Medieval Africa Primary Sources

This website contains full lesson plans, lesson plan templates, and most importantly, digital primary sources from Medieval West Africa to help you bring this time period to life in your classroom. Each primary source is accompanied by a graphic organizer ready to print or to edit to fit your classroom's needs.

Primary sources (with graphic organizers) include:

Sundiata: An Epic of Old MaliThe Catalan Atlas

Djenné Equestrian Terracotta Figure

Djinguereber Mosque

Leo Africanus's Description of Africa

Manuscripts of Timbuktu

Salt-cellar from the Kingdom of Benin

Travels of Ibn Battuta (Rihla)

Writings of al-Bakri

I've focused on the three major empires of the era: Ghana, Mali, and Songhai. This site also includes teaching tips about how to introduce Medieval Africa to your students as well as slideshow templates and a list of other teaching resources about the region of West Africa.

Once you open the digital download, you will have the link to the free website.