Did you know that Mansa Musa, the emperor of Mali may have been the wealthiest man alive? The Empire of Mali was a place of great cultural exchange where ideas and cultures were spread from person to person. How Mali became this way was because of their main natural resource which was gold. People came from places like North and West Africa because Mali was said to be a place of gold, and everyone wanted gold for themselves. It also became a place of lots of cultures because of people called Berbers who went to Mali to trade salt for gold. When they were there, they converted people to Islamic religions, which made the spread of this culture greater. A third reason that Mali was a place of cultural exchange is because of Mansa Musa. He went on a pilgrimage to Mecca and spread the word about Mali and everyone went …show more content…
People came from all over to see Mali’s wealth and natural resources in gold, and with them, they brought culture and ideas. Another reason why Mali was a site of cultural exchange was because of Berbers. Berbers were people who exchanged salt for gold in Mali, and because they traveled from place to place because Berbers were nomads, they spread culture in Mali, one of their main stops. They converted people to Islam, which spread religion through Mali. A third reason why Mali is a site of cultural exchange is because of Mansa Musa. He went on a large pilgrimage to Mecca, and spent lots of gold along the way, building mosques and universities. He spread the word about Mali’s great wealth, and that prompted people to come to Mali because they all wanted gold. They brought culture with them. Another reason is trade. Mali traded gold with places like Egypt, North America, Mediterranean, and Morocco. When Mali traded with other people, the other places culture was immersed in their own. That is how Mali became a site of cultural