Timbuktu Manuscripts Timbuktu Manuscripts Timbuktu Manuscripts (or Tombouctou Manuscripts) is a blanket term for the large number of historically important manuscripts that have been preserved for centuries in private households in Timbuktu, Mali. The collections include manuscripts about art, medicine, philosophy, and science, as well as copies of the Quran. The number of manuscripts in the collections has been estimated as high as 700,000. The manuscripts were written in Arabic and local languages like Songhay and Tamasheq. The dates of the manuscripts ranged between the late 13th and the early 20th centuries (i.e., from the Islamisation of the Mali Empire until the
Timbuktu Manuscripts an electronic database to catalogue the manuscripts held at the Institut des Hautes Études et de Recherche Islamique – Ahmad Baba (IHERI-AB); digitizing a large number of manuscripts held at the IHERIAB; facilitating scholarly and technical exchange with manuscript experts in Morocco and other countries; reviving IHERI-AB's journal "Sankoré"; and publishing the splendidly illustrated book, "The Hidden Treasures of Timbuktu: Rediscovering Africa's Literary Culture". Since the end of this project, the cooperation of Grand-Duché de Luxembourg has funded a new project called "Timbuktu Manuscripts". This project aims at protecting and promoting Timbuktu Manuscripts, for economic, social and cultural development of