Program Note: The Real City of Timbuktu: 'Timbuktu was Moslem, black, opulent, and remote. Travelers died in attempts to cross the Sahara in search of this fabled city, and so its reputation grew even faster than its wealth. When one of the rulers, Mansa Musa, made a pilgrimage to Mecca in the year 1324, he brought with him a vast retinue of thousands and gave away so much gold that the price of gold fell ten to fifteen percent in the money markets of Cairo.'
Setting
Timbuktu, in the Ancient Empire of Mali, West Africa. In the year 1361 (of Islam 752).