resistant to insects and decay. Th is natural resource became
the foundation of Lebanese trade with other nations around
the Mediterranean Sea. Ancient India had the resources and
skills necessary for textile production, so its textiles were
highly prized.
In addition to desirable goods, trade and exchange re-
quired trade routes and modes of transportation. Th e two
choices, of course, were land routes and sea routes. Trade and
exchange by land became more extensive aft er the domestica-
tion of pack animals. Caravans carried goods long distances,
particularly in regions with broad grasslands, where transport
was relatively easy and there was plenty of grass for pack ani-
mals to eat. In time, the ancient Romans constructed a vast
network of roads connecting the imperial capital with its colo-
nies, and the Chinese created a road network, oft en referred to
as the Silk Road, connecting China with India, the Near East,
and eventually Rome. As shipbuilding technologies became
more advanced, nations that bordered the sea were able to
maintain vigorous trade relationships both with their colonies
and with other nations. In this respect, the ancient Greeks led
the way, followed by the Romans and Chinese.
Trade and exchange involved more than just the ex-
change of goods. Trade and exchange played a major role in
the diff usion of knowledge and ideas, as cultures made con-
tact with one another through their business relationships
and road networks enabled people to travel. Moreover, the
wealth provided by trade and exchange led directly to some
of the world’s great civilizations, as bustling cities developed
to support economic activity from all over the known world.AFRICA
BY MICHAEL J. O’NEAL
Many ancient African societies engaged in trade, and some
thrived on it. Th is was particularly the case in the north-
ern sectors of the continent, where large settled communi-
ties developed earlier than they did in the southern half of
the continent, where many groups still lived as wandering
hunter-gatherers or herders. As settled communities grew,
the people in them produced goods—food, metalwork,
leather, glasswork, and numerous other things—they could
trade with other communities far and near, and a number of
kingdoms became crossroads for trade and exchange. Th ese
trading networks were a source not only of goods that were
unavailable locally but also of tax revenues for kingdoms and
their rulers.
One of the most vigorous trading communities was the
region known as Nubia, just south of the Egyptian Empire.
Nubia acted as a major crossroad for people from Egypt, the
Near East, southern Africa, and later Rome, India, and the
Byzantine Empire. Th e fi rst civilization that developed in Nu-
bia was the kingdom of Kush, which became a major center
for trade. Goods from the southern part of Africa, including
gold, ebony, ivory, exotic animals, and slaves, passed through
Kush on the way to points north.Th roughout its history, though, Kush was unstable; the
Kushites had to move their capital city on two occasions.
Eventually an invasion by the Assyrians severely weakened
Kush, and in about 350 b.c.e. the kingdom of Kush came
to an end, giving way to the kingdom of Axum to the east.
Th e Axumites occupied the highlands of Ethiopia near the
Red Sea, along with parts of modern-day northern Ethiopia,
Eritrea, Yemen, southern Saudi Arabia, northern Somalia,
Djibouti, and northern Sudan. Axum was a mixture of in-
digenous Kushite people and immigrants from the southern
Arabian Peninsula who had migrated to the region in about
500 b.c.e.
Like Kush, Axum derived its power from trade, primar-
ily in such commodities as silk, spices, ivory, tortoiseshell,
rhinoceros horn, hippopotamus hides, monkeys, gold, sil-
ver, cloaks and other garments, obsidian, spices, agricultural
products, sugarcane, emeralds, salt, and slaves. Th e kingdom
became immensely wealthy, and with a powerful navy on
the Nile River and the Red Sea was able to extend its impe-
rial power by establishing trading colonies throughout the
region in the early decades of the Common Era. To foster
trade, the Axumites developed a system of roads maintained
and protected by the state. Also used for transportation and
trade were riverbeds during the dry seasons and reed boats
for carrying goods on lakes. Axum remained a major trad-
ing power until the rise of Islam in the seventh and eighth
centuries c.e.
Among imported goods, both those from other nations
and those that circulated within Axum itself, were iron,
bronze, glasswork, ceramics, wood, leather, and livestock.
While the bulk of Axumite trade was internal, with city cen-
ters trading manufactured goods for agricultural products
from the countryside, much also was international. Most im-
ported goods appear to have been luxury items for the elite.
Th ese goods had to pass through customs posts, where taxes
were paid. Sometimes these taxes were in the form of coin-
age, but usually they were paid in kind—that is, a portion of
the goods themselves were paid as taxes. Th ese taxes were an
important source of Axumite wealth.
One of the most important trade routes of ancient Af-
rica ran in an east–west direction just south of the Sahara.
Th is band, called the Sahel, was home to numerous cities and
settlements that made their living primarily through trade.
Goods from the east and from the Mediterranean area passed
through the Sahel on the way to points south, where they were
traded for African goods such as ivory and precious metals.
One of these settlements was Jenne-jeno in Sudan in the up-
per Niger River delta. Beginning in about 200 b.c.e. Jenne-
jeno actively engaged in trade. Artifacts found in the area
show that the city imported goods from Greece and Rome.
Along any trading route, including that of the Sahel, towns
and villages supported caravans of traders, providing them
with food and water, forage for horses (and later camels),
markets, and resting places. Goods probably changed hands
at numerous points along these trade routes.1096 trade and exchange: Africa0895-1194_Soc&Culturev4(s-z).i1096 1096 10/10/07 2:31:03 PM