Ghana: A West African Trading Empire

Unit 4

Activity 9 Presentation

Setting the

Stage

Ancient Kingdom of GhanaLocated in modern-

day countries of Mauritania + Mali

MODERN-DAY country of Ghana

Not the same location! Don’t get confused!

• In this lesson, we’ll learn about:

The Kingdom of Ghana• What was the gold-salt trade?

• How was it possible to cross the Sahara desert to trade?

• How did the gold-salt trade lead to Ghana’s wealth + success?

Setting the Stage

Warning…

Crazy timeline coming up…

Just look for the stime period we’re asfocusing on for THIS lesson only!

As outlined by this box!

Crusades1095 to 1270

Timeline500 B.C.E 1 C.E. 500 1000 1500

500 B.C.E 1 C.E. 500 1000 1500

Fall of the Roman Empire

476 C.E.Byzantine Empire

500-1453

Middle Ages in Europe476-1450

Islam Begins + Spreads

622 to 750

New Muslim Empires1300 to 1900

Golden Age of Islam750 to 1258

Early Settlements in West Africa

4000 B.C.E

City of Jenne-Jeno250 B.C.E. to 1400

The Nok500 B.C.E to 200 C.E.

Kingdom of Ghana

800 to 1076

Kingdom of Mali1240 to 1600

Kingdom of Songhai

1460 to 1600THIS lesson!

800 C.E. to 1076 C.E.

Physical Map of Africa

GEOGRAPHY QUESTION!

Why might it be difficult for people to

travel across the Sahara?

Sahara = desert = little to no water!

What was the gold-salt trade?

Northern Africa = PLENTY OF SALT!Importance of salt: important part of a person’s diet (to fight off dehydration and to keep food from spoiling)

West Africa = PLENTY OF GOLD!Importance of gold: people in Muslim lands and Italy need gold to make coins to purchase goods from China

What was the gold-salt trade?

We have salt.We need gold.

We have gold.We need salt.

Um, let’s tradethen.

What now…?GEOGRAPHY QUESTION!

What area did gold-salt traders have to

cross in order to trade with each other?

The SAHARA desert!

How was it possible to cross the Sahara desert to trade?

PR

OB

LEM

:N

EED

:

Traders’ dilemma:

How do we carry our goods across the desert with little

access to water?

How was it possible to cross the Sahara desert to trade?

PR

OB

LEM

:N

EED

:

Hey guys, did you know that I can drink up to

25 gallon of water at a time?

Travel across the desert?

No problem!

Let’s get some of my buddies together and

we can form a

caravan!

How was it possible to cross the Sahara desert to trade?

caravan = group of people traveling together, in single file

How did the gold-salt trade lead to Ghana’s wealth + success?

GEOGRAPHYGhana’s PRIME location

meant trade passed through the kingdom,

allowing them to collect taxes from the traders!

GROWTH OF TRADEMore traders that passed

through their lands =• More taxes collected• Strong armies created to

protect the traders and people

• More people coming through their lands = more ideas shared

GHANA