Timbuktu's Forgotten Astronomers and the Night Sky

Timbuktu: Africa's Forgotten Center of Knowledge — Fexingo History · Oct 5, 2026 · 7m · transcript

While we often discuss Timbuktu’s legal scholars and scribes, this episode turns our gaze upward to the city’s astronomers and navigators. We explore how the warraq and qadi used celestial observations to determine prayer times, the qibla, and safe travel routes across the Sahara. Lucas traces the lineage of scholars like Ahmad al-Maghirani, who blended Maliki jurisprudence with precise astronomical calculations using astrolabes and azimuths. Luna helps us understand why knowing the stars was not just scientific curiosity but a religious and economic necessity for the trans-Saharan trade…