others hyperlinked below. Notice with the BBC site that each page has a series of valuable pages linked to it that are part of the same content.

1. What were the main periods of pharonic Egypt? What else was going in Africa at this time? What are the main African rivers and lakes and where are they located? Exploring Africa: Egypt/lakes. BBC Nile Valley

2. What were some of the early empires of Africa and what were their accomplishments? Exploring Africa: Early Empires. BBC Kingdoms, BBC Swahili

3. How did Islam come to Africa and spread in the continent? Exploring Africa: Islam and Regions prior to 16th C. BBC Traditional Religions, BBC Islam

4. What was life like prior to the 16th C in Great Zimbabwe, the Congo Forest, and the Great Lakes Region? Exploring Africa: Islam and Regions prior to 16th C.