Latest / Trade Routes That Changed Human History Forever — Fexingo History
The Silk Road's Hidden Currency: How Salt Built Empires
We often think of the Silk Road as a lane for silk and spices, but in the Sahara, the real wealth flowed in the opposite direction: salt. This episode explores how rock salt, mined from the ancient deposits at Taghaza and Taoudenni, became the gold standard of West Africa. We follow the camel caravans of the Tuareg and Berber traders who braved the desert to bring this white mineral to Timbuktu and Gao, where it was traded weight-for-weight with gold. The story centers on Mansa Musa’s legendary pilgrimage to Mecca, not just as a display of wealth, but as a geopolitical shockwave that devalued…
The skinny
The skinny isn't ready yet — notes appear once the transcript is processed.