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Timbuktu primarily gained its wealth from local gold and salt mining, in addition to the trans-Saharan slave trade. Gold was a highly valued commodity in the Mediterranean region and salt was most popular south of the city, though arguably the biggest asset Timbuktu had was its location.
An Iron Age tell complex located 9 kilometres (6 miles) southeast of the Timbuktu near the Wadi el-Ahmar was excavated between 2008 and 2010 by archaeologists from Yale University and the Mission Culturelle de Tombouctou. The results suggest that the site was first occupied in the 5th century BC, thrived throughout the second half of the 1st ...
Ultimately, however, it was the rise of sea trade along the West Africa coast that doomed the overland routes that connected North Africa to sub-Saharan Africa. The city lost its economic base and its fine university was not enough to save Timbuktu from decline. Cut off from major trade routes, the city retained an aura of spectacular treasure.
Timbuktu is a repository of history, a living archive which anybody with a concern for African history should be acquainted with. Timbuktu may be hard to get to but it played an essential role as a centre of scholarship under the Songhay state until the invasion from the rulers of Marrakesh in 1591, and even thereafter it was revived. [9]
Timbuktu, often referred to as the "City of 333 Saints," [1] is a historic city located in northern Mali. It was once a major center of Islamic scholarship and trade during the Mali Empire and the Songhai Empire. [2] Timbuktu is renowned for its historic mosques, ancient manuscripts, and vibrant cultural heritage.
Timbuktu soon became the center of trade, culture, and Islam; markets brought in merchants from Hausaland, Egypt, and other African kingdoms, a university was founded in the city (as well as in the Malian cities of Djenné and Ségou), and Islam was spread through the markets and university, making Timbuktu a new area for Islamic scholarship. [69]
A map of World Heritage Sites in Africa as of 2016, each designated by a dot 0 sites 1–2 sites 3–4 sites 5–6 sites 7–8 sites 9 sites. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has designated 147 World Heritage Sites in Africa.
Joseph Banks, president of the African Association, supported his project, hoping that the expedition would reveal the location of Timbuktu. Henry, 3rd Earl Bathurst, then secretary for the colonies, instructed Captain Laing to undertake a journey, via Tripoli and Timbuktu, to further elucidate the hydrography of the Niger basin. Laing left ...