Timbuktu (12 th century) Mali In the 12th century, Timbuktu was at the crossroads of the four most important
caravan paths supplying the Arab world, which then spanned from the Middle East all the way to Spain. The accumulation of wealth made it one of the wealthiest places on earth at the time. This allowed one of the first universities in the history of humankind to be established– the celebrated Islamic university called the Koranic Sankore, where 20,000 students studied law, medicine, rhetoric, etc. Today, it remains with us as a powerful myth and, in this way, resembles another Ancient Wonder,
the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
By Fausto Fabio de Araujo