Final answer:
The false statement is 'D. Ghana was never involved in slave trading.' Historical records show that the Ghana Empire was indeed involved in the slave trade, with captives sold by the thousands.
Step-by-step explanation:
The false statement among the ones provided is: D. Ghana was never involved in slave trading. According to historical records, the Ghana Empire was indeed involved in the slave trade. Ghanaian wealth derived not only from its control over commodities like gold, copper, and salt, but also from captives, many of whom were prisoners of war or were seized in enslavement raids. Historical geographers such as al-Idrisi and al-Zuhri documented evidence of slave raiding and trading by the Ghana Empire, and it is estimated that during the height of the empire, thousands of captives were sold into slavery each year.
The Ghana Empire was a powerful trading empire due to its vast gold mines, as asserted in statement A. This is corroborated by Arab scholars like Al-Hamdani, who described Ghana's goldmines as the richest on earth. Statement B is accurate in that Ghana did trade for salt, horses, and weapons among other goods.
Regarding statement C, Ghana traded mostly with Arabs across the long-distance trans-Saharan trade routes, rather than directly with Europeans, though the gold that was traded with Arab merchants did eventually make its way to Europe.