The Big Three
This first great empire grew wealthy by taxing traders passing through its lands.
$100: What is Ghana?
This resource was mined in the Sahara and was as valuable as gold.
$100: What is Salt?
This 2,600-mile river served as a highway for West African trade.
$100: What is the Niger River?
This city became a world-famous center for Islamic learning and libraries.
$100: What is Timbuktu?
These professional oral historians and storytellers preserved West African history.
$100: Who are Griots?
He was the "Lion Prince" who founded the Empire of Mali.
$200: Who is Sundiata?
This animal, called the "ship of the desert," made trans-Saharan trade possible.
$200: What is the Camel?
This vegetation zone is a vast, dry grassland where most empires began.
$200: What is the Savannah?
This religion spread to West Africa through trade and influenced its laws.
$200: What is Islam?
This is the belief that spirits are present in animals, plants, and nature.
$200: What is Animism?
This Mali ruler is famous for his extravagant Hajj to Mecca and his immense wealth.
$300: Who is Mansa Musa?
This trade method allowed merchants to exchange goods without speaking or meeting.
$300: What is Silent Barter?
This massive desert to the north separated West Africa from the Mediterranean.
$300: What is the Sahara Desert?
Muslim merchants brought this resource from the north to trade for gold.
$300: What is Salt?
West African history was primarily preserved this way because they lacked a written language.
$300: What is Oral Tradition?
This was the largest of the three empires, reaching its peak under Askia Muhammad.
$400: What is Songhai?
Ghana’s kings used weapons made of this metal to conquer their neighbors.
$400: What is Iron?
This transition zone between the desert and the savannah means "shore" in Arabic.
$400: What is the Sahel?
These groups of traders traveled together for safety when crossing the Sahara.
$400: What are Caravans?
This epic story tells the tale of the founder of the Mali Empire.
$400: What is the Epic of Sundiata?
This Songhai leader reorganized the government and set up a system of weights and measures.
$500: Who is Askia Muhammad?
West Africans used salt for this vital purpose in a hot climate.
$500: What is food preservation (or replacing salt lost through sweat)?
This southern vegetation zone was the source of most of the region’s gold.
$500: What is the Rainforest?
This North African group invaded Ghana in the 1000s, leading to its decline.
$500: Who are the Almoravids?
Many West African mosques, like the one at Djenne, were built using this material.
$500: What is Mud-brick (or Adobe)?