How it works
Amara lived in Mali, a rich land in West Africa, where there was lots of gold. Mali traded gold for salt from the desert.
Mansa means king. Mansa Musa made a great journey to the faraway city of Mecca, with thousands of people and many camels.
In Cairo, a big, busy city in Egypt, he gave out pouch after pouch of gold. Gold lay on every table in the market.
People say gold became worth less there, because there was suddenly lots of it. When there is lots of something, each piece is worth less.