Talk:Timbuktu
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The picture here is broken. Rhymeless 04:15, 24 Jun 2004 (UTC)
- Looks like it was deleted at some point. If so, no help for it, gotta upload new image. Stan 05:31, 24 Jun 2004 (UTC)
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[edit] Meaning/Etymology
There are two contradictory phrases regarding the origin of the name:Its name is made up of: tin which means « place » and buktu, the name of an old Malian woman is the first. Then there is this one a few paragraphs later: The place name is said to come from a Tuareg woman named Buktu who dug a well in the area where the city stands today; hence "Timbuktu", which means "Buktu's well". Which one, if either, is it?
[edit] Holy City??
As far as my knowlegde of Islam goes, there are 3 holy cities namely: Makkah, Medinah and Jerusalem.
Where did other four cities come from? Which are those cities? Please Mention what sects you are referring to... Shia? Ahmadiaya? Ismaili?
Otherwise it's very misleading to people who are unaware of this fact. If it were not for this discussion page, I would have promptly erased "and one of the seven holy citys of Islam".
[edit] Name
What? This place is called Timbuktu! I have never, ever heard it called Tombouctou in English. Never. That is the French name. Chameleon 23:25, 15 Sep 2004 (UTC)
- I have some 1930s encyclopaedias that say or Tombouctou, but that's about it. Rhymeless 02:38, 16 Sep 2004 (UTC)
[edit] removed tidbits
I removed two comments from the bottom, including the one about Timbuktu being a metaphor for far-away places, since it says that in the introductory paragraph. - DavidWBrooks 19:20, 6 Dec 2004 (UTC)
[edit] removed blog links
I removed a couple of links to the same travel blog about a trip to Timbuktu. The Web is loaded with travel logs - a quick Google search finds a bunch about Timbuktu. We could fill up every geographic article with similar external links, until the article itself was swamped, so we need to be cautious. Wikipedia isn't a link farm, and this article already has an awful lot of external links. - DavidWBrooks 13:48, 1 Mar 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Jews
According to The Jews of Timbuktu, in 1492 Mohamed Askia forced the Timbuktu Jews to convert to Islam, and Rabbi Mordechai Abi Serour came from Morocco in 1860 to be a trader in Timbuktu. --Error 00:20, 14 Apr 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Pop Culture Reference
Would it be worthwhile to note that Timbuktu has become a common metaphor (at least in America) for a far-off or distant place, "From here to Timbuktu!" Or maybe the phrase isn't as common as I think. Rainman420 22:12, 28 April 2006 (UTC)
- Certainly. The article had such a reference in its early days, but it has been much altered. - DavidWBrooks 23:31, 28 April 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Geography
Since i had a hard time finding it on a satellite map: Google Earth puts the city at 16°46'31.15"N , 3° 0'29.75"W; the only source listed in Geographic coordinates (obtaining) to list it, The Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names, puts it at a less precise 16º49'00"N, 02º59'00"W . Atcack 20:09, 04 Jul 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Misplaced text
It looks like the text "ey...school is kool" in the "Shabeni" subsection is misplaces. (218.228.195.44 04:28, 7 November 2006 (UTC))
[edit] Photos?
Can we find any photos without copyright problems?
There are some architectural gems in this city.Dogru144 06:22, 26 January 2007 (UTC)
