In 2004, the Library of Congress and the Mamma Haidara Commemorative Library in Timbuktu began a project that would help digitize some of the marvelous Arabic manuscripts located in the Commemorative Library’s home in Mali. This recent online collection is part of the fruits of their collective labor, and is a good resource for those who wish to know a bit more about West African Islamic manuscripts. All told, the collection features 22 manuscripts from the Library, all of which are written in various styles of the Arabic script. Visitors can search the collection by keyword, or browse the materials by title or subject. The site also contains three presentations that provide insight into the landscape of the ancient city of Timbuktu and its importance as an Islamic center of culture and scholarship from the 14th to 17th centuries.
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