Ghana was a crossroads of trade. Mali won control of lands from the Atlantic to Timbuktu. Songhai took over the Berber salt mines. They made gold,ivory,ebony, and slaves
Timbuktu was a trading city along the Atlantic coast. Timbuktu was where Muslim learning took place and where a special market sold handwritten books. Merchants sold boatloads of gold,ivory,cotton, dried fish,and kola nuts.