SCTS+Environment



Picture from: http://whc.unesco.org/exhibits/afr_rev/afrk7.gif

Welcome to the Swahili Coast Trading States Environment Page!

~Hello! Welcome to the Environment page for Swahili! I hope you find the information below useful!~

__**Resources**__

Materials that people in the Swahili Coast had in the past were things such as copper bangles, [|figurines] of animals, tools and body ornaments of iron, and glass beads. The glass beads were used for necklaces, and sinced the Swahili worshipped animals, they had little figurines around their house. The tools were mostly agricultural tools, used to cut rice and grain, and axes for wood chopping. They also had ivory from elephants (which was quite strong), which was also carved into animal, human, and god figurines to worship.
 * Materials:**

The Swahili Coast had an abundance of food, and they ate quite a lot of food! There were many different kinds and varieties they ate such as fruits, shellfish, sheep, cattle, goats, hens, bread, and fish that fishermen caught in the sea. Food that they mostly ate every single day was rice, fish, vegetables, meat (except pork because most of them were Muslim) and they used coconut milk to flavor soups and sweets. (Find out about what they grew in agriculture)
 * Food:**

Tools that people who lived in the Swahili Coast used in those days were things such as weapons for hunting in the forests, agricultural tools to cut rice in farms, axes for cutting trees down for wood, knifes (also as weapons), spears of stone (also as a weapon), hoes of either stone or wood (for the farmland), iron [|utencils], sickles (used to cut rice), or spearheads (also used as a weapon). The introduction of iron to the Swahili Coast brought revolutionary changes! Hunting was easier and there was much more food to eat! People believe that the knowledge of iron working was aquired from the Middle East, the [|Nok]. It was also believed that they acquired some tools from the [|Cushites] through trade at the coast.
 * Tools:**

Water in the Swahili Coast was quite good in quality, and could be obtained from wells or [|cisterns] in their own homes. They also had very advanced aqueduct systems to fill the cisterns.
 * Water:**

The Swahilis produced several things domestically (grown), such as [|millet], rice, a grain called [|sorghum], radishes, peas, small onions and [|basil]. Since the soil was too sandy and infertile, the soil was too poor to support a wide variety of plants to give the Swahilis more food to eat.
 * Agriculture:**


 * __Adaptation__**

Men: Clothing that men wore in the past were things such as [|kanzus], kikois and kofias. (Kanzu, bottom) As you can see in the picture, kanzus are long white veils that often reach past the knees, anad kofias are a cloth tied around the waist underneath the kanzus. Women: Clothing that women wore in the past were things such as traditional coastal dresses, sometimes [|buibuis], as well as veils. (Buibuis, top) Buibuis are long black dresses that women wore often concealing the whole body except the eyes.
 * Clothing:**[[image:kanzus.jpg width="97" height="137" align="right"]]

In a house, there were seperate accomadations for a bathroom/toilets for a room. They used the terraced hillside [|cultivation] for prevention of [|erosion] and for irrigation. There were also quite advanced [|aqueducts] to fill the cisterns in their homes which could carry water from great distances. When they attained the knowledge of iron, Meroe in Sudan became an iron smelting center.
 * Technology:**

Since the Swahilis lived near the coast, most of their transportation were boats. Most people used traditional boats called [|dhows] which have been used for centuries, and mtepes, also a type of Swahili vessel. They also frequently used caravans. To your right are some traditional dhows.
 * Transportation**[[image:traditionaldhows.gif width="196" height="131" align="right"]]

Swahili people lived in houses of dried mud, wood, plaster or brick, but dried mud was more frequent. On the top of the page is an old Swahili house.
 * Shelter:**

Since fish was frequently eaten in their diet, most people had fishing as a daily activity. The Swahilis also loved to make pottery, so some people made pottery for a living. There were individuals who went hunting for animals and foraging for berries. Also, since the Swahili Coast was a giant trading post trading at the coast was also most likely a daily activity, (since many people came to trade often), Islamic pratices (praying, etc.), farming, agriculture, mining for iron, and smelting iron obtained from mining into usable tools such as hunting tools, iron utencils, etc.
 * Daily activities:**

__**Modifying**__

The Swahili Coast has changed very little over the past centuries, although there are some slight differences. Abandoned cliff lines, raised platforms, and raised beaches were signs that the sea was much higher in the past. When the sea level rose, it drowned old rivers, changed and replaced them to creeks.
 * Changing Landscape:**

The Swahili Coast had several habitats for animals. There were many lowland evergreen forests, where they attained berries from foraging. In the savannah, there were antelopes, and rhinos which provided a source of meat or horns which could be used to carved into wooden figurines. There were also bushlands, grasslands, thicket bushes, woodland (for chopping wood), grazing pastures (for cattle and livestock), and mangrove swamps from which nuts and fruits could be obtained.
 * Habitats:**

The ecosystem in the Swahili Coast was semi-tropical; coastal, it is likely in the past that it was quite warm. The weather has not changed much up to this present time.
 * Ecosystem:**

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By : Vanessa

Picture of dhows: http://whc.unesco.org/exhibits/afr_rev/africa-k.htm