Cats, musk, gold and slaves

Staples of the northbound Saharan trade

Datos Bibliográficos

ID3978713
AutoresJohn Wright (0000-0001-9572-7293), John K Wright (0000-0001-6834-4529, autor de correspondencia)
Año2011
Volumen16
Número3
Páginas415-420
Fecha de publicación2011-09-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaThe Journal of North African Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1362-9387 • E-ISSN: 1743-9345
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13629387.2010.492156
OpenAlexW2110965387
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas9

Apart from black slaves and gold, inner Africa historically had little to trade across the Sahara or down the Red Sea into the wider Islamic world. However, two important and valuable African tropical commodities that did find ready export markets from at least the early Middle Ages were wild civet cats and the civet musk (civettone) they produced. Highly valued as a fragrance and a stabiliser by perfume-makers in the Arab Maghrib, Egypt, the Middle East and later in Europe, the musk was widely-traded in Africa, across the Sahara, the Red Sea and in the Mediterranean. In pre-industrial commerce it had a high value-to-weight advantage as a commodity that at certain times and in certain markets could fetch half its weight in minted gold

Ancient history · Archaeology · Commodity · Economics · Geography · Gold coast · Islam · Market economy · Middle East · African Studies and Geopolitics · Colonialism, slavery, and trade · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · History