The Rush to Save Timbuktu's Crumbling Manuscripts

Der Spiegel ^ | 08/01/2008 | Matthias Schulz and Anwen Roberts

[FreedomCalls]

Fabled Timbuktu, once the site of the world's southernmost Islamic university, harbors thousands upon thousands of long-forgotten manuscripts. A dozen academic instutions from around the world are now working frantically to save and evaluate the crumbling documents.

Bundles of paper covered with ancient Arabic letters lie on tables and dusty leather stools. In the sweltering heat, a man wearing blue Muslim robes flips through a worn folio, while others are busy repairing yellowed pages.

An astonishing project is underway in Timbuktu, Mali, one of the world's poorest countries. On the southern edge of the Sahara Desert, experts are opening an enchanted Aladdin's Cave, filled with hundreds of thousands of ancient documents.

The Ahmed Baba Library alone contains more than 20,000 manuscripts, including works on herbal medicine and mathematics, yellowed volumes of poetry, music and Islamic law. Some are adorned with gilded letters, while others are written in the language of the Tuareg tribes. The contents remain a mystery.

Manuscript hunters are now scouring the environs of Timbuktu, descending into dark, clay basements and climbing up into attics. Twenty-four family-owned collections have already been discovered in the area. Most of the works stem from the late Middle Ages, when Timbuktu was an important crossroads for caravans. It was home to gold merchants and scholars, and it even boasted a university with 20,000 students. The old saying "the treasures of wisdom are only to be found in Timbuktu" summed up the ancient city's appeal.

[PGalt]

Fascinating. Educational. Thanks for posting.

(ping)

[Wonder Warthog]

"Tombouctou is strickly islamic, anything sacrilegious was/is/will be destroyed."

Actually, Islam has protected quite a few lost "Western ideas". And, of course, there is always the possibility that even if some "did" wish to destroy such antiquities, that their very obscurity would protect them

[Wilhelm Tell]

Moslems copied lot of Greco-Roman material but they probably destroyed even more. Hard to say what is down there.

It would be great if some long-lost Greek or Roman documents were there - either originals or Arabic translations. But I am not hopeful. Who knows?

[SunkenCiv]

From the Desert, a Wellspring of Ancient Manuscripts
The Washington Post | June 25, 2003 | Philip Kennicot
Posted on 06/29/2003 7:34:52 AM PDT by SteveH
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/937585/posts

Libraries in the sand reveal Africa’s academic past
Reuters via Yahoo | Fri Nov 10, 2006 | Nick Tattersall
Posted on 11/10/2006 2:19:31 PM PST by Pharmboy
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1736532/posts

Libraries in the sand reveal Africa’s academic past
Reuters | 11/10/06 | Nick Tattersall
Posted on 11/12/2006 7:03:58 AM PST by Valin
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1737274/posts

[SunkenCiv]

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[DieHard the Hunter]

Mali is one of the very, very few African states that are properly and democratically run — an oasis in the midst of a cesspit of crime and corruption and kleptocracies.

I hope they continue along the path they are on: if any African nation could use a bit of good press, Mali is the one.

[Old Student]

“Timbuktu. Isn’t that on the way to Bum**** Egypt?”

Nope, it's far, far past... As in “When I get done with you, you're going to be in charge of smoke-signals in Timbuktu!!!”

A threat I used a couple of times on some of my SATCOM troops, long ago, and far, far away, in another universe.

[RexFamilia]

Agree; unfortunately lately the president A.T.T. has been courting some of the less than desiderable heads of state; area north Timboktu has been declared off-limits due to the presence of AQ and Islamists.

The locals in Bamako have been getting more belligerent toward the westerners because they want to emigrate and they feel that “we” owe them asilum.

[gleeaikin]

“Mali...an oasis in the midst of...corruption...”

About 40 years ago, my brother traveled (on $5 a day ;-)) through about 10 African countries, one of which was Mali. He went by river steamer, railroad, and hitchhiking. He said the really amazing thing was to see the variation in the people. He said some were cultured and urbanized, and others were very primative. Four or five hundred years ago, a major city in Nigeria had a population of around 50,000. Unfortunately, my senior memory is kicking in again and I can’t remember the name.

[SunkenCiv]

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newer, related topics: Mali: Islamists destroy Timbuktu heritage sites In Timbuktu, Harsh Change Under Islamists Ethno-religious violence in Islamic Mali The Rush to Save Timbuktu's Crumbling Manuscripts Libraries in the sand reveal Africa's academic past Libraries in the sand reveal Africa's academic past Khan made trips to Niger, Sudan Khan's visit to Timbuktu was to prospect for uranium - dissident 'A Q Khan (Pakistani nuke scientist) visited Timbuktu for uranium' From the Desert, a Wellspring of Ancient Manuscripts Just updating the GGG info, not sending a general distribution. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.