THEE CENTRAL AFRICA By Anthony, Ruben, Maria, Janelle, and Dylan

IntroWhen my colleagues and I were asked to represent Central Africa we were stoked! We were very happy to represent the best part of Africa, the part that most deserved to be featured in the great series that Engineering and Empire is. In this presentation we will show you just how great Central Africa is. Have fun!

What EaE is all aboutSome of the major similarities between civilizations featured on Eae are: ★ Leaders gaining power through family.★ Cities that are well protected and that thrive

with a healthy economy★ Trade with others★ A key component that sets them apart from

other civilizations★ Rich geography★ Large armies★ Vast land control ★ A set social structure (Religion) where the

King is on top

YorubaYoruba was in present day Nigeria and founded in about the 7th century. It was divided into states (like the han chinese) and the most powerful and famous of these states were the Ife and Benin. These states were founded in between 7th and 10th centuries. Ife rose to its peak around the 11th century and did not lose influence and power until the 16th century. Thats 500 years of power!

• The ruler of the Benin empire claimed that he was the son of a Yoruba deity

• Their cities were filled with lots of people and they were very prosperous, much like Rome during the Pax Romana

• They were very famous for their art, like the Greeks were famous for architecture

• Benin’s land stretches from modern day Lagos and Niger to the Niger River (a full 566 KM!)

The Benin Empire

Benin Empire Flag (Greatest flag ever)

The Land of the Benin Empire

Art in Central AfricaCentral African artists from the time period of Ife and Benin

were renowned for their technique and the beauty of their art. Benin artists created idealistic sculptures made of brass and copper of their rulers. Brass plaques were created to hang on the walls and columns of the royal palaces to commemorate legends, historical events, and the acts of the royals. Benin artists learned the technique to make the statues, called the lost wax process, from another state in Yoruba named Ife. Ife made sculptures too, but they were sculpted out of wood and ivory. Archaeologists have also found detailed terra cotta statues, very similar to the terracotta warriors that were sculpted in Han China.. Central African art prized all over the world and is featured in many of the greatest museums.

Kings, Power, and Cities of Yoruba

• The Yorubians gained power by claiming that they were descendants from the first Ife ruler, much like Egyptians, Europeans, and the Han Chinese

• The Yorubians evolved from small communities to large kingdoms under powerful kings, just like the Romans and Han Chinese

• Yorubian kings were religious and political leaders, just like the Emperor of the Roman Empire

• Yorubian Chiefs regarded the king as the highest spiritual authority, like the kings of Europe and their lords

• The Yorubian kingdoms had high walls to protect itself,like the Byzantine city of Constantinople

• Their cities had very organized marketplaces and housing, like basically every other successful empire

Kings, Power, and Cities of Benin

• Just like the kings of Yoruba,the kings of Benin gained power by claiming to be descendants of the first king of Ife.

• Ewuare, the king of Benin in the 1400’s, made Benin a powerful kingdom by building up a large army which he used to control a large area of land which stretched from the Nigerian River Delta to current day Lagos, Nigeria, just like the Romans, Han Chinese, and English

• Benin City was surrounded by walls. It had broad roads which allowed for faster travel, like the Romans, and neatly lined houses.

• Starting in the 1480’s Portuguese explorers began trade with Benin. This started a long era of trading with Europe. (Most large Empires traded goods with other empires)

Geography of Central Africa• Rainforest basins of the Congo River

(second longest river in the world after the Nile) surround most of Central Africa.

• The area of the Congo Basin increases 1.7 million people every year creating more demand for shelter, food, and fuel damaging the already dwindling rainforest.

• Rivers, plateaus (both high and low), and mountains are scattered throughout Central Africa.Current crops for exports include cocoa, coffee, and rubber.

Congo Basin

Annotated Bibliography★ Holt McDougal. "Western African Civilizations." World History: Patterns of Interaction. N.p.: Holt McDougal, n.d. 419-20. Print.

Written by a textbook company, giving them scholarly credit. This helped give me background information about the Benin Empire.★ Bortolot, Alexander I. "Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History." Origins and Empire: The Benin, Owo, and Ijebu Kingdoms. N.p., n.d. Web.

31 Jan. 2014. Written by a very trusted person. Helps with the beginnings of the Benin Empire. This was about the art of the Benin Empire. It

★ "Art of Ancient Africa." Boundless. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Feb. 2014. Told all about the art and how it was in Africa. Very helpful for art information. It was written for students.

★ BBC. "Ife and Benin." BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 03 Feb. 2014. The author is the company BBC, giving it great credibility. This helps give background of the Benin and Ife. It was written for anyone, but mainly people that have background in history.

★ WWF. "WWF - Top 10 Facts about the Congo Basin." WWF. WWF, 17 Sept. 2007. Web. 03 Feb. 2014. The author is the WWF, a very credible source for all kinds of information. It is written for an average person. It gave us basic facts on the geography of the area near the Benin and Ife empire’s in present day. The work presented on this online article provide a detail list of number-based facts, including square miles in size, population increase per year, and a percentage of it’s remaining rainforests. These facts can be used in the Geography Slide of this presentation because it gives the topic a more statistical way of seeing the area surrounding the focused land of Central Africa.

★ Anonymous, Geography: Central Africa, African Cultural Center, Web★ The work presented on this online page provides a short history of Central Africa multiple conquers done by the British, French, and

others. It also provides viewers with Central Africa’s current crop production. This information can be used in the Geography Slide of the presentation because it allows viewers to be informed of what is being made useful in Central Africa that is being sent and used elsewhere.

★ Bortolot, Alexander Ives. "Origins and Empire: The Benin, Owo, and Ijebu Kingdoms". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/beni_2/hd_beni_2.htm (October 2003)

★ Willett, Frank. "Ife and its Archeology ." 1.2 (1960): 231-248. Web. 3 Feb. 2014. <http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/180242?searchUri=/action/doBasicSearch?Query=Ancient+Ife+History&prq=Ife+History&hp=25&acc=on&wc=on&fc=off&so=rel&racc=off&resultItemClick=true&Search=yes&searchText=Ancient&searchText=Ife&searchText=History&uid=2&uid=4&sid=21103451477333>.

★ Suzanne Preston Blier, . N.p.. Web. 3 Feb 2014. <http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/AFAR_a_00029>.★ Frank Willett was an anthropologists, archeologists, museum curator, Professor, as well as other titles. His expertise in African

archeology make him a very useful source. His article “Ife and it’s archeology” provides fundamental information on the life in Ife and the many great wonders it had to offer like its art and rituals. This information will let us show that Western Africa is the best part of Africa.

This is you

THANKS FOR WATCHINGWritten by: Ruben, Anthony, Maria, Janelle and

THANKS FOR WATCHINGWritten by: Ruben, Anthony, Maria, Janelle and Dylan