Ghana Empire

What did the king of Ghana do with the gold?

Gold dust was used in trade, but the king kept the gold "nuggets" for himself, allowing the people to trade using only gold dust.

A new and more powerful empire rose in Ghana's place. What was this new empire called?

Mali

What relationship did Ghana have with the Wangaran people?

The Wangaran people lost so much natural salt through sweating that they had to eat salt in their daily diets to survive. Unfortunately they had no salt in their land. Gold is what the Wangaran people had plenty of, and they were happy to trade it to get the salt they so desperately needed.

What does Ghana mean?

"warrior king" and "king of gold"

What did people in Africa believe in?

A main or high god.

What result did Ghana get by keeping gold mine locations secret?

As a result, the trading was done in a most unusual manner called silent barter. The traders swapped gold for salt and other goods without ever meeting face-to-face.

Why were the Ghana Empire rich?

Because of their control of salt and gold trade and the trade routes that went through their land.

Why Ghana a good name?

Because they were an empire that it's armies ruled with iron spears and were incredibly wealthy from controlled gold trade.

What goods were brought from the North traders?

Dried fruit, leather, cotton cloth, and copper.

What happened also during the time of Ghana's fall?

During this time, Ghana was also plagued by a horrible drought. People began to move out of the area in search of a better area to live.

The king collected taxes from all traders who traveled through Ghana, thus adding to Ghana's wealth. How did it work?

Gave funds to take care of army/government. The king taxed all goods that entered/left. Merchants would pay a dinar when entered and paid two dinars to leave. Merchants not upset because some gold was to pay for protection of the merchant. This made a safe place for travel/trade.

What is Ghana?

Ghana was the first great African empire of western Sudan.

Each clan had one griot? What is a griot?

Kept family history and told through stories.

What group did the Soninke belong to?

Mande

What religion do the Soninke practice today?

Muslims or Christians, but some still practice their old beliefs

How did they get gold and salt to each other?

North traders put salt on stream/river for gold traders of Wangara to inspect. Drumbeats would tell trading could begin. Gold traders carefully inspected salt, placed gold dust next to each pile of salt, and left. Then North traders came, if gold was good, they took it and left. If not, the process would continue.

Why was the salt-gold trade important?

People from North Africa desired gold and people from West Africa needed salt.

A king/wealthy person would have a historian/advisor called a griot? What would he do?

Relate his stories in forms of storytelling, music, poetry, drama, and dance.

What is Ghana known for?

Rich culture, wealth, organization, and power.

Were rituals important to the Soninke?

Rituals were important to the Soninke, and they used them to keep the spirits happy. They also wore charms to protect themselves from spirits that might do them harm.

When and Who founded Ghana?

Some believe that the Soninke founded Ghana from 300-1200.

What did the Soninke people believe in?

That the main creator was responsible for everything, the Soninke also believed that all living and nonliving things had a spirit that could be good or evil.

Ghana started losing power when Muslim raiders began attacking areas across the empire. Why did they do this?

To convert people to Islam, but also wanted control of the salt-gold trade. Ghana fought the Muslims for more than thirty years and tried to continue ruling their empire. The empire began to crumble as many smaller provinces began to break off to form their own kingdoms.

Typical Soninke family consisted of....

a man, his wife(s), their children, and other relatives. (clan)

Where was salt mined?

northeast of Ghana in the Sahara desert. Arabs loaded camels and donkeys to trade for gold. Ghana was middleman in salt-gold trade.