{"id":6884,"date":"2022-05-11T16:03:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-11T20:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.library.mcgill.ca\/islamicstudieslibrary\/?p=6884"},"modified":"2022-05-11T15:53:48","modified_gmt":"2022-05-11T19:53:48","slug":"treasures-of-timbuktu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.library.mcgill.ca\/islamicstudieslibrary\/treasures-of-timbuktu\/","title":{"rendered":"The Timbuktu Manuscripts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Timbuktu Manuscripts: discover a trove of Timbuktu’s ancient manuscripts<\/a><\/em> digital exhibition and collection is the result of a collaboration between a Malian association called SAVAMA-DCI<\/a> whose main goal is to preserve and make widely available Arabic manuscripts from Timbuktu and Google Arts & Culture<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Back in 1973, a preservation campaign of the Timbuktu’s collection made of approximately 400,000 codices was initiated by the Ahmed Baba Center (CEDRAB)<\/a>. In 1996, the newly founded association SAVAMA-DCI<\/a> started raising awareness among private owners about the value of their family manuscripts, providing technical and financial support for the processing and conservation of these materials, and encouraging them to keep the manuscripts in their possession. If funding was limited at first, the association was over time able to collect enough funds to ensure the preservation and inventory of the collections. In 2012, with the jihadist occupation of Northern Mali, the fear that manuscripts would be destroyed lead to the transfer of Timbuktu’s manuscripts collections to other towns in the region like Bamako. According to SAMAVA-DCI over 370.000 codices were rescued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00ab Dans la nuit noire de notre existence, les manuscrits sont les projecteurs qui \u00e9clairent le pass\u00e9<\/em>. \u00bb<\/strong><\/p>Dr. Abdel Kader Haidara, fondateur de SAVAMA-DCI<\/span><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The Timbuktu Manuscripts<\/a><\/em> virtual exhibition is incredibly rich (more than 40.000 manuscripts from libraries and private collections) and provides many options to learn about the collections, their history, and the rescue and preservation processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n