7. The Songhai Empire - Africa's Age of Gold
Fall of Civilizations Podcast
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Timbukto - The Great Capital of Scholars
Timbuk to is an ancient city in the european imagination, it has become a metaphor for remoteness. Timbukto began as a seasonal settlement about 15 kilometers north of the niger river. It was a place where traders could come in from the desert and exchanged salt, gold, ivory and slaves. Legend has it that this camp was centred around a well owned by an old slave woman called bokto - so it became known as the place of bukto. Over 30 % of british people believed that timbukto was a mythical place, like atlantis or el dorado.
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