Lesson 3: Trekking to Timbuktu: Timbuktu: A Center of Trade (Teacher Version)

NCSS.D2.His.1.6-8. Analyze connections among events and developments in broader historical contexts.

NCSS.D2.His.2.6-8. Classify series of historical events and developments as examples of change and/or continuity.

NCSS.D2.His.3.6-8. Use questions generated about individuals and groups to analyze why they, and the developments they shaped, are seen as historically significant.

NCSS.D2.His.4.6-8. Analyze multiple factors that influenced the perspectives of people during different historical eras.

NCSS.D2.His.5.6-8. Explain how and why perspectives of people have changed over time.

NCSS.D2.His.14.6-8. Explain multiple causes and effects of events and developments in the past.

NCSS.D2.His.15.6-8. Evaluate the relative influence of various causes of events and developments in the past. 

NCSS.D2.His.16.6-8. Organize applicable evidence into a coherent argument about the past.

Activity 1. The Founding of Timbuktu

Timbuktu was founded at the dawn of the 12th century. Given the active trade network that already existed in the local region, it wasn't long before it became an important stopping place for merchants.

• Access Early History. This is the way most modern historians explain the founding of the city. For a more detailed version, go to History of Timbuktu. Read the second and third paragraphs. In what ways did the location of Timbuktu make it the ideal gathering place for traders?
• Access the Map of Africa. Click on Mali. On the map, find Timbuktu (also spelled Tombouktou). After looking at the map, scroll down and read the statistics listed under Geography.
• The Tuareg people still live in the region of Timbuktu. See The Road to Timbuktu. Click on Wonders, then under related wonders click on the Tuareg people. Now view Man in Blue. In what ways have the Tuareg people changed since earlier times? In what ways do their life styles remain the same?

Activity 2. Timbuktu Becomes Part of Mali

By the mid-13th century, the kingdom of Mali had gained control of the lucrative trade networks of the upper Niger River. During the reign of Mansa Musa, Mali's most famous ruler, Mali expanded to become a sizable empire and reached its peak of prosperity. Timbuktu continued to be an important center of trade as a city in Mali.

• Access Map of Mali, form the EDSITEment-reviewed resource The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Locate Timbuktu and trace the course of the Niger River. Now view the map shown at Trans-Saharan Gold Trade—also from The Metropolitan Museum of Art—and locate the gold fields.
• Access Mali. Discuss the text with your students. What was the source of Mali's wealth and power? Why are Sundjata (also spelled Sundiata) and Mansa Musa revered today in African legends?
• Now go Mali. What were Mansa Musa's reasons for expanding his borders? Why was he interested in acquiring Timbuktu?

Be a West African storyteller. (They're known as griots.) Tell the story of Timbuktu - from its origins until it became a part of Mali. Or, lacking a proper audience, write down the tale as you would have told it.

Selected EDSITEment Web Sites

African Studies WWW

• Clickable Map of Africa:
• Mali
• The Tuareg People 
• The Road to Timbuktu

Internet Public Library

• Musa and the Mali Empire
• Timbuktu: Legendary City of Africa;

Labyrinth

• Mansa Musa: King of Mali

National Geographic Xpeditions

• Djenne, Mali
• Empires of the Western Sudan
• Ghana Empire
• Golden Age
• On the Edge of Timbuktu
• Mansa Musa
• Mansa Musu and Songhai Empire
• Songhay
• Timbuktu: City of Legends
• Timbuctoo the Mysterious