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Timbuktu. Timbuktu. Legend of Timbuktu. Few places in the world have an air of mystery as alluring as Timbuktu.
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Legend of Timbuktu • Few places in the world have an air of mystery as alluring as Timbuktu. • The name of this city in the West African country of Mali is so wrapped in legend that many people think of Timbuktu as a mythical, timeless land rather than a city with a real history. • Road to Timbuktu
Cultural and Spiritual Capital • Ancient Mosque in Timuktu • For West Africans, however, Timbuktu was an economic and cultural capital equal in historical importance to acclaimed cities like Rome, Athens, Jerusalem, and Mecca.
Center of Commerce and Education • Prosperity made by the trans-Saharan trade routes brought great wealth to the city. • This wealth attracted not only merchants and traders but also men of academic and religious learning. • Scholars in the fabled African city, once a great center of learning and trade, are racing to save a still emerging cache of ancient manuscripts.
Trade Center: Gold and Salt • Timbuktu was founded around 1100 C.E. as a camp for its proximity to the Niger River. • Caravans quickly began to haul salt from mines in the Sahara Desert to trade for gold and slaves brought along the river from the south.
Timbuktu reached its grandeur under the Songhay Empire, becoming a haven for scholars.
Great mosques, universities, schools, and libraries were built under the Mali and Songhai Empires, some of which still stand today.
Decline of Timbuktu • Portuguese navigators ensured Timbuktu's decline by establishing reliable trade with the West African coast and undercutting the city's commercial power.
Timbuktu Today • Today, the very fabric of Timbuktu today is threatened by what once contributed to the city's success—the Sahara Desert.