African Kingdoms Unit Vocabulary

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Across
  1. 4. An early West African kingdom that grew wealthy and powerful by controlling and taxing trade in gold and salt.
  2. 5. A system of inheritance in which the right to rule passes through the mother’s family, often from a king’s sister to her son.
  3. 7. A vast desert in North and West Africa that is very dry and mostly unsuitable for large settlements.
  4. 10. An early West African culture known for iron tools and iron-smelting furnaces found in present-day Nigeria.
  5. 12. A type of baked clay used to create sculptures, especially by early West African cultures like the Nok.
  6. 14. A traditional story passed down orally that teaches history, morals, or values.
  7. 17. An ancient city in West Africa built near the Niger and Bani Rivers that became an important center of farming and trade.
  8. 18. trade Trade routes that crossed the Sahara Desert and connected West Africa with North Africa and other regions.
  9. 19. A colorful West African cloth made from narrow strips of fabric sewn together, with patterns that have symbolic meanings.
  10. 20. River The longest river in West Africa, which helped support farming, fishing, and trade and served as a major trade route.
Down
  1. 1. The process of melting ore to remove metal, such as iron, used by early West African blacksmiths.
  2. 2. tradition The practice of passing down history, beliefs, and culture through spoken stories, songs, and sayings rather than writing.
  3. 3. A region of tall grasses and scattered trees with a long rainy season that supports farming and herding.
  4. 6. Payments made by conquered people to a ruler as a sign of loyalty and in exchange for protection.
  5. 8. A textile-making technique in which smaller pieces of fabric are attached to a larger background fabric to create designs or pictures.
  6. 9. An object made or used by people in the past that provides clues about how they lived.
  7. 11. A semidesert region south of the Sahara with enough water to support short grasses, bushes, and some trees.
  8. 13. A musical style in which a leader performs a phrase and a group responds with a repeated phrase.
  9. 15. A West African poet-musician who preserves history, genealogies, and traditions through stories, songs, and poems.
  10. 16. A record or history of a person’s family ancestry.