Salt is a commodity that was very important to the Sahelian states, but why? Did they prize it as a resource because of its benefits to the human body? Taghaza was a salt-mining centre acquired by the Songhai in the 16th century but was later seized by Morocco, little tidbit.
The map also shows that the Sudan and East Africa were linked with the trade via Kanem-Bornu.
Son of Ra Member # 20401
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Salt was important because it was used as refrigeration for food.
Son of Ra Member # 20401
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Salt was important because it was used as refrigeration for food.
Bilal Dogon -aka blingdogg Member # 21572
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The human body needs salt to survive, and in a hot continent like Africa, you will sweat a lot so that depletes the salt in your body even faster. If you don't have enough salt in your body you can die. For that reason salt was important.
Also as Son of Ra mentioned, it preserves food so it lasts longer.
Also I'd suppose it was desired to make food taste better, like how the spice trade was important in Eurasia. Nobody likes bland food lol.
And yeah, Kanem-Bornu was in an advantageous strategic location, able to have contacts with central, northern, western, southern and eastern Africa.
PreColonialAfrica13 Member # 21589
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I saw a video on youtube once showing berber caravans reaching Timbuktu. The traders unloaded huge blocks of salt off the backs of camels, I assume salt is extracted like gold usually is, via panning and mining?
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