White Plains Middle School



The Bantu Migration: A Journey through Sub-Saharan Africa

E. Napp

Objective: To describe the impact of the Bantu migration on Sub-Saharan Africa

Do Now: Define migration and state two reasons why people migrate. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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"When people move, they move for a reason. They move because the population has expanded. They move because the resources which support the population in the settlements have become more or less inadequate. They move because there are changes to the climate and they move for the sake of finding better areas in which to live."

~Professor Leonard Ngcongco, University of Botswana

“Chief among the reasons for migration is environmental stress and population increase in West Africa, forcing people to move. It is important to realize that these people are not moving across the landscape like bugs bunny or the energizer bunny, but essentially they are moving slowly, gradually inhabiting areas that were good for farming and livestock- raising."

~Dr. Chapirukha Kusimba, Field Museum, Chicago

“It is not entirely clear how the Bantu reacted when they came upon existing communities but it is likely that there was considerable absorption, assimilation and displacement of other peoples during the migration period. The Bantu were armed with superior weapons and their iron implements allowed them to cultivate land and clear forests efficiently.”

~ bbc.co.uk

|Possible Bantu Reactions to Communities Encountered |

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Think About it! What was the Bantu advantage? ___________________________________

The Dynamics of Bantu Expansion

(Theme: #1 Human-Environment Interaction)

The Bantu language originated in West Africa around 4000 B.C.E. The earliest speakers settled along rivers and cultivated yams and oil palms. With the ability to travel by canoe and a growing population due to successful agricultural practices, Bantu speakers began to spread across Africa and, by 1000 B.C.E., they inhabited most of the regions south of the equator. Their progress was not in mass migrations but rather incremental and intermittent spurts of migration. After 1000 B.C.E., iron metallurgy hastened the rate of migration because the Bantu had the increased technology to clear forests and prepare soil for agriculture. Today, the language itself has differentiated into more than five hundred distinct languages, each representing a different ethnic group.

Multiple-Choice Questions:

|The original Bantu people |Over hundreds of years, the Bantu people migrated from West Africa to |

| |South and Southwest Asia |

|Cultivated yams and palm oils |Every continent on earth |

|Developed successful agricultural practices |East and South Africa |

|Developed iron-making |All of North Africa and Arabia |

|All of the above | |

| |The Sahara is mostly |

|With regard to Bantu migrations, |Sand, rocks, and gravel |

| |Boulders and sand |

|They never migrated south of the equator |Cliffs and gulley |

|They never lived near rivers |Grasses and bushes |

|They moved all at once and at one time | |

|They spread across Africa |Which of the following is NOT one of the nations in southern Africa? |

| |Zimbabwe |

| |Nigeria |

| |Mozambique |

| |Namibia |

| | |

| | |

| | |

Eye on Africa: The Great Kingdom of Nubia

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|ESSENTIAL QUESTION: |ESSENTIAL QUESTION: |

| | |

|In what ways were Nubia and Egypt connected? |In what ways were Kush and Egypt connected? |

| | |

|Facts: |Facts: |

| | |

|• Nubia—African region south of Egypt, includes modern Sudan |• Egypt controlled parts of Nubia between 2000 and 1000 B.C. |

|• Nubia was divided into two areas |• Egyptian art, architecture, religion influenced Nubia |

|- upper area was southern, upstream |• Egypt declined and Nubian kingdom Kush became powerful |

|- lower area was northern, downstream |• Kushite nobles went to Egypt; brought back rituals, writing system |

|• People of Nubia lived along Nile |- adopted Egyptian customs, clothing styles; adapted pyramids |

|- southern Nubia ( moist climate ( didn’t limit farming to Nile | |

|valley |Answering the Essential Question: |

| |____________________________________ |

|Answering the Essential Question: |____________________________________ |

| | |

|_____________________________________ | |

|_____________________________________ | |

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The Bantu: ~Adapted from

• The Nok were a people originally from West Africa

• Around 500 B.C. the Nok developed the ability to make iron, which revolutionized their way of life

• With improved fishhooks, arrows, spears, hoes, axes and other tools, the Nok became much more productive fishers, hunters and farmers

• Increased food production led to a higher population and eventually the need for more land to provide for more people

• After the development of iron-making skills, the Nok began spreading south and east in search of new land

• From 500 B.C. to 1000 A.D., the descendants of these West African migrants worked their way across most of Africa south of the equator

• Today, these people are known more generally as the “Bantu”, a word that means “people”

• Bantu refers to the language family connecting these widely scattered and diverse peoples

• The Bantu migration spread iron-making and agriculture

• But Bantu cultures adopted herding where it was possible but retained farming, hunting or fishing where it was productive

Questions:

• Where were did the Nok people originally live? _________________________________

• What did the Nok people develop around 500 B.C.? _________________________________

• How did this new ability change the lives of the Nok people? _________________________________

• Where did the Nok begin to spread after this development? _________________________________

• What does the word “Bantu” mean? _________________________________

• What does Bantu refer to? _________________________________

• What did the Bantu spread throughout sub-Saharan Africa? _________________________________

•

4 Reasons for Migrations

Description of Migration

More Facts about the Bantu

Nubia: Africa's Lost World (Adapted from )

Many people have never heard of Nubia. Researchers have focused on Egypt and its treasures. But Sudan has more pyramids than Egypt. Why have archaeologists waited so long to study Nubia closely?

One reason may be racial prejudice. Some scientists did not believe Nubia had its own distinct, great culture. They saw Nubia as just an offshoot of Egypt. But that view is changing. Other researchers have already made important discoveries about Nubia. Scientists have found ceramic figures and bowls that are 3,000 years older than the oldest Egyptian finds!

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