[CPProt.net] Weekend reading: Timbuktu - learning at the heart of Africa

[MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)]

Timbuktu - learning at the heart of Africa 

By Christina Gallagher

For some people the city of Timbuktu in Mali is only a figment of their
imagination, perhaps where desert empires prospered, or a place out there at
the ends of the earth. 

But the city does exist and its legacy as a centre for knowledge and trade
in Africa is making imprints throughout the world.

The beginnings of Timbuktu can be traced to the 11th century. It is situated
where the Niger River flows northward to the southern edge of the Sahara
Desert, making it an important port where West and North African goods were
traded. 

'The families guard them jealously' 
It was known for its gold and paper - two valuable commodities that would
secure its place in history.

Later it was an intellectual hub where the famed manuscripts captured
prevailing thoughts of the day about a variety of topics, including
medicine, mathematics, religion and astronomy. 

During the 16th century Timbuktu became known as the academic and commercial
centre of Africa. 

At one point it had three universities, 180 Qur'anic schools, and was the
major book publishing town in Africa. 

It is from this value of knowledge that the manuscripts emerged. Experts
also say that the writers of the manuscripts are the intellectual
descendants of those who originally wrote the Qur'an on behalf of the
Prophet Mohammed, who could not read or write. 

In the late 1500s, Timbuktu was conquered by Morocco 
The area prospered until the end of the 1500s when it was conquered by
Morocco. The army destroyed the city, burned libraries, killed many scholars
and sent others to Morocco. 

This is why some manuscripts can be found in Morocco today and also in
neighbouring Mauritania where some scholars fled. 

During French colonisation, which ended in 1960, many of the manuscripts
from Timbuktu ended up in French museums and universities. 

Today the manuscripts offer proof that Africans' intellectual capacity
extended beyond oral history and archaeological findings, which have long
been regarded as the African way of recording history. 

Experts say the manuscripts could be the most ancient to have survived in
sub-Saharan Africa and are important because they offer a glimpse into the
views of black Muslim scholars over the centuries.

The manuscripts were commissioned to be copied by governments, for which the
artisans were paid a handsome sum of 24g of gold per copy. Some of these
copies, which are adorned with gold leaf and vibrant colours, can be seen at
the exhibition. 

Riason Naidoo, project manager for the South Africa-Mali Project, said:
"Copiers were treasured people in Timbuktu. They were paid a high salary and
had a high status."

The manuscripts were mainly written in local languages using Arabic script.
This makes it difficult for scholars outside of Mali to understand the
meanings. 

French colonisation has also contributed to much of the local population's
inability to understand the scripts today. 

Some of the manuscripts were also written in Hebrew, showing that Jewish
traders passed through the area in search of gold.

One reason the manuscripts survived so well in the region was its dry, hot
weather, but because of the sand the paper has become brittle.

Other threats, according to Professor Kole Omotoso from Bait al-Hikmah
Translations and Africa Diaspora Research, are "termites, fire, climatic
conditions, humidity, floods and illegal trafficking through sales to
tourists from Europe".

In 1988 Unesco declared Timbuktu a World Heritage Site. It has also been put
on Unesco's list of World Heritage Sites in danger from desertification
which plagues its buildings, including the town's three mosques that testify
to its central place in 15th- and 16th-century Islam.

The durable ink that looks as if it was used in contemporary times came from
vegetable dyes, mainly from the Arabic gum tree. 

Horns and hooves of animals were burned and mixed with the ink to make the
colours more brilliant. 

Some of their methods of mixing proved potent, and the effects can be seen
on some manuscripts with holes burned through them from the acidic
compounds. 

Nearly 20 000 manuscripts are kept at the Ahmed Baba Institute in
Timbuktu.The oldest dates back to 1204. It is from the centre that 16 of the
manuscripts were chosen for the current gallery exhibition.

Timbuktu also has an estimated 80 private libraries, owned by families that
have kept the manuscripts for centuries. 

Dr Mohammed Gallah Dicko, director of the Ahmed Baba Institute, says the
manuscripts are considered sacred objects in Timbuktu. 

"The families guard them jealously. They are passed from father to son
throughout the generations, whereby we have to convince families over 10 to
12 years to sell them." 

"The manuscripts were known about in many countries. After the French came,
a lot of people hid them under the sand and in trunks. Only recently are
they emerging again. 

"There is now a freedom created through awareness. Before there was a fear
that they would leave the country and destroy the family heritage." 

Chris Murphy, a Near East specialist at the US Library of Congress who was a
co-curator of an exhibition of Timbuktu manuscripts there, said in a 2004
interview with the New York Times that trafficking was now common practice. 

"Poverty is such that you can buy these for $2 to $5 (R13 - R32)," he said.
"Then they are taken to Switzerland, often, where their provenance will be
forged. And they get moved to auction houses where they will be sold for up
to $1 000 (about R6 300). 

"Sometimes, they can reach five figures." 

Dicko says the manuscripts are priceless. He has pleaded with Unesco to stop
the trafficking of the manuscripts, but says nothing has been done. 

In 2003 the South Africa-Mali Project was launched and it has been endorsed
by the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad) as its first
cultural project. The project aims to create awareness of the manuscripts'
importance and to preserve their legacy.


The Timbuktu Manuscripts exhibition runs from Saturday October 1 until
Saturday October 8 at the Standard Bank Gallery in Johannesburg. 

http://www.thestar.co.za/