The Libraries of Timbuktu
If your attitude toward Mali is "Who cares," consider this image:
Malian scholars, librarians and citizens in Timbuktu, the fabled desert trading town overrun by rebels this month, are protecting priceless ancient manuscripts to prevent them from being damaged or looted. ...
"I have no faith in the rebels. They may have an educated leadership, but they are sending in foot soldiers who are illiterate and if they want something they will take it ... They won't have any respect for paper culture," Prof Jeppie said.
He said since the rebel occupation, fighters had stolen vehicles from the Ahmed Baba Institute, the Malian state library that houses more than 20,000 ancient scholarly manuscripts. The library is named after Ahmad Baba Al Massufi, who died in 1627 and is regarded as Timbuktu's greatest scholar.
But the fighters did not enter the rooms and underground vaults where the priceless texts were stored at the library's new South African-funded building.
"The new building was defended by the public ... they stood in front of the gates," Prof Jeppie said.
And what is in that library?
Brittle, written in ornate calligraphy, and ranging from scholarly treatises to old commercial invoices, the documents represent a compendium of learning on everything from law, sciences and medicine to history and politics.
An online exhibition, here.
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The New York Times wrote about the efforts to preserve these manuscripts in 2007:
Ismaël Diadié Haïdara held a treasure in his slender fingers that has somehow endured through 11 generations — a square of battered leather enclosing a history of the two branches of his family, one side reaching back to the Visigoths in Spain and the other to the ancient origins of the Songhai emperors who ruled this city at its zenith.
“This is our family’s story,” he said, carefully leafing through the unbound pages. “It was written in 1519.”
The musty collection of fragile, crumbling pages, written in the florid Arabic script of the sixteenth century, is also this once forgotten outpost’s future.
A surge of interest in ancient books, hidden for centuries in houses along Timbuktu’s dusty streets and in leather trunks in nomad camps, is raising hopes that Timbuktu — a city whose name has become a staccato synonym for nowhere — may once again claim a place at the intellectual heart of Africa.
“I am a historian,” Mr. Haïdara said. “I know from my research that great cities seldom get a second chance. Yet here we have a second chance because we held on to our past.”
This ancient city, a prisoner of the relentless sands of the Sahara and a changing world that prized access to the sea over the grooves worn by camel hooves across the dunes, is on the verge of a renaissance.
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Comments:
Feb '12
Re: The Libraries of Timbuktu
There really is a Timbuktu? Who knew? Does anyone remember what life was like before they discovered Claire's posts? Claire, keep on keepin on!
Nov '10
Re: The Libraries of Timbuktu
Claire,
So, your complaint, basically, is that this situation isn't on the MSM's radar. Would you like me to give you a list of events around the world --chiefly involving Muslim persecution of Christians-- that are routinely ignored by the major media? The solipsistic liberals who dominate the news are simply not interested if they cannot present a story in a way that enables a liberal to command the Moral High Ground.
Re: The Libraries of Timbuktu
MMPadre: Claire,
The solipsistic liberals who dominate the news are simply not interested if they cannot present a story in a way that enables a liberal to command the Moral High Ground. · 24 minutes ago
I can't say that conservative media outlets in the United States seem to me to be doing a better job of reporting non-US news.
Jun '10
Re: The Libraries of Timbuktu
This area of Africa also is where the Dogon people live. These people are known in Anthropological circles for the very odd story of their knowledge about the star Sirius and its companion (Sirius B). It's always been a mystery as to how this tribe could have knowledge about something which is very difficult to see even with modern telescopes -- that of a faint white dwarf companion. They also predict that we will see a third companion, Sirius C, which was only scientifically posited in the 1950s.
Those of us who believe in highly developed cultures from antiquity see the Dogon as a possible remnant of the high culture that Ancient Egypt is known for.
That aside, Africa's intellectual history is a fascinating topic. The pictures you chose for this post are really great examples of the heights of the Arabic expansion and the accompanying renaissance of those early times. It gives a glimmer as to how great and complex that culture was.
Nov '10
Re: The Libraries of Timbuktu
Claire Berlinski, Ed.
MMPadre: Claire,
The solipsistic liberals who dominate the news are simply not interested if they cannot present a story in a way that enables a liberal to command the Moral High Ground. · 24 minutes ago
I can't say that conservative media outlets in the United States seem to me to be doing a better job of reporting non-US news. · 24 minutes ago
To be sure: such stories are mostly covered by those who have a dog in those fights. All too many of the higher-profile conservative media types are wanna-bes who spend too much time talking about what the cool kids are talking about.
Feb '11
Re: The Libraries of Timbuktu
I know about ancient Timbuktu. I've been to the modern one.
What needs to be done is educate the rebels about ebay and how these priceless treasures can be turned into ready cash. Illiterate maybe, stupid unlikely.
And frankly, I still don't care.
Dec '10
Re: The Libraries of Timbuktu
Claire,
Timbuk II was finished last year. They are still working on Timbuk III. Fantastic Direct Ocean Views. You can still get pre-completion pricing. Just call....
Regards,
Jim
May '10
Re: The Libraries of Timbuktu
"333" — that might be interesting to see. I wonder who might appear in it?
Oh look. And that second grab is one of the final series of stylized end tags that close the trailer:
Oct '11
Re: The Libraries of Timbuktu
Of course the Library and its artifacts are priceless, but is it really needed to care about it ?
Maybe some effort could have been made earlier to transcribe the data into digital formats, but is it enough to make strategic direction ?
Also I heard that the rebels founded a new country using Libyan weapons ? Do they have any chance of succeeding ?
Mar '11
Re: The Libraries of Timbuktu
One can care yet still know that there is nothing to be done. The only action of any worth that can be taken is the one you are engaged in, bearing witness.
Given the history of Islamist influenced insurgencies these artifacts will likely be destroyed or if the world is "fortunate" sold on the black market.
Apr '12
Re: The Libraries of Timbuktu
I would like to know why Islam "fell from grace." At one point Muslim civilizations exceeded Western Europe in science and technology; but now the term is nearly synonymous with savagery and ignorance, at least in certain parts of the world.
As for the manuscripts themselves, I do sincerely hope thy are preserved. It would be tragic to see these records destroyed by those too ignorant to understand their value; I especially would hope they might inspire some Muslims to advance their civilization through rational thought rather than "Jihad."
As alluded to above, the best solution may be market oriented - have a charity or group of wealthy collectors purchase the records and transport them to safety. I would probably donate a small amount for that purpose.
Edited on April 13, 2012 at 12:25amFeb '11
Re: The Libraries of Timbuktu
This is a very difficult question, Islam is home to a bewildering variety of traditions, schools, and view points. Between 1300 and 1800 Islam in a variety of locations began to fall behind the west, internal strife, the black death, and the sometimes brutal enforcement of orthodoxies played a role.
I think the lack of freedom, the ossifying of religious orthodoxy at the expense of inquiry, internal political disasters followed by outside invasions, and a general lack of reliable independent institutions are to blame, over a long and complicated history. The linking in the period of 1100-1400 of particular sects of Islam to particular dynastic power struggles led to the suppression of some of the more enlightened schools and scholars of Islam, coupled with Ottoman and Mongol invasion, and then the economic and intellectual decline of the Near East once the Atlantic and New World were opened to Europeans, followed by various back to the basic sects that retreated from modernity. This is too brief, I hope it helps in some ways. Bernard Lewis': What Went Wrong? is a good place to begin.
Feb '12
Re: The Libraries of Timbuktu
Claire, can you boil your post down to one sentence? My insouciance towards Mali prevents me from reading that many paragraphs.
Jun '10
Re: The Libraries of Timbuktu
St. Salieri, great summary. Really.
I would only add that we are living in the period after the big fall of that sick man of Europe (Turkey et al.). The Ottoman Empire was one of three to get the ax in WW I: 1) Russia, 2) Austro-Hungarian Empire and 3) Ottoman Empire. Also, China collapsed at or near that time.
Regarding the Arabic high tide -- they really got complacent and just stopped looking outside their own region. They were too powerful for too long and this seems to make organizations sick eventually. But, I think their self-esteem was still high and they just couldn't respond to any competition. It's like GM vs. Toyota.
Feb '11
Re: The Libraries of Timbuktu
Thank you, very kind, I find Islamic history fascinating, but really know very, very little.
Yes, and interestingly within all of those empires you name, you have elites, in a variety of ways who for most of the period 1790-1920 who stymied transitions to more modern approaches to property, law, political freedom, even their own development of statehood, sometimes they didn't realize what they were doing, and there were lots of other factors, but I think that is one thread that relates them. Often the people at or near the very top were trying to modernize against upper class resistance, or vice versa, also all three had no real tradition of political or intellectual freedom. The Austrians came closest but it didn't matter with all their other problems.
Larry Koler: St. Salieri, great summary. Really.
IThe Ottoman Empire was one of three to get the ax in WW I: 1) Russia, 2) Austro-Hungarian Empire and 3) Ottoman Empire. Also, China collapsed at or near that time.