Compare And Contrast The Relationship Between Empires And Civilizations In West Africa

The Sahara, a vast desert almost as large as China, is located in northern Africa, spanning east to west. Its temperatures––ranging over sixty degrees celsius––has been a hurdle for traders to overcome since the post classical era. Whether or not it is the high temperature or its size, berbers and nomads have still been able to find their way to kingdoms and trading posts throughout the Sahara since the Post-classical era. Although its geographical characteristics proved to be a physical barrier between civilizations in Africa, the Sahara became more of a link between civilizations during the post classical era because of the exchange of both necessary and luxury goods, political and economic linkages that fostered the growth of West African

The Sahara’s temperature can reach over sixty degrees celsius and under negative six degrees. Its size is almost as large as China amassing at over three and a half million square miles. Although the temperatures change night and day, half of the Sahara receives less than an inch of rain every year. In addition, there is only one freshwater lake throughout the whole Sahara desert and there are sand dunes reaching as high as over four hundred meters. Because walking would take too long and would make berbers need a camel to help them cross. Furthermore, the materials needed to cross the Sahara were commonly heavy and bulky and required care while crossing the sahara. Gold and salt were primarily transported and were both extremely heavy and required this care, making it hard to focus on the conditions that were faced when crossing the desert. Moreover, slaves were transported throughout the Sahara and in order to make money, traders would have to keep the slaves alive, meaning that they had to bring supplies for every slave. As seen in the image “A heavily laden camel caravan passes en route to Timbuktu from the salt mines of Taoudenni” one man on a camel leads a caravan of six other camels. The man in the picture needed at least six camels for himself to reach timbuktu with his salt. Even though the harsh climate, expansive geography, and heavy goods

Caravans used camels but multiple camels were needed for each person because of the weight of water and gold. Consequently, gold and salt exchange helped satisfy a need for currency while also providing a critical necessity and trade goods. Because gold and salt were needed all over Africa and even outside the country Islam and other cultural influences were able to spread. Finally, kingdoms including Mali, Gao, and Songhai increased foot traffic through the Sahara because kingdoms were trading hubs with rich economies that berbers traveled to in order to buy new resources and acquire new