Latest / Timbuktu: Africa's Forgotten Center of Knowledge — Fexingo History
The Timbuktu Librarian Who Smuggled Manuscripts to Safety
In 2012, when jihadist militants seized Timbuktu and began destroying its ancient manuscripts, a quiet librarian named Abdel Kader Haidara orchestrated a secret operation to smuggle over 350,000 texts to safety. This episode tells the story of that rescue: how Haidara, working with the Ahmed Baba Institute and a network of families, hid manuscripts in metal trunks, moved them by donkey cart and boat down the Niger River, and stored them in hundreds of homes across Bamako. We explore the logistics, the danger of discovery, the manuscripts saved (including works on astronomy, law, and poetry)…
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