Nomads living in the Sahara traded salt, meat and their knowledge as guides for cloth, gold, cereal, and slaves. Until the discovery of the Americas, Mali was the principal producer of gold. African ivory was also sought after because it's softer than that from Indian elephants and therefore easier to carve. From the seventh to the eleventh century, trans-Saharan trade linked the Mediterranean economies that demanded gold—and could supply salt—to the sub-Saharan economies, where gold was abundant. Although local supply of salt was sufficient in sub-Saharan Africa, the consumption of Saharan salt was promoted for trade purposes. Believed that gold was a symbol of wealth and trade was needed because gold was only wanted from China North African trader Believed salt was important because in their culture salt was more value able that gold; Ghana, West Africa’s first kingdom, depended upon income from trade. It became so rich it was known as the Land of Gold. Access the Map of salt and gold mines. These are the major salt mines (near Targhaza) and the gold mines (in the regions of the upper Niger). Return to Trans-Saharan Gold Trade. Locate the gold fields.
In the past, salt was difficult to obtain in certain parts of the world. This means that areas producing salt had a valuable trade item, one that they could exchange for gold. In Medieval West Africa, salt led to the development of trade routes, and brought great wealth to the cities and states which they passed through. Salt Trade for Preservation West Africa was one of the world’s greatest producers of gold in the Middle Ages. Trade in the metal went back to antiquity but when the camel caravans of the Sahara linked North Africa to the savannah interior, the trade really took off. A succession of great African empires rose off the back of the gold trade as salt, ivory, and slaves were just some of the commodities exchanged for the Quaestio: How did the Gold and Salt trade influence the development of West African kingdoms? PowerPoint: The West African Gold and Salt Trade Classwork: People on the Move Kingdoms of West Africa Mali- Land of Kings Africa’s Greatest Explorer Mansa Musa- The Hajj that Changed History Homework: Societies in Medieval Africa Lesson Summary. Gold and salt trade via that Sahara Desert has been going on for many centuries. Gold from Mali and other West African states was traded north to the Mediterranean, in exchange for
Lesson Summary. Gold and salt trade via that Sahara Desert has been going on for many centuries. Gold from Mali and other West African states was traded north to the Mediterranean, in exchange for The gold-salt trade was an exchange of salt for gold between Mediterranean economies and West African countries during the Middle Ages. West African kingdoms, such as the Soninke empire of Ghana and the empire of Mali that succeeded it, were rich in gold but lacked salt, a commodity that countries around the Mediterranean had in plenty. In the early middle ages, trade started to develop in west Africa through the Ghana empire. Plenty of commodities changed hands, but the most important were salt and gold. Don’t let the name fool you, the present day nation of Ghana is a ways off from where the Ghana empire was. The map below shows the pertinent places we’re talking about. Trading Gold for Salt. Because the Akan lived in the forests of West Africa, they had few natural resources for salt and always needed to trade for it. Gold, however, was much easier to come by. Every Akan knew how to find tiny grains of gold sparkling in the river beds after a rainfall. The people who lived in the desert of North Africa Salt and gold and profit (profit), salt and gold and profit, salt and Salt and gold and profit (woo!), salt and gold and profit (hey!) Salt’s in the Sahara and they want it in Wangara (want it Quaestio: How did the Gold and Salt trade influence the development of West African kingdoms? PowerPoint: The West African Gold and Salt Trade Classwork: People on the Move Kingdoms of West Africa Mali- Land of Kings Africa’s Greatest Explorer Mansa Musa- The Hajj that Changed History Homework: Societies in Medieval Africa
16 Oct 2015 Traders exchanged gold for something the West Africans prized even more: salt. Salt was used as a flavoring, a food preservative, and as today Such accounts purport to describe exchanges of imported goods for gold from Hill, P., “Two Types of West African House Trade,” in Meillassoux, C., ed., The Information on the salt trade, provided by a faqïh called Abü ar-Rüh cIsa 26 Jun 2017 A group of people riding on the back of a horse. A trade caravan traveling in Africa. Ghana played an important role in early trans-Sahara trade. It begins with the revolutionary transformation of North and West Africa. cities of the Sahel; controlled the gold trade of the empire of Ghana in West Africa; and trade of salt, slaves and other wares kept North and West Africa connected, the
In the forests of West Africa, salt was very scarce so they had to trade for it and it literally was more valuable than gold. You could not live on gold. 1k views · View In order to fully grasp the extensive nature of the trade in West Africa, it is undertakings in the world was largely based on the transport of gold, salt, pepper, 29 Jan 2013 The fabled West African city on the cusp of the Sahara has a There was trade up the Niger River to Timbuktu and then a caravan trade Ancient Timbuktu also had two things that the rest of the world wanted: salt and gold. 13 Nov 2012 This paper examines the evidence for Saharan trade in the Roman period in also provoked transformations in the frontier zones of Roman North Africa. Nile Valley to Fazzan via the oases of the Western Desert (Kharga, Dakhla rock salt or evaporitic salts produced in the Sahara, exchanged for gold, Traders exchanged gold for something the West Africans prized even more: salt. Salt was used as a flavoring, a food preservative, and as today, a means of retaining body moisture. The first people to make the trek across the Sahara were the Berbers of North Africa who carried their strict Islamic faith across the desert. Salt from the Sahara desert was one of the major trade goods of ancient West Africa where very little naturally occurring deposits of the mineral could be found. Transported via camel caravans and by boat along such rivers as the Niger and Senegal, salt found its way to trading centres like Koumbi Saleh, Niani, and Timbuktu, where it was either passed further south or exchanged for other goods