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THE HIDDEN TREASURES OF TIMBUKTU The extraordinary manuscripts of Timbuktu: invaluable historical documents, objects of tremendous beauty, and a testament to a great center of learning and civilization 
For centuries, trading caravans made epic journeys across the Saharan sands
to reach the markets of the legendary city of Timbuktu, where they traded
salt, gold, slaves, textiles—and books. By the mid-fifteenth century, Timbuktu
had become a major center of Islamic literary culture and scholarship. The
city’s libraries were repositories of all the world’s learning, housing not only
works by Arab and Islamic writers but also volumes from the classical Greek
and Roman worlds and studies by contemporary scholars.
The astonishing manuscripts of Timbuktu form the lavish visual heart of
this book. Beautifully graphic, occasionally decorated, these exquisite artifacts
reveal great craftsmanship as well as learning. All were written in the Arabic
script, but not all are in Arabic, for they also feature a range of local African
languages.
Aside from scholarly works, the surviving manuscripts include a wealth of
correspondence between rulers, advisers, and merchants on subjects as various
as taxation, commerce, marriage, divorce, adoption, breastfeeding, and prostitution,
providing a vivid insight into the ordinary life and values of the day.
John Hunwick has devoted a lifetime of scholarship to the history, culture,
and literature of Islamic Africa. Alida Jay Boye is cofounder and coordinator
of the University of Oslo’s Timbuktu Manuscripts Project. Joseph Hunwick’s
images brilliantly capture the faded majesty of the city and the dignity and
warmth of its modern-day inhabitants.
ISBN 978-0-500-51421-4 · 93/4" x 127/8"
· 150 color illustrations · 176 pages · ART / ISLAMIC STUDIES |
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