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Timbuktu

Timbuktu (/ˌtɪmbʌkˈt/ TIM-buk-TOO; French: Tombouctou; Koyra Chiini: Tumbutu; Tuareg: ⵜⵀⵗⵜ, romanized: Tin Buqt) is a city in Mali, situated 20 kilometres (12 miles) north of the Niger River. The town is the capital of the Tombouctou Region, one of the eight administrative regions of Mali, having a population of 54,453 in the 2009 census.

Timbuktu
Tumbutu (Koyra Chiini Songhay)
ⵜⵏⵀⵗⵜ (Tamashek)
Himba
City
  transcription(s)
 • Tuareg:Tin Buqt
Left to right: Djinguereber Mosque, Sankore Madrasah, Aerial view of Timbuktu, The market of Timbuktu, Timbuktu streets.
Map showing main trans-Saharan caravan routes c. 1400. Also shown are the Ghana Empire (until the 13th century) and 13th – 15th century Mali Empire, with the western route running from Djenné via Timbuktu to Sijilmassa. Present day Niger in yellow.
Timbuktu
Location of Timbuktu within Mali
Coordinates: 16°46′33″N 3°00′34″W / 16.77583°N 3.00944°W / 16.77583; -3.00944
CountryMali
RegionTombouctou Region
CercleTimbuktu Cercle
Settled5th century BCE
Government
 • MayorHallé Ousmane
Elevation
261 m (856 ft)
Population
 (2009)[1]
 • Total54,453
ClimateBWh
CriteriaCultural: ii, iv, v
Reference119
Inscription1988 (12th Session)
Endangered1990–2005; 2012–present

Timbuktu began as a seasonal settlement most likely of Berber or Songhai extraction, approximately around the 7th century BCE to 4th century BCE and final became a permanent settlement early in the 12th century. After a shift in trading routes, particularly after the visit by Mansa Musa around 1325, Timbuktu flourished from the trade in salt, gold, ivory and slaves. It gradually expanded as an important Islamic city on the Saharan trade route and attracted many scholars and traders. It became part of the Mali Empire early in the 14th century. In the first half of the 15th century, the Tuareg people took control of the city for a short period until the expanding Songhai Empire absorbed the city in 1468.

A Moroccan army defeated the Songhai in 1591 and made Timbuktu, rather than Gao, their capital. The invaders established a new ruling class, the Arma, who after 1612 became virtually independent of Morocco. The golden age of the city as a major learning and cultural centre of the Mali Empire was followed by a long period of decline. Different tribes governed until the French took over Mali in 1893, in a regime that lasted until the country became the Republic of Mali in 1960. Timbuktu is impoverished and suffers from desertification.

In its golden age, the town's numerous Islamic scholars and extensive trading network supported an important book trade. Together with the campuses of the Sankore Madrasah, an Islamic university, this established Timbuktu as a scholarly centre in Africa. Several notable historic writers, such as Shabeni and Leo Africanus, wrote about the city. These stories fuelled speculation in Europe, where the city's reputation shifted from being extremely rich to being mysterious.

Toponymy edit

 
Timbuktu looking west, René Caillié (1830)
 
View of Timbuktu, Heinrich Barth (1858)

Over the centuries, the spelling of Timbuktu has varied a great deal: from Tenbuch on the Catalan Atlas (1375), to traveller Antonio Malfante's Thambet, used in a letter he wrote in 1447 and also adopted by Alvise Cadamosto in his Voyages of Cadamosto, to Heinrich Barth's Timbúktu and Timbu'ktu. French spelling often appears in international reference as 'Tombouctou'. The German spelling 'Timbuktu' and its variant 'Timbucktu' have passed into English and the former has become widely used in recent years. Major English-language works have employed the spelling 'Timbuctoo', and this is considered the correct English form by scholars; 'Timbuctou' and 'Timbuctu' are sometimes used as well.

The French continue to use the spelling 'Tombouctou', as they have for over a century; variants include 'Temboctou' (used by explorer René Caillié) and 'Tombouktou', but they are seldom seen. Variant spellings exist for other places as well, such as Jenne (Djenné) and Segu (Ségou).[2] As well as its spelling, Timbuktu's toponymy is still open to discussion.[a] At least four possible origins of the name of Timbuktu have been described:

  • Songhay origin: both Leo Africanus and Heinrich Barth believed the name was derived from two Songhay words:[3] Leo Africanus writes the Kingdom of Tombuto was named after a town of the same name, founded in 1213 or 1214 by Mansa Suleyman.[4] The word itself consisted of two parts: tin (wall) and butu (Wall of Butu). Africanus did not explain the meaning of this Butu.[3] Heinrich Barth wrote: "The town was probably so called, because it was built originally in a hollow or cavity in the sand-hills. Tùmbutu means hole or womb in the Songhay language: if it were a Temáshight (Tamashek) word, it would be written Timbuktu. The name is generally interpreted by Europeans as well of Buktu (also same word in Persian is bâkhtàr باختر = where the sun sets, West), but tin has nothing to do with well."[5]
  • Berber origin: Malian historian Sekene Cissoko proposes a different etymology: the Tuareg founders of the city gave it a Berber name, a word composed of two parts: tin, the feminine form of in (place of) and bouctou, a small dune. Hence, Timbuktu would mean "place covered by small dunes".[6]
  • Abd al-Sadi offers a third explanation in his 17th-century Tarikh al-Sudan: "The Tuareg made it a depot for their belongings and provisions, and it grew into a crossroads for travelers coming and going. Looking after their belongings was a slave woman of theirs called Timbuktu, which in their language means [the one having a] 'lump'. The blessed spot where she encamped was named after her."[7]
  • The French Orientalist René Basset forwarded another theory: the name derives from the Zenaga root b-k-t, meaning "to be distant" or "hidden", and the feminine possessive particle tin. The meaning "hidden" could point to the city's location in a slight hollow.[8]

The validity of these theories depends on the identity of the original founders of the city: as recently as 2000, archaeological research has not found remains dating from the 11th/12th century within the limits of the modern city given the difficulty of excavating through metres of sand that have buried the remains over the past centuries.[9][10] Without consensus, the etymology of Timbuktu remains unclear.

Prehistory edit

Like other important Medieval West African towns such as Djenné (Jenné-Jeno), Gao, and Dia, Iron Age settlements have been discovered near Timbuktu that predate the traditional foundation date of the town. Although the accumulation of thick layers of sand has thwarted archaeological excavations in the town itself,[11][10] some of the surrounding landscape is deflating and exposing pottery shards on the surface. A survey of the area by Susan and Roderick McIntosh in 1984 identified several Iron Age sites along the el-Ahmar, an ancient wadi system that passes a few kilometers to the east of the modern town.[12]

An Iron Age tell complex located nine kilometres (5+12 mi) 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 during the 5th century BC, thrived throughout the second half of the 1st millennium AD and eventually collapsed sometime during the late 10th or early 11th-century AD.[13][14]

History edit

Timbuktu has become a household reference as a faraway, mysterious place, but the city itself was once a world-renowned trade powerhouse, as well as an academic hotspot of the medieval world. Timbuktu is unique in the fact that it has seen many rulers, but the city reached its golden period under the Mali Empire in the 13th and 14th centuries. Distinguished Malian Mansa Mūsā brought great fame to the city of Timbuktu when he established a university of Islamic learning there. The university taught much more than Islamic studies, though, including topics of history, rhetoric, law, science, and, most notably, medicine. Mansa Mūsā also introduced Timbuktu, and the Mali Empire in general, to the rest of the Medieval world through his Hajj, as his time in Mecca would soon inspire Arab travelers to visit North Africa. Europeans, however, would not reach the city until much later, due to the difficult and lengthy journey, thus garnering the city an aura of mystery.

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. The city is situated nine miles from the Niger River, making for good agricultural land, and is near the Sahara Desert, providing easily accessible trade routes. Timbuktu also acts as a midpoint between the regions of North, West, and Central Africa. Because of this, Timbuktu has developed into a cultural mixing pot.

The Mali Empire reached a steady decline in the mid-1400s, giving rise to the Songhai Empire. However, the city of Timbuktu entered a brief period of rule under the Tuaregs before it fell to the Songhai people. Despite major shifts in power, Timbuktu generally flourished until the Moroccans invaded the Songhai Empire in 1590 and began to occupy Timbuktu in 1591, after the Battle of Tondibi. In 1593, most of the university faculty was executed or exiled for disloyalty to the new rulers and this, along with a decline in trade as a result of increased competition from newly available trans-Atlantic sailing routes, caused the city to lose its relevance. It was not until the 1890s that Timbuktu was formally incorporated into the French colony of Mali, and, in 1960, was declared part of the independent nation of Mali.

Today, the population of Timbuktu has substantially decreased since its estimated peak of 250,000 people in the Medieval period. The city has suffered from mass amounts of poverty for several years now, relying on government funding as a means of survival. [15][16][17]

Geography edit

 
A camel ride in the Sahara desert, outside Timbuktu

Timbuktu is located on the southern edge of the Sahara 15 km (9+12 mi) north of the main channel of the River Niger. The town is surrounded by sand dunes and the streets are covered in sand. The port of Kabara is 8 km (5 mi) to the south of the town and is connected to an arm of the river by a 3 km (2 mi) canal. The canal had become heavily silted but in 2007 it was dredged as part of a Libyan financed project.[18]

The annual flood of the Niger River is a result of the heavy rainfall in the headwaters of the Niger and Bani rivers in Guinea and northern Ivory Coast. The rainfall in these areas peaks in August but the floodwater takes time to pass down the river system and through the Inner Niger Delta. At Koulikoro, 60 km (37 mi) downstream from Bamako, the flood peaks in September,[19] while in Timbuktu the flood lasts longer and usually reaches a maximum at the end of December.[20]

In the past, the area flooded by the river was more extensive and in years with high rainfall, floodwater would reach the western outskirts of Timbuktu itself.[21] A small navigable creek to the west of the town is shown on the maps published by Heinrich Barth in 1857[22] and Félix Dubois in 1896.[23] Between 1917 and 1921, during the colonial period, the French used slave labour to dig a narrow canal linking Timbuktu with Kabara.[24] Over the following decades this became silted and filled with sand, but in 2007 as part of the dredging project, the canal was re-excavated so that now when the River Niger floods, Timbuktu is again connected to Kabara.[18][25] The Malian government has promised to address problems with the design of the canal as it currently lacks footbridges and the steep, unstable banks make access to the water difficult.[26]

Kabara can function as a port only in December to January when the river is in full flood. When the water levels are lower, boats dock at Korioumé which is linked to Timbuktu by 18 km (11 mi) of paved road.

Climate edit

Timbuktu features a hot desert climate (BWh) according to the Köppen Climate Classification. The weather is extremely hot and dry throughout much of the year, with most of the city's rainfall occurring between June and September, due to the influence of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). The degree of diurnal temperature variation is higher in the dry season than the wet season. Average daily maximum temperatures in the hottest months of the year – April, May and June – exceed 40 °C (104 °F). Lowest temperatures occur during the mildest months of the year – December, January and February. However, average maximum temperatures do not drop below 30 °C (86 °F). These winter months are characterized by a dry, dusty trade wind blowing from the Saharan Tibesti Region southward to the Gulf of Guinea. Picking up dust particles on their way, these winds limit visibility in what has been dubbed the "Harmattan Haze."[27] Additionally, when the dust settles in the city, sand builds up and desertification looms.[28]

Climate data for Timbuktu (1950–2000, extremes 1897–present)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 41.6
(106.9)
43.5
(110.3)
46.1
(115.0)
48.9
(120.0)
49.0
(120.2)
49.0
(120.2)
46.0
(114.8)
46.5
(115.7)
45.0
(113.0)
48.0
(118.4)
42.5
(108.5)
40.0
(104.0)
49.0
(120.2)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 30.0
(86.0)
33.2
(91.8)
36.6
(97.9)
40.0
(104.0)
42.2
(108.0)
41.6
(106.9)
38.5
(101.3)
36.5
(97.7)
38.3
(100.9)
39.1
(102.4)
35.2
(95.4)
30.4
(86.7)
36.8
(98.2)
Daily mean °C (°F) 21.5
(70.7)
24.2
(75.6)
27.6
(81.7)
31.3
(88.3)
34.1
(93.4)
34.5
(94.1)
32.2
(90.0)
30.7
(87.3)
31.6
(88.9)
30.9
(87.6)
26.5
(79.7)
22.0
(71.6)
28.9
(84.0)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 13.0
(55.4)
15.2
(59.4)
18.5
(65.3)
22.5
(72.5)
26.0
(78.8)
27.3
(81.1)
25.8
(78.4)
24.8
(76.6)
24.8
(76.6)
22.7
(72.9)
17.7
(63.9)
13.5
(56.3)
21.0
(69.8)
Record low °C (°F) 1.7
(35.1)
7.5
(45.5)
7.0
(44.6)
8.0
(46.4)
18.5
(65.3)
17.4
(63.3)
18.0
(64.4)
20.0
(68.0)
18.9
(66.0)
13.0
(55.4)
11.0
(51.8)
3.5
(38.3)
1.7
(35.1)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 0.6
(0.02)
0.1
(0.00)
0.1
(0.00)
1.0
(0.04)
4.0
(0.16)
16.4
(0.65)
53.5
(2.11)
73.6
(2.90)
29.4
(1.16)
3.8
(0.15)
0.1
(0.00)
0.2
(0.01)
182.8
(7.20)
Average rainy days (≥ 0.1 mm) 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.6 0.9 3.2 6.6 8.1 4.7 0.8 0.0 0.1 25.3
Mean monthly sunshine hours 263.9 249.6 269.9 254.6 275.3 234.7 248.6 255.3 248.9 273.0 274.0 258.7 3,106.5
Source 1: World Meteorological Organization,[29] NOAA (sun 1961–1990)[30]
Source 2: Meteo Climat (record highs and lows)[31]

Economy edit

Salt trade edit

 
Azalai salt caravan, mid-December 1985.

The wealth and very existence of Timbuktu depended on its position as the southern terminus of an important trans-Saharan trade route; nowadays, the only goods that are routinely transported across the desert are slabs of rock salt brought from the Taoudenni mining centre in the central Sahara 664 km (413 mi) north of Timbuktu. Until the second half of the 20th century most of the slabs were transported by large salt caravans or azalai, one leaving Timbuktu in early November and the other in late March.[32]

The caravans of several thousand camels took three weeks each way, transporting food to the miners and returning with each camel loaded with four or five 30 kg (66 lb) slabs of salt. The salt transport was largely controlled by the desert nomads of the Arabic-speaking Berabich (or Barabish) tribe.[33] Although there are no roads, the slabs of salt are now usually transported from Taoudenni by truck.[34] From Timbuktu the salt is transported by boat to other towns in Mali.

Between the 12th and 14th centuries, Timbuktu's population grew immensely due to an influx of Bono, Tuaregs, Fulanis, and Songhais seeking trade, security, or to study. By 1300, the population increased to 10,000 and continued increasing until it reached about 50,000 in the 1500s.[35][36]

Agriculture edit

 
Women pounding grain

There is insufficient rainfall in the Timbuktu region for purely rain-fed agriculture and crops are therefore irrigated using water from the River Niger. The main agricultural crop is rice. African floating rice (Oryza glaberrima) has traditionally been grown in regions near the river that are inundated during the annual flood. Seed is sown at the beginning of the rainy season (June–July) so that when the flood water arrives plants are already 30 to 40 cm (12 to 16 in) in height.[37]

The plants grow up to three metres (10 feet) in height as the water level rises. The rice is harvested by canoe in December. The procedure is very precarious and the yields are low but the method has the advantage that little capital investment is required. A successful crop depends critically on the amount and timing of the rain in the wet season and the height of the flood. To a limited extent the arrival of the flood water can be controlled by the construction of small mud dikes that become submerged as the water rises.

Although floating rice is still cultivated in the Timbuktu Cercle, most of the rice is now grown in three relatively large irrigated areas that lie to the south of the town: Daye (392 ha), Koriomé (550 ha) and Hamadja (623 ha).[38] Water is pumped from the river using ten large Archimedes' screws which were first installed in the 1990s. The irrigated areas are run as cooperatives with approximately 2,100 families cultivating small plots.[39] Nearly all the rice produced is consumed by the families themselves. The yields are still relatively low and the farmers are being encouraged to change their agricultural practices.[40]

Tourism edit

Most tourists visit Timbuktu between November and February when the air temperature is lower. In the 1980s, accommodation for tourists was provided by Hendrina Khan Hotel[41] and two other small hotels: Hotel Bouctou and Hotel Azalaï.[42] Over the following decades the tourist numbers increased so that by 2006 there were seven small hotels and guest houses.[38] The town benefited by the revenue from the CFA 5000 tourist tax,[38] the sale of handicrafts and employment of local guides.

Attacks edit

Starting in 2008, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb began kidnapping groups of tourists in the Sahel region.[43] In January 2009, four tourists were kidnapped near the Mali–Niger border after attending a cultural festival at Anderamboukané.[44] One of these tourists was subsequently murdered.[45] As a result of this and various other incidents a number of states including France,[46] Britain[47] and the US,[48] began advising their citizens to avoid travelling far from Bamako. The number of tourists visiting Timbuktu dropped precipitously from around 6000 in 2009 to only 492 in the first four months of 2011.[42]

Because of the security concerns, the Malian government moved the 2010 Festival in the Desert from Essakane to the outskirts of Timbuktu.[49][50] In November 2011, gunmen attacked tourists staying at a hotel in Timbuktu, killing one of them and kidnapping three others.[51][52] This was the first terrorist incident in Timbuktu itself.

On 1 April 2012, one day after the capture of Gao, Timbuktu was captured from the Malian military by the Tuareg rebels of the MNLA and Ansar Dine.[53] Five days later, the MNLA declared the region independent of Mali as the nation of Azawad.[54] The declared political entity was not recognized by any regional nations or the international community and it collapsed three months later on 12 July.[55]

On 28 January 2013, French and Malian government troops began retaking Timbuktu from the Islamist rebels.[56] The force of 1,000 French troops with 200 Malian soldiers retook Timbuktu without a fight. The Islamist groups had already fled north a few days earlier, having set fire to the Ahmed Baba Institute, which housed many important manuscripts. The building housing the Ahmed Baba Institute was funded by South Africa, and held 30,000 manuscripts. BBC World Service radio news reported on 29 January 2013 that approximately 28,000 of the manuscripts in the Institute had been removed to safety from the premises before the attack by the Islamist groups, and that the whereabouts of about 2,000 manuscripts remained unknown.[57] It was intended to be a resource for Islamic research.[58]

On 30 March 2013, jihadist rebels infiltrated into Timbuktu nine days before a suicide bombing on a Malian army checkpoint at the international airport, killing a soldier. Fighting lasted until 1 April, when French warplanes helped Malian ground forces chase the remaining rebels out of the city center.

Early accounts in the West edit

Tales of Timbuktu's fabulous wealth helped prompt European exploration of the west coast of Africa. Among the most famous descriptions of Timbuktu are those of Leo Africanus and Shabeni.

Leo Africanus edit

Perhaps most famous among the accounts written about Timbuktu is that by Leo Africanus, born El Hasan ben Muhammed el- Wazzan-ez-Zayyati in Granada in 1485. His family was among the thousands of Muslims expelled by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel after their reconquest of Spain in 1492. They settled in Morocco, where he studied in Fes and accompanied his uncle on diplomatic missions throughout North Africa. During these travels, he visited Timbuktu. As a young man he was captured by pirates and presented as an exceptionally learned slave to Pope Leo X, who freed him, baptized him under the name "Johannis Leo de Medici", and commissioned him to write, in Italian, a detailed survey of Africa. His accounts provided most of what Europeans knew about the continent for the next several centuries.[59] Describing Timbuktu when the Songhai Empire was at its height, the English edition of his book includes the description:

The rich king of Tombuto hath many plates and sceptres of gold, some whereof weigh 1300 pounds. ... He hath always 3000 horsemen ... (and) a great store of doctors, judges, priests, and other learned men, that are bountifully maintained at the king's cost and charges.

According to Leo Africanus, there were abundant supplies of locally produced corn, cattle, milk and butter, though there were neither gardens nor orchards surrounding the city.[60] In another passage dedicated to describing the wealth of both the environment and the king, Africanus touches upon the rarity of one of Timbuktu's trade commodities: salt.

The inhabitants are very rich, especially the strangers who have settled in the country [..] But salt is in very short supply because it is carried here from Tegaza, some 500 miles [800 km] from Timbuktu. I happened to be in this city at a time when a load of salt sold for eighty ducats. The king has a rich treasure of coins and gold ingots.

— Leo Africanus, Descrittione dell' Africa in Paul Brians' Reading About the World, Volume 2[60]

These descriptions and passages alike caught the attention of European explorers. Africanus also described the more mundane aspects of the city, such as the "cottages built of chalk, and covered with thatch" – although these went largely unheeded.[10]

Shabeni edit

The natives of the town of Timbuctoo may be computed at 40,000, exclusive of slaves and foreigners ... The natives are all blacks: almost every stranger marries a female of the town, who are so beautiful that travellers often fall in love with them at first sight.

– Shabeni in James Grey Jackson's [fr] An Account of Timbuctoo and Hausa, 1820[61]

Roughly 250 years after Leo Africanus' visit to Timbuktu, the city had seen many rulers. The end of the 18th century saw the grip of the Moroccan rulers on the city wane, resulting in a period of unstable government by quickly changing tribes. During the rule of one of those tribes, the Hausa, a 14-year-old child named Shabeni (or Shabeeny) from Tetuan on the north coast of Morocco accompanied his father on a visit to Timbuktu.[62]

Shabeni stayed in Timbuktu for three years before moving to a major city called Housa[b] several days' journey to the southeast. Two years later, he returned to Timbuktu to live there for another seven years – one of a population that was, even centuries after its peak and excluding slaves, double the size of the 21st-century town.

By the time Shabeni was 27, he was an established merchant in his hometown of Tetuan. He made a two-year pilgrimage to Mecca and thus became a hajji, Asseed El Hage Abd Salam Shabeeny. Returning from a trading voyage to Hamburg, he was captured by a ship manned by Englishmen but sailing under a Russian flag, whose captain claimed that his Imperial mistress (Catherine the Great) was "at war with all Muselmen" (see Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792)). He and the ship he had been sailing in were brought to Ostend in Belgium in December 1789 but the British consul managed to get him and the ship released. He set off again in the same ship, but the captain, who claimed to be afraid of his ship being captured again, set him ashore in Dover. In England his story was recorded. Shabeeni gave an indication of the size of the city in the second half of the 18th century. In an earlier passage, he described an environment that was characterized by forest, as opposed to the modern arid surroundings.

Arts and culture edit

 
Reconstruction of the Ben Essayouti Library, Timbuktu

Cultural events edit

The best-known cultural event is the Festival au Désert.[65] When the Tuareg rebellion ended in 1996 under the Konaré administration, 3,000 weapons were burned in a ceremony dubbed the Flame of Peace on 29 March 2007 – to commemorate the ceremony, a monument was built.[66] The Festival au Désert, to celebrate the peace treaty, was held every January in the desert, 75 km from the city until 2010.[65]

The week-long festival of Mawloud is held every January, and celebrates the birthday of Muhammed; the city's "most cherished manuscripts" are read publicly, and are a central part of this celebration.[67] It was originally a Shi'ite festival from Persia and arriving in Timbuktu around 1600. The "most joyful occasion on Timbuktu's calendar", it combines "rituals of Sufi Islam with celebrating Timbuktu's rich literary traditions".[68] It is a "period of feasting, singing, and dancing ... It culminated with an evening gathering of thousands of people in the large sandy square in front of the Sankor é Mosque and a public reading of some of the city's most treasured manuscripts."[68]

Annually, during the winter, Timbuktu has hosted the Living Together festival since 2015.[69][70]

World Heritage Site edit

 
The mausoleums, erected in the 15th and 16th centuries, being restored by local workers

During its twelfth session, in December 1988, the World Heritage Committee (WHC) selected parts of Timbuktu's historic centre for inscription on its World Heritage list.[71] The selection was based on three criteria:[72]

  • Criterion II: Timbuktu's holy places were vital to early Islamization in Africa.
  • Criterion IV: Timbuktu's mosques show a cultural and scholarly Golden Age during the Songhai Empire.
  • Criterion V: The construction of the mosques, still mostly original, shows the use of traditional building techniques.

An earlier nomination in 1979 failed the following year as it lacked proper demarcation:[72] the Malian government included the town of Timbuktu as a whole in the wish for inclusion.[73] Close to a decade later, three mosques and 16 mausoleums or cemeteries were selected from the Old Town for World Heritage status: with this conclusion came the call for protection of the buildings' conditions, an exclusion of new construction works near the sites and measures against the encroaching sand.

Shortly afterwards, the monuments were placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger by the Malian government, as by the selection committee at the time of nomination.[71] The first period on the Danger List lasted from 1990 until 2005, when a range of measures including restoration work and the compilation of an inventory warranted "its removal from the Danger List".[74] In 2008 the WHC placed the protected area under increased scrutiny dubbed "reinforced monitoring", a measure made possible in 2007, as the impact of planned construction work was unclear. Special attention was given to the build of a cultural centre.[75]

During a session in June 2009, UNESCO decided to cease its increased monitoring program as it felt sufficient progress had been made to address the initial concerns.[76] Following the takeover of Timbuktu by MNLA and the Islamist group Ansar Dine, it was returned to the List of World Heritage in Danger in 2012.[77]

Attacks by radical Islamic groups edit

In May 2012, Ansar Dine destroyed a shrine in the city[78] and in June 2012, in the aftermath of the Battle of Gao and Timbuktu, other shrines, including the mausoleum of Sidi Mahmoud, were destroyed when attacked with shovels and pickaxes by members of the same group.[77] An Ansar Dine spokesman said that all shrines in the city, including the 13 remaining World Heritage sites, would be destroyed because they consider them to be examples of idolatry, a sin in Islam.[77][79] These acts have been described as crimes against humanity and war crimes.[80] After the destruction of the tombs, UNESCO created a special fund to safeguard Mali's World Heritage Sites, vowing to carry out reconstruction and rehabilitation projects once the security situation allows.[81]

Education edit

If the University of Sankore ... had survived the ravages of foreign invasions, the academic and cultural history of Africa might have been different from what it is today.

Kwame Nkrumah at the University of Ghana inauguration, 1961[66]

Centre of learning edit

 
The Timbuktu Manuscripts showing both mathematics and a heritage of astronomy in medieval Islam.

Timbuktu was a world centre of Islamic learning from the 13th to the 17th century, especially under the Mali Empire and Askia Mohammad I's rule. The Malian government and NGOs have been working to catalog and restore the remnants of this scholarly legacy: Timbuktu's manuscripts.[82]

Timbuktu's rapid economic growth in the 13th and 14th centuries drew many scholars from nearby Walata (today in Mauritania),[83] leading up to the city's golden age in the 15th and 16th centuries that proved fertile ground for scholarship of religions, arts and sciences. To the people of Timbuktu, literacy and books were symbols of wealth, power, and blessings and the acquisition of books became a primary concern for scholars.[84] An active trade in books between Timbuktu and other parts of the Islamic world and emperor Askia Mohammed's strong support led to the writing of thousands of manuscripts.[85]

Knowledge was gathered in a manner similar to the early, informal European Medieval university model.[83] Lecturing was presented through a range of informal institutions called madrasahs.[86] Nowadays known as the University of Timbuktu, three madrasahs facilitated 25,000 students: Djinguereber, Sidi Yahya and Sankore.[87]

These institutions were explicitly religious, as opposed to the more secular curricula of modern European universities and more similar to the medieval Europe model. However, where universities in the European sense started as associations of students and teachers, West-African education was patronized by families or lineages, with the Aqit and Bunu al-Qadi al-Hajj families being two of the most prominent in Timbuktu – these families also facilitated students in set-aside rooms in their housings.[88] Although the basis of Islamic law and its teaching were brought to Timbuktu from North Africa with the spread of Islam, Western African scholarship developed: Ahmad Baba al Massufi is regarded as the city's greatest scholar.[89]

Timbuktu served in this process as a distribution centre of scholars and scholarship. Its reliance on trade meant intensive movement of scholars between the city and its extensive network of trade partners. In 1468–1469 though, many scholars left for Walata when Sunni Ali's Songhay Empire absorbed Timbuktu.[83] Then, in the 1591 Moroccan invasion of Timbuktu, scholars had to flee once more, or face imprisonment or murder.[90]

This system of education survived until the late 19th century, while the 18th century saw the institution of itinerant Quranic school as a form of universal education, where scholars would travel throughout the region with their students, begging for food part of the day.[82] Islamic education came under pressure after the French occupation, droughts in the 1970s and 1980s and by Mali's civil war in the early 1990s.[82]

Manuscripts and libraries edit

 
Moorish marabout of the Kuntua tribe, an ethnic Kounta clan, from which the Al Kounti manuscript collection derives its name. Dated 1898.

Hundreds of thousands of manuscripts were collected in Timbuktu over the course of centuries: some were written in the town itself, others – including exclusive copies of the Quran for wealthy families – imported through the lively booktrade.

Hidden in cellars or buried, hid between the mosque's mud walls and safeguarded by their patrons, many of these manuscripts survived the city's decline. They now form the collection of several libraries in Timbuktu, holding up to 700,000 manuscripts in 2003:[91] In late January 2013 it was reported that rebel forces destroyed many of the manuscripts before leaving the city.[92][93] "On Friday morning, 25 January 2013, fifteen jihadis entered the restoration and conservation rooms on the ground floor of the Ahmed Baba Institute in Sankoré ... The men swept 4,202 manuscripts off lab tables and shelves, and carried them into the tiled courtyard ... They doused the manuscripts in gasoline ... and tossed in a lit match. The brittle pages and their dry leather covers ... were consumed by the inferno."[94] However, there was no malicious destruction of any library or collection as most of the manuscripts were safely hidden away.[95][96][97][unreliable source?][98] 90% of these manuscripts were saved by the librarian Adbel Kader Haidara[99][100] and the population organized around the NGO "Sauvegarde et valorisation des manuscrits pour la défense de la culture islamique" (SAVAMA-DCI).[101][102] Some 350,000 manuscripts were transported to safety, and 300,000 of them were still in Bamakoin 2022.[103][104]

 
Manuscripts of the Ahmed Baba Centre

These libraries are the largest among up to 60 private or public libraries that are estimated to exist in Timbuktu today, although some comprise little more than a row of books on a shelf or a bookchest.[105] Under these circumstances, the manuscripts are vulnerable to damage and theft, as well as long term climate damage, despite Timbuktu's arid climate. Two Timbuktu Manuscripts Projects funded by independent universities have aimed to preserve them.

During the occupation by Islamic extremists the citizens of the city embarked on a drive to save the "best written accounts of African History". Interviewed by Time magazine, the local residents claimed to have safeguarded the three hundred thousand manuscripts for generations. Many of these documents are still in the safe-keeping of the local residents, who are reluctant to give them over to the government-run Ahmed Baba Institute housed in a modern digitalization building built by the South African government in 2009. The institute houses only 10% of the manuscripts.[106] It was later confirmed by Jean-Michel Djian to The New Yorker that "the great majority of the manuscripts, about fifty thousand, are actually housed in the thirty-two family libraries of the 'City of 333 Saints'". He added, "Those are to this day protected." He also added that due to the massive efforts of one individual, two hundred thousand other manuscripts were successfully transported to safety.[107] This effort was organized by Abdel Kader Haidara, then director of Mamma Haidara Library, using his own funds. Haidara purchased metal footlockers in which up to 300 manuscripts could be securely stored. Nearly 2,500 of these lockers were distributed to safe houses across the city. Many were later moved to Dreazen.[108]

Language edit

Although Bambara is the lingua franca of Mali, today the large majority of Timbuktu's inhabitants speaks Koyra Chiini, a Songhay language that also functions as the lingua franca. Before the 1990–1994 Tuareg rebellion, both Hassaniya Arabic and Tamashek were represented by 10% each to an 80% dominance of the Koyra Chiini language. With Tamashek spoken by both Ikelan and ethnic Tuaregs, its use declined with the expulsion of many Tuaregs following the rebellion, increasing the dominance of Koyra Chiini.[109]

 
A Tuareg man, wearing traditional attire, in Timbuktu

Arabic, introduced together with Islam during the 11th century, has mainly been the language of scholars and religion, comparable to Latin in Western Christianity.[110] Although Bambara is spoken by the most numerous ethnic group in Mali, the Bambara people, it is mainly confined to the south of the country. With an improving infrastructure granting Timbuktu access to larger cities in Mali's South, use of Bambara was increasing in the city at least until Azawad independence.[109]

Infrastructure edit

With no railroads in Mali except for the Dakar-Niger Railway up to Koulikoro, access to Timbuktu is by road, boat or, since 1961, aircraft.[111] With high water levels in the Niger from August to December, Compagnie Malienne de Navigation (COMANAV) passenger ferries operate a leg between Koulikoro and downstream Gao on a roughly weekly basis. Also requiring high water are pinasses (large motorized pirogues), either chartered or public, that travel up and down the river.[112]

Both ferries and pinasses arrive at Korioumé, Timbuktu's port, which is linked to the city centre by an 18 km (11 mi) paved road running through Kabara. In 2007, access to Timbuktu's traditional port, Kabara, was restored by a Libyan funded project that dredged the 3 km (2 mi) silted canal connecting Kabara to an arm of the Niger River. COMANAV ferries and pinasses are now able to reach the port when the river is in full flood.[18][113]

Timbuktu is poorly connected to the Malian road network with only dirt roads to the neighbouring towns. Although the Niger River can be crossed by ferry at Korioumé, the roads south of the river are no better. However, a new paved road is under construction between Niono and Timbuktu running to the north of the Inland Niger Delta. The 565 km (351 mi) road will pass through Nampala, Léré, Niafunké, Tonka, Diré and Goundam.[114][115] The completed 81 km (50 mi) section between Niono and the small village of Goma Coura was financed by the Millennium Challenge Corporation.[116] This new section will service the Alatona irrigation system development of the Office du Niger.[117] The 484 km (301 mi) section between Goma Coura and Timbuktu is being financed by the European Development Fund.[114]

Timbuktu Airport was served by Air Mali, hosting flights to and from Bamako, Gao and Mopti.[112] until the airline suspended operations in 2014. Its 6,923 ft (2,110 m) runway in a 07/25 runway orientation is both lighted and paved.[118]

Currently (July 2023), Timbuktu Airport is served by Sky Mali to and from Bamako, using Boeing 737 aircraft.

Notable people edit

In popular culture edit

Because much of the gold in Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries came from Timbuktu, the city has long been considered a mysterious, hidden place.[28] This association remains with modern Europeans and North Americans: a 2006 survey of 150 young Britons found that 34% did not believe the town existed, while the other 66% considered it "a mythical place".[119] This perception has been acknowledged in literature describing African history and African-European relations. In popular Western culture, Timbuktu is also often considered an idiomatic stand-in for any faraway place.[3][120][121]

The origin of this mystification lies in the excitement brought to Europe by the legendary tales, especially those by Leo Africanus in his Description of Africa. Arabic sources focused mainly on more affluent cities in the Timbuktu region, such as Gao and Walata.[10] In West Africa, the city holds an image that has been compared to Europe's view on Athens.[120] As such, the picture of the city as the epitome of distance and mystery is a European one.[3]

Down-to-earth-aspects in Africanus' descriptions were largely ignored and stories of great riches served as a catalyst for travellers to visit the inaccessible city, with prominent French explorer René Caillié characterising Timbuktu as "a mass of ill-looking houses built of earth".[122] Now opened up, many travellers acknowledged the unfitting description of an "African El Dorado".[28] This development shifted the city's reputation, from being fabled because of its gold to fabled because of its location and mystery. Being used in this sense since at least 1863, English dictionaries now cite Timbuktu as a metaphor for any faraway place.[123]

Timbuktu plays a vital role in Dorothy Dunnett's House of Niccolo series of historical novels, as a physical setting in Scales of Gold,[124] and as a spiritual and intellectual influence throughout, through the character of Umar, a man from that city enslaved in Europe under the name Loppe, and his friendship with Nicholas, the central character of the series.

The musical Timbuktu! premiered on Broadway on March 1, 1978. With lyrics by George Forrest and Robert Wright, set to music by Borodin, Forrest and Wright and a book by Luther Davis, it is a retelling of Forrest and Wright's musical Kismett, changing the setting to mid-14th century Timbuktu. It starred Eartha Kitt, William Marshall, Gilbert Price, Melba Moore and George Bell. Geoffrey Holder was director, choreographer and costume designer.

Twin towns – sister cities edit

Timbuktu is twinned with:[125]

See also edit

Explanatory notes edit

  1. ^ "Timbuktu" – regardless of spelling, has long been used as a metaphor for "out in the middle of nowhere". E.g. "From here to Timbuktu and back."[3]
  2. ^ A paper from 1995 says this was "apparently one of the Maraka towns".[63] A book of letters to Thomas Jefferson mentions in connexion to a letter of 1798 that explorer Mungo Park had tried unsuccessfully to find Housa and Timbuktu (1795–7). In a later expedition he went near Timbuktu while descending the Niger River. After being attacked many times by Africans he drowned in the river.[64]

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  5. ^ Barth 1857, p. 284 footnote Vol. 3.
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Cited and general sources edit

  • Barth, Heinrich (1857), Travels and discoveries in North and Central Africa: Being a journal of an expedition undertaken under the auspices of H. B. M.'s government, in the years 1849–1855, New York: Harper & Brothers. Google books: Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3. |internet Archive: Volume 3.
  • Caillié, Réné (1830), Travels through Central Africa to Timbuctoo; and across the Great Desert, to Morocco, performed in the years 1824–1828, London: Colburn & Bentley. Google books: Volume 1, Volume 2.
  • Cleaveland, Timothy (2008), "Timbuktu and Walata: lineages and higher education", in Jeppie, Shamil; Diagne, Souleymane Bachir (eds.), (PDF), Cape Town: HSRC Press, pp. 77–91, ISBN 978-0-7969-2204-5, archived from the original (PDF) on 24 April 2021, retrieved 29 April 2012.
  • Dubois, Felix (1896), Timbuctoo the mysterious, Tombouctou la mystérieuse.English.1896, translated by White, Diana, New York: Longmans, hdl:2027/mdp.39015008010343.
  • Hammer, Joshua (2016). The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu And Their Race to Save the World's Most Precious Manuscripts. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4767-7743-6.
  • Hacquard, Augustin (1900), Monographie de Tombouctou, Paris: Société des études coloniales & maritimes. Also available from Gallica.
  • Heath, Jeffrey (1999), A Grammar of Koyra Chiini: the Songhay of Timbuktu, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, ISBN 9783110162851.
  • Hunwick, John O. (2003), Timbuktu and the Songhay Empire: Al-Sadi's Tarikh al-Sudan down to 1613 and other contemporary documents, Leiden: Brill, ISBN 978-90-04-12560-5. ISBN 978-90-04-12822-4 (paperback) First published in 1999 as ISBN 90-04-11207-3.
  • Insoll, Timothy (2002), (PDF), Sahara, 13: 7–22, archived from the original (PDF) on 8 March 2012.
  • Insoll, Timothy (2004), (PDF), in Mitchell, P.; Haour, A.; Hobart, J. (eds.), Researching Africa's Past. New Contributions from British Archaeologists, Oxford: Oxbow, pp. 81–88, archived from the original (PDF) on 8 March 2012, retrieved 8 February 2011.
  • Jackson, James Grey (1820), An Account of Timbuctoo and Housa, Territories in the Interior of Africa By El Hage Abd Salam Shabeeny, London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown.
  • Jeppie, Shamil (2008), "Re/discovering Timbuktu", in Jeppie, Shamil; Diagne, Souleymane Bachir (eds.), (PDF), Cape Town: HSRC Press, pp. 1–17, ISBN 978-0-7969-2204-5, archived from the original (PDF) on 24 April 2021, retrieved 26 February 2011.
  • Leo Africanus (1896), The History and Description of Africa (3 Vols), Brown, Robert, editor, London: Hakluyt Society. A facsimile of Pory's English translation of 1600 together with an introduction and notes by the editor. Internet Archive: Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3
  • Medupe, R.T.; Warner, B.; Jeppie, S.; Sanogo, S.; Maiga, M.; Maiga, A.; Dembele, M.; Diakite, D.; Tembely, L.; Kanoute, M.; Traore, S.; Sodio, B.; Hawkes, S. (2008). "The Timbuktu Astronomy Project". In Holbrook, J.; Medupe, R.T.; Urama, J.O. (eds.). African Cultural Astronomy. Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings. Springer, Dordrecht. pp. 179–188. doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-6639-9_13. ISBN 978-1-4020-6639-9.
  • Miner, Horace (1953), The Primitive City of Timbuctoo, Princeton University Press. Link requires subscription to Aluka. Reissued by Anchor Books, New York in 1965.
  • Park, Douglas (2010), "Timbuktu and its prehistoric hinterland", Antiquity, 84 (326): 1076–1088, doi:10.1017/S0003598X00067090, S2CID 161730981.
  • Park, Douglas (2011). Climate Change, Human Response and the Origins of Urbanism at Prehistoric Timbuktu (PhD). New Haven: Yale University, Department of Anthropology..
  • Saad, Elias N. (1983), Social History of Timbuktu: The Role of Muslim Scholars and Notables 1400–1900, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-24603-3.

External links edit

  • Timbuktu – World History Encyclopedia
  • Cana, Frank Richardson (1911). "Timbuktu" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). pp. 981–983.
  • Jeppie, Ahamil "A Timbuktu book collector between the Mediterranean and Sahel", Video of a presentation given at the conference The southern shores of the Mediterranean and beyond: 1800 – to the present held at the University of Minnesota in April 2013.
  • Ancient West Africa's Megacities on YouTube – contains video footage of Timbuktu's Iron Age occupation
  • Islamic Manuscripts from Mali, Library of Congress – fuller presentation of the same manuscripts from the Mamma Haidara Commemorative Library
  • Green, Jonathan (24 November 2022). "S2 07 - Timbuktu - a true story" (audio (30 mins)). ABC Radio National. Return Ticket. Features interviews with Cynthia Schneider and Manny Ansar, co-directors of the Timbuktu Renaissance, and Lazare Eloundou Assomo, director of UNESCO World Heritage
  • Timbuktu materials in the Aluka digital library
  • Timbuktu manuscripts: Africa's written history unveiled, The UNESCO Courier, 2007–5, pp. 7–9
  • Ancient chroniclers of West Africa's past; journeys of discovery through the 'country of the black people', The UNESCO Courier, October 1959
  • early warning and threat monitoring system for endangered cultural heritage sites
  • Presentation showing images of Timbuktu
  • ArchNet.org. "Timbuctu". Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT School of Architecture and Planning. Archived from the original on 14 April 2013.

timbuktu, other, uses, disambiguation, article, lead, section, need, rewritten, reason, given, doesn, talk, enough, about, modern, history, please, help, improve, lead, read, lead, layout, guide, august, 2022, learn, when, remove, this, template, message, fren. For other uses see Timbuktu disambiguation The article s lead section may need to be rewritten The reason given is Doesn t talk enough about the modern history Please help improve the lead and read the lead layout guide August 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message Timbuktu ˌ t ɪ m b ʌ k ˈ t uː TIM buk TOO French Tombouctou Koyra Chiini Tumbutu Tuareg ⵜⵀⵗⵜ romanized Tin Buqt is a city in Mali situated 20 kilometres 12 miles north of the Niger River The town is the capital of the Tombouctou Region one of the eight administrative regions of Mali having a population of 54 453 in the 2009 census Timbuktu Tumbutu Koyra Chiini Songhay ⵜⵏⵀⵗⵜ Tamashek HimbaCity transcription s Tuareg Tin BuqtLeft to right Djinguereber Mosque Sankore Madrasah Aerial view of Timbuktu The market of Timbuktu Timbuktu streets Map showing main trans Saharan caravan routes c 1400 Also shown are the Ghana Empire until the 13th century and 13th 15th century Mali Empire with the western route running from Djenne via Timbuktu to Sijilmassa Present day Niger in yellow TimbuktuLocation of Timbuktu within MaliCoordinates 16 46 33 N 3 00 34 W 16 77583 N 3 00944 W 16 77583 3 00944CountryMaliRegionTombouctou RegionCercleTimbuktu CercleSettled5th century BCEGovernment MayorHalle OusmaneElevation261 m 856 ft Population 2009 1 Total54 453ClimateBWhUNESCO World Heritage SiteCriteriaCultural ii iv vReference119Inscription1988 12th Session Endangered1990 2005 2012 presentTimbuktu began as a seasonal settlement most likely of Berber or Songhai extraction approximately around the 7th century BCE to 4th century BCE and final became a permanent settlement early in the 12th century After a shift in trading routes particularly after the visit by Mansa Musa around 1325 Timbuktu flourished from the trade in salt gold ivory and slaves It gradually expanded as an important Islamic city on the Saharan trade route and attracted many scholars and traders It became part of the Mali Empire early in the 14th century In the first half of the 15th century the Tuareg people took control of the city for a short period until the expanding Songhai Empire absorbed the city in 1468 A Moroccan army defeated the Songhai in 1591 and made Timbuktu rather than Gao their capital The invaders established a new ruling class the Arma who after 1612 became virtually independent of Morocco The golden age of the city as a major learning and cultural centre of the Mali Empire was followed by a long period of decline Different tribes governed until the French took over Mali in 1893 in a regime that lasted until the country became the Republic of Mali in 1960 Timbuktu is impoverished and suffers from desertification In its golden age the town s numerous Islamic scholars and extensive trading network supported an important book trade Together with the campuses of the Sankore Madrasah an Islamic university this established Timbuktu as a scholarly centre in Africa Several notable historic writers such as Shabeni and Leo Africanus wrote about the city These stories fuelled speculation in Europe where the city s reputation shifted from being extremely rich to being mysterious Contents 1 Toponymy 2 Prehistory 3 History 4 Geography 4 1 Climate 5 Economy 5 1 Salt trade 5 2 Agriculture 5 3 Tourism 5 3 1 Attacks 6 Early accounts in the West 6 1 Leo Africanus 6 2 Shabeni 7 Arts and culture 7 1 Cultural events 7 2 World Heritage Site 7 2 1 Attacks by radical Islamic groups 8 Education 8 1 Centre of learning 8 2 Manuscripts and libraries 9 Language 10 Infrastructure 11 Notable people 12 In popular culture 13 Twin towns sister cities 14 See also 15 Explanatory notes 16 Citations 17 Cited and general sources 18 External linksToponymy edit nbsp Timbuktu looking west Rene Caillie 1830 nbsp View of Timbuktu Heinrich Barth 1858 Over the centuries the spelling of Timbuktu has varied a great deal from Tenbuch on the Catalan Atlas 1375 to traveller Antonio Malfante s Thambet used in a letter he wrote in 1447 and also adopted by Alvise Cadamosto in his Voyages of Cadamosto to Heinrich Barth s Timbuktu and Timbu ktu French spelling often appears in international reference as Tombouctou The German spelling Timbuktu and its variant Timbucktu have passed into English and the former has become widely used in recent years Major English language works have employed the spelling Timbuctoo and this is considered the correct English form by scholars Timbuctou and Timbuctu are sometimes used as well The French continue to use the spelling Tombouctou as they have for over a century variants include Temboctou used by explorer Rene Caillie and Tombouktou but they are seldom seen Variant spellings exist for other places as well such as Jenne Djenne and Segu Segou 2 As well as its spelling Timbuktu s toponymy is still open to discussion a At least four possible origins of the name of Timbuktu have been described Songhay origin both Leo Africanus and Heinrich Barth believed the name was derived from two Songhay words 3 Leo Africanus writes the Kingdom of Tombuto was named after a town of the same name founded in 1213 or 1214 by Mansa Suleyman 4 The word itself consisted of two parts tin wall and butu Wall of Butu Africanus did not explain the meaning of this Butu 3 Heinrich Barth wrote The town was probably so called because it was built originally in a hollow or cavity in the sand hills Tumbutu means hole or womb in the Songhay language if it were a Temashight Tamashek word it would be written Timbuktu The name is generally interpreted by Europeans as well of Buktu also same word in Persian is bakhtar باختر where the sun sets West but tin has nothing to do with well 5 Berber origin Malian historian Sekene Cissoko proposes a different etymology the Tuareg founders of the city gave it a Berber name a word composed of two parts tin the feminine form of in place of and bouctou a small dune Hence Timbuktu would mean place covered by small dunes 6 Abd al Sadi offers a third explanation in his 17th century Tarikh al Sudan The Tuareg made it a depot for their belongings and provisions and it grew into a crossroads for travelers coming and going Looking after their belongings was a slave woman of theirs called Timbuktu which in their language means the one having a lump The blessed spot where she encamped was named after her 7 The French Orientalist Rene Basset forwarded another theory the name derives from the Zenaga root b k t meaning to be distant or hidden and the feminine possessive particle tin The meaning hidden could point to the city s location in a slight hollow 8 The validity of these theories depends on the identity of the original founders of the city as recently as 2000 archaeological research has not found remains dating from the 11th 12th century within the limits of the modern city given the difficulty of excavating through metres of sand that have buried the remains over the past centuries 9 10 Without consensus the etymology of Timbuktu remains unclear Prehistory editLike other important Medieval West African towns such as Djenne Jenne Jeno Gao and Dia Iron Age settlements have been discovered near Timbuktu that predate the traditional foundation date of the town Although the accumulation of thick layers of sand has thwarted archaeological excavations in the town itself 11 10 some of the surrounding landscape is deflating and exposing pottery shards on the surface A survey of the area by Susan and Roderick McIntosh in 1984 identified several Iron Age sites along the el Ahmar an ancient wadi system that passes a few kilometers to the east of the modern town 12 An Iron Age tell complex located nine kilometres 5 1 2 mi 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 during the 5th century BC thrived throughout the second half of the 1st millennium AD and eventually collapsed sometime during the late 10th or early 11th century AD 13 14 History editMain article History of Timbuktu Timbuktu has become a household reference as a faraway mysterious place but the city itself was once a world renowned trade powerhouse as well as an academic hotspot of the medieval world Timbuktu is unique in the fact that it has seen many rulers but the city reached its golden period under the Mali Empire in the 13th and 14th centuries Distinguished Malian Mansa Musa brought great fame to the city of Timbuktu when he established a university of Islamic learning there The university taught much more than Islamic studies though including topics of history rhetoric law science and most notably medicine Mansa Musa also introduced Timbuktu and the Mali Empire in general to the rest of the Medieval world through his Hajj as his time in Mecca would soon inspire Arab travelers to visit North Africa Europeans however would not reach the city until much later due to the difficult and lengthy journey thus garnering the city an aura of mystery 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 The city is situated nine miles from the Niger River making for good agricultural land and is near the Sahara Desert providing easily accessible trade routes Timbuktu also acts as a midpoint between the regions of North West and Central Africa Because of this Timbuktu has developed into a cultural mixing pot The Mali Empire reached a steady decline in the mid 1400s giving rise to the Songhai Empire However the city of Timbuktu entered a brief period of rule under the Tuaregs before it fell to the Songhai people Despite major shifts in power Timbuktu generally flourished until the Moroccans invaded the Songhai Empire in 1590 and began to occupy Timbuktu in 1591 after the Battle of Tondibi In 1593 most of the university faculty was executed or exiled for disloyalty to the new rulers and this along with a decline in trade as a result of increased competition from newly available trans Atlantic sailing routes caused the city to lose its relevance It was not until the 1890s that Timbuktu was formally incorporated into the French colony of Mali and in 1960 was declared part of the independent nation of Mali Today the population of Timbuktu has substantially decreased since its estimated peak of 250 000 people in the Medieval period The city has suffered from mass amounts of poverty for several years now relying on government funding as a means of survival 15 16 17 Geography edit nbsp A camel ride in the Sahara desert outside TimbuktuTimbuktu is located on the southern edge of the Sahara 15 km 9 1 2 mi north of the main channel of the River Niger The town is surrounded by sand dunes and the streets are covered in sand The port of Kabara is 8 km 5 mi to the south of the town and is connected to an arm of the river by a 3 km 2 mi canal The canal had become heavily silted but in 2007 it was dredged as part of a Libyan financed project 18 The annual flood of the Niger River is a result of the heavy rainfall in the headwaters of the Niger and Bani rivers in Guinea and northern Ivory Coast The rainfall in these areas peaks in August but the floodwater takes time to pass down the river system and through the Inner Niger Delta At Koulikoro 60 km 37 mi downstream from Bamako the flood peaks in September 19 while in Timbuktu the flood lasts longer and usually reaches a maximum at the end of December 20 In the past the area flooded by the river was more extensive and in years with high rainfall floodwater would reach the western outskirts of Timbuktu itself 21 A small navigable creek to the west of the town is shown on the maps published by Heinrich Barth in 1857 22 and Felix Dubois in 1896 23 Between 1917 and 1921 during the colonial period the French used slave labour to dig a narrow canal linking Timbuktu with Kabara 24 Over the following decades this became silted and filled with sand but in 2007 as part of the dredging project the canal was re excavated so that now when the River Niger floods Timbuktu is again connected to Kabara 18 25 The Malian government has promised to address problems with the design of the canal as it currently lacks footbridges and the steep unstable banks make access to the water difficult 26 Kabara can function as a port only in December to January when the river is in full flood When the water levels are lower boats dock at Korioume which is linked to Timbuktu by 18 km 11 mi of paved road Climate edit Timbuktu features a hot desert climate BWh according to the Koppen Climate Classification The weather is extremely hot and dry throughout much of the year with most of the city s rainfall occurring between June and September due to the influence of the Intertropical Convergence Zone ITCZ The degree of diurnal temperature variation is higher in the dry season than the wet season Average daily maximum temperatures in the hottest months of the year April May and June exceed 40 C 104 F Lowest temperatures occur during the mildest months of the year December January and February However average maximum temperatures do not drop below 30 C 86 F These winter months are characterized by a dry dusty trade wind blowing from the Saharan Tibesti Region southward to the Gulf of Guinea Picking up dust particles on their way these winds limit visibility in what has been dubbed the Harmattan Haze 27 Additionally when the dust settles in the city sand builds up and desertification looms 28 Climate data for Timbuktu 1950 2000 extremes 1897 present Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec YearRecord high C F 41 6 106 9 43 5 110 3 46 1 115 0 48 9 120 0 49 0 120 2 49 0 120 2 46 0 114 8 46 5 115 7 45 0 113 0 48 0 118 4 42 5 108 5 40 0 104 0 49 0 120 2 Mean daily maximum C F 30 0 86 0 33 2 91 8 36 6 97 9 40 0 104 0 42 2 108 0 41 6 106 9 38 5 101 3 36 5 97 7 38 3 100 9 39 1 102 4 35 2 95 4 30 4 86 7 36 8 98 2 Daily mean C F 21 5 70 7 24 2 75 6 27 6 81 7 31 3 88 3 34 1 93 4 34 5 94 1 32 2 90 0 30 7 87 3 31 6 88 9 30 9 87 6 26 5 79 7 22 0 71 6 28 9 84 0 Mean daily minimum C F 13 0 55 4 15 2 59 4 18 5 65 3 22 5 72 5 26 0 78 8 27 3 81 1 25 8 78 4 24 8 76 6 24 8 76 6 22 7 72 9 17 7 63 9 13 5 56 3 21 0 69 8 Record low C F 1 7 35 1 7 5 45 5 7 0 44 6 8 0 46 4 18 5 65 3 17 4 63 3 18 0 64 4 20 0 68 0 18 9 66 0 13 0 55 4 11 0 51 8 3 5 38 3 1 7 35 1 Average rainfall mm inches 0 6 0 02 0 1 0 00 0 1 0 00 1 0 0 04 4 0 0 16 16 4 0 65 53 5 2 11 73 6 2 90 29 4 1 16 3 8 0 15 0 1 0 00 0 2 0 01 182 8 7 20 Average rainy days 0 1 mm 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 6 0 9 3 2 6 6 8 1 4 7 0 8 0 0 0 1 25 3Mean monthly sunshine hours 263 9 249 6 269 9 254 6 275 3 234 7 248 6 255 3 248 9 273 0 274 0 258 7 3 106 5Source 1 World Meteorological Organization 29 NOAA sun 1961 1990 30 Source 2 Meteo Climat record highs and lows 31 Economy editSalt trade edit nbsp Azalai salt caravan mid December 1985 The wealth and very existence of Timbuktu depended on its position as the southern terminus of an important trans Saharan trade route nowadays the only goods that are routinely transported across the desert are slabs of rock salt brought from the Taoudenni mining centre in the central Sahara 664 km 413 mi north of Timbuktu Until the second half of the 20th century most of the slabs were transported by large salt caravans or azalai one leaving Timbuktu in early November and the other in late March 32 The caravans of several thousand camels took three weeks each way transporting food to the miners and returning with each camel loaded with four or five 30 kg 66 lb slabs of salt The salt transport was largely controlled by the desert nomads of the Arabic speaking Berabich or Barabish tribe 33 Although there are no roads the slabs of salt are now usually transported from Taoudenni by truck 34 From Timbuktu the salt is transported by boat to other towns in Mali Between the 12th and 14th centuries Timbuktu s population grew immensely due to an influx of Bono Tuaregs Fulanis and Songhais seeking trade security or to study By 1300 the population increased to 10 000 and continued increasing until it reached about 50 000 in the 1500s 35 36 Agriculture edit nbsp Women pounding grainThere is insufficient rainfall in the Timbuktu region for purely rain fed agriculture and crops are therefore irrigated using water from the River Niger The main agricultural crop is rice African floating rice Oryza glaberrima has traditionally been grown in regions near the river that are inundated during the annual flood Seed is sown at the beginning of the rainy season June July so that when the flood water arrives plants are already 30 to 40 cm 12 to 16 in in height 37 The plants grow up to three metres 10 feet in height as the water level rises The rice is harvested by canoe in December The procedure is very precarious and the yields are low but the method has the advantage that little capital investment is required A successful crop depends critically on the amount and timing of the rain in the wet season and the height of the flood To a limited extent the arrival of the flood water can be controlled by the construction of small mud dikes that become submerged as the water rises Although floating rice is still cultivated in the Timbuktu Cercle most of the rice is now grown in three relatively large irrigated areas that lie to the south of the town Daye 392 ha Koriome 550 ha and Hamadja 623 ha 38 Water is pumped from the river using ten large Archimedes screws which were first installed in the 1990s The irrigated areas are run as cooperatives with approximately 2 100 families cultivating small plots 39 Nearly all the rice produced is consumed by the families themselves The yields are still relatively low and the farmers are being encouraged to change their agricultural practices 40 Tourism edit Most tourists visit Timbuktu between November and February when the air temperature is lower In the 1980s accommodation for tourists was provided by Hendrina Khan Hotel 41 and two other small hotels Hotel Bouctou and Hotel Azalai 42 Over the following decades the tourist numbers increased so that by 2006 there were seven small hotels and guest houses 38 The town benefited by the revenue from the CFA 5000 tourist tax 38 the sale of handicrafts and employment of local guides Attacks edit Starting in 2008 al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb began kidnapping groups of tourists in the Sahel region 43 In January 2009 four tourists were kidnapped near the Mali Niger border after attending a cultural festival at Anderamboukane 44 One of these tourists was subsequently murdered 45 As a result of this and various other incidents a number of states including France 46 Britain 47 and the US 48 began advising their citizens to avoid travelling far from Bamako The number of tourists visiting Timbuktu dropped precipitously from around 6000 in 2009 to only 492 in the first four months of 2011 42 Because of the security concerns the Malian government moved the 2010 Festival in the Desert from Essakane to the outskirts of Timbuktu 49 50 In November 2011 gunmen attacked tourists staying at a hotel in Timbuktu killing one of them and kidnapping three others 51 52 This was the first terrorist incident in Timbuktu itself On 1 April 2012 one day after the capture of Gao Timbuktu was captured from the Malian military by the Tuareg rebels of the MNLA and Ansar Dine 53 Five days later the MNLA declared the region independent of Mali as the nation of Azawad 54 The declared political entity was not recognized by any regional nations or the international community and it collapsed three months later on 12 July 55 On 28 January 2013 French and Malian government troops began retaking Timbuktu from the Islamist rebels 56 The force of 1 000 French troops with 200 Malian soldiers retook Timbuktu without a fight The Islamist groups had already fled north a few days earlier having set fire to the Ahmed Baba Institute which housed many important manuscripts The building housing the Ahmed Baba Institute was funded by South Africa and held 30 000 manuscripts BBC World Service radio news reported on 29 January 2013 that approximately 28 000 of the manuscripts in the Institute had been removed to safety from the premises before the attack by the Islamist groups and that the whereabouts of about 2 000 manuscripts remained unknown 57 It was intended to be a resource for Islamic research 58 On 30 March 2013 jihadist rebels infiltrated into Timbuktu nine days before a suicide bombing on a Malian army checkpoint at the international airport killing a soldier Fighting lasted until 1 April when French warplanes helped Malian ground forces chase the remaining rebels out of the city center Early accounts in the West editTales of Timbuktu s fabulous wealth helped prompt European exploration of the west coast of Africa Among the most famous descriptions of Timbuktu are those of Leo Africanus and Shabeni Leo Africanus edit Perhaps most famous among the accounts written about Timbuktu is that by Leo Africanus born El Hasan ben Muhammed el Wazzan ez Zayyati in Granada in 1485 His family was among the thousands of Muslims expelled by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel after their reconquest of Spain in 1492 They settled in Morocco where he studied in Fes and accompanied his uncle on diplomatic missions throughout North Africa During these travels he visited Timbuktu As a young man he was captured by pirates and presented as an exceptionally learned slave to Pope Leo X who freed him baptized him under the name Johannis Leo de Medici and commissioned him to write in Italian a detailed survey of Africa His accounts provided most of what Europeans knew about the continent for the next several centuries 59 Describing Timbuktu when the Songhai Empire was at its height the English edition of his book includes the description The rich king of Tombuto hath many plates and sceptres of gold some whereof weigh 1300 pounds He hath always 3000 horsemen and a great store of doctors judges priests and other learned men that are bountifully maintained at the king s cost and charges Leo Africanus Descrittione dell Africa 4 According to Leo Africanus there were abundant supplies of locally produced corn cattle milk and butter though there were neither gardens nor orchards surrounding the city 60 In another passage dedicated to describing the wealth of both the environment and the king Africanus touches upon the rarity of one of Timbuktu s trade commodities salt The inhabitants are very rich especially the strangers who have settled in the country But salt is in very short supply because it is carried here from Tegaza some 500 miles 800 km from Timbuktu I happened to be in this city at a time when a load of salt sold for eighty ducats The king has a rich treasure of coins and gold ingots Leo Africanus Descrittione dell Africa in Paul Brians Reading About the World Volume 2 60 These descriptions and passages alike caught the attention of European explorers Africanus also described the more mundane aspects of the city such as the cottages built of chalk and covered with thatch although these went largely unheeded 10 Shabeni edit The natives of the town of Timbuctoo may be computed at 40 000 exclusive of slaves and foreigners The natives are all blacks almost every stranger marries a female of the town who are so beautiful that travellers often fall in love with them at first sight Shabeni in James Grey Jackson s fr An Account of Timbuctoo and Hausa 1820 61 Roughly 250 years after Leo Africanus visit to Timbuktu the city had seen many rulers The end of the 18th century saw the grip of the Moroccan rulers on the city wane resulting in a period of unstable government by quickly changing tribes During the rule of one of those tribes the Hausa a 14 year old child named Shabeni or Shabeeny from Tetuan on the north coast of Morocco accompanied his father on a visit to Timbuktu 62 Shabeni stayed in Timbuktu for three years before moving to a major city called Housa b several days journey to the southeast Two years later he returned to Timbuktu to live there for another seven years one of a population that was even centuries after its peak and excluding slaves double the size of the 21st century town By the time Shabeni was 27 he was an established merchant in his hometown of Tetuan He made a two year pilgrimage to Mecca and thus became a hajji Asseed El Hage Abd Salam Shabeeny Returning from a trading voyage to Hamburg he was captured by a ship manned by Englishmen but sailing under a Russian flag whose captain claimed that his Imperial mistress Catherine the Great was at war with all Muselmen see Russo Turkish War 1787 1792 He and the ship he had been sailing in were brought to Ostend in Belgium in December 1789 but the British consul managed to get him and the ship released He set off again in the same ship but the captain who claimed to be afraid of his ship being captured again set him ashore in Dover In England his story was recorded Shabeeni gave an indication of the size of the city in the second half of the 18th century In an earlier passage he described an environment that was characterized by forest as opposed to the modern arid surroundings Arts and culture edit nbsp Reconstruction of the Ben Essayouti Library TimbuktuCultural events edit The best known cultural event is the Festival au Desert 65 When the Tuareg rebellion ended in 1996 under the Konare administration 3 000 weapons were burned in a ceremony dubbed the Flame of Peace on 29 March 2007 to commemorate the ceremony a monument was built 66 The Festival au Desert to celebrate the peace treaty was held every January in the desert 75 km from the city until 2010 65 The week long festival of Mawloud is held every January and celebrates the birthday of Muhammed the city s most cherished manuscripts are read publicly and are a central part of this celebration 67 It was originally a Shi ite festival from Persia and arriving in Timbuktu around 1600 The most joyful occasion on Timbuktu s calendar it combines rituals of Sufi Islam with celebrating Timbuktu s rich literary traditions 68 It is a period of feasting singing and dancing It culminated with an evening gathering of thousands of people in the large sandy square in front of the Sankor e Mosque and a public reading of some of the city s most treasured manuscripts 68 Annually during the winter Timbuktu has hosted the Living Together festival since 2015 69 70 World Heritage Site edit nbsp The mausoleums erected in the 15th and 16th centuries being restored by local workersDuring its twelfth session in December 1988 the World Heritage Committee WHC selected parts of Timbuktu s historic centre for inscription on its World Heritage list 71 The selection was based on three criteria 72 Criterion II Timbuktu s holy places were vital to early Islamization in Africa Criterion IV Timbuktu s mosques show a cultural and scholarly Golden Age during the Songhai Empire Criterion V The construction of the mosques still mostly original shows the use of traditional building techniques An earlier nomination in 1979 failed the following year as it lacked proper demarcation 72 the Malian government included the town of Timbuktu as a whole in the wish for inclusion 73 Close to a decade later three mosques and 16 mausoleums or cemeteries were selected from the Old Town for World Heritage status with this conclusion came the call for protection of the buildings conditions an exclusion of new construction works near the sites and measures against the encroaching sand Shortly afterwards the monuments were placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger by the Malian government as by the selection committee at the time of nomination 71 The first period on the Danger List lasted from 1990 until 2005 when a range of measures including restoration work and the compilation of an inventory warranted its removal from the Danger List 74 In 2008 the WHC placed the protected area under increased scrutiny dubbed reinforced monitoring a measure made possible in 2007 as the impact of planned construction work was unclear Special attention was given to the build of a cultural centre 75 During a session in June 2009 UNESCO decided to cease its increased monitoring program as it felt sufficient progress had been made to address the initial concerns 76 Following the takeover of Timbuktu by MNLA and the Islamist group Ansar Dine it was returned to the List of World Heritage in Danger in 2012 77 Attacks by radical Islamic groups edit Further information Islamist destruction of Timbuktu heritage sites In May 2012 Ansar Dine destroyed a shrine in the city 78 and in June 2012 in the aftermath of the Battle of Gao and Timbuktu other shrines including the mausoleum of Sidi Mahmoud were destroyed when attacked with shovels and pickaxes by members of the same group 77 An Ansar Dine spokesman said that all shrines in the city including the 13 remaining World Heritage sites would be destroyed because they consider them to be examples of idolatry a sin in Islam 77 79 These acts have been described as crimes against humanity and war crimes 80 After the destruction of the tombs UNESCO created a special fund to safeguard Mali s World Heritage Sites vowing to carry out reconstruction and rehabilitation projects once the security situation allows 81 Education editIf the University of Sankore had survived the ravages of foreign invasions the academic and cultural history of Africa might have been different from what it is today Kwame Nkrumah at the University of Ghana inauguration 1961 66 Centre of learning edit nbsp The Timbuktu Manuscripts showing both mathematics and a heritage of astronomy in medieval Islam Timbuktu was a world centre of Islamic learning from the 13th to the 17th century especially under the Mali Empire and Askia Mohammad I s rule The Malian government and NGOs have been working to catalog and restore the remnants of this scholarly legacy Timbuktu s manuscripts 82 Timbuktu s rapid economic growth in the 13th and 14th centuries drew many scholars from nearby Walata today in Mauritania 83 leading up to the city s golden age in the 15th and 16th centuries that proved fertile ground for scholarship of religions arts and sciences To the people of Timbuktu literacy and books were symbols of wealth power and blessings and the acquisition of books became a primary concern for scholars 84 An active trade in books between Timbuktu and other parts of the Islamic world and emperor Askia Mohammed s strong support led to the writing of thousands of manuscripts 85 Knowledge was gathered in a manner similar to the early informal European Medieval university model 83 Lecturing was presented through a range of informal institutions called madrasahs 86 Nowadays known as the University of Timbuktu three madrasahs facilitated 25 000 students Djinguereber Sidi Yahya and Sankore 87 These institutions were explicitly religious as opposed to the more secular curricula of modern European universities and more similar to the medieval Europe model However where universities in the European sense started as associations of students and teachers West African education was patronized by families or lineages with the Aqit and Bunu al Qadi al Hajj families being two of the most prominent in Timbuktu these families also facilitated students in set aside rooms in their housings 88 Although the basis of Islamic law and its teaching were brought to Timbuktu from North Africa with the spread of Islam Western African scholarship developed Ahmad Baba al Massufi is regarded as the city s greatest scholar 89 Timbuktu served in this process as a distribution centre of scholars and scholarship Its reliance on trade meant intensive movement of scholars between the city and its extensive network of trade partners In 1468 1469 though many scholars left for Walata when Sunni Ali s Songhay Empire absorbed Timbuktu 83 Then in the 1591 Moroccan invasion of Timbuktu scholars had to flee once more or face imprisonment or murder 90 This system of education survived until the late 19th century while the 18th century saw the institution of itinerant Quranic school as a form of universal education where scholars would travel throughout the region with their students begging for food part of the day 82 Islamic education came under pressure after the French occupation droughts in the 1970s and 1980s and by Mali s civil war in the early 1990s 82 Manuscripts and libraries edit Main article Timbuktu Manuscripts nbsp Moorish marabout of the Kuntua tribe an ethnic Kounta clan from which the Al Kounti manuscript collection derives its name Dated 1898 Hundreds of thousands of manuscripts were collected in Timbuktu over the course of centuries some were written in the town itself others including exclusive copies of the Quran for wealthy families imported through the lively booktrade Hidden in cellars or buried hid between the mosque s mud walls and safeguarded by their patrons many of these manuscripts survived the city s decline They now form the collection of several libraries in Timbuktu holding up to 700 000 manuscripts in 2003 91 In late January 2013 it was reported that rebel forces destroyed many of the manuscripts before leaving the city 92 93 On Friday morning 25 January 2013 fifteen jihadis entered the restoration and conservation rooms on the ground floor of the Ahmed Baba Institute in Sankore The men swept 4 202 manuscripts off lab tables and shelves and carried them into the tiled courtyard They doused the manuscripts in gasoline and tossed in a lit match The brittle pages and their dry leather covers were consumed by the inferno 94 However there was no malicious destruction of any library or collection as most of the manuscripts were safely hidden away 95 96 97 unreliable source 98 90 of these manuscripts were saved by the librarian Adbel Kader Haidara 99 100 and the population organized around the NGO Sauvegarde et valorisation des manuscrits pour la defense de la culture islamique SAVAMA DCI 101 102 Some 350 000 manuscripts were transported to safety and 300 000 of them were still in Bamakoin 2022 103 104 Ahmed Baba Institute Mamma Haidara Library Fondo Kati Al Wangari Library Mohamed Tahar Library Maigala Library Boularaf Collection Al Kounti Collections nbsp Manuscripts of the Ahmed Baba CentreThese libraries are the largest among up to 60 private or public libraries that are estimated to exist in Timbuktu today although some comprise little more than a row of books on a shelf or a bookchest 105 Under these circumstances the manuscripts are vulnerable to damage and theft as well as long term climate damage despite Timbuktu s arid climate Two Timbuktu Manuscripts Projects funded by independent universities have aimed to preserve them During the occupation by Islamic extremists the citizens of the city embarked on a drive to save the best written accounts of African History Interviewed by Time magazine the local residents claimed to have safeguarded the three hundred thousand manuscripts for generations Many of these documents are still in the safe keeping of the local residents who are reluctant to give them over to the government run Ahmed Baba Institute housed in a modern digitalization building built by the South African government in 2009 The institute houses only 10 of the manuscripts 106 It was later confirmed by Jean Michel Djian to The New Yorker that the great majority of the manuscripts about fifty thousand are actually housed in the thirty two family libraries of the City of 333 Saints He added Those are to this day protected He also added that due to the massive efforts of one individual two hundred thousand other manuscripts were successfully transported to safety 107 This effort was organized by Abdel Kader Haidara then director of Mamma Haidara Library using his own funds Haidara purchased metal footlockers in which up to 300 manuscripts could be securely stored Nearly 2 500 of these lockers were distributed to safe houses across the city Many were later moved to Dreazen 108 Language editAlthough Bambara is the lingua franca of Mali today the large majority of Timbuktu s inhabitants speaks Koyra Chiini a Songhay language that also functions as the lingua franca Before the 1990 1994 Tuareg rebellion both Hassaniya Arabic and Tamashek were represented by 10 each to an 80 dominance of the Koyra Chiini language With Tamashek spoken by both Ikelan and ethnic Tuaregs its use declined with the expulsion of many Tuaregs following the rebellion increasing the dominance of Koyra Chiini 109 nbsp A Tuareg man wearing traditional attire in TimbuktuArabic introduced together with Islam during the 11th century has mainly been the language of scholars and religion comparable to Latin in Western Christianity 110 Although Bambara is spoken by the most numerous ethnic group in Mali the Bambara people it is mainly confined to the south of the country With an improving infrastructure granting Timbuktu access to larger cities in Mali s South use of Bambara was increasing in the city at least until Azawad independence 109 Infrastructure editWith no railroads in Mali except for the Dakar Niger Railway up to Koulikoro access to Timbuktu is by road boat or since 1961 aircraft 111 With high water levels in the Niger from August to December Compagnie Malienne de Navigation COMANAV passenger ferries operate a leg between Koulikoro and downstream Gao on a roughly weekly basis Also requiring high water are pinasses large motorized pirogues either chartered or public that travel up and down the river 112 Both ferries and pinasses arrive at Korioume Timbuktu s port which is linked to the city centre by an 18 km 11 mi paved road running through Kabara In 2007 access to Timbuktu s traditional port Kabara was restored by a Libyan funded project that dredged the 3 km 2 mi silted canal connecting Kabara to an arm of the Niger River COMANAV ferries and pinasses are now able to reach the port when the river is in full flood 18 113 Timbuktu is poorly connected to the Malian road network with only dirt roads to the neighbouring towns Although the Niger River can be crossed by ferry at Korioume the roads south of the river are no better However a new paved road is under construction between Niono and Timbuktu running to the north of the Inland Niger Delta The 565 km 351 mi road will pass through Nampala Lere Niafunke Tonka Dire and Goundam 114 115 The completed 81 km 50 mi section between Niono and the small village of Goma Coura was financed by the Millennium Challenge Corporation 116 This new section will service the Alatona irrigation system development of the Office du Niger 117 The 484 km 301 mi section between Goma Coura and Timbuktu is being financed by the European Development Fund 114 Timbuktu Airport was served by Air Mali hosting flights to and from Bamako Gao and Mopti 112 until the airline suspended operations in 2014 Its 6 923 ft 2 110 m runway in a 07 25 runway orientation is both lighted and paved 118 Currently July 2023 Timbuktu Airport is served by Sky Mali to and from Bamako using Boeing 737 aircraft Notable people editAhmad Baba al Timbukti 1556 1627 a Sanhaja Berber writer scholar and political provocateur Abdul Rahman Ibrahima Sori 1762 1829 a prince and Amir commander who was captured and sold to slave traders and transported to the United States in 1788 Mahamane Alassane Haidara 1910 1981 a politician who was elected to the French Senate in 1948 Souheil Ben Barka born 1942 a Moroccan film director screenwriter and film producer Cisse Mariam Kaidama Sidibe 1948 2021 a Malian politician the first female prime minister of Mali Alphadi born 1957 a notable Nigerien fashion designer known as the Magician of the Desert In popular culture editBecause much of the gold in Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries came from Timbuktu the city has long been considered a mysterious hidden place 28 This association remains with modern Europeans and North Americans a 2006 survey of 150 young Britons found that 34 did not believe the town existed while the other 66 considered it a mythical place 119 This perception has been acknowledged in literature describing African history and African European relations In popular Western culture Timbuktu is also often considered an idiomatic stand in for any faraway place 3 120 121 The origin of this mystification lies in the excitement brought to Europe by the legendary tales especially those by Leo Africanus in his Description of Africa Arabic sources focused mainly on more affluent cities in the Timbuktu region such as Gao and Walata 10 In West Africa the city holds an image that has been compared to Europe s view on Athens 120 As such the picture of the city as the epitome of distance and mystery is a European one 3 Down to earth aspects in Africanus descriptions were largely ignored and stories of great riches served as a catalyst for travellers to visit the inaccessible city with prominent French explorer Rene Caillie characterising Timbuktu as a mass of ill looking houses built of earth 122 Now opened up many travellers acknowledged the unfitting description of an African El Dorado 28 This development shifted the city s reputation from being fabled because of its gold to fabled because of its location and mystery Being used in this sense since at least 1863 English dictionaries now cite Timbuktu as a metaphor for any faraway place 123 Timbuktu plays a vital role in Dorothy Dunnett s House of Niccolo series of historical novels as a physical setting in Scales of Gold 124 and as a spiritual and intellectual influence throughout through the character of Umar a man from that city enslaved in Europe under the name Loppe and his friendship with Nicholas the central character of the series The musical Timbuktu premiered on Broadway on March 1 1978 With lyrics by George Forrest and Robert Wright set to music by Borodin Forrest and Wright and a book by Luther Davis it is a retelling of Forrest and Wright s musical Kismett changing the setting to mid 14th century Timbuktu It starred Eartha Kitt William Marshall Gilbert Price Melba Moore and George Bell Geoffrey Holder was director choreographer and costume designer Twin towns sister cities editTimbuktu is twinned with 125 nbsp Chemnitz Germany nbsp Hay on Wye Wales United Kingdom 126 nbsp Kairouan Tunisia nbsp Marrakesh Morocco nbsp Saintes France nbsp Tempe United StatesSee also edit nbsp Mali portalList of cities in Mali History of Timbuktu Timbuktu Renaissance an initiative to rebuild the city s economy through music and cultureExplanatory notes edit Timbuktu regardless of spelling has long been used as a metaphor for out in the middle of nowhere E g From here to Timbuktu and back 3 A paper from 1995 says this was apparently one of the Maraka towns 63 A book of letters to Thomas Jefferson mentions in connexion to a letter of 1798 that explorer Mungo Park had tried unsuccessfully to find Housa and Timbuktu 1795 7 In a later expedition he went near Timbuktu while descending the Niger River After being attacked many times by Africans he drowned in the river 64 Citations edit Resultats Provisoires RGPH 2009 Region de Tombouctou PDF Republique de Mali Institut National de la Statistique archived from the original PDF on 22 July 2011 retrieved 20 March 2012 Stamm Andrea L Bastian Dawn E Myers Robert A 1998 Mali The World Bibliographical Series Vol 207 ABC CLIO p 30 a b c d e Pelizzo Riccardo 2001 Timbuktu A Lesson in Underdevelopment Journal of World Systems Research 7 2 265 283 doi 10 5195 JWSR 2001 166 a b Leo Africanus 1896 p 824 Vol 3 Barth 1857 p 284 footnote Vol 3 Cissoko S M 1996 l Empire Songhai in French Paris L Harmattan ISBN 978 2 7384 4384 7 Hunwick 2003 p 29 Hunwick 2003 p 29 note 4 Insoll 2002 p 9 a b c d Insoll 2004 Insoll 2002 McIntosh Susan Keech McIntosh Roderick J 1986 Archaeological reconnaissance in the region of Timbuktu National Geographic Research 2 302 319 Park 2010 Park 2011 Timbuktu World History Encyclopedia Mark Cartwright Retrieved 30 April 2023 Timbuktu CA 1100 Black Past Julianna Tesfu 29 June 2008 Retrieved 30 April 2023 Timbuktu Gale World History Gale Retrieved 30 April 2023 a b c Developpement regional le fleuve est de retour a Tombouctou Presidence de la Republique du Mali 3 December 2007 archived from the original on 1 October 2011 retrieved 19 March 2011 Composite Runoff Fields V 1 0 Koulikoro University of New Hampshire Global Runoff Data Center retrieved 30 January 2011 Composite Runoff Fields V 1 0 Dire University of New Hampshire Global Runoff Data Center retrieved 30 January 2011 Dire is the nearest hydrometric station on the River Niger 70 km 43 mi upstream of Timbuktu Hacquard 1900 p 12 Barth 1857 Vol 3 p 324 Dubois 1896 p 196 Jones Jim 1999 Rapports Economiques du Cercle de Tombouctou 1922 1945 Archives Nationales du Mali Fonds Recents Series 1Q362 West Chester University Pennsylvania archived from the original on 27 September 2011 retrieved 26 March 2011 Lancement des travaux du Canal de Tombouctou la mamelle nourriciere redonne vie et espoir a la Cite mysterieuse Afribone 14 August 2006 Coulibaly Be 12 January 2011 Canal de Daye a Tombouctou la securite des riverains Primature Republique du Mali archived from the original on 24 July 2011 retrieved 26 March 2011 Adefolalu D O 25 December 1984 On bioclimatological aspects of Harmattan dust haze in Nigeria Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics 33 4 387 404 Bibcode 1984AMGBB 33 387A doi 10 1007 BF02274004 S2CID 118906504 a b c Benjaminsen Tor A Berge Gunnvor 2004 Myths of Timbuktu From African El Dorado to Desertification International Journal of Political Economy 34 1 31 59 doi 10 1080 08911916 2004 11042915 S2CID 152301812 Retrieved 14 September 2010 World Weather Information Service Tombouctou 1950 2000 World Meteorological Organization Retrieved 14 February 2011 Tomb Tombouctou Climate Normals 1961 1990 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Retrieved 12 October 2015 Station Tombouctou in French Meteo Climat Retrieved 10 June 2016 Miner 1953 p 68 n27 Meunier D 1980 Le commerce du sel de Taoudeni Journal des Africanistes in French 50 2 133 144 doi 10 3406 jafr 1980 2010 Harding Andrew 3 December 2009 Timbuktu s ancient salt caravans under threat BBC News retrieved 6 March 2011 Hunwick 2003 p page needed Maynes Mary Jo Waltner Ann 2012 The Family A World History New York Oxford University Press Inc p 45 ISBN 9780195338140 Thom Derrick J Wells John C 1987 Farming Systems in the Niger Inland Delta Mali Geographical Review 77 3 328 342 doi 10 2307 214124 JSTOR 214124 a b c Schema Directeur d Urbanisme de la Ville de Tombouctou et Environs PDF in French Bamako Mali Ministere de l Habitat et de l Urbanisme Republique du Mali 2006 archived from the original PDF on 28 April 2011 Synthese des Plan de Securite Alimentaire des Communes du Circle de Tombouctou 2006 2010 PDF in French Commissariat a la Securite Alimentaire Republique du Mali USAID Mali 2006 archived from the original PDF on 6 September 2011 retrieved 2 May 2011 Styger Erika 2010 Introducing the System of Rice Intensification SRI to irrigated systems in Gao Mopti Timbuktu and to rainfed systems in Sikasso PDF Bamako Mali USAID Initiatives Integrees pour la Croissance Economique au Mali Abt Associates Hotel Hendrina Khan Tripadvisor a b Sayah Moulaye 3 October 2011 Tombouctou le tourisme en desherence in French L Essor retrieved 28 November 2011 Travelling and living abroad Sahel United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Office retrieved 1 January 2012 Mali says Tuareg rebels abduct group of tourists Reuters 22 January 2009 Retrieved 1 January 2012 Al Qaeda kills British hostage BBC News 3 June 2009 retrieved 1 January 2012 Mali Securite in French Ministere des affaires etrangeres et europeennes retrieved 28 November 2011 Mali travel advice United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Office archived from the original on 4 October 2009 retrieved 28 November 2011 Travel Warning US Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs Mali US Department of State 4 October 2011 archived from the original on 26 November 2011 retrieved 28 November 2011 Togola Diakaridia 11 January 2010 Festival sur le desert Essakane a vibre au rythme de la 10eme edition in French Le Quotidien de Bamako archived from the original on 15 April 2012 retrieved 25 December 2011 Tombouctou Le Festival du Desert aura bien lieu in French Primature Portail Officiel du Gouvernement Mali 28 October 2010 archived from the original on 24 September 2015 retrieved 25 December 2011 Mali kidnapping One dead and three seized in Timbuktu BBC News 25 November 2011 Retrieved 28 November 2011 Sayad Moulaye 28 November 2011 Tombouctou Sous le Choc in French L Essor retrieved 1 January 2012 Callimachi Rukmini 1 April 2012 Mali coup leader reinstates old constitution The Atlanta Journal Constitution Associated Press retrieved 31 March 2012 Tuareg rebels declare the independence of Azawad north of Mali Al Arabiya 6 April 2012 retrieved 6 April 2012 Moseley Walter G 18 April 2012 Azawad the latest African Border Dilemma Al Jazeera Diarra Adam 28 January 2013 French seal off Mali s Timbuktu rebels torch library Reuters Shamil Jeppie 29 January 2013 Timbuktu Manuscripts Project BBC News Retrieved 29 January 2013 Also broadcast BBC World Service news on 29 January 2013 Staff 28 January 2013 Mali Islamists Rebels Burn Manuscript Library as They Leave Timbuktu Reuters via Africa News and Analysis Retrieved 31 January 2013 Leo Africanus 1896 a b Brians Paul 1998 Reading About the World Vol II Fort Worth TX Harcourt Brace College Publishing Jackson 1820 p 10 Jackson 1820 Lovejoy P Richardson D 1995 Competing Markets for Male and Female Slaves Prices in the Interior of West Africa 1780 1850 The International Journal of African Historical Studies 28 2 261 293 doi 10 2307 221615 JSTOR 221615 Oberg Barbara B ed 2003 The Papers of Thomas Jefferson Volume 30 1 January 1798 to 31 January 1799 Princeton University Press p 154 ISBN 978 0 691 09498 4 a b Reiser Melissa Diane 2007 Festival au Desert Essakane Mali a postcolonial postwar Tuareg experiment Madison University of Wisconsin Madison a b Jeppie 2008 Hammer 2016 p 133 a b Hammer 2016 p 228 Timbuktu Mali s ancient city defies jihadist siege to stage a festival BBC News 19 December 2023 Retrieved 19 December 2023 Timbuktu The Living Together Festival is our contribution to the peace process sahelien com EN 2 February 2021 Retrieved 19 December 2023 a b Report of the World Heritage Committee Twelfth Session Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage Brasilia UNESCO 1988 a b ICOMOS 14 May 1979 Advisory Body Evaluation of Timbuktu Nomination PDF UNESCO Retrieved 22 February 2011 Mali Government 14 May 1979 Nomination No 119 PDF Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage UNESCO Retrieved 22 February 2011 Amelan Roni 13 July 2005 Three Sites Withdrawn from UNESCO s List of World Heritage in Danger World Heritage Convention News amp Events UNESCO Retrieved 22 February 2011 WHC Requests Close Surveillance of Bordeaux Machu Picchu Timbuktu and Samarkand World Heritage Convention News amp Events UNESCO 10 July 2008 Retrieved 22 February 2011 Decision 33COM 7B 45 Timbuktu Mali Final Decisions of the 33rd Session of the WHC Seville 2009 a href Template Citation html title Template Citation citation a CS1 maint location missing publisher link a b c Timbuktu shrines damaged by Mali Ansar Dine Islamists BBC News 30 June 2012 Retrieved 1 July 2012 Mali Islamist militants destroy Timbuktu saint s tomb BBC News 6 May 2012 Retrieved 1 July 2012 Ansar Dine fighters destroy Timbuktu shrines Al Jazeera 1 June 2012 Retrieved 1 July 2012 Guled Yusuf and Lucas Bento 31 July 2012 The End Times for Timbuktu The New York Times Retrieved 31 July 2012 Creation of a Special Fund for the Safeguarding of Mali s World Heritage sites UNESCO World Heritage Centre 25 July 2012 Retrieved 16 May 2014 a b c Huddleston Alexandra 1 September 2009 Divine Learning The Traditional Islamic Scholarship of Timbuktu Fourth Genre Explorations in Non Fiction 11 2 129 135 doi 10 1353 fge 0 0080 ISSN 1522 3868 a b c Cleaveland 2008 Singleton Brent D 2004 African Bibliophiles Books and Libraries in Medieval Timbuktu Libraries amp Culture 39 1 1 12 doi 10 1353 lac 2004 0019 JSTOR 25549150 S2CID 161645561 Medupe et al 2008 p 179 Makdisi George April June 1989 Scholasticism and Humanism in Classical Islam and the Christian West Journal of the American Oriental Society 109 2 175 182 176 doi 10 2307 604423 JSTOR 604423 University of Timbuktu Timbuktu Educational Foundation Archived from the original on 24 September 2012 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint unfit URL link Hunwick 2003 pp lvii Polgreen Lydia 7 August 2007 Timbuktu Hopes Ancient Texts Spark a Revival The New York Times Retrieved 4 March 2011 Singleton Brent D Winter 2004 African Bibliophiles Books and Libraries in Medieval Timbuktu Libraries amp Culture 39 1 2 doi 10 1353 lac 2004 0019 S2CID 161645561 Rainier Chris 27 May 2003 Reclaiming the Ancient Manuscripts of Timbuktu National Geographic News Archived from the original on 3 August 2003 Retrieved 13 July 2010 Harding Luke 28 January 2013 Timbuktu mayor Mali rebels torched library of historic manuscripts The Guardian London retrieved 27 February 2013 Diarra Adama 28 January 2013 French Malians retake Timbuktu rebels torch library Reuters retrieved 27 February 2013 Hammer 2016 pp 235 236 Timbuktu update Tombouctou Manuscripts Project University of Cape Town 30 January 2013 archived from the original on 3 February 2013 retrieved 27 February 2013 a href Template Citation html title Template Citation citation a CS1 maint unfit URL link Zanganeh Lila Azam 29 January 2013 Has the great library of Timbuktu been lost The New Yorker Retrieved 27 February 2013 Precious history in Timbuktu library saved from fire The History Blog 2 February 2013 Retrieved 27 February 2013 Hinshaw Drew 1 February 2013 Historic Timbuktu Texts Saved From Burning The Wall Street Journal Retrieved 27 February 2013 Hammer 2016 p page needed Timbuktu s Badass Librarians Checking Out Books Under Al Qaida s Nose NPR Harding Luke 28 January 2013 Timbuktu mayor Mali rebels torched library of historic manuscripts The Guardian London Retrieved 28 January 2013 Le sort des manuscrits anciens du Mali au centre d une conference internationale a Bamako United Nations in French Retrieved 25 September 2023 Mali les precieux manuscrits de Tombouctou Jeune Afrique JeuneAfrique com in French 21 January 2022 Retrieved 25 September 2023 The Brave Sage of Timbuktu Abdel Kader Haidara Innovators Culture 21 April 2014 Archived from the original on 18 March 2021 Retrieved 25 September 2023 Grant Simon 8 February 2007 Beyond the Saharan Fringe The Guardian London Retrieved 19 July 2010 Walt Vivienne Timbuktu s Ancient Libraries Saved by Locals Endangered by a Government Time ISSN 0040 781X Retrieved 23 April 2018 Zanganeh Lila Azam 29 January 2013 Has the Great Library of Timbuktu Been Lost The New Yorker ISSN 0028 792X Retrieved 23 April 2018 Commisso Corrie 1 May 2015 The Literary Refugees of Timbuktu How a Group of Unlikely Allies Thwarted Al Qaeda and Organized One of the Most Brazen Cultural Heritage Evacuations Ever Attempted Preservation Digital Technology amp Culture 44 2 69 77 doi 10 1515 pdtc 2015 0012 S2CID 133065754 a b Heath 1999 pp 4 5 Forma Aminatta 7 February 2009 The Lost Libraries of Timbuktu The Sunday Times London Retrieved 15 February 2011 Rosberg Carl Gustav 1964 Political Parties and National Integration in Tropical Africa Berkeley CA University of California Press p 222 ISBN 9780520002531 a b Pitcher Gemma 2007 Africa Melbourne Lonely Planet Guides pp 403 418 ISBN 9781741044829 timbuktu lonely planet Lancement des travaux du Canal de Tombouctou la mamelle nourriciere redonne vie et espoir a la Cite mysterieuse Afribone 14 August 2006 a b Coulibaly Baye 24 November 2010 Route Tombouctou Goma Coura un nouveau chantier titanesque est ouvert L Essor retrieved 19 March 2011 Coulibaly Baye 19 January 2012 Route Tombouctou Goma Coura le chantier advance a grand pas L Essor retrieved 1 May 2012 Niono Goma Coura Road Inauguration Embassy of the United States Mali 7 February 2009 archived from the original on 14 May 2011 retrieved 19 March 2011 Mali Compact PDF Millennium Challenge Corporation 17 November 2006 archived from the original PDF on 25 March 2012 Pilot Information for Timbuktu Airport Megginson Technologies 2010 retrieved 18 February 2011 Search on for Timbuktu s twin BBC News 18 October 2006 retrieved 22 November 2010 a b Saad 1983 Barrows David Prescott 1927 Berbers and Blacks Impressions of Morocco Timbuktu and the Western Sudan Whitefish Montana Kessinger Publishing p 10 Caillie 1830 p 49 Vol 2 Entry on Timbuktu Online Etymology Dictionary Douglas Harper 2002 Retrieved 17 September 2010 SCALES OF GOLD Kirkus Reviews Timbuktu twins make first visit BBC News 24 October 2007 Retrieved 24 May 2010 Hay on Wye toasts its twinning with Timbuktu the Guardian 7 February 2007 Retrieved 25 March 2022 Cited and general sources editBarth Heinrich 1857 Travels and discoveries in North and Central Africa Being a journal of an expedition undertaken under the auspices of H B M s government in the years 1849 1855 New York Harper amp Brothers Google books Volume 1 Volume 2 Volume 3 internet Archive Volume 3 Caillie Rene 1830 Travels through Central Africa to Timbuctoo and across the Great Desert to Morocco performed in the years 1824 1828 London Colburn amp Bentley Google books Volume 1 Volume 2 Cleaveland Timothy 2008 Timbuktu and Walata lineages and higher education in Jeppie Shamil Diagne Souleymane Bachir eds The Meanings of Timbuktu PDF Cape Town HSRC Press pp 77 91 ISBN 978 0 7969 2204 5 archived from the original PDF on 24 April 2021 retrieved 29 April 2012 Dubois Felix 1896 Timbuctoo the mysterious Tombouctou la mysterieuse English 1896 translated by White Diana New York Longmans hdl 2027 mdp 39015008010343 Hammer Joshua 2016 The Bad Ass Librarians of Timbuktu And Their Race to Save the World s Most Precious Manuscripts New York Simon amp Schuster ISBN 978 1 4767 7743 6 Hacquard Augustin 1900 Monographie de Tombouctou Paris Societe des etudes coloniales amp maritimes Also available from Gallica Heath Jeffrey 1999 A Grammar of Koyra Chiini the Songhay of Timbuktu Berlin Walter de Gruyter ISBN 9783110162851 Hunwick John O 2003 Timbuktu and the Songhay Empire Al Sadi s Tarikh al Sudan down to 1613 and other contemporary documents Leiden Brill ISBN 978 90 04 12560 5 ISBN 978 90 04 12822 4 paperback First published in 1999 as ISBN 90 04 11207 3 Insoll Timothy 2002 The Archaeology of Post Medieval Timbuktu PDF Sahara 13 7 22 archived from the original PDF on 8 March 2012 Insoll Timothy 2004 Timbuktu the less Mysterious PDF in Mitchell P Haour A Hobart J eds Researching Africa s Past New Contributions from British Archaeologists Oxford Oxbow pp 81 88 archived from the original PDF on 8 March 2012 retrieved 8 February 2011 Jackson James Grey 1820 An Account of Timbuctoo and Housa Territories in the Interior of Africa By El Hage Abd Salam Shabeeny London Longman Hurst Rees Orme and Brown Jeppie Shamil 2008 Re discovering Timbuktu in Jeppie Shamil Diagne Souleymane Bachir eds The Meanings of Timbuktu PDF Cape Town HSRC Press pp 1 17 ISBN 978 0 7969 2204 5 archived from the original PDF on 24 April 2021 retrieved 26 February 2011 Leo Africanus 1896 The History and Description of Africa 3 Vols Brown Robert editor London Hakluyt Society A facsimile of Pory s English translation of 1600 together with an introduction and notes by the editor Internet Archive Volume 1 Volume 2 Volume 3 Medupe R T Warner B Jeppie S Sanogo S Maiga M Maiga A Dembele M Diakite D Tembely L Kanoute M Traore S Sodio B Hawkes S 2008 The Timbuktu Astronomy Project In Holbrook J Medupe R T Urama J O eds African Cultural Astronomy Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings Springer Dordrecht pp 179 188 doi 10 1007 978 1 4020 6639 9 13 ISBN 978 1 4020 6639 9 Miner Horace 1953 The Primitive City of Timbuctoo Princeton University Press Link requires subscription to Aluka Reissued by Anchor Books New York in 1965 Park Douglas 2010 Timbuktu and its prehistoric hinterland Antiquity 84 326 1076 1088 doi 10 1017 S0003598X00067090 S2CID 161730981 Park Douglas 2011 Climate Change Human Response and the Origins of Urbanism at Prehistoric Timbuktu PhD New Haven Yale University Department of Anthropology Saad Elias N 1983 Social History of Timbuktu The Role of Muslim Scholars and Notables 1400 1900 Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 0 521 24603 3 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Timbuktu nbsp Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Timbuktu nbsp Wikiquote has quotations related to Timbuktu Timbuktu World History Encyclopedia Cana Frank Richardson 1911 Timbuktu Encyclopaedia Britannica Vol 26 11th ed pp 981 983 Jeppie Ahamil A Timbuktu book collector between the Mediterranean and Sahel Video of a presentation given at the conference The southern shores of the Mediterranean and beyond 1800 to the present held at the University of Minnesota in April 2013 Ancient West Africa s Megacities on YouTube contains video footage of Timbuktu s Iron Age occupation Islamic Manuscripts from Mali Library of Congress fuller presentation of the same manuscripts from the Mamma Haidara Commemorative Library Green Jonathan 24 November 2022 S2 07 Timbuktu a true story audio 30 mins ABC Radio National Return Ticket Features interviews with Cynthia Schneider and Manny Ansar co directors of the Timbuktu Renaissance and Lazare Eloundou Assomo director of UNESCO World Heritage Timbuktu materials in the Aluka digital library Timbuktu manuscripts Africa s written history unveiled The UNESCO Courier 2007 5 pp 7 9 Ancient chroniclers of West Africa s past journeys of discovery through the country of the black people The UNESCO Courier October 1959 Timbuktu on Global Heritage Network early warning and threat monitoring system for endangered cultural heritage sites Presentation showing images of Timbuktu ArchNet org Timbuctu Cambridge Massachusetts MIT School of Architecture and Planning Archived from the original on 14 April 2013 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Timbuktu amp oldid 1194293761, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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