Gold made western Africa. Since at least the 7th century CE, this precious commodity enriched civilizations and made the region a critical part of the global economy. Traders moved gold through the Sahara, into northern Africa, and then on to Asia and Europe. By the 15th century, Asante traders in today's Ghana used Islamic weight standards to develop scales and brass weights that would standardize shipments of gold. Many of these lost-wax cast weights took on designs inspired by old Asante motifs. Others were made in naturalistic forms that referred to Asante proverbs.