| A | B |
|---|
| Aksum | kingdom south of Kush |
| animism | belief that spirits live in trees, rocks, mountains, and the air |
| Arabic | language of northern Africa as a result of the spread of Islam |
| camels | specially designed to survive in the desert |
| Cathay | African name for ancient China |
| clan | largest family group; All members could trace their ancestry to a common relative |
| Ethiopia | what the Greeks called Aksum |
| Ezana | Ethiopian king who accepted Coptic Christianity due to Frumentius's influence |
| family | most important element of traditional African culture |
| Frutmentius | Ethiopian slave who introduced Coptic Christianity to Ethiopia |
| Ghana | West African empire which prospered due to the trade of salt and gold |
| Golden Age | time period when gold production was prominent in West African empires; 500-1500 A.D. |
| iron | used for weapons and as money |
| Islam | By 700 A.D. this religion controlled northern Africa. |
| Kikuyu | African clan who believed in only one god, Ngai |
| Kilwa | "one of the finest and most substantially built towns" |
| Kush | kingdom south of Egypt; capital city of Napata |
| Lalibela | city where eleven churches were carved into the rock |
| maize | another name for corn |
| Mali | due to its large army, provided a secure environment which allowed trade to flourish |
| Mansa Musa | ruler of Mali who converted to Islam |
| Menelik | legendary child of King Solomon and the queen of Sheba |
| Sahel | a narrow strip of land between the Sahara and the savannah; location of crops such as watermelon and cotton |
| savannah | a large area of flat grasslands |
| Songhai | third empire to rise in western Africa; ruled by Sunni Ali |
| tribes | two or more clans that shared a common language |
| Zimbabwe | means "great house of stone"; located between the Limpopo and Zambezi Rivers |
| Mogadishu | formerly called Mukdisho; modern city on the eastern coast of Somalia |
| Ngai | the god worshiped by the Kikuyu people |
| Sunjata | Mali's founder |
| Swahili | trade language built upon the Bantu language |
| Zinj | a people whom the Kilwa people made jihad against |
