Silk Road
This famous Italian explorer and merchant traveled along the Silk Road to China in the 13th century and wrote a famous book about his adventures.
Marco Polo
These two precious commodities—one used for currency and decoration, the other essential for preserving food—made up the backbone of the trans-Saharan trade.
Gold and salt
These predictable seasonal wind patterns allowed ancient and medieval sailors to safely navigate the Indian Ocean.
Monsoon winds
What were the main symptoms of the bubonic plague
Buboes, fever and chills, aches, or digestive distress
This 14th-century ruler led the Mali Empire during its golden age and is famously considered one of the wealthiest individuals in human history.
Mansa Musa
This lightweight, luxurious fabric was China's most famous and highly traded export along the route.
Silk
Often called the "ship of the desert," this sturdy animal made large-scale trans-Saharan trade possible because it could travel long distances without much water.
Camel
Located on this East African coast, cities like Kilwa and Mombasa grew wealthy trading gold, ivory, and this dark, aromatic spice or other goods.
Swahili coast
How did it spread
Trade routes
During his famous pilgrimage, this precious yellow metal was so abundantly spent and given away by Mansa Musa that its value temporarily crashed in regional markets like Cairo.
gold
This animal, known as the "ship of the desert," was the preferred choice for carrying heavy loads across the dry, harsh tracks of the Silk Road.
Camel
This legendary West African city became a thriving center of trade, culture, and Islamic learning, especially under the Mali Empire.
Timbuktu
This triangular lateen-sailed ship was commonly used by Arab and Persian merchants to traverse the western Indian Ocean.
dhow
This famous alternate name for the bubonic plague comes from the dark spots or discoloration it caused on victims' bodies.
Black Death
In 1324, Mansa Musa made a grand, historic pilgrimage (Hajj) to this holy Islamic destination, traveling with a massive entourage and tons of gold.
Mecca
The Silk Road was not just a single highway, but rather a large network of these connecting the East and West.
trade routes
This famous 14th-century ruler of the Mali Empire gave away so much gold on his pilgrimage to Mecca that he famously disrupted local economies.
Mansa Musa
China exported vast quantities of silk and this fragile, shiny ceramic ware along maritime trade routes.
Porcelain
These tiny jumping pests that lived on rats were the main culprits responsible for spreading the disease to humans.
Fleas
Mansa Musa brought back scholars, poets, and architects from his travels to transform this Malian city into a legendary center of Islamic scholarship and trade.
Timbuktu
The sharing of goods, religions, and ideas between different cultures along the trade network is known by this scientific-sounding term.
Cultural diffusion
Traders crossing the harsh desert relied on these fertile green spots for vital water and rest stops.
An oasis
This vital narrow strait between the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra served as a major bottleneck and trading hub for ships moving between India and China.
Strait of Malacca
The plague gets the word "bubonic" from "buboes," which were these large, painful swellings of the body's glands.
Lymph nodes
The title "Mansa," which is used in Musa's name, translates to this governing role or rank in the Mandinka language.
King or emperor