Timbuktu Manuscripts Return Home After 13 Years in Bamako

AP | In a landmark cultural repatriation, Mali’s government has begun returning over 27,000 ancient manuscripts to Timbuktu, more than a decade after they were smuggled to safety during an al-Qaida-linked occupation.

The first shipment – over 200 crates weighing 5.5 tons – arrived by plane from Bamako on Monday. The return marks the start of a broader effort to bring back the priceless texts, which date back to the 13th century and represent centuries of Islamic scholarship in astronomy, medicine, law, and philosophy.

In 2012, Islamist militants destroyed more than 4,000 manuscripts and damaged UNESCO World Heritage sites upon seizing Timbuktu. But local custodians saved the majority, risking their lives to transport them in rice sacks, on donkeys, motorcycles, and boats.

The dry desert climate of Timbuktu—located 706 km (439 miles) from the humid capital – makes it a safer long-term home for the fragile documents, officials said.

“This is the first stage,” said local official Bilal Mahamane Traoré. Diahara Touré, Timbuktu’s deputy mayor, called the manuscripts “a reflection of our civilization and intellectual heritage.”

Malian Minister of Higher Education Bouréma Kansaye hailed the return as fulfilling a February pledge, calling the texts “a legacy of Timbuktu’s intellectual greatness – a bridge between past and future.”

UNESCO-listed and central to West Africa’s scholarly history, the manuscripts bear witness to the region’s rich Mali and Songhai empires.

Despite Timbuktu’s return to government control, security remains fragile. Militant attacks persist in surrounding areas, underscoring ongoing instability in Mali, which faces a deepening insurgency linked to al-Qaida and ISIS.

Authorities now aim to protect, digitize, study, and promote the collection to ensure its legacy endures for Mali and the world.