10 Where Is Timbuktu?

Many people believe Timbuktuis a place of mystery. It is a romantic land from legends. People often use Timbuktu as a symbol of a place that is far away, unknown, or difficult to reach. For example:

“I want to work in this office, but my company may send me to Timbuktu.”

“Sorry I'm late. I had to park my car in Timbuktu! ”

“I'm happy that you like your gift. I had to go to Timbuktu to find it.”

Timbuktu is not only a symbol. It is also a real place. It is a city in the country of Mali in western Africa. Timbuktu is on the edge of the Sahara Desert, about eight miles from the Niger River. Even today it is not easy to travel there; the best way to get there is by river or camel. At one time, Timbuktu was a very important city, like Rome, Athens, or Jerusalem. It was the center of learning in Africa, and people called it the“City of Gold.”

A group of nomads created Timbuktu in the twelfth century. By the fourteenth century, it was a center for the gold and salt trade. Everyone needed salt, so they charged a high price for it. Sometimes, salt was more expensive than gold! People outside the region started to hear and talk about Timbuktu when Mansa Moussa was Mali's king. His religion was Islam, and he built beautiful mosques and huge libraries to spread the religion.Timbuktu was also famous for its universities. The University of Sankore had 25,000 students. People called it the Oxford University of the Sahara. Moussa made Timbuktu into a cultural center for Islam. It became an important city not just in Africa, but also in the world of Islam.

Stories about the wealth of Timbuktu spread far and wide, and other kingdoms wanted it for themselves. In 1591, Morocco conquered Timbuktu and controlled it until 1780. During this time, they killed many of the students and teachers, closed the universities, destroyed trade, and did not take care of the city. Timbuktu was no longer the City of Gold. After the Moroccans, other African groups controlled Timbuktu.

In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, European countries began to make colonies in some parts of Africa. Europeans believed Timbuktu was a city covered in gold. They thought gold in Timbuktu was as common as sand! Europeans tried to reach Timbuktu again and again, but they weren't successful. They didn't know how to cross the Sahara Desert and survive where it was hot and there was no water. The men died of thirst and disease, or thieves killed them.

In 1824, The Geographical Society of Paris offered a prize of 100,000 francs to the first person who could bring back information about Timbuktu. Many people tried, but René Caillié was the first to reach Timbuktu and come back alive. He started on the coast of western Africa and traveled for a year. On the way, he learned to speak Arabic and dressed as an Arab. He finally arrived in Timbuktu in April 1828, but he couldn't believe his eyes. He saw a city of small houses made of earth—no buildings covered with gold.The economy of Timbuktu was dead, but the intellectual and religious life of the city continued to live. When the French colonized the area in 1894, more than twenty schools were still open and were doing very well.

Mali became an independent country in 1960. It is a poor country, and Timbuktu is a poor city. Some of the beautiful old buildings are still standing. Sankore University is still open, but today it has only about 15,000 students. In 1974, the government of Mali and UNESCO built a center to hold and preserve over 20,000 old documents from Timbuktu's libraries. These documents were copied by hand over many centuries and contain more than a thousand years of knowledge. It is extremely important to preserve these documents, because Timbuktu is in danger. The sand and winds from the Sahara are destroying the plants,the water,and the historic buildings. There is now a program to save the city and its history. People don't want Timbuktu to become only a legend again.

Although it is hot, poor, and far away from everything, thousands of visitors come to this city of mystery every year.