Timbuktu

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Timbuktu
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Timbuktu
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Legend of Timbuktu

• Road to 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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Sankore Mosque in Timbuktu
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Timbuktu reached its grandeur under the Songhay
Empire, becoming a haven for scholars.
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Great mosques, universities, schools, and
libraries were built under the Mali and Songhai
Empires, some of which still stand today.
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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.

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Timbuktu Today

• Today, the very fabric of Timbuktu today is
  threatened by what once contributed to the city's
  successthe Sahara Desert.