Name: Timbuktus ancient manuscripts return home but security threats remain
Uploaded: 2025-11-19T17:11:20.328Z
Duration: 2 min 19 s
Description: The 28,000 ancient texts returned to Timbuktu in August after 13 years away.

The 28,000 ancient texts returned to Timbuktu in August after 13 years away.

Timbuktu

Ancient manuscripts from Timbuktu, rescued during the city's occupation by Al Qaeda-linked fighters, have been returned after extensive digitisation. While most have come back to the Ahmed Baba Institute, many remain in private family libraries, raising concerns about their safety and the potential for private sales due to financial hardship.

The manuscripts, some dating back to the 13th century, contain unique historical and scholarly information. Efforts to safeguard them continue, with plans to install surveillance cameras at the institute, as security threats in Timbuktu persist.

Timbuktu's ancient manuscripts return home but security threats remain

When fighters connected to Al Qaeda took over Timbuktu 13 years ago, the staff of the Malian city's Ahmed Baba Institute rescued tens of thousands of ancient manuscripts. The texts were smuggled to Bamako for safety. Now, after extensive digitisation, most have been brought home this summer. But many remain in family libraries across Timbuktu, raising concerns about the risk of private sales. The families that hold the manuscripts are in a difficult situation and receive no support. So when these families have money problems, they might be tempted to sell the manuscripts. Some of the 28,000 manuscripts date back as far as the 13th century. Among their many insights, they offer precious testimonies of the chain of teaching, with scholars recording who taught whom through generations. When a student finishes studying with a scholar, that scholar gives him a certificate saying he has taught him a subject which the student has mastered. The certificate also says that the student learned it from a certain scholar, and that this scholar learned it from another scholar, going right back to the person who wrote the original document. The manuscripts contain knowledge that scholars say exists nowhere else. For local students, they are a priceless source of information on traditional practices. I want to be a manuscript specialist because I think it's a good thing. When I become a manuscript specialist, I will be able to do many things that will benefit me and others. Manuscripts contain lots of information about medicines and explanations of how to use them to treat various illnesses. The safeguarding of the manuscripts is an ongoing work. Challenges remain to protect them, especially as Timbuktu is still a target of attacks. Staffers of the Ahmed Baba Institute of Higher Islamic Studies and Research say they plan to install surveillance cameras inside.

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