Timbuktu. Whatever you think of when you hear this name will likely change over the next two decades. While still something of a watchword for isolation and remoteness, a scholastic revival in this once proud city will slowly enrich and expand our understanding of world history. To date, more than 100,000 manuscripts have been collected in and around Timbuktu, some dating back to the 12th century. Many of these texts are unique, and the possibilities for what may yet be found and catalogued is astounding. Estimates suggest there are more than 500,000 manuscripts in the area that need to be collected.
Timbuktu circa the 13th century was a major trading city at the crossroads of the Sahara Desert and boats moving along the Niger River. Camels crossing the Sahara brought the city into contact not only with North Africa and Egypt, but also with the civilizations of the Mediterranean. At this early date, Timbuktu was home to a large “university” with a reported 25,000 students. As such, it rated as one of the great centers of learning in the world at that time. Significantly, as a crossroad of African trade, the students, scholars, and texts in Timbuktu came from all over the region. Over the next four centuries, Timbuktu flourished as an intellectual and trade center. Not only were original works produced in Timbuktu, but a thriving copying industry produced versions of texts imported from around Africa and the Mediterranean. Although it suffered from several dynastic changes, the collapse of the Mali Empire, and various wars and mis-rule that are the staples of history, Timbuktu stayed relatively prosperous and peaceful until the 1590s when it was sacked, many of the libraries burnt, and most of the scholars either fled or were kidnapped. Untold numbers of texts were lost at this time, either taken to other cities or destroyed.
The story would stop there if one of the most amazing events in the history of scholarship hadn’t taken place: Hundreds of families preserved their personal libraries and important books by hiding them. Thousands of texts were buried or hidden in walls. Entire libraries were preserved for 400 years by families of scholars who clung to the great tradition of learning and scholarship that once flourished in their community. Many of these documents date from the 13th century and are more than three times as old as the Constitution of the United States. It is as if you had in your basement several hundred books that had been handed down to you from your great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather. As unlikely as this may seem, nonetheless it is true. Thousands upon thousands of texts are being recovered from small family libraries, beneath kitchen floors, and hiding places of all kinds. It turns out, that while the shining age of Timbuktu dimmed and faded, the city forgotten to the eyes of history, the people themselves kept the memory – and the texts – alive: Alive through an unbroken chain of memory, study, and care.
The manuscripts themselves cover a vast range of subjects: Math, Astronomy, Astrology, Medicine, Philosophy, Economics, History, Biography, Law, Exploration, Botany, Slavery, Religion and virtually every other conceivable topic. The importance of the texts, however, can be broken into several different categories. First, for the world’s one billion Muslims and anyone interested in Islamic history and the development of Islamic thought, here is a cache of unparalleled importance. Islamic scholars will be kept busy for generations exploring these finds. The manuscripts also provide a comprehensive review of the interaction of Islam with non-Islamic leaders, scholars, and kingdoms prior to Islam becoming the dominant governing force.
Second, many of the texts date from the scantily documented period of pre-Islamic Africa. Central and Southern Africa have sometimes been thought of as having no written history; this has always been incorrect. Egypt’s extensive trade provided records of great antiquity for many parts of Africa and scattered texts have been available throughout the Islamic world for centuries. However, the Timbuktu manuscripts provide a great deal of information about several African empires, their rulers, economies, social customs, legal systems and economies about which very little documentary evidence existed. Such a concentration of works written by highly trained scholars is an incalculable boon to historians.
Third is the possibility that lost classics of the ancient world may be lying un-catalogued or buried in Timbuktu. Islamic scholars preserved many of the classics we have today from the ancient Greeks, for instance, in Arabic. Given the sheer volume of texts and Timbuktu’s trade routes across the Sahara to the Mediterranean, it is at least possible that texts from ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt, Phoenicia, or others may have found their way to the scholars of Timbuktu. Indeed, some of the texts already catalogued show the influence of Greek and Egyptian astronomical thinking, suggesting that translations of early works may yet be found.
Fourth, some of the literature of the regions of Africa, like the early Mali Empire, may be reborn. The importance of oral stories in pre-literate societies is often mistaken as a mark of a lack of serious arts and intellectual primitivism. It is important to remember that works such as The Iliad, The Odyssey, Beowulf, and The Nibelungenlied were transitional tales that preserved oral stories as societies became literate. Perhaps, amongst the thousands of newly found manuscripts, is the equivalent of a 1000 year old Sub-Saharan Iliad. Already discovered are works of poetry and philosophy, particularly Sufism, which point to a rich literary heritage of heterodox origins.
Some of the difficulties presented by the Timbuktu Manuscripts are the lack of scholars able to translate, catalogue, preserve, restore, and revive these works. Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world and, despite hundreds of years of dedicated work by the descendents or Mali’s great scholastic families, much of the necessary skills and knowledge no longer exists locally. Further, for those interested in seeing some of the more important works translated into English, French or other western languages, the prospects are dim. The number of classical Arabic scholars capable of producing these translations is quite limited and the time and effort involved is immense. France is currently heavily involved in Mali, where they have a colonial history, and has perhaps the best body of researchers. Other African countries, notably South Africa and Libya, are making large
investments in the preservation and cataloguing of the documents. The UN has also named Timbuktu a Threatened World Heritage Site, hence bringing some money and support from international agencies.
The Timbuktu Manuscripts also present problems for Western Universities. While our top schools in the United States announce with unwavering solemnity their abiding dedication to scholarship, the intellectual and physical rigors necessary to work on ancient manuscripts in Mali seems to be generating little enthusiasm or support. Harvard has a notable program, thanks in large part to Henry Louis-Gates’ interest in, and promotion of, the Manuscripts project. Unfortunately, there are few students of classical Arabic with the requisite background and necessary research support. To date, the US has played a comparatively small role.
Given the twists and turns of history, it is hard to say just what will come of the Timbuktu Manuscripts. Will a scholastic center see its fortunes reversed after four hundred years? Will unique texts illuminate lost chapters in the history of civilization? What great works of literature and philosophy will return to the ken of man? Doubtless, though, over the next few decades a nearly forgotten city in Africa is likely to produce some of the most important historical insights of the last century. We can but wait with anticipation and hope . . .