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Welcome! Today we will explore three amazing African kingdoms: Mali, Songhai, and Great Zimbabwe.
Long ago, powerful kingdoms grew wealthy in Africa. Mali and Songhai ruled the grassy plains of West Africa, while Great Zimbabwe flourished in the hills of Southern Africa.
The West African kingdoms of Mali and Songhai got rich by trading gold and salt. Merchants traveled across the hot Sahara Desert on camels to trade salt, which preserved food, for precious West African gold.
Further south, Great Zimbabwe showed its power through building. Instead of mud brick, they built massive stone walls without any mortar or cement to hold them together.
Imagine you are an archaeologist. You find a site with deep gold mines, but no salt mines. Nearby, you find imported salt blocks. Which kingdom fits this description, and why did they trade?
- Identify the clues: The site has plenty of gold, but lacks salt and has to import it.
- Recall the geography of West Africa: Mali and Songhai sat on top of rich gold mines, but needed salt from the desert to live.
- Analyze the trade connection: The people traded their extra gold to get the salt they needed to preserve food.
- Conclude that this site belongs to a West African trading empire like Mali, because of their famous gold-for-salt trade network.
