why was salt so valuable in west africa

This is kind of obvious but salt was needed to flavor food preserve food its used for medical purposes ad to keep the body healthy. Salt is one of the most useful items in this world today and we would be in.

The Gold And Salt Trade In West Africa

Salt was valuable for many reasons.

. Plenty of commodities changed hands but the most important were salt and gold. Salt from the Sahara desert was one of the major trade goods of ancient West Africa where very little naturally occurring deposits of the mineral could be found. In the 6th century sub-Saharan Moorish merchants traded one ounce of salt for one ounce of gold.

So salt became a necessity to maintain life. In Medieval West Africa salt led to the development of trade routes and brought great wealth to the cities and states which they passed through. 31 Why was salt used in some parts of the southern Sahara for construction.

And while there is salt in sea water it has to be boiled out and that needs energy eg. But in West Africa salt was a rare. In the early middle ages trade started to develop in west Africa through the Ghana empire.

Which is handy on an evolutionary level because sodium chloride is necessary for everyday muscle function most importantly the heart. 1 pound of salt 1 pound of gold Wiki User. In early times animals would find salt.

Salt for West Africans was of the utmost importance. The rest was spent on transportation tax and profit which people recompensed gladly since salt was a necessity for survival. So West Africans traded their gold for salt.

Why was salt so valuable in west Africa. This basically means that the reason you have been hearing about salt being more valuable than gold all this time is wrong. This means that areas producing salt had a valuable trade item one that they could exchange for gold.

Transported via camel caravans and by boat along such rivers as the Niger and Senegal salt found its way to trading centres like Koumbi Saleh Niani and Timbuktu where it. 30 What effect did natural resources like salt in the Sahara desert have on North Africa. Plants have no salt at all and while meat has some boiling it leaches most of it into the cooking waterIn the forests of West Africa salt was very scarce so they had to trade for it and it literally was more.

Salt has many uses though it is primarily associated with food. And there might not have been enough wood near every coast so not every. Because salt was needed to flavor food preserve meat used for medical purposes and to keep the body healthy.

29 Why was salt so valuable in West Africa quizlet. See answer 1 Best Answer. Salt had different values to different people.

It was valuable anywhere because salt can be used to preserve food especially meat. So valuable that it was used a money for centuries. Salt had a various amount of uses and properties that made it so valuable to be used as a currency for over 5 Countries TIME.

Salt was mainly used for preserving food especially meat and fish. Yes salt was a necessary element for people to survive because salt was used to preserve food. Salt was so valuable it was worth its weight in gold.

Too much is considered unhealthy but it is essential for survival. Dont let the name fool you the present day nation of Ghana is a ways off from where the Ghana empire was. The fact is that it was actually salt trade that held more worth than the gold industry.

At times it was the only real way of preserving this food so there was a huge demand for it. 32 Was gold the most valuable resource in West Africa. Why was salt so important in West Africa.