9.7: Conclusion

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Africa was not isolated. Instead, oceans and deserts were “highways” in these periods. Aksum, the Western Sudanic states, Great Zimbabwe, and the Swahili coast were all commercially linked to Europe, the Mediterranean, the Arabian Peninsula, the Persian Gulf, Southeast Asia, and even China. Although there were local differences, the ruling classes in each of the states collected tribute from outlying areas and participated in long-distance trade. The wealth of these states supported labor specialization, urbanization, and other innovations.

African states contributed to great cultural change. Ethiopia, the Western Sudanic states, and the Swahili city-states all experienced religious transformations. Not only did Ethiopia serve as a sanctuary for both Christians and Muslims, but they also established their own Church, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Starting in the thirteenth century CE, Western Sudanic rulers converted to Islam, maintaining some of their pre-Islamic beliefs while building connections with the rest of the Islamic World. Medieval African cities like Timbuktu benefited from these connections. Traders were attracted as reports of African gold circulated far and wide. Taxing the gold trade, Western Sudanic rulers developed cities as both trading depots and places of scholarly learning. The Swahili in coastal East Africa also embraced Islam as one of the defining features of their identity. The urban style reflected the centrality of Islam, which offered a distinction of culture and refinement. All four states developed numerous other innovations, such as art, architecture, metal-working, agriculture, and political organization.

Many African societies remembered their own histories orally, using professionalized classes of historians, storytellers, and musicians, as well as proverbs and the teachings of elders. Over the past fifty years, historians have done more to incorporate oral traditions into the examination of the ancient past. Justly, linguistics and archaeology help to create a more accurate written history of the continent and reclaim African civilizations.