Empire of Ghana

Ghana

Ghana?

Ghana (Arabic) = Wagadu (Soninke)??Leaders: ghana (Arabic) or manga, magha, or kayamaga (Soninke)Sources

Al-Bakri ~1067Timbuktu chroniclesOral histories collected in the late 19th century

Other Kingdoms and Trade

Dhar Tichitt Region

• Lakes• Rainwater collected at

the foot of cliffs• Rainwater or rising

water table between dunes

• Stream fed

Growth of

settlement 2000 – 400 BCE

Features

• Domesticated bulrush millet• No evidence of irrigation

Trade Routes & metal resources 11th and 12th C. CE

‘Fil à double tête”

Garenne-Marot, Laurence. "‘Fils à double tête’and Copper-based Ingots: Copper Money-objects at the Time of the Sahelian Empires of Ancient Ghana and Mali." Money in Africa 171 (2009): 11.

Transport of copper

Working with imported brass and local copper

Tegdaoust (Aoudaghost) Mosque

Settlements

• Compounds – Narrow streets and open

plazas with a dry-stone wall– Connected with shared walls

• Dwelling units– Single hearth: one or

many storage areas – Two to nine: extended or

polygamous family?

Silent Trade

Koumbi Saleh Mosque

Tumuli

• Stone in Sahara 4000 BCE-500 CE• Earthen in dry Savanna late 1st-early 2nd

millennium• Rock cut in wooded savannah 1st millennium

El-Oulaledji, early 11th C.

Killi, bird figurine

Stone circles, Senegal

Senegal, Tienke Boussoura

Gold and gold coins

West African Gold Coins

• Described as ‘bald’– Blank or simple design

• Single Tadmekka merchant annually sent across the Sahara 16 bags containing 500 dinars each (8000 in total, c. 34kg of gold)

Essouk - Tadmekka

Tadmekka Ruins

Coin mould found at Tadmekka

Moulds with gold

Trade Objects (750-950)glass beads, North African ceramics, glass, silk, cowry, agate, copper