Teghaza
Taghaza · Teghazza Salt Mines
Islamic Saharan (10th–16th c. CE; peak 13th–15th c.)·Sanhaja Berber / Songhai·🇲🇱 Taoudenni Region (Sahara), Mali
About
About Teghaza
Teghaza (Taghaza) is a Saharan salt-mining ghost town on Sebkha salt pan 200 km north of Timbuktu, medieval (10th–16th c.) salt slab quarrying centre described by Ibn Battuta 1352 and Leo Africanus as 'houses of salt, roofs of camel skin'. Rectangular brine pits 5×3 m cut salt crust, slave labour under Azalai caravans. Abandoned 1591 after Moroccan Saadian firings and Taoudenni replacement. Salt slabs currency for Timbuktu–Sijilmasa trade.
Why it mattersClassic gold–salt trade salt source; Ibn Battuta eyewitness links to Timbuktu.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Slave vs free miners
- 02When Taoudenni superseded
Theories
- 01Salt currency weight standard (Mauny)
- 02Azalai monopoly model (Bulliet)
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- 10th c. salt pits; houses 13th c.
- Period
- Islamic Saharan (10th–16th c. CE; peak 13th–15th c.)
- Culture
- Sanhaja Berber / Songhai
- Builders
- Tuareg–Sanhaja salt miners
- Purpose
- Saharan salt slab mining for gold–salt trade
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
10th c.
Salt pits opened
1352
Ibn Battuta visits houses of salt
1591
Abandoned after Moroccan conquest
1930s
Monod survey
On the ground
Structures & features
23.4250° N · 4.2730° W · 120 m · 2 mapped features
Salt Pit Field
salt pit100+ halite pits 5×3 m
23.4260° N · 4.2740° WSalt Houses
house8×6 m houses of salt blocks
23.4240° N · 4.2720° W