Latest / Timbuktu: Africa's Forgotten Center of Knowledge — Fexingo History
The Songhai Empire's Underground Water Systems
Before Timbuktu became a center of scholarship, the Songhai Empire engineered a vast network of underground water channels (foggara) that sustained urban life in the Sahel. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how this ancient irrigation technology, adapted from North Africa and the Middle East, allowed Songhai cities like Gao and Timbuktu to thrive despite the arid climate. Drawing on the Tarikh al-Sudan and recent archaeological work, they trace the construction and maintenance of these qanat-like systems, the role of enslaved labor, and how the Moroccan invasion disrupted them. They…
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