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![North Africa’s Place in the Mediterranean Economy of Late Antiquity](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/7136.jpg?v=1717393023)
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North Africa’s Place in the Mediterranean Economy of Late Antiquity
The Mediterranean Sea was the economic focal point of the Roman Empire. Rome's armies first established an empire across these waters beginning back in the times of the Roman Republic. In 200 CE, the Mediterranean was still the channel that...
![The Gold Trade of Ancient & Medieval West Africa](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/10615.jpg?v=1707756549)
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The Gold Trade of Ancient & Medieval West Africa
West Africa was one of the world's greatest producers of gold in the Middle Ages. Trade in the metal went back to antiquity but when the camel caravans of the Sahara linked North Africa to the savannah interior, the trade really took off...
![The Spread of Islam in Ancient Africa](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/10601.jpg?v=1712055304)
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The Spread of Islam in Ancient Africa
Following the conquest of North Africa by Muslim Arabs in the 7th century CE, Islam spread throughout West Africa via merchants, traders, scholars, and missionaries, that is largely through peaceful means whereby African rulers either tolerated...
![The Roman Empire in West Africa](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/7963.jpg?v=1705948744)
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The Roman Empire in West Africa
At its fullest extent, the Roman Empire stretched from around modern-day Aswan, Egypt at its southernmost point to Great Britain in the north but the influence of the Roman Empire went far beyond even the borders of its provinces as a result...
![Roman Expeditions in Sub-Saharan Africa](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/7977.jpg?v=1705014904)
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Roman Expeditions in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa was explored by Roman expeditions between 19 BCE - 90 CE, most likely in an effort to locate the sources of valuable trade goods and establish routes to bring them to the seaports on the coast of North Africa, thereby minimizing...
![The Portuguese in East Africa](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/14388.png?v=1707775264)
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The Portuguese in East Africa
The Portuguese first took an interest in East Africa from the beginning of the 16th century as their empire spread eastwards across the Indian Ocean. Trade in the region was already well-established and carried out by Africans, Indians, and...
![Early Human Migration](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/6605.png?v=1701059226)
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Early Human Migration
Disregarding the extremely inhospitable spots even the most stubborn of us have enough common sense to avoid, humans have managed to cover an extraordinary amount of territory on this earth. Go back 200,000 years, however, and Homo sapiens...
![The Salt Trade of Ancient West Africa](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/10161.jpg?v=1695109263)
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The Salt Trade of Ancient West Africa
Salt from the Sahara desert was one of the major trade goods of ancient West Africa where very little naturally occurring deposits of the mineral could be found. Transported via camel caravans and by boat along such rivers as the Niger and...
![North Africa During the Classical Period](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/4635.jpg?v=1673836742)
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North Africa During the Classical Period
Phoenician traders arrived on the North African coast around 900 B.C. and established Carthage (in present-day Tunisia) around 800 B.C. By the sixth century B.C., a Phoenician presence existed at Tipasa (east of Cherchell in Algeria). From...
![Legions of Spain, Roman Africa & Egypt](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/14063.jpg?v=1625605202)
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Legions of Spain, Roman Africa & Egypt
The legions of Spain, Roman Africa, and Egypt did not see the intensity of action that prevailed elsewhere in Europe. However, the presence of these four legions - VII Gemina, IX Hispana, XXII Deiotariana, and II Traiana Fortis - was still...