The ancient Timbuktu manuscripts of Mali were back in the headlines following internet giant Google’s initiative to host a collection of them at an online gallery found at a page called Mali Magic, but the site doesn’t begin to tell the full story of the wealth of West Africa’s manuscripts that are found from the Atlantic to Lake Chad.
For decades, Africa has been seen as a continent without written history. But Dr. Abdel Kader Haidara is preserving ancient writings by African scholars who studied at the University of Timbuktu, Mali. These manuscripts date back to the 11th century. They’ve been hidden from the world since then, but now they are accessible by every smartphone.