• What were West Africa’s main products of trade?
• What were the major trade routes in this region?
• How did the kingdom of Ghana become very wealthy?
• What is Islam, and why did it spread across Africa?
• How did Muslim merchants influence the development of trade in West Africa?

• List the major products and trade routes of ancient West Africa
• Explain how the kingdom of Ghana became wealthy
• Discuss the key concepts of Islam
• Show how Islam spread from Arabia to Africa
• Describe how Muslim merchants contributed to the expansion of West African trade

Become familiar with the lesson plan and bookmark important websites. For background information, you might wish to visit the following websites:

• Ghana
• Trade and Spread of Islam (good map to enlarge), from the EDSITEment-reviewed Metropolitan Museum of Art website

• Activity 1. The Salt Mines of the Sahara
• Activity 2. Ghana Corners the Gold Market
• Activity 3. Muslim Merchants Flock to Mali

Activity 1. The Salt Mines of the Sahara

The main stopping point of caravans moving south across the desert was the salt mines of Targhaza. In this activity, students will find out how the salt was obtained and why it was so important in the West African trade networks.

• Access Trans-Saharan Gold Trade. Find Targhaza, and Timbuktu.
• Go to The Topic: Salt. What are the main uses of salt?
• Access Saharan Salt Trade. What are two ways of obtaining salt in the Sahara? (Mining and evaporation.) Now go to Salt-hauling camel trains. Scroll down to “Biblical Scene.” Who mined the salt in ancient times? (Slaves, captured in battle and sold to the mine operators.)
• Access On the Edge of Timbuktu. Click on the video entitled Trek to the salt mines of Taoudenni.

Activity 2. Ghana Corners the Gold Market

The salt that was brought down from the Sahara was usually traded for gold. The gold was mined in the forests of Guinea, near the source of the Niger, and carried downstream to the markets along the Niger in dugout canoes. Many local merchants became quite wealthy. 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.
• Go to Ghana Empire, from the EDSITEment-reviewed website, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. After reading the text, click on the map to enlarge it. Now go to Ghana Empire. What are some of the other products traded in Ghana? How did the ruler of Ghana make a big profit? (Imposing import and export taxes, payable in gold.)
• Go to Mali: Geography and History. Scroll down to History, then read paragraph 8 (beginning “trade took place far from the gold mines…”) Discuss with the students the “silent trade.” What might have been the reasons for this unusual practice?

As king of the Land of Gold, Ghana’s ruler made certain that he looked the part.

• Access Ancient Ghana. Scroll to the box entitled Royalty Gorgeously Attired. Click on the audio and listen to a description of the king and his court as recorded by an Arabic visitor.

Activity 3. Muslim Merchants Flock to Mali

The expansion of Islam across North Africa in the 7th century led to a great increase in West African commercial activities, as Muslim merchants became actively involved in the trans-Saharan trade routes.

• Access Islam, a link through EDSITEment-reviewed resource Internet Public Library. Have students define the words Islam and Muslim. Who was Muhammed? What is the Qur’an? What is a mosque? Where is Mecca, and what is its importance to Islam? Now go to The Birth of Islam, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art website. What does the word Qur’an mean? What are the teachings of the Qur’an? What is the Ka’ba? Who were the caliphs? In what direction did Islam first expand from Arabia?
• Go to Trans-Saharan Gold Trade. Read the first section: Gold Trade and the Kingdom of Ancient Ghana. Why did people in the north want the African gold? (for coinage)
• Return to Ancient Ghana. Scroll down to the sections entitled Islam and Muslims in Africa. Did Islam coexist peacefully with local tribal religions? How do you think Muslims in other parts of the world might have thought about this? Could there have been pressure for the African rulers to convert?

Pretend you are standing are in a bustling trading center in Ghana. What products are being traded? (Remember the “silent trade” of gold.) What are the merchants quibbling about? What are the smells in the air? The sounds? Write a poem or an essay about your “virtual” experience.

Selected EDSITEment Web Sites

National Geographic Xpeditions

• Empires of the Western Sudan
• Ghana Empire
• Golden Age
• On the Edge of Timbuktu
• Map of Africa (National Geographic)
• Map of Africa (Northwestern University)
• Map of Africa (University of Texas)
• The Topic: Salt