Film Screening: The Road to Timbuktu

1:00 p.m.

Just prior to the European Renaissance, Timbuktu was a famous university town, a center of learning, wisdom, and spirituality. Discover more about this mysterious and captivating city where salt was worth its weight in gold, and gold was spent on books. This one-hour documentary is part of the series Wonders of the African World, produced and narrated by Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Reading: Epic of Sundiata Keita

2:00 p.m.

An ancient tale springs to life through this reading by an array of prominent Houstonians. The story follows Sundiata, the son of Sogolon, a hunchback princess, and Maghan, known as ‘the handsome.’ Before his birth, soothsayers prophesized that Sundiata would unite the twelve kingdoms of Mali into one of the most powerful empires ever known, stretching across the savanna to the dusty walls of Timbuktu. This epic, which was told orally starting in the thirteenth century, traces Sundiata’s path as he fulfills the prophecy

These programs are open to the public and free with general museum admission. Museum members always receive free admission. A reception follows each program.

These programs are generously cosponsored by the Archaeological Institute of America/Houston Society as part of the AIA 2011–12 Discovery Forum Lecture Series.