What Are The Similarities Between Africa And China

“West African societies were shaped by competition for wealth and the search for independence from more powerful kingdoms” (History 2011). Most of Africa’s oldest kingdoms originated from West Africa. These old kingdoms contributed to the development and growth of Africa in many ways, especially trade and economic growth. As the new kingdoms replaced the old ones, they experienced a vast change. Conquest and warfare along caused these transformations to occur. It was also influenced by the patterns of trade. The earliest civilizations were in West Africa south of the Sahara desert. These civilisations grew at a time when most of the outside countries were experiencing The Dark Age. “After the fall of the Western half of the Roman Empire around

Chapter three is about early Africa and Egypt. Africa is divided into five sections by climatic and vegetative differences. The five sections were: Mediterranean, Sahel, Deserts, rainforest and savannah. Depending on the climate section in which they lived, the range of people in Africa urbanized special ways of being. The chapter also talked about the people that lived during this time. The first group was called the Khoisan. Initially they populated the eastern part of Africa. The next groups were called the Nilo-Saharan and Afro-Asiatic. At first regions by the Nile River valley were occupied. The final group was called Niger-Congo. They occupied the forests of western Saharan Africa over the wet phase.

Throughout history, many can see differences in the empires of America and the empires of Africa, but some fundamental similarities exist among these empires that make them successful. While each of these empires is deeply rooted in promoting economic growth and spiritual connectivity, they go about these tasks in different ways due to their individual and unique circumstances.

Even though these aspects describe the ways that change occurred with trade between Afro-Eurasia, one important part did stay the same. North Africa was consistent and always a key part of trade between the continents of Europe, Africa, and Asia. In 300, North Africa was the only area that traded with the Mediterranean. In the time of the gold-salt trade, European venders and Islamic merchants arrived in North Africa. North African merchants still traded even when Europeans started to shift the balance of trade to the Americas starting from the mid-1400s. This is how trade systems between Africa and Europe stayed the same between the years 300-1450.

Politically, China and Egypt were similar and different. China and Egypt were similar in their type of government because both civilizations had dynasties. Dynasties were a type of government where a civilization only had one leader who when they died would pass on the title of leader to a family member, usually a son. A great example of this in the Egyptian civilization is the Egyptian ruler, the Pharaoh. In the ancient Egyptian government, Pharaohs were their leaders, and was also a title passed down through the family as the previous one died, in fact, ancient Egypt had 31 different dynasties from 3000 BCE to 332 BCE. Just like Egypt, China was ran by a dynastic government, which was made up of a family that rose to power by claiming that they had a “Mandate From Heaven” which was a belief that the leader or family had their gods approval to rule. China and Egypt were different in how they governed their lands because in Egypt, the Pharaoh was the supreme leader and ruled with a cabinet of advisors and helpers who worked together

1. Long-distance commerce acted as a motor of change in pre-modern world history by altering consumption and daily life. Essential food and useful tools such as salt were traded from the Sahara desert all the way to West Africa and salt was used as a food preserver. Some incenses essential to religious ceremonies were traded across the world because there was a huge demand for them. Trade diminished economic self-sufficiency by creating a reliance on traded goods and encouraged people to specialize and trade a particular skill. Trade motivated the creation of a state due to the wealth accumulated from controlling and taxing trade. Trade posed the problem of if the government or private

There are two civilizations that were established in “Before Christ” (B.C.) out of many, they were Greece and China. Greece was established around 2000 B.C. by the Mycenaean and China was established around the 21st century B.C. which was the Xia Dynasty. Each of these civilizations have their similarities and differences. Three of the major similarities each of these cities have are government, army, and culture, even though they have that in common when you go into full detail they have a lot of differences too. In this paper you will have a better understanding on how these two civilizations are alike and unlike.

The cultural diversity and advancements portray the progression developed in African history. The growth of these two subcontinents prove that American and European historians were incorrect on how advanced and civilized Africa was.

The Chinese traded through the Silk Road and the Greek traded with a plethora of different countries. The difference between Ancient China and Ancient Greece, however, was the fact that China was more internally focused with their trading. The Chinese traded silk, jewelry, leather goods, spices, and other foods. The Greeks traded exotic African animals, animal skins, as well as other agricultural products. The Greeks and the Chinese had both traded with the Indians however they did not make contact with one another. Another difference between the two civilizations would be the usage of slaves. The Chinese did not find slaves to be extremely useful and went about doing their own thing. The Greeks had a different idea. They used the slaves to work for labor as well as servants for those within the upper class. The people of the Ancient civilizations exceled at a multitude of things, such as the Chinese with their technology and the Greeks with their architecture. China produced a large amount of objects ranging from a compass, iron tools, plows, and much more. These advancements made farming and other tasks much easier and therefore improved the economy. The Greeks had immersed themselves within architecture and the improvement of the structures and physicality of buildings. The Greeks had developed many styles of architecture, arcs, as well as columns. These advancements to the buildings and columns did not make an impact on the economy,

            The use of the Indian Ocean, and the Mediterranean Sea let merchants travel to expand trade. With use of the silk road, and the sand roads, merchants brought mass produce and luxury items like silk, cotton, porcelain, and spices to trade for and with.  Inter-regional trade involved the Arabs, Africans, and Indians into trade and purchase more goods, which expanded trade even more.  Another discovery that played a major role in trade was the understanding and use of ocean currents and seasonal monsoons.  Nature played a role in allowing the people to plan their travel dates more accurately and safely.  Africa and Egypt became wealthy and powerful with their use of trade and being able to tax and charge merchants who were traveling through the county.

African Kingdoms were civilized prior to the accession of Europeans in the 15th century. African Kingdoms, such as Ghana, Mali and, Aksum were already progressive in the areas of trade, wealth, and overall advancement. Aksum’s location benefited the region’s advancement by making it a trading center. Mansa Musa was one of the most generous people who expanded the Mali empire through wealth. Through trade and wealth came overall advancement, which brought the rise of literature and art.

Ancient Egypt (3000 BCE – 30 BCE) and Ancient Greece (1200 BCE – 146 BCE) based their entire lives around their religious beliefs. These beliefs led to their religious practices which were included in every aspect of their lives. Since ancient Greece’s and ancient Egypt’s beliefs differ greatly, endless differences can be shown between their religious practices. However, between the two cultures, many surprising similarities can be seen in these religious practices despite the tremendous differences. Through learning about where their religious beliefs and practices started, the bigger picture of history in general can be learned. As well, the similarities between ancient Greece’s and ancient Egypt’s religious practices can be seen as not

One type of government they had was a monarchy. In a monarchy, the polis would be ruled by a king. However, some violent periods would allow for the overthrow of a king and the rule of a tyrant. Most tyrants came to power by their wealth. Some tyrants were oppressive while others were fair to their citizens.

Greece’s economy was primarily based on the trade of grapes, cereals, and olive oil. However, because of natural constraints, production soon proved insufficient to satisfy demand. The olive tree and grapevine were the main sources for economic growth, as well as the cultivation of herbs and vegetables. Sheep and goats were the most common types of livestock. Woods were heavily exploited, first for domestic use and eventually to build triremes. Bees were kept to produce honey, the only source of sugar known to the ancient Greeks. Since it was so labor intensive, agriculture employed up to 80% of the Greek population.[5] Ancient Rome was a slave-based economy whose main concern was feeding the vast number of citizens and legionaries who populated the Mediterranean region. Agriculture and trade dominated the Roman economy, only supplemented by small scale industrial production.5 This was a similarity between Greece and Rome because Greece had to adapt to the demands of their own economy, and trade, while Rome had to do the same, but to a greater extent because their main concern was to feed the people of their empire.

During the European Renaissance, the immigration of African individual to Europe were mostly for economic purposes which, indirectly caused an increase in cultural diversity within Europe. However, a vast majority of Africans during the European Renaissance were slaves. European’s definition of “civilization” was to classify aliens and divide them into two class, “civilized” and “the barbarian”. To be considered civilized, it depended on a number of factor regarding hierarchical structure, social organisation, and descendant history. This label allowed European to distinguished themselves apart from Africans by labeling them uncivilized. Their notion forecasts the relationship with Africans in the Renaissance. Throughout the European Renaissance, not much was known about Africans due to the European's poor documentation of them. Recovering pieces of Africans’ history, especially the relationship with European, is vital because more knowledge of their past will demystify any misconceptions.