Gold Roads End at TondibiNear Gao, Songhai Empire · 1591“Hear how a desert was crossed for gold — and how an empire greater than the crossing fell.”The Sultan of Morocco looked south across the Sahara and saw, glittering at the far edge of it, the salt and gold of Songhai. Wise men told him no army could cross that sand.The lesson the elders kept: He who destroys the market he came to capture goes home with sand in his hands — and the gold finds another road.