The Art, Religion and Architecture
The beliefs of the people of Songhai was mainly Islam and Christianity. There was also the traditional African religions as another option for a belief system. Christianity came before Islam, 1 or 2 century before to be exact, and it was orally told through their system of oral tradition, that the Muslims who came first were around when Prophet Muhammad was still living. Both of the religions have been around for more than 1,300 years.Both being religions of the book, they didn't really respect the African traditional religions because both these religions already had prescribed instructions. African religions was a religion of customs, practices and oral history. Islam was more compatible with the African traditional religions, one main reason because of the approval of polygamy, or the allowance to have more than one wife, since that was apart of the traditional African religions. This meant more societies would take in the religion because that are polygamous.There was no real comparison on which religion, I slam or Christianity was neither more successful in converting more people, it really depended more on the political beliefs of the leaders and along with the fact that each religion required a lot materials too. They were really looking at which won would economically support their community. Initially, traditional religions mixed some of the religions both practices with theirs, but their still being some who were either Christians or Muslims.
The art of Songhai was a montage of African and Islamic cultures . i found that they created pottery designs made of clay. They also made mats and blankets that represented their traditional African culture. Lastly, I found that they also hand handicrafts mad of brass and bronze. They had clothing that was loose fitted, considered sports a type of art like wrestling, literature, and music.
The architecture of Songhai was a montage of African and Islamic architecture and culture. Together these two created beautiful mosques, schools, and tombs. They also made their everyday home out of mud, though most of the buildings were constructed of stone. Lastly, generally the buildings space's were not very big, but mainly small spaces.
Here are the Science, Social Studies, and Waffles production of Amy, Mark, Chloe and Mr. Miles Songhai Project:Art,Architecture, and Religion. Enjoy!