WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Camel caravans from North Africa carried bars of salt as well as cloth, tobacco, and metal tools across the Sahara to trading centers like Djenne and Timbuktu on the Niger River. Some items for which the salt was traded include gold, ivory, slaves, skins, kola nuts, pepper, and sugar.

Detailed explanation-2: -In addition to gold and salt, a wide range of goods were transported along these trade routes. This includes ivory, spices, textiles, weapons, and enslaved people. Gold was mined in West Africa and was highly valued across the world. Salt was a vital commodity that was used for preserving food.

Detailed explanation-3: -The most common exchange was salt for gold dust that came from the mines of southern West Africa. Indeed, salt was such a precious commodity that it was quite literally worth its weight in gold in some parts of West Africa.

Detailed explanation-4: -Timbuktu lay across the trans-Saharan trade routes between the Taoudenni salt mines deep in the Sahara and gold mines South of the Sahara. Crafts and textile industries also flourished in the city, including dozens of skilled tailors.

Detailed explanation-5: -From the seventh to the eleventh century, trans-Saharan trade linked the Mediterranean economies that demanded gold-and could supply salt-to the sub-Saharan economies, where gold was abundant.

Detailed explanation-6: -Gold and salt trade via the Sahara Desert has been going on for many centuries. Gold from Timbuktu, a city in the modern-day West African country of Mali, and other West African states was traded north to the Mediterranean in exchange for luxury goods and, ultimately, salt from the desert.