By Chris, Kareena, Matt, Sarah, and Sydney

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Ancient Mali

• By Chris, Kareena, Matt, Sarah, and Sydney

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Map of Mali

• Ancient Mali was tropical savanna
• Malis elevation is between 0 to 1650 feet
• Two rivers in ancient Mali were the Senegal River
  and the Niger River
• Mali was a great place for trade because it was
  located next to the Atlantic ocean

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Geography of Ancient Mali

• Since ancient Mali was mostly located in the
  tropical savannas it didnt have too wet or dry
  soil.
• Ancient Mali had the Sahara desert to the north
  of its civilization.
• Mali also had the tropical rainforests to its
  south.
• The latitude and longitude of ancient Mali is
  around 15 degrees north and 10 degrees west.

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Economy and Trade

• Mali was rich because of trade and conquest.
• Mali became so powerful from trade that they soon
  became the most powerful kingdom in West Africa.
• Mali was near trade routes
• Mali contained three immense gold mines.
• The Malians traded salt and gold. Salt was used
  to flavor food, preserve meat, and to maintain
  good health.
• Mali took control of salt and gold.
• Salt was very valuable and scarce in the rain
  forest region. Salt was so valuable that people
  traded gold for it.
• Copper was also valued very much. They also trade
  it and became rich.

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Economy and Trade

• The people of Mali made a living as farmers,
  miners, blacksmiths, herders, traders, or
  soldiers.
• Farmers plant just enough food that can live off
  of.
• The Mali empire also grew rich by developing
  agricultural resources.
• Since the Malians were close to the Niger River
  they used the fertile soil to grow crops such as
  beans, rice, millet, papaya, gourds, cotton, and
  peanuts.
• Slaves were forced to mine the gold.
• Mali had a strong army to protect the kingdom.

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Culture Family Life and Clothes

• Family Life
• Women worked on farms
• Women earned money through crafts, gardening, or
  by selling homecooked meals
• Men are allowed to have more than 1 wife
• Each wife was allowed to have their own house or
  apartment

Clothes

• Some women wore glass beads
• Women wore a payne and a matching tunic
• Men wore bou bou which is the leaf that they eat.

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Culture Food and Shelter
Shelter
Food

• They ate foods such as
• Rice
• Porridge
• Gruel
• Vegetables
• Meat
• Goat
• Chicken
• Millet
• And Bou bou (which is a leaf)

• Some houses were made out of sticks, stones, and
  iron objects
• Some of the building material they had was Dogon,
  Bambara, Bozo, and Fulan

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Religion of the Mali Empire

• Some of the people in the Mali Empire were
• Islamic and followed the beliefs of
• Muhammad.
• Other people believed in something called
• The Spirits of the Land.
• Even though these two religions were
• completely and entirely different in their
• cultures and their traditions, they were
• both brought together to pray towards Mecca at
  the holy house of worship, or the mosque.
• Lastly, 5 of the Malian Empire's people believed
  in the religion of Christianity and followed the
  beliefs of Jesus Christ.
• This shows that all Muslims, no matter what kind
  they were, were all connected and related to each
  other through their religion

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Leadership and Rule of the Mali Empire

• The Mali empire was a very organized government.
  At the top was a king, next were the priests,
  storytellers, and slaves.
• Because the Malians had a very organized
  government, their reign was extended to be longer
  and larger.
• The founding leader of the Mali Empire was
  Sundiata. He conquered many small kingdoms and
  states. This extended his power from the Atlantic
  Ocean to the middle of Africa.
• Another great Malian leader was
• called Mansa Musa.
• Mansa Musa allowed the trade
• between the northern Muslims
• and the Malians to flourish.
• In conclusion, the Malian
• Empire became very rich and
• powerful because of their really
• strong and powerful rulers.

Ancient Malian Mosque
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Credits

• Slides 1 and 2 were made by Chris.
• Slides 3 and 10 were made by Matt
• Slides 4 and 5 were made by Kareena
• Slides 6 and 7 were made by Sarah
• Slides 8 and 9 were made by Sydney