双语+MP3|美国学生世界历史55 西非三个王国

55
Three Kingdoms in West Africa
西非三个王国

     AT the same time that medieval kingdoms like England and France were becoming important in Europe, three kingdoms in West Africa also grew strong and wealthy. They were called Ghana, Mali, and Songhay. These kingdoms were south of the Sahara Desert, along the Niger River. On your map each kingdom is outlined with a different kind of line.

Medieval kingdoms of West Africa（中世纪时的西非王国）
     This part of Africa was very wealthy because gold was mined there. For many centuries, the peoples of West Africa traded their gold with close neighbors and also with the Berber people north of the Sahara Desert. Some of the gold from West Africa was sold in the Roman Empire.
     There are lots of good stories about the gold miners and traders. When the miners had gold to trade, they would carry their nuggets far away from the mines. They didn't want strangers to find out exactly where the gold came from. The miners would wait in a place that both sides agreed upon. The traders would come and leave what they had to trade. After the traders were out of sight, the miners would leave some gold. Then they would hide. They didn't want to meet the traders, who might force them to tell the location of the mines. The traders would then return and see how much gold had been left. If they thought it was a fair trade, they would take the gold and go home. If they thought that not enough was offered, they would back off once more and wait for the miners to leave more gold. When both sides were satisfied with the trade, they would all go home. It was like swapping baseball cards. Both sides had to be happy or there was no trade.
     One thing that the West Africans needed to get in trade was salt. Can you guess why? West Africa is very hot. In those days with no refrigerators, salt was used to preserve food. Perhaps you've tasted beef jerky, which is meat that has been dried and preserved by salting. You can think of many other ways we keep our food from spoiling now, but in those days, salt was scarce and valuable. Even today we still use salt as a preservative, and we still say someone is "worth his salt" when he does a job well.
     It just so happened that there was a lot of salt on the north side of the Sahara Desert. So, the people of the Niger River area traded with the Berbers of North Africa-gold for salt. Salt was so valuable that West Africans and Berbers traded an even weight of gold for salt-one pound of gold for one pound of salt. That's how valuable salt was. How would you like to be able to make that trade today?
     All that gold made a number of the kingdoms in West Africa very wealthy. First a kingdom called Ghana grew large by conquering many of its neighbors. The king's power came from his well-trained army, a skillful cavalry, and gold. When the king of Ghana held an audience, he was surrounded by signs of his power and wealth: pages holding shields, swords with gold handles, horses covered with gold cloths, and the king's own horse tied to a sixty-pound gold nugget! Despite all this wealth, Ghana eventually declined in power, as all empires do sooner or later.
     Mali was the next rich, important empire in West Africa. One king, Sundiata, conquered the cities important in the trade crossing the Sahara. He also conquered rich gold fields. This king was not only rich, but he was also smart. Whenever his army conquered new land, he put the soldiers to work converting it to farm land-until it was time for the next battle. Soon Mali was one of the richest farming areas in West Africa, so this kingdom had plenty to eat as well as having gold and a powerful army.
     The most famous king of Mali was Mansa Musa, who ruled during the 14th century. He extended his empire westward to the Atlantic Ocean and ruled perhaps eight million people. Muslim traders, both Arabs and North Africans, came to Mali, and Mansa Musa converted to Islam. Like all devout Muslims, he made a pilgrimage to Mecca. Mansa Musa's pilgrimage made him famous! His route took him through Cairo, Egypt. He traveled with 500 slaves, each carrying a six-pound gold staff. There were also one hundred elephants, each said to be carrying one hundred pounds of gold. Several hundred camels carried food, weapons, and other things that the pilgrims needed. In Egypt and in Arabia, Mansa Musa gave away a lot of gold. Muslims are expected to be generous, and Mansa Musa was. He also used his gold to buy presents for the people he met along the way. While he was traveling, someone asked Mansa Musa how big his kingdom was. He replied, "A year." What do you think he meant by this? Did you guess? He meant that it took him a year to travel from one end of his kingdom to the other.
     When Mansa Musa came home, he brought with him artists and architects to build mosques in the city of Timbuktu and other cities in Mali. He also brought scholars and many books to start a library. Most of the books were written in Arabic, the language used by many Muslims. Timbuktu became a center of learning, and a large book market opened there. Astronomers, mathematicians, philosophers, and poets flocked to the city with its large library and many mosques. Doctors and lawyers worked and taught there. The king supported them all. A lot of foreigners came to visit Timbuktu. Some of these visitors wrote about their trips, so we can read what they said. One Muslim traveler who came from North Africa discovered an astonishing thing: Women were allowed to study and were treated with as much respect as the men!
     After Mansa Musa died, the empire of Mali began to split apart. Soon a third important empire, Songhay, arose in the Niger River area. In Songhay, the king's wealth again was based on gold, and he commanded strong armies. The king, Sunni Ali Ber, expanded Songhay until its empire was larger than Mali had ever been. He died in 1492, the year that Columbus set sail for the Americas. After this time, Songhay was weakened by foreigners, first by Moroccans from North Africa and then by the Portuguese who began sailing and trading along the African coast. The king of Songhay no longer had the power or wealth to hold his territory together. After a thousand years of wealthy empires, the lands along the Niger River split into small kingdoms.
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