How old are the Timbuktu manuscripts?

Timbuktu’s famous manuscripts, believed to number in the hundreds of thousands, mainly date from the 14th to 16th centuries, when the city was an important hub for trade and Islamic knowledge.

What is the significance of the manuscripts found in Timbuktu?

The manuscripts provide evidence that traditional African thought and Islamic faith, through the efforts of the African scholars, successfully guided leaders of former Malian empires in governance based on tolerance, the multi-ethnic state and peaceful means for resolving conflicts.

Who made the Timbuktu manuscripts?

One collector was Mohammed Haidara, an Islamic scholar and manuscript maker from Bamba, a village midway between Timbuktu and the village of Gao. Haidara helped build a collection of 2,500 volumes.

When were the Timbuktu manuscripts found?

Henry Louis Gates came to Timbuktu to see the manuscripts in 1996. Why was the experience such an epiphany for him? Henry Louis Gates came to Timbuktu when he was a professor at Harvard and also making documentaries about African civilization.

What is the significance of the Library of Arabic manuscripts in Timbuktu?

Libraries in Timbuktu continue the tradition of the families who established them by preserving and making available these valuable works, which until recently were unknown outside Mali. Scholars in the fields of Islamic studies and African studies are awed by the wealth of information that these manuscripts provide.

How many manuscripts are there in Timbuktu?

700,000
The number of manuscripts in the collections has been estimated as high as 700,000. The manuscripts are written in Arabic and local languages like Songhay and Tamasheq.

What is the significance of the library of Arabic manuscripts in Timbuktu?

Why were the Timbuktu manuscripts destroyed?

Destruction and evacuation of manuscripts Many of the manuscripts were reported destroyed in January 2013, along with many other monuments of medieval Islamic culture in Timbuktu, by the Islamist rebels of Ansar Dine in the Northern Mali conflict.

What are the Lost Libraries of Timbuktu?

Lost Libraries of Timbuktu. Thousands of documents from the medieval Sudanese empire of Makuria , written in eight different languages were unearthed at the southern Egyptian site of Qasr Ibrim . Thousands of old manuscripts have survived in the West African cities of Chinguetti, Walata, Oudane, Kano and Agadez.

What did Timbuktu represent?

The Legendary City of Timbuktu in Mali, Africa. The word “Timbuktu” (or Timbuctoo or Tombouctou ) is used in several languages to represent a far-away place, but Timbuktu is an actual city in the African country of Mali .

What is Timbuktu in Mali?

Timbuktu is a historical and still-inhabited city in the West African nation of Mali. Situated 20 km (12 mi) north of the River Niger on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert serving as a gateway, the town is the capital of the Timbuktu Region, one of the eight administrative regions of Mali.