Azelik (Takadda)
Azelik · Takadda · Takedda · Azalek
Medieval (10th–16th c)·Tuareg / Songhai / Hausa copper miners·🇳🇪 Agadez Region, Niger
About
About Azelik (Takadda)
Medieval copper mining metropolis 14th c of Mali Empire border and Ibn Battuta locus 1353 'Takadda where north's copper meets south's gold', Azelik 15 km long slag and crucible field with 600 furnaces, mosque ruin 20×15 m with qibla, and residential tells 1–3 m high covering 50 ha. Excavations 1970s Grébénart and Bernus: copper prills, Kufic inscriptions, queen's residence? Abandoned 1500s shift to Iférous. Largest Saharan copper production site rivaling Akjoujt. Visible slag mounds 2 m high with furnace shadows 1 m base and copper drips. Tuareg Inad blacksmith memory.
Why it mattersOnly archaeologically confirmed Takadda locating Ibn Battuta and largest medieval Saharan copper industrial landscape.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Scale of slave labour for copper mining
- 02Takadda polity association — Songhai vs Tuareg independent city-state
Theories
- 01Copper-gold parity model (Garrard)
- 02Takadda as Mansa Musa border customs (Levtzion)
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- Founding 10th–11th c; climax 14th c Takadda; abandoned 1500s
- Period
- Medieval (10th–16th c)
- Culture
- Tuareg / Songhai / Hausa copper miners
- Builders
- Tuareg Inad guild
- Purpose
- Saharan copper entrepôt feeding Sudanic gold-salt exchange
- Abandoned
- Late 16th c
- Rediscovered
- 1850s Barth; 1960s Fr. mission
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
Founding 10th–11th c; climax 14th c Takadda; abandoned 1500s
Initial construction
c. 1652 CE
Rediscovery
On the ground
Structures & features
17.5139° N · 6.7528° E · 450 m · 2 mapped features
Slag Field and Furnace Cluster
industrial600 shaft furnaces along 15 km
17.5150° N · 6.7540° EMosque of Azelik
mosque20×15 m Kufic oriented mosque ruin
17.5139° N · 6.7528° E