Ghana Empire · about 700-1200

The Ghana Empire: land of gold

Long before the modern country of Ghana, an empire called Wagadu grew rich at the southern end of the Saharan trade. Students read what an Arab geographer wrote in 1068 and learn how a king controlled gold he did not mine.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
45 minutes
Ages
11–14
On the map
3 steps, AD 1000 to AD 1279
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

Long before the modern country of Ghana, an empire called Wagadu grew rich at the southern end of the Saharan trade. Students read what an Arab geographer wrote in 1068 and learn how a king controlled gold he did not mine.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Locate the Ghana Empire and explain why it is not in the same place as the modern country of Ghana.
  • Explain how the king of Ghana grew rich by taxing trade and controlling gold nuggets.
  • Judge the value and limits of al-Bakri's description as a historical source.
2

Explore the map

12 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1000

Where Ghana really was

Open the map in 1000 and find the label Ghana in the dry Sahel north of the Senegal and Niger rivers. Then drag the slider to 2000: the modern country of Ghana appears far to the south-east. Why might it have taken the old name?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1000

At the edge of the desert

Back in 1000, turn on Trade Routes. How close is Ghana to the route across the Sahara? Which goods could its king tax?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1279

A new power

Drag the slider slowly from 1100 to 1279 and watch the labels. Which empire takes Ghana's place?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

14 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. The name "Ghana" was really the title of the king. Why might outsiders name a whole country after its ruler?
  2. The king taxed salt coming in and going out. Why was taxing trade a smarter idea than mining gold himself?
  3. Much of what we know comes from al-Bakri, who never went there. How reliable is a writer who collects other people's stories?
  4. The king's town and the Muslim merchants' town stood side by side. What does this tell us about religion in Ghana?
  5. Historians argue about whether the Almoravids conquered Ghana around 1076. Why do historians disagree about events so long ago?
4

Game round

9 min

No ruler of Ghana is in Rule History. Play one round as Charlemagne, who ruled in Europe while Ghana was growing rich, and compare: where did each ruler's wealth come from, land or trade?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

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