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African History Videos 63 videos

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African History 2: Ancient Ghana 73 Views


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Description:

Old Ghana is gone, but we're still gonna teach you about it.

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:04

All right, now let’s spend some time in a powerful, ancient kingdom called Ghana. [Man bumps into woman holding book on ancient Ghana]

00:09

That’s what we’re…Ghana do.

00:12

Okay…so Ghana is not to be confused with the modern Republic of Ghana…a former British

00:17

colony on the coast of Africa with a population of over 25 million. [People walking in the Republic of Ghana]

00:21

Modern Ghana is about 400 miles south of ancient Ghana, and the two don’t really have much

00:26

to do with one another.

00:27

Today, we’re zeroing in on the original Ghana.

00:31

Or as we like to call it: the OG. [Ghanaian people working on a beach]

00:35

No one knows for sure when Ghana came together.

00:37

But it’s thought that, at some point in the first millennia, Soninke

00:41

tribes, in what is now Northern Senegal and Southern Mauritania, came together under a [Soninke tribe appears with Dinga Cisse]

00:47

king named Dinga Cisse

00:50

Nobody seems able to agree on who Dinga Cisse was, but legend has it that he was a foreigner…

00:55

and that he may or may not have had godly powers. [Cisse zaps Soninke tribe man]

00:58

Ancient aliens, anyone?

01:00

Some think that the Soninke unified to protect themselves from attacks by nomadic raiders. [Football players run past the king and soninke tribe]

01:05

Uh, right.

01:06

Those guys.

01:07

But whatever the reason, they ended up founding a pretty impressive kingdom.

01:10

The wealth of ancient Ghana was built on gold. [Gold bars fall from the sky and cover a man]

01:13

Like… a lot of gold.

01:15

Ghana’s gold mines on the Senegal River were once described as some of the richest

01:19

known to man.

01:20

The king was apparently a fan of bling and covered himself, his court, and his horses [King wearing lots of jewelry]

01:25

in the stuff.

01:26

Ghana also exported slaves, salt, and copper, which they swapped for textiles, beads, and

01:32

other crafts.

01:33

And made bank in the process.

01:34

The key to Ghana’s success was its trading skills.

01:37

And when you lived on the edge of the Sahara in ancient times, the key to trade was camels. [Camels carrying goods]

01:43

These spitting dromedaries made Ghana what it was by tromping across the desert, loaded

01:48

with goods.

01:50

Guess you could say those camels were really, uh….busting their humps.

01:53

Of course, like all great kingdoms, Ghana had to fall.

01:56

No one can agree on exactly what happened, though. [Man walking by the ocean and falls on rocks]

01:59

One myth says that it was all because of Bida, the black snake.

02:02

The legend says that Bida gave Ghana prosperity as long as the country sacrificed one virgin [People carrying a woman for Bida]

02:07

to him every year.

02:10

One year, the fiancé of the selected virgin decided he wasn’t that into her being eaten [fiancee of virgin carries her away from Bida]

02:14

by a snake, so he rescued her.

02:17

Sounds heroic, right?

02:18

Too bad Bida then caused a drought that destroyed the entire kingdom.

02:23

So much for happily ever after.

02:25

There is actually historical evidence that a prolonged period of drought might’ve had

02:29

a lot to do with it.

02:30

That…plus new trade competition might’ve been what made Ghana a… goner.

02:34

Still, it was one of the earliest and richest kingdoms of West Africa and paved the way [Ghanaian man raking soil]

02:38

for a bunch of powerful kingdoms, like Mali and Songhai.

02:43

Kingdoms that hopefully didn’t have the same problem with…magical snakes…[Snake attacks man raking]

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