The Timbuktu Scholar Who Predicted a Solar Eclipse
from Timbuktu: Africa's Forgotten Center of Knowledge — Fexingo History Hosted by Fexingo
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the life and work of Muhammad al-Kaburi, a 16th-century astronomer from Timbuktu who calculated and predicted a solar eclipse visible from the Niger River bend. Using the zīj tradition of Islamic astronomical tables and instruments like the astrolabe and quadrant, al-Kaburi's work challenges the notion that pre-colonial Africa had no systematic science. Lucas explains how scholars at Sankore University integrated Ptolemaic astronomy with local observation, and how al-Kaburi's eclipse prediction was recorded in the Tarikh al-Sudan. The conversation also touches on the practical uses of astronomy for prayer times and the Qibla direction, and the long legacy of Timbuktu's ilm al-falak tradition. We discuss the survival of al-Kaburi's manuscripts in the Mamma Haidara Library and what they reveal about intellectual life in the Sahel. This episode offers a rare look at African astronomy before the colonial era, showing how Timbuktu connected to a global network of knowledge, from North Africa to the Middle East. #Timbuktu #MuhammadAlKaburi #SolarEclipse #Sankore #IlmAlFalak #IslamicAstronomy #WestAfrica #MaliEmpire #TarikhAlSudan #Astrolabe #Quadrant #Zij #Sahel #MammaHaidaraLibrary #Ptolemaic #Qibla #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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