In the past, writing wasn't very common in West Africa. In fact none of the major early civilizations of West Africa developed a written language. Arabic was the only written language they used. The lack of a native written language does not mean that the people of West Africa didn't know their history, though. They passed on their tradition orally. An oral history is a spoken record of past event. The task of remembering and telling West Africa's history was given to storytellers. The storytellers of early West Africa were called griots. They enjoyed high social status because the people of West Africa were very interested in the deeds of their ancestors. Griots helped keep this history alive for each new generation. The griots' stories were both entertaining and informative. They told of important past events and of the accomplishments of distant ancestors. For example, some stories explained the rise and fall of the West Africa empires. Other stories described the actions of powerful kings and warriors. Some griots made their stories livelier by acting out the events like scenes in a play. In addition to stories, the griots recited proverbs, or short sayings of wisdom or truth. They used proverbs to teach lessons to the people. One West Africa proverb warns, "Talking doesn't fill the basket on the farm." This proverb reminds people that they must labor to accomplish things. It is not enough for people just to talk about what they want to do. In order to tell their stories and proverbs, the griots memorized hundreds of names and events. Through this memorization process the griots passed on West African history from generation to generation. However, some griots confused names and events in their heads. When this happened, the facts of some historical events became distorted. What do we know about the griots?
Their job required a good memory. Most of them had a talent for acting. They still enjoy popularity nowadays. Their stories focused on the life of the kings.