Τιμπουκτού, ερμηνείες για την ανάπτυξη της πόλης μέσα στον χρόνο

Περίληψη

The city of Timbuktu starts playing an active role in the world history in 1400 C.E. It is located at today’s state of Mali, at the northern bank of the river Niger. Flourished as Islamic spiritual, intellectual and trade center Timbuktu constituted an important trade and transportation hub of its era. The ancient manuscripts that are found there represent a rich heritage and a priceless documentation of the Islamic culture. Nowadays the city has only a secondary importance, while a number of its monuments are part of UNESCO’S World Heritage Convention. In this current study a geographic monograph registration of the city is attempted. The implemented methodology tool is historical geography. The timeframe of the study ranges from the foundation of the city as a permanent settlement until today, with a reconstruction of geographies of the past, as they are grouped according to historical information concerning economic activities, population geography and city planning data. In a region of the African continent where the growth rates remain low the existence of the manuscripts raises a number of questions regarding the overall identity of the city through ages. Such questions could be on what grounds the city was founded there, under which circumstances the city prospered, which and how decisive the involvement of Timbuktu in the international and local historical events was, what led to the loss of its importance and which are the future perspectives. The study is divided into three quite extensive periods. The first period describes the foundation and the early formation years of Timbuktu. The second period is dealing with its golden era, when most of the manuscripts came into the foreground, while the last period covers the start of the decline and the modern era. The overall objectives are the decoding, understanding, depiction and interpretation of the geographies of the Timbuktu through time.