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Article: FALLEN SPLENDOR TIMBUKTU ISN'T THE WELL OF WEALTH IT ONCE WAS, BUT IT RETAINS ITS TIMELESS MYSTIQUE.(TRAVEL)
- Article from:
- Albany Times Union (Albany, NY)
- Article date:
- November 24, 1996
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 Albany Times Union. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: REMER TYSON Knight-Ridder
The name evokes mystery, riches, faraway places and unknown lands: Timbuktu -- the forbidden city in the heart of Africa.
It was founded in 1080. And within 300 years, it had become one of the era's most important trading points, an influential Islamic intellectual center, a cosmopolitan multicultural city of commerce and learning and the second-largest imperial court in the world.
When much of Europe was still struggling out from under the Dark Ages, the emperor of Timbuktu was having stunning mosques built, and thousands of scholars studied in the city, coming from as far as Islamic India and Moorish Spain.
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