This massive desert covers much of North Africa.
What is the Sahara Desert?
Two of the most valuable trade goods in West Africa were these minerals.
What are salt and gold?
This empire became rich by controlling the gold trade.
What is Ghana?
How did Islam mainly spread throughout West Africa?
What is through trade routes?
These storytellers preserved West African history and traditions.
Who are griots?
This semi-dry grassland region lies south of the Sahara.
What is the Sahel?
This method of trade allowed people without the same language to exchange goods.
What is silent barter?
This ruler founded the Mali Empire.
Who is Sundiata Keita?
This famous city became a center of learning and education.
What is Timbuktu?
This music style involves one group singing or speaking and another responding.
What is call and response?
This fertile grassland region was ideal for farming and herding.
What is the Savanna?
This animal made trans-Saharan trade easier and faster.
What is the camel?
This famous Mali ruler traveled to Mecca and spread Islam.
Who is Mansa Musa?
This language became important for religion and trade in West Africa.
What is Arabic?
These buildings in West Africa were often made of mud brick and featured scaffolding.
What are mosques?
This river helped cities like Jenne-Jeno and Timbuktu grow.
What is the Niger River?
This city was the capital of Ghana and a major marketplace.
What is Koumbi Saleh?
This empire came after Mali and used Islam to strengthen its rule.
What is the Songhai Empire?
Islamic law introduced into West African governments was called this.
What is Shari’ah law?
These spoken sayings passed wisdom from generation to generation.
What are proverbs?
People often settled near rivers and trade routes because of these two advantages.
What are water/resources and trade opportunities?
Ghana became wealthy because it controlled this major trade route across the desert.
What is the trans-Saharan trade route?
In Ghana, the king served as both the military leader and this type of leader.
What is a religious leader?
West African societies shifted from this type of inheritance system to patrilineal systems after Islamic influence.
What is matrilineal society?
These carved wooden objects were commonly used during ceremonies.
What are masks?