Trans-Saharan Cultural Diffusion

In the early 1300s, a Muslim ruler called Mansa Musa embarked on a pilgrimage to Mecca. He brought his riches with him, and ended up singlehandedly lowering the value of gold in Africa simply by paying for everything using gold. However, gold was not the only resource traded in Africa. The trans-Saharan trade routes were a vast trade network that reached across the continent, on which diverse goods and resources were traded, and knowledge, ideas, and religion spread in a phenomenon known as cultural diffusion. Cultural diffusion that occurred along the trans-Saharan trade routes shaped the development of culture in medieval Africa.
The trans-Saharan trade routes provided African people access to goods and resources that were not local to their
Trade occurred because the North had salt but did not have gold, which was an important resource because of its value as currency. The West had gold but did not have salt which was necessary as a diet supplement and to prevent food from spoiling (Fromherz). This trade was integral to medieval Africa. Even the most powerful people in Africa depended on it due to the importance of the materials themselves (Fromherz). The trade of gold also created connections between different regions of Africa, leading to increased cultural diffusion between these regions (Davis and Page, "Gold in Africa."). Salt trade was extremely successful due to the necessity of salt and made a large amount of gold, despite the risk of trading caravans being lost to bandits and the cost of transport (Davis and Page, "Salt Trade in Medieval Africa."). The medieval African trade economy hinged upon gold and salt.
Ivory, another important good, traveled along the trans-Saharan trade routes. Around 8000 BCE, Egyptians began using ivory for carvings due to its aesthetic value and durability, which more or less began the ivory trade. Ivory was a valuable good, traded for spices, cloth, gold, and salt. In fact, ivory was such a popular trade good that the area where most ivory was harvested was named the Ivory Coast (Davis and Page, "Africa and the Ivory
When salt traders from northern Africa brought Islam along with salt to the sub-Saharan area, these areas united around a common religion (Fromherz). Islam began to control much of Africa's trade, government, and towns. The adoption of Islam in Africa caused trade to increase due to better organization of Africa under Muslim dynasties, which in turn led to the increase of city growth and monarchies (“Western Africa.”). In this way, the spread of Islam affected African culture.
Islam also majorly affected trade in Africa. Due to Islam's diffusion, Muslim traders increasingly dominated trans-Saharan trade (Davis and Page, “Islam.”). In fact, Muslims basically controlled trade soon after Islam became a major religion (Cosman and Jones). Islam facilitated trade by introducing commonality between traders in the form of a shared religion and providing scribes to write contracts and religious leaders to settle conflicts (Abbott). The spread of Islam led to mainly Muslim-controlled