Ghana Empire and the Trans-Saharan Gold-Salt Trade — al-Bakri's Routes and Realms 1068

Recite FOUR PROMISES. Then: 'Where was the Ghana Empire?'

• Recite FOUR PROMISES
• Collect guesses (most students will incorrectly point to modern Ghana country)
• Reveal: NOT modern Ghana country (which is on Atlantic coast, named for the ancient empire as a post-independence reference 1957). Ancient Ghana was in present-day Mauritania-Mali-Senegal-Burkina Faso, hundreds of kilometers north of modern Ghana.

Ghana Empire (called Wagadou in Soninke language; 'Ghana' is the Arabic-rendered title of its kings) c. 300-1200 CE, located in present-day Mauritania-Mali-Senegal-Burkina Faso. Capital Koumbi Saleh excavated 20th c. — twin cities (royal + merchant). Economic foundation: TRANS-SAHARAN GOLD-SALT TRADE. (a) GOLD sources: Bambuk + Bure goldfields south of Ghana. (b) SALT sources: Taghaza in central Sahara — salt extracted in cake form from desert salt-deposits, carried south on camel-caravans. The CAMEL-SADDLE INNOVATION (c. 4th c. CE) enabled Saharan crossing — before camel-saddles, Saharan trade was much slower. (c) Trade route: Niani-Awdaghust-Sijilmasa-Fez OR similar variants reaching Mediterranean. (d) Other goods: cloth, copper, manuscripts (south-to-north), slaves (north-to-south + east-to-north), cowrie shells from Indian Ocean reaching Mali. Ghana's wealth came from TAXING the trade — gold-tax + salt-tax. al-BAKRI 1068 — Andalusi geographer in Cordoba — wrote the most detailed surviving Arabic description of Ghana in his Kitab al-Masalik wa-l-Mamalik (Book of Routes and Realms). He never visited Ghana but compiled merchants' accounts. His description: Ghana's king maintains 200,000-warrior army; royal court adorned with gold; royal-tax of 1 dinar per donkey-load of salt entering + 2 dinars per donkey-load of salt exiting; the king and most Soninke remain practicing traditional religion while the merchant city has Muslim residents + 12 mosques. Ghana declines after 1076 Almoravid raid + 1200-1235 Sosso conquest. Mali emerges from this gap (Lesson 10). Apply Levtzion + Hopkins 1981 'Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History' for primary-source corpus. Apply Gomez 2018 'African Dominion' framing.

• Geographic-naming care — modern country names often reference distant ancient empires.

  model Ghana Empire was located in present-day Mauritania-Mali-Senegal-Burkina Faso (southern Sahara to upper-Niger River area). It was NOT in modern Ghana country, which is far south on the Atlantic Gulf of Guinea coast and was named for the ancient empire as a 1957 post-independence reference. The two are hundreds of kilometers apart. Common student confusion.

  prompt Where was the Ghana Empire — and where was it NOT?
• MG-12 Connection-FIRST — Sub-Saharan + Mediterranean + Islamic economies were integrated.

  model Salt extracted in cake form from Taghaza desert deposits (central Sahara) was carried south on camel-caravans (~camel-load 130-180 kg salt). Gold sourced from Bambuk + Bure goldfields south of Ghana was carried north on return-caravans. Salt traded approximately 1:1 by weight for gold in markets like Awdaghust. The camel-saddle innovation enabled the Saharan crossing. Ghana taxed both directions — 1 dinar per donkey-load of salt entering + 2 dinars per donkey-load exiting. This trade integrated sub-Saharan West Africa into the Mediterranean + Islamic-world economy.

  prompt How did the trans-Saharan gold-salt trade work?
• MG-7 Q5 (Corroboration) — al-Bakri agrees on many details with later ibn Battuta 1352-3 + al-'Umari 1342 sources.

  model Q1 (WHO): al-Bakri — Andalusi geographer at Cordoba, never traveled to Ghana, compiled merchant accounts. Q2 (WHEN + WHERE): 1068 CE, in Cordoba. Q3 (WHY + FOR WHOM): wrote for Andalusi scholarly audience to systematize geographic knowledge of distant Islamic-world frontiers. Limitation: secondhand source — his information depends on merchant reliability. Strength: extraordinarily detailed administrative description of Ghana's court + tax system.

  prompt Apply MG-7 Q1-3 to al-Bakri 1068.

• Where was Ghana Empire (with specific present-day country names)?
• Describe trans-Saharan gold-salt trade in 75 words.
• Apply MG-7 Q1-3 to al-Bakri 1068.

M-7-F-CUL-09-A Map

Detailed map showing Ghana Empire (Wagadou) c. 1000 CE territory boundaries spanning present-day southern Mauritania + western Mali + eastern Senegal + northern Burkina Faso. Capital Koumbi Saleh marked. Trans-Saharan trade routes marked: Niani-Awdaghust-Sijilmasa-Fez-Tangier; Niani-Awdaghust-Taghaza-Tripoli; Gao-Aïr-Tripoli. Taghaza salt-mines marked. Bambuk + Bure goldfields marked. Modern Ghana country shown in PALE GRAY at bottom of map with note 'NOT the same as Ghana Empire — modern country named for the ancient empire in 1957 post-independence.'

• On MG-17 Trans-Saharan Trade Map, trace the route from Bambuk-Bure goldfields → Niani → Awdaghust → Sijilmasa → Fez → Mediterranean. Mark Taghaza salt-mine + gold-salt trade direction with arrows.

  scaffold Pre-printed map with major cities marked
• Apply MG-7 Q1-3 to al-Bakri 1068 excerpt (250 words from Levtzion-Hopkins 1981 corpus).

  scaffold Q1-3 sentence frames pre-printed

M-7-F-CUL-09-B Diagram

Illustration of a trans-Saharan camel caravan c. 1000 CE crossing the Sahara. Shows: 200-camel caravan walking single-file across dune-field; camels with high North African camel-saddles (Tuareg-tradition design enabling load-stability); turbaned caravan-master with astrolabe-and-stars navigation tool; slave-laborers carrying salt-cakes; merchants in jallaba robes. Caption: 'The camel-saddle innovation c. 4th c. CE enabled Saharan crossing. 200-camel caravan = ~25-35 tons of cargo. 60-90 day crossing depending on season.'

• Where was Ghana Empire — name 3 present-day countries.
• Describe gold-salt trade in 50 words.

• Recite the FOUR PROMISES
• Preview Lesson 10
• Update I-STILL-WONDER chart MG-22

• Read Levtzion 1973 'Ancient Ghana and Mali' Chapter 1 excerpt (preview for Lesson 10 Mali Empire).