liefs. Iron, because of its strength, was regarded as a source
of power, even virility. Iron provided weapons that could be
used to conquer enemies who were still fi ghting with rocks
and sticks. Th us, one group that oft en ran the iron industry
was the priestly class. Th e making of iron was regarded as
magical. Large fi res were built to smelt the ore, out of which
emerged a substance that enabled people to conquer both the
land and their enemies. Th e fl ames, the smoke and ash, the
heat, and the molten metal had a distinct otherworldly as-
pect. Accordingly, large numbers of rituals and taboos sur-
rounded iron making. One taboo, in particular, was that
ironworks, as spiritual centers, had to be strictly separated
from households—perhaps the fi rst known instance of zon-
ing regulations that separated manufacturing from residen-
tial districts.
Iron was not the only metal that played a role in African
economic systems. Gold, too, played a part, though gold in
the ancient world did not have quite the same high value the
modern world places on it. Gold is a soft metal, so its uses
were restricted to luxury items such as jewelry. One of the
most prominent gold-producing kingdoms of ancient Africa
was Ghana, which began to fl ourish in about 200 c.e. Gha-
na’s major export was gold. In fact, the word ghana referred
to the ruler who controlled the region’s gold supply and gold
exports.
Ghana’s rulers became wealthy because of the taxes they
levied, though they did not tax gold. Rather, they taxed the
salt for which gold was traded. (Salt was a vital commodity
in the ancient world, used primarily for food preservation.)
Th us, gold was traded for salt; taxes were paid on the salt, and
the ruling class became the owners of capital that was used to
fi nance public works projects such as roads and monuments.
In some parts of Africa, including Ghana, only gold dust
could be legally traded. Gold nuggets were regarded as the
possessions of rulers, as a way of maintaining their status.
Ghana and Jenne-jeno, of course, were not the only cen-
ters of metalworking and trade. Th e Nubian kingdoms to the
south of the Egyptian empire were also important centers of
metalworking and trade. Th ese kingdoms, including Kush
and later Axum, occupied unique positions as links between
Egypt to the north and the sub-Sahara to the south. And by
being linked with Egypt, they were also linked to the Near
East and the wider Mediterranean Sea. Accordingly, these
kingdoms gained wealth as centers of trade, with middlemen
importing and exporting goods—gold, jewelry, salt, ivory, eb-
ony, elephant tusks, leopard skins, feathers, incense, and ag-
ricultural produce—up and down the region. Oft en this trade
was not direct; one item was traded for another, which was in
turn traded for a third, and so on until goods arrived in the
hands of those who wanted them. Many products from the
sub-Sahara were in high demand to the north because they
were luxury goods or used in the production of luxury goods.
Th us, the economic base of these kingdoms was not produc-
tion, even though a certain amount of iron was produced, but
rather exchange. Unlike the sub-Sahara, however, the Nubian
kingdoms were ruled by powerful central authorities, mod-
eling their Egyptian neighbors, so import-export exchanges
were taxed, and the proceeds used for public works projects.CARTHAGE
Th e most dominant trading empire in North Africa was that
of the Carthaginians. Carthage, a name derived from the
Phoenician words for “new city,” was founded in 814 b.c.e.
by Phoenician traders from the city of Tyre in Lebanon. Th e
city of Carthage, the capital of the empire, was in North Af-
rica on the east edge of Lake Tunis, in modern-day Tunisia.
Some historians believe that it was the world’s second-largest
city during Hellenistic times, the era when the Greek empire
was at its height. It was protected by massive walls and had
marketplaces, towers, a theater, a council house, an area for
religious worship, a huge, elaborate cemetery, four residential
areas, and, in the center, a tall citadel called the Byrsa.
Th e basis of Carthaginian power and empire was its
massive navy and a large fl eet of merchant ships. Much of
the empire’s trade was based on the Iberian Peninsula (Spain
and Portugal), the source of large amounts of lead, silver,
and tin ore. Tin ore was especially important, for numerous
ancient civilizations mixed tin with copper to make bronze.
Carthage’s strategic location between the island of Sicily and
the African coast allowed it to control the supply of tin to the
east.
Nearly as important as tin were the silver mines in North
Africa and Iberia. Another important commodity was a dye
called Tyrian purple—a dye so valued that a pound of it was
equal in value to up to 20 pounds of gold. Other important
commodities included textiles (silk, wool, cotton), spices,
perfumes, pottery, incense, glasswork, wood, bronze, ala-
baster, precious stones, plows, mirrors, cabinetry, household
items (pillows and bedding, for example), slaves, and weap-
ons. Food commodities included fi sh as well as a range of ag-
ricultural products.
Carthage’s infl uence also spread southward. Th e empire
sent caravans into the African continent, where they traded
for such goods as ebony, ivory, salt, timber, gold, hides, and
such animals as apes and peacocks. To the north they ob-
tained amber from the Scandinavian countries and animal
hides from Europe. In summary, the Carthaginians traded
in just about every commodity that anyone wanted in the an-
cient world. Th eir effi ciency in storage, transportation, and
buying and selling was the source of the empire’s wealth and
power.
Th e Carthaginians introduced two important innova-
tions on the continent. One was the auction method of ex-
change, and the other was the use of gold as a medium of
exchange. Many of the communities that traded with Car-
thage feared Carthaginian sailors because of their reputation
for seizing slaves. Th us, they avoided direct contact with the
Carthaginian merchant fl eet or caravans. Accordingly, when
the Carthaginians arrived, they unloaded their goods onto,
say, a beach, arranging them tidily for inspection. Th ey theneconomy: Africa 345