Ra's el-Mā'

Ra’s el-Mā’ stands near the western end of the Faguibine basin, a chain of lakes linked to the Niger by seasonal channels. When the river floods strongly, water passes through the basin and spreads over the low ground, supporting cultivation and fishing along its shores. The settlement also lay on a route connecting Walata with Timbuktu and Djenné. It thus belonged both to the lake country of the inland delta and to the caravan world of the southern Sahara.