Africa Literature, Mali : Timbuktu Documents

Timbuktu and the Timbuktu manuscripts always seems to raise a lot of interest, and over the last few years there has been immense concern about the protection of the fragile ancient documents kept in private libraries in the city. Today I see that the new Ahmed Baba Institute which is a state of the art library has just opened in the city funded by the South African government. The new building of the library will allow the preservation and cataloguing of the documents from around the city. Eventually they expect to store 30,000 manuscripts in climate control storage rooms. Unfortunately the latest travel warning about unrest in northern Mali and the risk of kidnapping of foreign nationals will limit the number of tourists visiting the area and the library.

A street in Timbuktu

One of the most fascinating webpages is that published by The Library of Congress entitled Ancient manuscripts from the desert libraries of Timbuktu. Here we can see actual pages of the documents. Somehow they seem more real than just the idea of these little libraries tucked away in houses in Timbuktu  (and also in a shed) that academics and others got all hot and bothered about saving a few years ago.

The subject matter is incredibly varied and you can get a sense of the historical value of these documents.Here is a document about the structure of the universe:

Timbuktu manuscript - Structure of the heavens

As the site says:

These ancient manuscripts cover every aspect of human endeavor. The manuscripts are indicative of the high level of civilization attained by West Africans during the Middle Ages and provide irrefutable proof of a powerful African literary tradition. Scholars in the fields of Islamic Studies and African Studies believe that analysis of these texts will cause Islamic, West African, and World History to be reevaluated. These manuscripts, surviving from as long ago as the fourteenth century, are remarkable artifacts important to Malian and West African culture. The exhibited manuscripts date from the sixteenth to eighteenth century.

Please go to the Ancient manuscripts from the desert libraries of Timbuktu website to see more.

Suggested Book

• The Hidden Treasures of Timbuktu: Rediscovering Africa’s Literary Culture