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<\/a>Timbuktu\u2019s Ancient Libraries: Saved by Locals,\u00a0 Endangered by a Government<\/h3>\nBy Vivienne\u00a0 Walt<\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n
<\/div>\nOne week after Islamic militants fled <\/span>Timbuktu<\/span> under French bombing strikes, preservationists are deeply uncertain about how to\u00a0 continue protecting the city\u2019s priceless ancient documents \u2014 a conundrum that\u00a0 cuts to the heart of how treasures are safeguarded through political upheaval in\u00a0 places where locals have little trust in government.<\/span><\/div>\nWhen French and African forces rumbled into northern Mali\u2019s\u00a0 ancient capital 10 days ago, Timbuktu\u2019s mayor, who had little direct\u00a0 information, told journalists erroneously that the jihadists had destroyed \u201call\u00a0 the important documents\u201d and that Malians needed to \u201ckill all the rebels.\u201d<\/p>\n
In fact, Timbuktu\u2019s residents and preservationists had told TIME early last\u00a0 year that they had rescued tens of thousands of manuscripts before the militants\u00a0 seized northern Mali. They agreed to talk on the condition that TIME kept their\u00a0 secret until the jihadists had been defeated. The operation was conducted by\u00a0 Timbuktu\u2019s old families, which have looked after the city\u2019s 300,000 or so\u00a0 ancient documents for centuries. The residents left behind just a few hundred\u00a0 manuscripts in Timbuktu\u2019s only publicly run collection, the Ahmed Baba\u00a0 Institute, in order to conceal the fact that they\u2019d hidden the bulk of them\u00a0 elsewhere; it was those that were destroyed last month. \u201cThe vast majority of\u00a0 belligerents are illiterate, and we don\u2019t want them to know how valuable these\u00a0 are,\u201d Stephanie Diakit\u00e9, an American in Bamako who runs workshops on the\u00a0 manuscripts, told me before the French and African forces freed Timbuktu. \u201cWe\u00a0 want them to think that they are just silly books.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now that impression is gone forever. Even those jihadists who are illiterate\u00a0 are likely aware of the manuscripts\u2019 high value, given the headline news\u00a0 generated by their potential destruction. Timbuktu\u2019s libraries comprise one the\u00a0 most detailed written accounts of Africa, from when the city was a gold- and salt-trading hub in the 15th and 16th centuries with a thriving\u00a0 community of scholars and several universities. When TIME visited Timbuktu in\u00a0 2009 to describe the manuscripts, residents explained that each family appointed\u00a0 one of their children to look after the documents for the next generation \u2014 a\u00a0 system that has lasted through countless migrations, invasions and skirmishes\u00a0 over the years.<\/p>\n
But with the manuscript pages brittle \u2014 they can crumble at the lightest\u00a0 touch \u2014 preserving them has become urgent. Not only are they fragile, but they\u00a0 might be especially vulnerable during Mali\u2019s unsettled conflict, since such\u00a0 periods of upheaval often lead to the looting and trafficking of historical\u00a0 treasures. Preservationists also fear that as young Malians become more mobile\u00a0 they might sell them, especially as foreign collectors have begun scouting for\u00a0 treasures in Timbuktu during the past decade. Until very recently, Mali had no\u00a0 law forbidding the manuscripts from leaving the country, and in any case, the\u00a0 government had little means to stop them.<\/p>\n
Changing this will not be easy. To the frustration of preservationists, only\u00a0 about 10% of Timbuktu\u2019s documents are housed in the government-run Ahmed Baba\u00a0 Institute, a modern adobe-style building sponsored by the South African\u00a0 government in 2009, which has the city\u2019s only state-of-the-art digitizing\u00a0 equipment. The families have had no confidence in anyone but themselves looking\u00a0 after their collections. International organizations have found locals extremely\u00a0 reluctant to give their manuscripts over for safekeeping or even to loan them\u00a0 for brief periods to be digitized.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When French and African forces rumbled into northern Mali\u2019s\u00a0 ancient capital 10 days ago, Timbuktu\u2019s mayor, who had little direct\u00a0 information, told journalists erroneously that the jihadists had destroyed \u201call\u00a0 the important documents\u201d and that Malians needed to \u201ckill all the rebels.\u201d<\/p>\n
In fact, Timbuktu\u2019s residents and preservationists had told TIME early last\u00a0 year that they had rescued tens of thousands of manuscripts before the militants\u00a0 seized northern Mali. They agreed to talk on the condition that TIME kept their\u00a0 secret until the jihadists had been defeated. The operation was conducted by\u00a0 Timbuktu\u2019s old families, which have looked after the city\u2019s 300,000 or so\u00a0 ancient documents for centuries. The residents left behind just a few hundred\u00a0 manuscripts in Timbuktu\u2019s only publicly run collection, the Ahmed Baba\u00a0 Institute, in order to conceal the fact that they\u2019d hidden the bulk of them\u00a0 elsewhere; it was those that were destroyed last month. \u201cThe vast majority of\u00a0 belligerents are illiterate, and we don\u2019t want them to know how valuable these\u00a0 are,\u201d Stephanie Diakit\u00e9, an American in Bamako who runs workshops on the\u00a0 manuscripts, told me before the French and African forces freed Timbuktu. \u201cWe\u00a0 want them to think that they are just silly books.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now that impression is gone forever. Even those jihadists who are illiterate\u00a0 are likely aware of the manuscripts\u2019 high value, given the headline news\u00a0 generated by their potential destruction. Timbuktu\u2019s libraries comprise one the\u00a0 most detailed written accounts of Africa, from when the city was a gold- and salt-trading hub in the 15th and 16th centuries with a thriving\u00a0 community of scholars and several universities. When TIME visited Timbuktu in\u00a0 2009 to describe the manuscripts, residents explained that each family appointed\u00a0 one of their children to look after the documents for the next generation \u2014 a\u00a0 system that has lasted through countless migrations, invasions and skirmishes\u00a0 over the years.<\/p>\n
But with the manuscript pages brittle \u2014 they can crumble at the lightest\u00a0 touch \u2014 preserving them has become urgent. Not only are they fragile, but they\u00a0 might be especially vulnerable during Mali\u2019s unsettled conflict, since such\u00a0 periods of upheaval often lead to the looting and trafficking of historical\u00a0 treasures. Preservationists also fear that as young Malians become more mobile\u00a0 they might sell them, especially as foreign collectors have begun scouting for\u00a0 treasures in Timbuktu during the past decade. Until very recently, Mali had no\u00a0 law forbidding the manuscripts from leaving the country, and in any case, the\u00a0 government had little means to stop them.<\/p>\n
Changing this will not be easy. To the frustration of preservationists, only\u00a0 about 10% of Timbuktu\u2019s documents are housed in the government-run Ahmed Baba\u00a0 Institute, a modern adobe-style building sponsored by the South African\u00a0 government in 2009, which has the city\u2019s only state-of-the-art digitizing\u00a0 equipment. The families have had no confidence in anyone but themselves looking\u00a0 after their collections. International organizations have found locals extremely\u00a0 reluctant to give their manuscripts over for safekeeping or even to loan them\u00a0 for brief periods to be digitized.<\/p>\n