The city of Timbuktu
The city of Timbuktu is a mythical city of sorts.
How so? Well, there is actually a city by that name – Timbuktu – and it can be found at the southern border of the Sahara Desert, near the Niger River. This city physically exists but all sorts of mythical attributes surround it.
The legend can be traced back to 1930 when Mansa Musa, then the ruler of Timbuktu, went to Mecca on a pilgrimage. It is said that on the way to Mecca, he stopped over in Egypt where he behaved extravagantly by throwing gold around. It is said that he spread around enough gold that the Egyptian currency back then devalued. What happened then was not surprising – rumors started to fly around that there was this city deep within the heart of Africa wherein there was more gold than one can imagine - roofs and streets made with gold, and so on.
Today, though Timbuktu’s streets may not be paved with gold and its roofs not made of gold, the city has something to offer the rest of the world. It is home to the prestigious Sankore University as well as other Islamic schools. Perhaps its greatest contribution to the Islamic civilization, and the world in general, is its scholarship.