‘Our speakers are the most renowned commentators on this subject,’ he added. When Ansar Dine began to burn books and destroy libraries, many feared that a thousand-year legacy would be lost forever. Londonderry police shoot man in chest after officer is stabbed in arm and head - sparking probe by force... Fine day to Flog It! Oxford University academic Professor Dawkins told his 600,000 Twitter followers on Tuesday: ‘Like Alexandria, like Bamiyan, Timbuktu's priceless manuscript heritage destroyed by Islamic barbarians.’, Comments: Richard Dawkins said Timbuktu's manuscript heritage was 'destroyed by Islamic barbarians'. Each chest was four feet long by two feet wide and two feet deep, and could snugly fit up to eight stacks of manuscripts. DR ELLIE CANNON: Why won't anyone fix these upsetting marks on my face? Stalin was an atheist barbarian. "They were the masters of the place," Traoré said. "They weren't religious men. At dawn one morning in late August, Touré and a driver parked a Land Cruiser in front of a safe house in Timbuktu and loaded it with five chests filled with 1,500 manuscripts from the Mamma Haidara Library. They were hidden in wooden trunks, buried in boxes under the sand and in caves. The rebels took several other towns south of Timbuktu, he said, including nearby Diré. A good example is the Ahmed Baba Institute, established in 1970, which was named after the famous 16th/17th-century scholar, the greatest in Africa. ", He added: "It's one of our greatest cultural treasure houses. Journalists, however, found that at least one of the libraries was largely undamaged, and that only a few small piles of ash were present, suggesting that at … When French colonial rule ended in 1960, Timbuktu residents held preserved manuscripts in 60-80 private libraries. But he said they were trying to hide their cars by painting and disguising them with mud.". If the rebels spotted a boat flying the Malian national flag, they ripped the flag off and replaced it with their own black one, he said. "It's true. The emblematic El Farouk monument at the entrance to the city was razed. Hesitant Queen 'paused for reassurance' before entering the chapel while William and Harry shared a... ELIZABETH DAY: The heartbreaking sight of the Queen on her own in the chapel, head bowed so that all we saw... Now at rest with Tudors and Stuarts: Prince Philip joins 24 other Royals in the vault under St George's... DAN WOOTTON: Damn these ludicrous and cruel Covid rules that condemned the Queen to grieve alone while her... CAROLINE GRAHAM: Pain was etched on the face of Penny Knatchbull, a confidante and keeper of Prince Philip's... How do you get over losing the partner you've spent nearly all your life with? Timbuktu Manuscripts Destroyed by Militants In 2012, Tuareg rebels and Islamist militants captured northern Mali and destroyed thousands of manuscripts. Seydou Traoré, who has worked at the Ahmed Baba Institute since 2003, and fled shortly before the rebels arrived, said only a fraction of the manuscripts had been digitised. But the Ahmed Baba centre in the Malian city of Timbuktu is not the kind of library … Ahmed Baba wrote 70 works in Arabic, many on jurisprudence but some on grammar and syntax. Djinguereber Mosque, built in 1327 in Timbuktu, Mali, is a famous learning centre and library. "I just hope certain parts of the building are unharmed and the manuscripts are safe. Written on it in Arabic were the words "God is great". The rebels enforced their own brutal and arbitrary version of Islam, residents said, with offenders flogged for talking to women and other supposed crimes. Everything. Timbuktu — the site of the Festival in the Desert, an annual celebration of Mali's music, and of two dozen libraries filled with restored medieval manuscripts from the city's glory days as a center of scholarship in Africa — was plunged into darkness. Prince Harry returns to Frogmore Cottage after Prince Philip funeral ahead of 'walk with Charles'. By destroying them they threaten the world. The Ahmed Baba Instituteand a library, both containing thousands of manuscripts, were said to have been burnt as the Islamists retreated from Timbuktu. A few were in African languages, such as Songhai, Tamashek and Bambara. The 71-year-old author of The God Delusion was referring to the severe damage caused by Islamist extremists to a sacred library in Timbuktu but his remarks were seen as insulting to all Muslims. They smashed a civic statue of a man sitting on a winged horse. Other residents who fled Timbuktu said the fighters adorned the town with their black flag. Photograph: Nic Bothma/EPA, chairman of the Timbuktu manuscripts project. The manuscripts had survived for centuries in Timbuktu, on the remote south-west fringe of the Sahara desert. Mechanic, 32, who killed vandal, 25, by pressing his neck onto ground in citizen's arrest after he smashed... Slow-starting Europe coronavirus vaccination drive could catch up with Britain in 'coming weeks'. Many of the manuscripts were reported destroyed in January 2013, along with many other monuments of medieval Islamic culture in Timbuktu, by the Islamist rebels of Ansar Dine in the Northern Mali conflict. Local Tuareg militia leaders said on Monday they had taken control of Kidal after the abrupt departure of the Islamist fighters who ran the town. They could not be in their right minds. "It would be a catastrophe if the reports are true," he said. It was partially destroyed by the Ansar Dine extremist group in 2012. “We discovered that 14 of Timbuktu’s mausoleums, including those that are part of the UNESCO World Heritage sites, were totally destroyed, along with two others at the Djingareyber Mosque. 6 During the recent occupation of the north of Mali by militants (April 2012-January 2013), a large number of mausoleums of saints in Timbuktu were destroyed by extremists, and several thousand manuscripts from the Ahmed Baba Institute of Timbuktu were burned. Meanwhile, Professor Dawkins and former Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams will debate the role of religion in the modern world at the Cambridge Union Society tonight. 'Priceless heritage': Some of the 20,000 preserved ancient Islamic manuscripts which rest in air-conditioned rooms are displayed at the Ahmed Baba Institute in Timbuktu, Mali (file picture). The vast majority of the texts were written in Arabic. They also burned down the town hall, the governor's office and an MP's residence, and shot dead a man who was celebrating the arrival of the French military. We have to kill all of the rebels in the north.". The floggings took place in the square outside the 15th-century Sankoré mosque, a Unesco world heritage site. We're getting mixed stories. He added: "My friend [in Timbuktu] told me they were diminishing in number. We had one in Turkish. Loaned by the Mamma Haidara Commemorative Library, Timbuktu, Mali. Some are in private hands but the fact is these have been destroyed and it's an absolute tragedy. Traoré told the Guardian that he decided to leave Timbuktu in January 2012 amid ominous reports of shootings in the area, and after the kidnapping of three European tourists from a Timbuktu hotel. Mon 28 Jan 2013 12.07 EST 202 818 Islamist insurgents retreating from Timbuktu set fire to a library containing thousands of priceless historic … Published: 06:14 BST, 31 January 2013 | Updated: 09:43 BST, 31 January 2013. TIMBUKTU - "If you destroy the library, it's all gone. Some brought books to sell. "They were hypocrites. In January, as they left the city, they ransacked Timbuktu’s ancient libraries hoping to destroy manuscripts dating back to the 13th century. Timbuktu’s mayor Ousmane Halle said: ‘They torched all the important ancient manuscripts. It's also one of the great treasure houses of Islamic history. Most atheists are not barbarians.’, 'By "Islamic barbarians" I mean those Muslims who are also barbarians. They banned music, destroyed Sufi shrines, whipped unveiled women, chopped off hands, and stoned adulterers to death. He alleged that some fighters kidnapped and raped local women, keeping them as virtual sex slaves. (Image: Wikipedia) • But Abdel Kader Haidara, himself owner of a library, refused to let the history of Timbuktu go up in smoke. Timbuktu Library Torched. AP. By the late 1500s the town, north of the Niger river, was a wealthy and successful trading centre, attracting scholars and curious travellers from across the Middle East. in the early persecutions of the Church. We don't know what it said. They have burned the manuscripts," Cissé said in a phone interview from Mali's capital, Bamako. Updated Apr. The town was said to be without electricity, water or fuel. The Librarian Who Saved Timbuktu’s Cultural Treasures From al Qaeda A middle-aged book collector in Mali helped keep the fabled city’s libraries, books … 3 The Islam practiced in Mali traditionally promotes the veneration of saints and often encompasses elements of Sufi mysticism. I'm so terribly upset at hearing what's happened. The writings are so forward-looking on marriage, on trade, on all sorts of things. Timbuktu’s mayor … However, once French-led soldiers regained control of the city, scholars determined that no more than 2,000 of about 300,000 documents had been destroyed. There were already ten major periods of persecution of Christians before the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD. Timbuktu is a palimpsest in the sand that proves otherwise. I can't imagine how anybody, whatever their political or ideological leanings, could destroy some of the most precious heritage of our continent. On Monday Islamists were said to have burned down the world-famous Ahmed Baba Institute library containing priceless manuscripts and artefacts. Typically, manuscripts were not numbered, Traoré said, but repeated the last word of a previous page on each new one. Union president Ben Kentish said it should be a highlight of the debating society's 200-year history. No? However a South African university said yesterday that the extremists damaged or stole only a limited number of manuscripts in Timbuktu before they fled the fabled desert city. Hallé Ousmani Cissé told the Guardian that al-Qaida-allied fighters on Saturday torched two buildings that held the manuscripts, some of which dated back to the 13th century. Muslim Twitter user ‘Shawa5i Al Nasseri’ from the United Arab Emirates said: 'You call us barbarians, truly no respect', before later adding: 'How do you explain this "destroyed by Islamic barbarians?”’, Professor Dawkins responded to the comments by saying: ‘You mean you were one of those who burned the books in Timbuktu? 7 Alongside … The precise fate of the manuscripts was difficult to verify. He works in the section for medieval manuscripts, archiving and digitizing them. Though the idea seems unbelievable now, Timbuktu’s residents initially wanted Ahmed Baba to have free access, with no security, much like a public library in any city. He draped a blanket over the footlockers, and climbed in the Land Cruiser beside the … Our history, our cultural heritage, our identity. The author of the reply cites Islamic law as making the arrest illegal and declines to obey the amir. Fighters from al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) – the group responsible for the attack on the Algerian gas facility – then swept in and seized the town, pushing out rival militia groups including secular Tuareg nationalists. All phone communication with Timbuktu was cut off. So he set up a meeting with his colleagues in the Timbuktu Library Association. On Monday Islamists were said to have burned down the world-famous Ahmed Baba Institute library containing priceless manuscripts and artefacts. Residents took to the streets to celebrate. The manuscripts were a part not only of Mali's heritage but the world's heritage. A fourth tourist, a German, resisted and was shot dead. The comments below have been moderated in advance. Around 60 libraries in Timbuktu are still owned by local families and institutions, collections that have survived political turbulence throughout the region, as well as the ravages of nature. ", He added: "This is terrible news. But they smoked themselves," he said. Islamist insurgents retreating from Timbuktu set fire to a library containing thousands of priceless historic manuscripts, according to the Saharan town's mayor, in an incident he described as a "devastating blow" to world heritage. ", Riason Naidoo, who directed the Timbuktu manuscripts project, said he is still awaiting confirmation of the extent of the damage. According to Traoré, who was in contact with friends there until two weeks ago, many of the rebels left town following France's military intervention. The library was destroyed during the War of 1812 when British forces set fire to the U.S. Capitol during the Burning of Washington. When Islamist rebels set fire to two libraries in Timbuktu earlier this year, many feared the city's treasure trove of ancient manuscripts had been destroyed. Asked whether any of the manuscripts might have survived, Cissé replied: "I don't know.". They were criminals," said Maha Madu, a Timbuktu boatman, now in the Niger river town of Mopti. French troops and the Malian army reached the gates of Timbuktu on Saturday and secured the town's airport. Completed in 2009 and named after a 17th-century Timbuktu scholar, the centre used state-of-the-art techniques to study and conserve the crumbling scrolls. The ancient books of geography and science. The recapture of Timbuktu is another success for the French military, which has now secured two out of three of Mali's key rebel-held sites, including the city of Gao on Saturday. It is the history of Timbuktu, of its people.’. TIMBUKTU - "If you destroy the library, it's all gone. Especially in a context where you're told that Africa has no history because of colonialism and all that. He doesn't know where they went. The NHS failings that cost Nikki Grahame her life: Big Brother star is one of too many anorexia patients to... Fox killing QC Jolyon Maugham is accused of hypocrisy for leading a legal challenge against PM's 'Covid... Peloton Tread+ owners with kids are told to STOP using the $4K treadmills 'immediately' by federal... Tehran names Natanz 'saboteur': State identifies Iranian-born prime suspect who fled country 'hours before'... UK 'stands with' Czech Republic against 'malign' Russia after Prague links spies accused of Salisbury... Wonder drug used to battle the most severe cases of arthritis now set to help millions of NHS patients. Over the weekend, fighters screaming “Allah Akbar” descended on the cemeteries holding the remains of Timbuktu’s Sufi saints, and systematically began destroying the six most famous tombs. Madu said the fighters grew enraged if residents wore trousers down to their ankles, which they believed to be western and decadent. "They cover geography, history and religion. The oldest dated from 1204. There was even one in Hebrew. Most Xtians (Christians) are not barbarians. On Monday French army officers said French-led forces had entered Timbuktu and secured the town without a shot being fired. Mali government forces that had been guarding Timbuktu left the town in late March, as Islamist fighters advanced rapidly across the north. It would mean total loss," says the man who for years has been with the Ahmed Baba Institute of Higher Learning and Islamic Research library in Timbuktu. But Professor Dawkins said he was ‘anti-God’ rather than ‘anti-Jewish’ and claimed the allegation from Lord Sacks was ‘ridiculous’. The French have yet to reach the third, Kidal. The ancient books of geography and science. There was one guy who was celebrating in the street and they killed him. But his comments were criticised, with some followers claiming he was unjustly attacking Islam and others saying he should be considering vandalism committed by Christians, reported the Daily Telegraph. Yet he also seemed to hint that not all of the city’s manuscripts had been destroyed. Everything. "You just need to look at the manuscripts to realise how wrong this is.". Both buildings were burned down, according to the mayor, who said the information came from an informer who had just left the town. The Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks claimed last year that a ‘profoundly anti-Semitic’ comment in Professor Dawkins's The God Delusion likened God portrayed in Jewish texts to a fictional villain. One of the most ruthless of these persecutions was that of Diocletian in the early 4th century. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. I do not of course mean all Muslims'. As well as the manuscripts, the fighters destroyed almost all of the 333 Sufi shrines dotted around Timbuktu, believing them to be idolatrous. Months later AQIM arrived, he said. Atheist Richard Dawkins has outraged Muslims after describing looters who destroyed manuscripts in Mali as ‘Islamic barbarians’. Prince of Wales is seen leaving Windsor Castle in a Tesla, Prince Charles watches father's coffin placed on catafalque, Princess Beatrice is comforted by husband as she wipes tear, Shoppers trip over 'dangerous' social-distancing bollards in Wales, Countess of Wessex and daughter seen walking down high street, Penny Junor: Prince William and Harry rift may overshadow funeral, Prince Philip's funeral: William and Kate travel to Windsor, Princess Beatrice and husband arrive at Prince Philip's funeral, Kate Middleton arrives for Prince Philip funeral at Windsor Castle, Members of the Royal Family arrive at St George's Chapel, Beatrice wears high-collared coat as Eugenie opts for coat-dress, Prince Andrew seen in a suit walking behind Philip's coffin. He attended the opening of the Ahmad Babu Institute in 2009. Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group. This document is a reply to the ruler of Massinah, Amir Ahmad, who ordered the arrest of a German traveler, Heinrich Bart, suspected of spying for the British. Even before the time of Erasmus, a vast number of early manuscripts were destroyed. “The building was conceived with no walls around it so people could walk right in from the street or the square outside the mosque,” Jeppie says. Timbuktu's thousands of manuscripts are caught in the crossfire as an international intervention force prepares to retake northern Mali People in the city reported that there was no malicious destruction of any library or collection, said the University of Cape Town, which helped fund a state-of-the-art library to house manuscripts. A team of French paratroopers crept into the town by moonlight, advancing from the airport, they said. 'They torched all the important ancient manuscripts. They told us they couldn't smoke. ", Fleeing Islamist insurgents burnt two buildings containing priceless books as French-led troops approached, says mayor, A French military truck passes a bus in Mali as the army advanced towards Timbuktu. Our history, our cultural heritage, our identity. When French troops entered in January 2013, it was discovered that radicals had only managed to destroy a fraction of manuscripts – about 4 000 out of nearly 400 000. Deported to Morocco after the Moroccan invasion of Songhay in 1591, he is said t… It is the history of Timbuktu, of its people'. With funds that Haidara’s library association already had on hand from foreign donors, he began purchasing footlockers in the markets of Timbuktu and Mopti, and … "The manuscripts gave you such a fantastic feeling of the history of this continent. They covered a diverse range of topics including astronomy, poetry, music, medicine and women's rights. The story was in the news for weeks in late 2012, when radical Islamist rebels in Mali were threatening to destroy all the 12 th and 13 th-century Islamic writings which had until that point been kept in Timbuktu.Around 285,000 of the manuscripts, which are included in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage list, were evacuated to Bamako in a secret rescue operation. The library was destroyed during the War of 1812 when British forces set fire to the U.S. … Some of the most fascinating scrolls included an ancient history of west Africa, the Tarikh al-Soudan, letters of recommendation for the intrepid 19th-century German explorer Heinrich Barth, and a text dealing with erectile dysfunction. A group of jihadis came knocking at the gate late on Wednesday night last week. Essop Pahad, who was chairman of the Timbuktu manuscripts projectfor the South African government, said: "I'm absolutely devastated, as everybody else should be. Scholars had painstakingly numbered several of the manuscripts, but not all, under the direction of an international team of experts. ", He said the manuscripts were important because they exploded the myth that "black Africa" had only an oral history. Revealed: The 'immune boosters' that could strengthen the body's natural defences and help stave off illness... Mosque 'banned women while keeping doors open to men during Ramadan' - as female Muslim activist with MBE... 13million UK viewers tuned in to watch Prince Philip's funeral - 2m more than Harry and Meghan's Oprah... 'She's been a meteor in our life': Damian Lewis writes a moving new tribute to wife Helen McCrory as actor... Nicola Sturgeon lashes out at Boris Johnson's plan for 'traffic light' travel system from May 17 warning... Disabled woman, 47, takes London council to court over its cycle-friendly Low Traffic Neighbourhoods that... Gangland murder ordered by text from jail: Moment balaclava thugs stab to death stranger, 29, after... Neighbour of father-of-three killed after 'row over noisy motorbikes' is charged with murder, GBH and... Woman who discovered her 'silver-tongued' husband had cheated on her one day after their wedding reveals... Just eight countries are set to feature on green travel list when Government lifts overseas holiday ban on... PETER HITCHENS: Don't blame Russia... WE are the ones pushing for a war. If the libraries are destroyed then a very important part of African and world history are gone. They made you proud to be African. I do not of course mean all Muslims.’, Backlash: Professor Dawkins's comments on Twitter were criticised, with some followers claiming he was unjustly attacking Islam and others saying he should have considered vandalism acts by Christians, Professor Dawkins later added: ‘Xtian (Christian) barbarians murder abortion doctors. To protect the irreplaceable documents, brave librarians risked torture, injury and death and smuggled thousands of manuscripts from Timbuktu to the capital in Bamako for safekeeping. Libraries like the Ahmed Baba institute were rescuing Africa's history from oblivion. "They also burned down several buildings. A spokeswoman for the Thabo Mbeki Foundation said on Monday: "We haven't yet heard anything concrete as to what the real story is, so at the moment we can't really comment. A large number dated from Timbuktu's intellectual heyday in the 14th and 15th centuries, Traoré said. The manuscripts were held in two separate locations: an ageing library and a new South African-funded research centre, the Ahmad Babu Institute, less than a mile away. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. I thought not. ", The then South African president, Thabo Mbeki, was inspired by the "intellectual treasure" while visiting Timbuktu in 2001, and initiated a joint project between the two countries. 21, 2017 1:43PM ET / Published Jan. 29, 2013 6:00PM ET Evan Schneider/AFP/Getty Images. So I wasn't calling you a barbarian was I.’, He also said to all of his followers: ‘I was calling Islamic BARBARIANS barbarians’, adding: ‘By “Islamic barbarians” I mean those Muslims who are also barbarians. I can't think of anything more terrible. How Kate got William and Harry talking again: Duchess of Cambridge stepped away so the brothers could chat... SARAH VINE: Compared to such spine-tingling majesty, that Oprah interview seems vulgar and vacuous. But they appear to have got there too late to rescue the leather-bound manuscripts that were a unique record of sub-Saharan Africa's rich medieval history. 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