A free first journey · 15 s film · Late afternoon

Timbuktu, 1500

Songhai empireTimbuktu, Mali

Crossroads of Clay and Codex

In the golden light of a Sahelian afternoon, the bustling thoroughfares of Timbuktu hum with the energy of a global crossroads. Scholars in flowing robes gather outside mud-brick stalls, examining precious hand-copied manuscripts, while merchants display vibrant textiles and trade Saharan salt for gold. In the distance, the iconic earthen minarets of the city's great mosques rise toward the sky, symbols of a renowned center of Islamic learning and commerce. Under the stable administration of the Songhai Empire, this desert metropolis thrives as an intellectual beacon, where the book trade is as lucrative as precious metals, drawing minds and goods from across the medieval world.

Read fromTimbuktu History of Timbuktu

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