University of Timbuktu University of Timbuktu The University of Timbuktu is a collective term for the teaching associated with three mosques in the city of Timbuktu in what is now Mali: the masajid (mosques) of Sankore, Djinguereber, and Sidi Yahya. It was not a university in the modern sense, but a loosely organized scholastic community that endured for many centuries during the medieval period. Timbuktu quickly grew in importance by the start of the 12th century, with a thriving economy based on trading salt, gold, spices and dyes. As the wealth of the city grew, it also became a center of learning, attracting
Timbuktu spelling of Timbuktu has varied a great deal: from "Tenbuch" on the Catalan Atlas (1375), to traveller Antonio Malfante's "Thambet", used in a letter he wrote in 1447 and also adopted by Alvise Cadamosto in his "Voyages of Cadamosto", to Heinrich Barth's "Timbúktu" and "Timbu'ktu". French spelling often appears in international reference as "Tombouctou". As well as its spelling, Timbuktu's toponymy is still open to discussion. At least four possible origins of the name of Timbuktu have been described: The validity of these theories depends on the identity of the original founders of the city: as recently as 2000, archaeological