Mali: Did you mean...?

Did you know that the rulers of the Ghana Empire were so rich they were known as Kings of Gold? This video is all about the rise and fall of the great Ghana Empire, once known as the land of gold. The Ghana Empire flourished in West Africa...

The Sankore Mosque, Timbuktu, Mali. The mosque, made from pounded earth and wood, was built in the late 1100s CE.

Boats transporting slabs of rock salt on the Niger River delta, Mopti, Mali. The salt comes from ancient mines in the Sahara desert.

Did you know that the Ghana king would automatically keep any gold nugget extracted that weighed between 25 grams and half a kilo? This video is all about the lucrative gold trade of ancient and medieval West Africa. West Africa was...

A modern artist's impression of the Mali Empire ruler Mansa Musa (r. 1312-1337 CE).

At its fullest extent, the Roman Empire stretched from around modern-day Aswan, Egypt at its southernmost point to Great Britain in the north but the influence of the Roman Empire went far beyond even the borders of its provinces as a result...

The ancient and medieval Mediterranean might have been a bustling stage of ever-changing empires but, across the inhospitable barrier of the Sahara Desert, West Africans were equally busy building up and toppling down their own kingdoms and...

Did you know that salt was literally worth its weight in gold in ancient West Africa? This video is all about the lucrative trade of salt in West African history. Salt from the Sahara desert was one of the major trade goods of ancient...

Check out our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/teded View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/mansa-musa-one-of-the-wealthiest-people-who-ever-lived-jessica-smith Mansa Musa, the 14th century African king of the Mali Empire...

A map indicating the major ancient and medieval states in sub-Saharan Africa. Areas and dates relate to a state at its peak. In addition, shaded areas are approximate indicators only. For the majority of the states, their precise borders...