M5

I am going to Jenne-jeno, it is a important African city that thrives off trade.  My boat glides down the Niger river towards the city of Jenne-jeno. The city has a rather small wall by European standards, about 13 feet high.When my boat docks I walk up to the city, a guard questions me about my intentions inside the city, I tell him that I am a traveler touring the city which is incredibly close to the truth.

I walk past the wall towards the center of the city, on the way there I walk past the trading center.On the way through I happen to see a gold ring being traded for a small block of salt. It astounds me to see the value of salt, but it makes sense, salt is very rare in this area and it has many uses like keeping the body healthy.

As I continue into the city center I see a group of people huddling around a small stand shouting OOO and AHHH. I walk up interested in what is going on, when I get close enough to see whats going on I see a blacksmith with singed clothing hammering on a piece of red hot metal. In Jenne-jeno, the people here believe that blacksmiths are magical, they are often asked to perform healing and to tell the future, they are also used as political leaders and judges.

 Jenne-jeno was built during the third century B.C. it existed for more than 1,600 years.The city had a population of about 20,000 during ancient times. At first it's houses were made from poles arranged in a circular fashion but later it evolved into mud brick houses.

I am done here for now,  but I am yearning for food, on the way towards the gate I buy some food with the coins that TTI supplied me with. I walk through the gate and to my docked boat, I untie it and float downstream, once I am out of sight from the city I time travel back to the present.