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Article published in 2021
TIMBUKTU: THE MANUSCRIPTS OF AL-AQIB AND THE PRESERVATION OF KNOWLEDGE
Dédé Faconam d’Almeida Dédé Faconam d’Almeida is a journalist and a specialist in communications for development in Mali. She collaborates with several local and international media and is passionate about human rights and peacebuilding issues. Since November 2019, she has headed ODEKA, a training and media company. She is also a TV producer and presenter.
Timbuktu. In May, it is hot and the darkness in the manuscript room contrasts with the heat outside. With a smile in his voice, Mohamed El Moktar Cissé describes his treasure, passed down through his family for generations. “We have centuries-old manuscripts here. There is everything from scientific documents to historical accounts and of course thousands of religious books. They are written in several languages and on various materials such as paper, but also leather ... It is our most valuable asset,” proudly explains the son of the Imam of the great hundred-year-old mosque that stands majestically on the square that bears his name: Sankoré. These manuscripts are the soul of this thousand-year-old city, which over time, but especially with all the peoples and knowledge that have crossed through it, has become and remains a significant holder of humanity’s heritage. The whole world learned about these manuscripts after the crisis of 2012 when they almost disappeared. Faced with the destructive intentions of the extremist groups occupying the city, the families holding the precious documents preserved them as best they could. The inhabitants of the “capital of knowledge” saved thousands of them, sometimes even at the risk of losing their own lives.
