Djinguereber Mosque

In 1324, he embarked on his legendary pilgrimage to Mecca, a moving city of tens of thousands that scattered gold across Cairo, destabilized Mediterranean economies, and announced Mali as a global power.

Returning with renowned scholars, jurists, and architects, Musa transformed Timbuktu and Gao into world-famous centers of learning and culture, commissioning architectural marvels like the Djinguereber Mosque that stand to this day.

This is the definitive story of a devout pilgrim, a brilliant administrator, and a ruler who built a golden horizon meant to outlast his own lifetime.

Now, prepare to journey into 14th century West Africa.

He did not yet know whether the Mansa who had invited him south understood the difference.

He would learn quickly that Musa did.

The construction of the Djinguereber Mosque began in the dry season when the ground was firm enough to work and the river had receded from its floodplain, leaving exposed the banks of clay that would become, in Al-Sahili's hands, something Timbuktu had never possessed.

Buildings made not of the temporary mud brick that dissolved a little more with every rainy season, requiring constant patching and rebuilding, but of banco, a mixture of clay, straw, and water that could be worked, if handled properly, into forms both durable and, more importantly to Al-Sahili, beautiful.

Um, he kn- we know that he funded the construction of a lot of great monumental mosques and palaces across the empire.

We know he, um, built the Djinguereber Mosque, which is a huge mosque in Timbuktu.

Do we know that?

We think that.

[laughs] Obviously this is, um, you know, uh, problematic to put any kind of, um, to lend any kind of credence to this story, but in the 20th century, scholars, at first in Europe but then also, um, African scholars, began to credit Al-Sahili with introducing Muslim architecture to the Malians.

Um, they began to credit him with designing the mosques of Timbuktu and, um, even introducing the concept of bricks to the region of Mali.

[laughs] Um, so that includes the design of the distinctive, um, Djinguereber Mosque in Timbuktu, which I don't know if you know what that mosque looks like.

It's pretty-