Early leaders and great kingdo
Early leaders and great kingdoCleopatra was 17 or 18 when she became the queen of Egypt. She was far from beautiful, despite her glamorous image today. She is depicted on ancient coins with a long hooked nose and masculine features. Yet she was clearly a very seductive woman. She had an enchantingly musical voice and exuded charisma. She was also highly intelligent. She spoke nine languages (she was the first Ptolemy pharaoh who could actually speak Egyptian!) and proved to be a shrewd politician. In compliance with Egyptian tradition Cleopatra married her brother and co-ruler, Ptolemy XIII, who was about 12 at the time. But it was a marriage of convenience only, and Ptolemy was pharaoh in name only. For three years he remained in the background while Cleopatra ruled alone. Ptolemy's advisors - led by a eunuch named Pothinus - resented Cleopatra's independence and conspired against her. In 48 B.C. they stripped Cleopatra of her power and she was forced into exile in Syria. Her sister Arsinoe went with her. The Ghana Empire was founded along the Niger River between the third and fifth centuries. The Soninke people of West Africa, who quickly developed an economic life comprising agriculture, manufacturing, and international trade, established Ghana. They were superior metalworkers and produced iron swords and other weapons by which they conquered neighboring peoples and maintained control over their territory. The empire's growth and development were relatively slow until Ghana began to trade with Arab ports on the Mediterranean coast and with other kingdoms of East Africa on the Red Sea. The Mali Empire differed substantially from the Ghana empire. Its rise to power began in the seventh century, when two great African leaders -- Sundiara Keita and Mansa Musa, transformed a small Mandingo state on the upper Niger River. Although Sundiata Keita began to transform the state into a great empire, its growth was slow until about I307,...
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