Latest / Timbuktu: Africa's Forgotten Center of Knowledge — Fexingo History
The Timbuktu Book Trade That Connected Empires
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the intercontinental book trade that made Timbuktu a center of knowledge. They follow the journey of manuscripts from Fez, Cairo, and Granada to the libraries of Sankore, and discuss how scholars like Ahmad Baba al-Timbukti built personal collections. The conversation covers the role of the Kunta and Aqit families as bibliophiles, the economics of the trade—paper from Italy, bindings from North Africa—and how the Saadian invasion disrupted this network. They also touch on the manuscript protection efforts by families like the Mamma Haidara and Fondo…
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