8 Days Between Wells: Crossing the Sahara as a Salt Trader (1352)

The Sahara, 1352. Yahya moves forty camels loaded with salt across the deadliest desert on earth — where the next well is eight days away, a sandstorm can erase the road, and the white slabs on his camels' backs are worth their weight in gold at the end of the road. This is one day of the two-month crossing that fed an empire. This video is a historical reconstruction created with AI-generated visuals, based on real sources: the Rihla of Ibn Battuta — who made this exact crossing in 1352 and described the salt mines of Taghaza with his own eyes — and the chronicles of the Mali Empire's trans-Saharan trade. Timestamps: 00:00 The city built of salt 01:05 Loading a fortune 02:45 The scale of the caravan 07:00 The night watch 07:30 Silent trade — salt for gold 08:37 The well