Sankore Madrasah
Coordinates: 16°46′33″N 3°0′20″W / 16.77583°N 3.00556°W
Sankoré Madrasah, The University of Sankoré, or Sankore Masjid is one of three ancient centers of learning located in Timbuktu, Mali, West Africa. The three mosques of Sankoré, Djinguereber Mosque and Sidi Yahya compose the University of Timbuktu. Madrasah (مدرسة) means school/university in Arabic and also in other languages associated with Muslims.
The name Sankore means "white nobles", the term 'white' here referring to the light-skinned Sanhaja Berbers. Sankore was built under the leadership of Sanhaja Berbers, between 1325 and 1433. Finally the Oratory of Sidi yahya or the mosque of Mohamed Naddah was built at the beginning of 15th century.
Timbuktu had long been a destination or stop for merchants from the Middle East and North Africa. It wasn't long before ideas as well as merchandise began passing through the fabled city. Since most if not all these traders were Muslim, the mosque would see visitors constantly. The temple accumulated a wealth of books from throughout the Muslim world becoming not only a center of worship but a center of learning. Books became more valuable than any other commodity in the city, and private libraries sprouted up in the homes of local scholars.
By the end of Mansa Musa's reign (early 14th century CE), the Sankoré Masjid had been converted into a fully staffed Madrassa (Islamic school or in this case university) with the largest collections of books in Africa since the Library of Alexandria. The level of learning at Timbuktu's Sankoré University was superior to that of many other Islamic centers in the world. The Sankoré Masjid was capable of housing 25,000 students and had one of the largest libraries in the world with between 400,000 to 700,000 manuscripts.
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