Cultural Heritage Online
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Cultural Heritage Online

Contributions: 821 articles · 15,374 heritage places · 163 events · 50 itineraries · 4 road-books · 16,084 photographs

Author name: Cultural Heritage Online

UNESCO World Heritage Sites Near Timbuktu: Mansa Musa’s Gold-Financed Mosque of 1327, the 300,000 Manuscripts Saved From Jihadists in 2012 and the University That Taught Astronomy and Medicine in the 15th Century

UNESCO World Heritage Sites Near Timbuktu: Mansa Musa’s Gold-Financed Mosque of 1327, the 300,000 Manuscripts Saved From Jihadists in 2012 and the University That Taught Astronomy and Medicine in the 15th Century

Timbuktu, at the southern edge of the Sahara in Mali, was a medieval centre of Islamic scholarship and trans-Saharan trade, home to three inscribed mosques and up to 300,000 manuscripts. In 2012, jihadists occupied the city, destroyed its Sufi mausolea, and threatened the manuscripts — most of which were covertly evacuated to safety in a remarkable rescue operation.

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