A land of Gold: The Mali and Songhai Empires

• • gold of West Africa and salt of the Sahara drove the trade
• Beber tribes

  Controlled several salt mines, which allowed them to buy high-value goods like gold from merchants in West African cities like Timbuktu
• Beber tribes

  Could also purchase enslaved people in these cities
• Beber tribes

  1. Transported everything and everyone back across the Sahara to cities

  2. From there, goods and enslaved people were taken to the Mediterranean and on to Egypt
• West Africa south of the Sahara was home to powerful empires and large cities
• Mali Empire and Songhai Empire

  Thrived on agricultural societies along the Niger River floodplains
• Agricultural staples

  • Sorghum
  • Millet
  • Rice
• Trade across the desert

  Was crucial, exchanging gold for salt and Mediterranean luxuries
• Emperors of Mali and Songhai

  Tightly controlled merchant movement to protect the secrecy of gold mine locations
• Control of trade routes

  Enriched and expanded the empires