Djenné et le Ghana: deux modèles sociaux,et la question du commerce trans-saharien

　This paper puts under scrutiny the alleged link between the Trans-Saharian Arabo-Berber trade and the development of complex polities such as the Ghana empire in the West African Sahel. When did Ghana come into existence? As evidence is lacking, the city of Djenné (Jenne) could provide some clues. Meanwhile, the peculiar urbanism of Djenné-Djeno (old Jenne) can be understood as depicting alternative, auto-organizing social relations in the Inland Niger Delta. Furthermore, during the first millennium before and the first millennium after common era, the distinctive «urban cluster» pattern of Djenné-Djeno or Dia in the Macina can be found elsewhere along the Niger Bend and as far downstream as Bentia-Kukiya.　Climatic changes affecting the Sahara presumably induced a common Soninke origin for Djenné-Djeno and for the Ghana polity, in both cases via the Neolithic culture of Tichitt. Based on this and on the Wagadu myth of the snake and the rain-maker, some features of Ghana can be underlined. Specifically, the level of economical interactions clearly shows that internal West African networks dealing with copper, salt, stones and staples predated the Trans-Saharian links with the Islamic world, leading to the conclusion that the so-called Arabic stimulus explanation can be dismissed. Finally, the articulation between the two towns of Djenné is addressed