Answer:
There are several reasons that also led to the fall of ancient Meroe however, from the options presented :
Answer: A - deforestation due to the need to burn wood to smelt the ore.
Step-by-step explanation:
The thriving Kush civilization south of Egypt and north of Sudan, had its administrative centre in Meroe in about 500 BCE, this region blessed by its geographical location permitted the extraction of iron ore. The smelting of iron led to the development of iron technology in Meroe which in turn helped to maintained the trans Saharan commercial trades within several regions in Africa including Egypt and across the Red Sea to Greece and Rome.
About this same period of 500 BCE, the Nok culture existed in a region occupied by modern day Nigeria. This culture of an early Iron Age population, was probably the first known civilization in the West African region to perfect iron smelting and produce of terracotta art sculptures.
Both civilizations suffered from the decline in their economic activities as the iron smelting was used in the production of tools for agriculture, hunting, art, and further land occupation. This exerted much pressure on the environment, leading to deforestation of geographical areas for obtaining charcoal from trees used in the smelting of iron.